Top 15 Natural Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism
Your metabolism can be one of the crucial deciding factors in successful
weight loss, and it seems like one that is very much out of your control. This
thinking can lead to a kind of desperation that drives people to try all kinds
of dangerous stimulants and unnecessary supplements to try and unnaturally coax
the body into revving up metabolism and burning fat. The downside to this is
that when you choose this route, your overall health suffers. The point of
losing weight in the first place is to improve your quality of life, so this
becomes self-defeating. A better way is to examine natural, simple ways you can
boost metabolism for the results you’re looking for. Metabolism can be affected
by a lot of your habits and lifestyle factors, and learning to work with your
bodily processes rather than against them can help you achieve your goals of
living a healthy, fit lifestyle.
15) Chew Your Food
Well
Everyone is very used to rushing through things, including meals. There is never
enough time in the day, and so you may find yourself taking it out of what is
supposed to be the leisurely affair of eating in order to fuel your next spurt
of activity. That’s not a good way to redeem the time, though, because it does
more harm than good. Eating too quickly not only can cause you to intake more
air than necessary, leading to gas and bloating, but it can harm your metabolism
if you aren’t chewing your food well enough. Digestion begins in the mouth, with
the tongue and teeth mechanically breaking down food, and the saliva chemically
processing food stuffs to soften them for the gut to finish digesting. Not
chewing your food enough means half-processed products are making it to the
stomach which isn’t equipped to handle digestion on that level. Partially chewed
food takes much longer to digest, sits in the GI tract longer, and takes much
more work to process. Rather than burning more calories - as most cellular work
does - this only encourages the digestive system to slow down and the metabolism
to move more slowly as a result.
14) Get Enough
Calcium
If you want to get slim, it’s time to wear a milk mustache. You already know
calcium is important for healthy bone density and strong teeth. The mineral is
also a possible cancer fighter, and an important neurochemical for the brain as
well as a signal ion for muscles. Studies published by the National Institute
for Health also indicated calcium — as that found in low-fat dairy products —
can be a proponent in weight loss, boosting the metabolism and helping to zap
fat reserves, particularly those around the middle trunk area. Belly fat is a
common complaint among those trying to slim down, and it can be some of the most
dangerous weight to carry, correlated with a number of health problems like
heart disease and diabetes.
Studies are still in the works to determine exactly how calcium revs up
metabolism, but the fact that it is now a proven fat burner indicates the
connection is there to be found. In the meantime, you can take advantage of the
latest research by reaching for a glass of skim milk, a slice of low fat cheese,
or even a cup of a variety of dark leafy green vegetables that contain high
amounts of calcium — in addition to many other desirable nutrients. Worried
you’re not maximizing your calcium intake in your diet? Experts agree that most
adults, and especially women, could benefit from the addition of a calcium
supplement as well.
13) Eat More Berries
Acai and goji berries have gotten the most press for their touted health
benefits, but you may be able to find humbler berries in your backyard that
serve the same purpose. Berries are rich in ellagic acid, anthocyanins, and
quercetin — among other antioxidant compounds — that have immune supporting and
cancer-fighting properties as they protect you against cellular damage. In fact,
overall, berries have the highest antioxidant levels of any other plant part,
including spinach leaves. Berries are also high in dietary fiber and
phytochemicals that improve the digestive system by helping push food through
and cleanse the tract as they go.
Berries rev up the metabolism by giving your body a quick jolt of sugars, but
also a longer sustenance of more complex plant starches at the same time. Their
acids encourage speedy digestions and fire up your metabolism, as well as being
a snack or dessert able to satisfy your appetite and keep it below your
metabolic level, helping you lose weight. Berries are also high in vitamin C —
strawberries boasting 150 percent your daily recommended intake of vitamin C in
just one serving. While it’s indirect,
vitamin C does support the immune system, and a healthier you will have a more
robust metabolism as well.
12) Avoid Processed
Foods
Not only can your body work too hard to digest foods, it can work too little as
well. When your diet is mostly processed foods, the simple starches and sugars
break down too easily and give your body a rush of energy it must either utilize
or store. The metabolism slows, much like a line foreman might halt production
if workers down the line were feeling overwhelmed, to deal with the “packaging”
of this energy which turns to fat if not burned immediately. This is one reason
low-fat diets of the past don’t work well, because they rely on quickly
digestible carbohydrates.
