Are you 98.6
How can you tell if your metabolism is low? Here are just a few of the basic assessment tools used to help you figure out where you fall in the metabolism department: 1. Thyroid hormone blood tests. This is the most common test in today's medical world for diagnosing someone with a low metabolic rate. Having truly low thyroid hormone levels outside of the "normal" range is certainly a reliable diagnostic tool, in that if your thyroid hormone levels are low, your metabolic rate is very likely to be suppressed. The problem with this test is that you can have 30 common signs of a low metabolic rate, with all the other assessment tools pointing to a low metabolic rate, but you may have only slightly low or even perfectly normal thyroid hormone levels. Thus, this test is relied upon far too heavily for something that can be so obviously wrong. Most doctors would literally tell a constipated person with flaky dry skin and a 96-degree body temperature that her metabolism is "fine" if the blood tests couldn't reveal anything. Makes me wanna scream! If it walks like a low metabolism, talks like a low metabolism, and looks like a low metabolism... It's a low metabolism! Doesn't matter what the blood tests show. 2. Body Temperature. This is much more accurate, can be tracked at home easily day by day, and requires no expensive blood tests or chances to get conned into undergoing unnecessary treatment or taking unnecessary medication. I used to rely on armpit temperature, as that was the standard by one of the Godfathers of metabolic rate, Broda Barnes, but with more recent experience any old place you test is fine. Rectal is the best, but can lead to impure thoughts. Core temperature at complete rest (such as first thing upon waking in the morning), should be at least 98 degrees F or about 36.6 degrees C. Those are minimums, and pre-menopausal women should see temperature significantly higher than that during the 2nd half of the menstrual cycle. Daytime temperatures should reach a minimum of 98.6 degrees F or 37.0 C. Ideal temperatures are closer to 99 F or even slightly higher. Note, rectal temps will be slightly higher than oral temps, and should be adjusted. 3. Resting Pulse Rate. This is another important marker, but it too has its limitations. For one, trained athletes have a higher stroke volume and often see a drop in resting pulse rate but not body temperature. In this case, the body temperature is usually more reliable. Highly overweight people also tend to have very high resting pulse rates and low body temperatures, making the body temperature more reliable and indicative of the true level of energy production underneath the layers.These are the three primary diagnostic tools used for quantifying metabolic rate. These are the three primary diagnostic tools used for quantifying metabolic rate. I've noticed that body temperature is by far the simplest, most straightforward, and least "screwy" metric.
