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We often hear that exercise can help with weight loss by speeding up or boosting our metabolism.
我们经常听说，运动可以加速或促进新陈代谢，帮助我们减肥。
So is it true?
这是真的吗？
Can we use exercise to control our metabolism?
我们能用运动来控制我们的新陈代谢吗？
To answer that question, we have to first dig deeper into what metabolism is.
要回答这个问题，我们必须首先弄清楚新陈代谢是什么。
No surprise, metabolism is really complex, and scientists and researchers are still discovering many new things about it.
毫无疑问，新陈代谢十分复杂，科学家和研究人员仍在探索有关新陈代谢的新知识。
Very simply, metabolism is the set of chemical reactions in every cell of our body that harnesses energy to keep us alive.
很简单，新陈代谢是我们身体每个细胞都会产生的一系列化学反应，它能够产生能量来维持我们的生命。
So much of what happens in our bodies is metabolism, making new cells is metabolism, growing hair is metabolism, and converting food into energy is metabolism.
我们体内发生的很多变化都属于新陈代谢，新细胞的诞生是新陈代谢，长出头发是新陈代谢，把食物转化为能量也是新陈代谢。
The sum total energy of all the metabolic processes that occur throughout our body is measured in calories.
我们身体中所有新陈代谢过程产生的总能量是以卡路里来衡量的。
And surprisingly, exercise is usually a small percentage of our daily calorie burn.
令人惊讶的是，运动通常只占我们日常卡路里消耗的一小部分。
Unless you're a professional athlete, most of our calorie expenditure is accounted for by our basal metabolic rate.
除非你是职业运动员，否则我们大部分的卡路里消耗是由基础代谢率来决定的。
All the vital stuff we need to function, like having a heartbeat, growing hair, building cells and even blinking.
我们身体运作所需的所有重要机能，比如心脏跳动、长头发、产生细胞，甚至眨眼。
That stuff takes up a big chunk of our energy.
这些东西消耗了我们很大一部分能量。
So can we hack this equation in some way?
那么我们能以某种方式破解这个方程式吗？
Can we use exercise to speed up our metabolism so we burn more energy?
我们能通过锻炼来加速新陈代谢，从而燃烧更多的能量吗？
Can we burn even more calories?
我们能燃烧更多的卡路里吗？
Not just doing burpees, but while we're growing an eyelash, than before?
不只是做波比跳，还有比以前多长一根眼睫毛？
The answer is no.
答案是否定的。
First of all, this is a misunderstanding of what fast versus slow metabolism really indicates.
首先，这是对新陈代谢快慢含义的误解。
There's no clear link between thinner people and fast metabolism, and the same goes for larger people and slow metabolism.
身材苗条和新陈代谢快没有明确的联系，体形较壮和新陈代谢慢也一样。
In fact, if you look at the absolute numbers, people with larger bodies have faster metabolisms, meaning they burn more calories because larger bodies have more cells, which in turn are doing more to sustain the body.
事实上，如果你看一下绝对数字，体形较壮的人新陈代谢更快，这意味着他们燃烧更多卡路里，因为身材较壮的人细胞更多，需要更多代谢来维持身体运转。
Now, differences in metabolism between people with similar body sizes do exist, but the difference between fast metabolism and slow metabolism can be about 300 calories.
体型相似的人之间的新陈代谢确实存在差异，但新陈代谢快和新陈代谢慢之间的差异可能只有大约300卡路里。
That's like two apples and a banana.
相当于两个苹果和一根香蕉。
How fast our metabolism works is mostly genetic and related to body size, but there's also age.
我们新陈代谢的速度主要是遗传的，还与体型、年龄有关。
Our metabolic rate changes a few times over our lifespan.
我们的代谢率在一生中会发生几次变化。
We start with the metabolic rate of an infant.
从婴儿的代谢率开始。
Then there is a switch when we are toddlers, and then it's pretty stable during adulthood to age 60, when it changes again.
它在我们幼童时会发生一次变化，在成年到60岁期间相当稳定，然后会再次发生变化。
Researchers evaluated the Hadza, a group of people in Tanzania who live a traditional hunter gatherer lifestyle.
研究人员评估了哈扎人，即一群生活在坦桑尼亚的人，他们过着传统的狩猎采集生活。
And yet, when you control for body size and age, they burn a similar amount of calories a day as an average American adult.
然而，如果控制体型和年龄这两个变量，他们每天燃烧的卡路里与普通美国成年人相似。
It seems that calories out is a pretty fixed number, and it appears that our bodies have limits.
这样看似乎卡路里是一个相对固定的数字，而且我们的身体似乎是有限度的。
If we exercise harder, at first we may expend more energy, but over time, our metabolism will find ways to conserve.
如果我们更努力地锻炼，一开始我们可能会消耗更多的能量，但随着时间的推移，我们的新陈代谢会达到一个平衡点。
Here's what I'm getting at.
这就是我要说的。
The point of our metabolic system is to manage energy, not to manage weight.
我们的新陈代谢系统是为了管理能量，而不是管理体重。
So if you read an article or hear a so-called expert inviting you to boost your metabolism, remember that's just marketing speak rooted in a weight loss culture.
因此，如果你读到一篇文章或听到一位所谓的专家建议你促进新陈代谢，记住，这只是植根于减肥文化的营销言论。
And it just isn't true.
这不是真的。