Eating whole foods is more than a fad. Studies out of Harvard, among other
institutions, have proven that it’s not just the amount of calories that matter
in weight loss and metabolism, nor the percentage sources of those calories. The
quality of your food intake matters the most. Carbohydrates in and of themselves
aren’t bad, and other sources of calories aren’t automatically good. Lean
proteins, complex carbohydrates, and clean fats all taken from as close to the
source as you can get will give you the best metabolic results, using the most
energy to digest in a way that will rev your body up to take on the challenge,
not slow down.
11) Drink Green Tea
Green tea has been highly prized for several health benefits for centuries.
Recently, modern science has supported many of these functions, indicating the
antioxidants and tannins found in green tea boosts your immune system, cleans
your cardiovascular system, and may fight certain cancers. Green tea also
appears to have thermogenic properties that speed fat oxidation, which allows
these reserves to be utilized for energy. While the provable benefits to it
revving up your system seem to be small, even a minor percentage can help when
used in conjunction with other metabolism busting tips.
Another added benefit to green tea in terms of metabolism is the fact that —
unless cut with fatty dairy or a lot of sugar — green tea is calorie free and
low in caffeine. The small energy shot can quell appetites until meal time, and
fulfill the need for a refreshing morning drink that is far healthier for your
waistline and sleeping patterns than coffee, particularly the latte and
cappuccino variety that are more loaded calorically than most of your desserts.
Go here to learn how to make
green tea healthy.
10) Eat More
Vegetables
Vegetables contain many needed nutrients whose fulfillment in the body leads to
satisfaction, and so a reduced appetite that is in keeping with your metabolism.
Vegetables are usually very bulky, giving you the same volume of food you would
eat normally, but with far fewer calories. Being able to stay fuller on fewer
calories and feeling the need to eat fewer to begin with are both staple tactics
for weight-loss. Also, just like with berries, the fiber in vegetables supports
a clean and healthy digestive track that is ready to work.
Myths abound about some
vegetables being “negative calories” foods, or their
tough texture — courtesy of cellulose — causing you to burn more calories
chewing them than you gain by eating them. This isn’t true, unfortunately, and
there is no magic veggie that will let you shed the pounds without examining
your entire lifestyle. Instead, to get the maximum benefit from eating
vegetables, go for a variety. A varied diet keeps the metabolism pumping, as it
provides you all the many nutrients you need, and doesn’t allow your system to
develop its own lazy habits being too used to one kind of food. One rule of
thumb is to get as many colors as you can on your plate at any given meal. Dark
leafy greens like kale, spinach and broccoli, red tomatoes, yellow corn, orange
carrots, and even white cauliflower can produce a rainbow at your dinner table
that celebrates you being one step closer to an active metabolism and healthy
life.
9) Eat Raw Foods
Some raw foods are more difficult to digest, but many more aren’t. Also, many
raw foods contain nutrients that are delicate enough to break down or leach away
with many common cooking practices. Many have a crisp and refreshing texture
that satisfies us with a smaller volume of food than something soft and easy to
eat. Vegetables in particular will give you the best benefit of their fiber and
vitamins when they’re eaten raw by themselves or in a salad with a light
dressing.
Other raw foods to enjoy are some seeds, nuts, and many fruits. Some swear by
raw dairy products to obtain some of the natural bacterial cultures that are
destroyed in pasteurizing, but this can also be a dangerous practice if such
dairy products are improperly stored and allowed to develop less beneficial
bacteria. Raw sugar is also used sometimes, but is a process of rendering
sugarcane no matter what form it is in, so there is little benefit there. Raw
honey, however, has a maximized amount of immune support and its own cultures,
and in this form, can be a good sugar substitute as its high sweetness makes
it less necessary to fulfill your cravings for a taste of sugar in a way that can
boost your metabolism instead of just your appetite like table sugar does.
