Research
Energy balance
Resting metabolic rate (RMR) in SCI patients is lower than in able-bodied individuals, but this difference is largely explained by reduced fat-free mass and altered sympathetic nervous system activity, not by an inherent inefficiency of fat-free tissue.
Your lower resting metabolic rate is due to having less muscle mass and altered nerve signaling, not because your cells are inefficient. Focus on maintaining muscle mass and accurate calorie intake rather than assuming your metabolism is 'broken'.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
preliminary evidence suggests that neither the metabolic activity of the fat-free body, nor the obligatory phase of the thermic effect of food is different between those with and without injury.
Why this rating
Based on studies adjusting for fat-free mass and measuring catecholamines.
Source
Energy expenditure in chronic spinal cord injury
Andrea C. Buchholz et al. · Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care · 2004
DOI 10.1097/00075197-200411000-00008
narrative_reviewCited 177×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Standard predictive equations for resting metabolic rate (RMR) overestimate energy requirements in chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) patients by 5–32%, primarily due to reduced fat-free mass and altered sympathetic nervous system activity.Good
- Persons with chronic spinal cord injury, particularly those with tetraplegia and complete lesions, have significantly lower physical activity levels than able-bodied individuals, contributing to obesity.Good
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