Nutrition and metabolism in the critically ill patient: What we know

Meet the expert ~ Greet Van den Berghe

In this icTV interview, ESICM’s Sherry Scharff sits down with Greet Van den Berghe to discuss where we are with regards to nutrition practice in the ICU: What do we know definitively? What questions still remain unanswered? And of course, what about glucose?

Simply put, weight loss occurs  when you consume less calories or exercise more, preferably both.”

The term often used to describe your body’s metabolic set point is BMR or basal metabolic rate. There’s no perfect formula to determine BMR, but online calculators can give you a good estimate by considering your gender, height, weight, age and activity level. Metabolism is partly genetic and largely outside of one’s control. Changing it is a matter of considerable debate. Some people are just lucky. They inherited genes that promote a faster metabolism and can eat more than others without gaining weight. Others are not so lucky and end up with a slow metabolism and might need extra help from Weight loss supplements.

One way to think about metabolism is to view your body as a car engine that is always running. When you’re sitting still or sleeping, you’re engine is idling like a car at a stop light. A certain amount of energy is being burned just to keep the engine running. Of course, for humans, the fuel source is not gasoline. It’s the calories found in foods we eat and beverages we drink — energy that may be used right away or stored (especially in the form of fat) for use later.

A paper featuring key research priorities on nutrition and metabolism noted by Van den Berghe and colleagues was recently published in Intensive Care Medicine. Read the article in ICM here.