8) Eat Spicy Foods
In particular, peppers contain capsaicin, a colorless compound that causes the
sensation of heat on your taste buds with a chemical reaction. Capsaicin also
has a thermogenic effect on the rest of your body as well; sometimes inducing
sweating and making your temperature feel elevated. On a cellular level, a study
at Bowling Green State University found that this same process also ramps up the
metabolism as well, with participants who ate spicy peppers in their foods
burning an average of eight percent more calories per meal than participants who
did not have spicy peppers in their food.
Another effect of spicy foods is that strong, flavorful foods leave you
feeling satiated much faster than bland foods. Eating
spicy foods like peppers
can help you consume up to 200 calories fewer per meal than you would with
blander foods, and so the combined effects of spicy foods on metabolism and
appetite make them powerful fat-burning allies for you. Other foods that contain
these same effects are black pepper and ginger, both of which have similar
compounds in them that induce that kind of tingling burn you either love or
hate. Finally, phytochemicals like capsaicin have been tentatively linked to
helping lower the instances of certain cancers, and while not a metabolic
effect, is certainly another healthy reason to spice up your life.
7) Don’t Starve
Yourself
A common dieting trick is just plunging your calorie count below your necessary
base caloric intake to burn weight. But this doesn’t help your metabolism any.
In fact, it sends your metabolism into a panic, and your body hits starvation
mode, attempting to conserve as many calories as possible from your food. It
also sends a signal to your cells to stop burning sugars and fats for fuel to
conserve them, and instead, has them cannibalize your muscle tissue, leaving you
weaker than before. Muscle loss is also linked to a slower metabolism as well,
making this poor choice a double whammy.
The same process goes for eating at your base caloric needs and then over
exercising. The best way to determine how many calories you need each day is to
find a reputable calorie calculator and be honest with it about your height,
weight, age, and level of activity. Your doctor might also be able to offer an
insight, or refer you to a nutritionist who can help you work out a plan to get
the calories you need without any excess.
6) Drink More Water
The most obvious point to this tip is water is calorie free, unlike many
beverages. Secondly, liquids can fill you up as well as solids, and drinking
plenty of water with meals can therefore save you on calories consumed, helping
you to eat less and feel fuller. Another point about water is it is necessary to
sustain health. Our bodies are mostly water and the oxygen and hydrogen
in each molecule are broken down and reformed in cellular respiration processes
to perform many of our metabolic tasks. If you don’t have enough water available
for your metabolism to run at peak performance, no other trick in the world is
going to work for you. It’s like trying to run a car with no gas in the tank.
Water also helps to cleanse toxins from the body. You have a natural
filtration system through your kidneys and urinary system, and one of its main
functions is taking out the trash from your metabolic processes. If those lines
back up and this waste moves too slowly, the cells will take the hint and slow
down production to keep from making your molecular environment too toxic to
support life. While the amount of water you specifically need can vary with many
circumstances, a rough estimate often given out is 64 ounces of water a day for
an adult. This sounds like a lot, but eight 8 ounce glasses can actually go
pretty quickly if you’re making a habit out of starting out your meals with one
full glass, or always take a drink when you come back from the bathroom.
5) Do Energy Work
This may sound a little New Age, but yoga and even
reiki has become very
mainstream in the health world. Yoga in particular can lower blood lipid levels
and improve moods, and has the benefit of being physical activity; any physical
activity you can do will help your metabolism. Yoga can improve flexibility and
strength, and make more hardcore forms of exercising easier on you, which
motivates you to do them more. Styles of yoga like bikram yoga are particularly
helpful for metabolism, as they elevate your body temperature and heart rate,
which speed catabolic processes of cells, allowing them to work faster.
It’s also suggested that the energetic balances achieved in yoga and other
energy work traditions align your bodily system to improve overall function on
levels not yet measurable. There is certainly a long history for this theory,
but even if the anecdotal evidence was disproved, yoga has proven itself to be a
healthful activity if you’re seeking better body regulation in a quantifiable
way. Will yoga alone boost your metabolism to speed you to your weight loss
goals? Unlikely, but it will definitely make them easier, and you feel happier
about working towards them.
