Energy balance
Low fasting muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) predisposes individuals to body weight gain by reducing resting metabolic rate and energy expenditure.
Your body's 'idle speed' (metabolic rate) is partly controlled by your sympathetic nervous system. If your baseline nerve activity to muscles is low, your body burns fewer calories at rest, making weight gain more likely even without overeating. This is a physiological predisposition, not a character flaw.
Individuals with low resting MSNA may be at risk for body weight gain resulting from a lower metabolic rate.
Why this rating
Direct measurement of MSNA via microneurography in a controlled metabolic ward setting with clear statistical correlations.
Source
Reduced sympathetic nervous activity. A potential mechanism predisposing to body weight gain.
Maximilian Spraul et al. · Journal of Clinical Investigation · 1993
DOI 10.1172/jci116760
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