When you want to lose weight, it can help to give your metabolism an extra boost. The rate of your metabolism depends on factors such as age and heredity. According to nutrition expert Tim Church, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, although you can increase your metabolism through diet, its speed depends mainly on two things: your genes and your size.
In this article, we take a closer look at this and give you 7 handy tips. Read along.
What is metabolism?
Your metabolism or your metabolism is not just what keeps you slim, it is the constant process your body uses to convert food into energy. Your metabolism is always active, even when you sleep. It is the engine that makes sure your body gets enough fuel to keep functioning.
Some people can really eat anything without gaining an ounce of weight, and for another, it can sometimes be a real struggle to maintain weight. This difference may have to do with your metabolism, meaning how fast your body breaks down food and converts it into energy. The speed of your metabolism depends on factors such as gender, age, height, hormones and heredity.
The older you get the slower your metabolism becomes, and men generally burn more calories than women. Fortunately, you can do a few things yourself to kick your metabolism into high gear.
Eat enough protein
This is the most important food source to boost your metabolism, as lean proteins help you build muscle. Therefore, it is advisable to always eat enough protein with a meal. This is because it takes the body twice as much energy to break down protein than, say, carbohydrates. This gives your metabolism a boost. In addition to the boost in your metabolism, proteins also maintain muscles. Muscles are very important for your metabolism because they also consume energy and thus burn calories.
Therefore, especially if you want to lose weight, you don't want to lose too much muscle. Examples of healthy proteins are: eggs, fish and shellfish, beans, cottage cheese, tofu, chicken and nuts.
Want to know more about this topic? Then read our blog "why does your body need enough protein ".
Water!
It is very important to drink plenty of water. Even mild dehydration can slow down your metabolism. Drink cold water, which forces your body to burn calories to warm it up. Besides being good for your metabolism, water also gets your skin in better shape. Make sure you put a pitcher of water in sight, such as next to your desk, and that you always have a bottle of water in your bag. Read more about the importance of drinking enough water here.
Get enough sleep
If you don't sleep enough, your body's ability to burn carbohydrates is impaired. This leads to increased hunger and a slowed metabolism. Also, your energy levels are affected throughout the day, making you likely to want to exercise less, which also slows metabolism. Therefore, when you are structurally sleep deprived, you are more likely to skip a visit to the gym. Try to get about eight hours of good sleep a night to ensure that your metabolism stays on track.
Eat foods with high thermal value
Especially products high in sugars have a low thermal value and are therefore easily digested by the body. Thus, it costs your body little energy. Vegetables, as well as foods high in fiber or protein, have a high thermal value. Your body has more trouble digesting these foods and will therefore speed up your metabolism.
Spice it up!
Spicy food is not only tasty, it also speeds up your metabolism. Add red (chili) peppers to your meal. The substance capsaicin in peppers increases your metabolism by about 20% for at least half an hour after eating them.
Drink green tea
Drinking green tea is another way to increase your metabolism. Green tea contains caffeine and plant proteins that help it burn fats. Three to four cups a day is recommended, each cup stimulating your metabolism for a few hours. Coffee and tea will not make you lose 10 pounds, but are simply a boost to your metabolism.
Move more
The more you move, the higher your metabolism will be, so take every opportunity in your daily life to move during the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car farther away when you go grocery shopping and enjoy biking to work. In addition, of course, it is an extra incentive to exercise.
An excellent way to speed up your metabolism is through strength training. Strength training is a very effective way to increase your resting metabolism because muscle mass needs more energy than fat mass. Even the hours or days after strength training will still stimulate your metabolism when the muscles are recovering.
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