4) Build Muscle
Just as losing muscle mass from starvation or poor lifestyle will slow your
metabolism, building more muscle will cause it to ramp up even faster than
before. Muscle uses a tremendous amount of energy to work, as even at “rest’ it
retains a certain amount of tension in each individual fiber — called tone —
that keeps it ready to go at a moment’s notice. The more physically fit you are,
the more fibers you have, and so, this is why trim, athletic builds are called
“toned”: they have more tone! Since muscle powers more than itself, and must
exercise precise control, every flex and relaxation cycle costs the cells the
energy of the muscle fiber itself, as well as the physical energy of whatever it
is pulling. This is why when your body feels starved, it takes what it needs
from muscle tissue itself, because breaking that down is more cost-effective for
running all your bodily systems, than to use up the precious fuel the muscles
themselves need.
Because of this energy expense, having more muscle tissue — along
with proper eating — will burn more fat, because your body needs to consume more
fuel to accomplish its tasks. Many people try to avoid strength training to keep
from trying to bulk up like a body builder, though, and don’t reap the benefits
of denser muscle. You don’t have to worry about that, because basic strength
training alone does not make bulky muscles, but lean ones. The extreme of this
is found in dancers’ bodies, where they need to be as strong as possible, but
still stay slim and graceful. Exercises like Pilates training are exceptionally
good for achieving this effect.
3) Find Outlets for
Stress
Many experts already discuss how stress can cause you to gain weight through the
cycling of hormones that promote nervous appetite and retention of calories.
Long term stress can damage many metabolic processes as well, with the continual
flood of alert hormones and other signalers that keep the body in a state of
emergency. Think about how you feel after a long period of stress: tired and
worn. Think about what your belongings look like or function like after “stress”
either in use and abuse or impact from accident. Everything wears down and gets
broken. Your body is the same way. It isn’t designed to operate on high alert
all the time, and causing it to do so is harmful.
Stress can’t always be avoided, but you can choose how you handle it. Find
healthful ways - yoga, hanging with friends, a fun hobby — to keep down your
stress levels and improve your metabolic function.
2) Add
High-Intensity Intervals
This form of exercising is usually found in an aerobic routine, which you should
already be doing if you’re trying to rev up your metabolism. High-intensity
intervals are sets of intense maneuvers done over 5-10 minutes, depending on
your fitness level. These exercises help to further boost your heart and pulse
rate during workouts, which will in turn spark your metabolism to keep up a
supply of energy to the necessary limbs. Having periods of high and low
intensity in the same workout is actually a better booster than high intensity
alone, as it allows your body to recover functions and remain aerobic, rather
than switching to an anaerobic pathway that can hamper your metabolism during
exercise, as well as leave you very sore. Think about it as the difference
between the way an athlete trains and the way they play. Training is designed to
build strength and endurance and make their bodies better, whereas games are a
challenge of power that can drain them and force them to rest afterwards. Your
body is the same way. Build workouts that charge your fat-burning cylinders in a
sustainable way, and you’ll be rewarded with a faster metabolism.
1) Sleep Well
You have probably heard this before, and it can’t be stressed enough: get plenty
of sleep. As mentioned above, bodies need rest. You need time to repair damage
from your day and reset your functions. Metabolism does drop during sleep, but
in a healthy way. This allows energy to be diverted to restorative activities
that improve overall health, and allow metabolic processes to be boosted back up
further upon awakening.
Most adults need a full seven to eight hours, and cheating just a little
won’t help; Sanjay Patel, M.D., of Case Western University proved that the
difference between the sleeping habits of fit people and unfit people could be
as little as 16 minutes a night. The importance of sleep cannot be
overemphasized, and while there are a multitude of excuses you could give for
not getting the right amount of shut eye, if you’re serious about upping your
metabolism to give you a healthier lifestyle, you'll make sure to get enough.
Final Words
However you decide to speed up your metabolism and boost your fitness goals,
remember that it’s important to know what your body needs and fulfill that in a
healthy way, instead of punishing yourself for not being a perfect machine
incapable of taking damage. Human beings are fragile cellular systems, and the
tiniest changes can lead to big results for both good and ill. Take it slow —
odd to think about when trying to speed something up — and be cautious about the
methods you use. Many of the things on this list provide a wealth of benefits aside
from boosting your metabolism: they can help prevent chronic disease and maintain good function for
all your systems. Many other more harsh methods don’t give you that, meaning
while they may seem effective in the short run, in the long run, they might end
up costing you far more than you want to pay for a few inches off.
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