10 Easy and Effective Ways of Boosting Your Metabolism

Your metabolism is your body’s natural rate of burning calories for providing energy to perform daily activities. Your metabolic speed depends upon various factors, which include age, gender, muscle mass, body fat, activity level & genetics. It’s the term that covers all of the chemical reactions and activities such as repairing the cells, digestion, and breathing. These reactions are necessary for keeping you alive & functioning. All these processes need energy. The minimum level of energy a body needs for carrying out these processes is known as basal metabolic rate (BMR). The BMR accounts for almost 80% of the body’s routine energy requirements. Slow metabolism is also described as a lesser BMR.

The number of calories you burn makes weight loss & keep it off easier. A high metabolic rate gives you energy & makes you feel better.

Do some bodies have a faster metabolism compared to others?

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Your body size, gender, age & genes play an integral part in speeding up your metabolism. Your Muscle needs more energy for maintenance compared to fat cells, people with more muscle have a high metabolism. With age, human bodies naturally gain fat & lose muscle. That’s why your metabolism slows with age. Generally, men have a higher metabolic rate as they have more muscles and heavier bones. Your genes also play a role in affecting your metabolism.

People struggling with losing weight are often told they have a slow metabolism. There’s not so much evidence to this. Studies even show that overweight people might have faster metabolisms compared to thinner people. Large bodies need more energy for carrying out basic body functions. More often the prime reason for putting on weight is that you tend to consume more calories than you shed. It may be hard to accept, but staying on top of the number of calories you eat is key to losing weight and keeping it off.

Crash diets & calorie-restricted nutrition plans that people often follow for losing weight can also slow down your metabolism. In some cases, your body is forced to break down the muscle to be used for the energy. Lower muscle mass results in slow metabolism.

In this article, we will describe the easiest and effective ways of boosting your metabolism.

1. Consume Plenty of Protein

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Consuming food increases the metabolism up to a few hours because of the thermic effect of food. Which is caused by additional calories required for digestion, absorption & processing of the nutrients present in the meal. Protein intake causes a rise in the TEF. It boosts the metabolic rate up to fifteen to thirty percent as compared to five to ten percent of the carbs & zero to three percent of the fats. Consuming protein helps in feeling full & prevents overeating. Consuming protein-rich foods also lowers the drop of metabolism which is associated directly with shedding fat.

2. Eat at regular times

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The human body relies on balance & regularity. Consuming at consistent intervals helps in maintaining metabolic balance. If somebody eats a lot, and then takes long fasting breaks his body might burn calories at a slower rate while storing more fat. Consuming food at regular intervals reduces this tendency. Eating smaller and healthier meals distributed fairly throughout your day keeps you full and also good for your metabolism. Eating smaller meals keeps the blood sugar at a fine range & prevents insulin spikes which leads to gaining weight. Ideally, you should consume small meals about 3-4 hours apart.

To lose weight, you must eat less. It’s true but not consuming enough calories can cause muscle loss which declines your metabolic rate. Under-fueling is equally risky and over-fuelling your body.

3. Drinking Cold Water

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People who take water rather than sugary drinks are more able to keep their weight off. As sugary drinks have calories & drinking water automatically reduces the calorie intake. Drinking water also speeds up the metabolism for time. Research shows that consuming 17 ounces of water boosts the resting metabolism up to 10–30 percent for an hour. This effect escalates by drinking cold water, as the body utilizes the energy for heating your body temperature. Water also helps in filling you up. Also drinking water before eating help in eating less.

4. Put on muscle

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Your body keeps on burning calories even if it is at rest. 60-80% of calories you burn every day get used up for running your body’s routine functions. Studies reveal that the “resting metabolic rate” & total amount of calories burned is high in humans who have more muscle mass as each pound of your muscle utilizes 6 calories in a day for sustaining itself. If you can pack on 5 pounds of your muscle & sustain them you will be able to burn calories equivalent to 3 pounds of the fat in a year.

5. Perform high-intensity interval training

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While you swim, run, or other cardio activities in your workout clothes you increase the intensity of the pace for workout intervals before you return to the normal speed. It will aid in increasing the oxygen intake while making the mitochondria, powerhouses of cells. Make your work out harder for burning energy. HIIT results in quick & very intense activity bursts. It helps in burning fat by boosting the metabolic rate, even when you have done working out. This post-workout calorie-burning effect is greater for HIIT compared to any other working-out routine.

6. Do the resistance training

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Performing strength training in your workout clothes helps in building muscle, which increases your metabolism. Your muscle mass has a faster metabolic rate compared to the fat, which means muscle mass needs more energy for preservation. With age, the human body tends to lose muscle. Resistance training might help counteract this effect. This can include lifting weights & performing exercises that use the weight for building muscles.

7. Getting adequate sleep

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If you get too little sleep, your body will release a hormone called ghrelin that will make you feel hungry. Also your production of leptin declines, it’s a hormone that helps you in feeling full.

Taking an adequate amount of sleep ensures that your hormones stay balanced. This prevents you from overeating. Optimum the amount of sleep can vary from person to person.

8. Try to consume more organic food

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The thyroid produces thyroid hormone that controls different processes going on in the body, which include how quickly you will burn calories & how fast the heartbeats can be.

Eating pesticide-free vegetables, fruits & grains helps in keeping the metabolism strong as it doesn’t expose the thyroid to toxins. Food that isn’t organic “blocks the metabolism by interfering with the function of the thyroid.

9. Stand up More

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Sitting for prolonged hours can be bad for your health. Some health experts refer to it as the new smoking. Long sitting periods burn fewer calories & lead to weight gain. Compared to simply sitting, working for the whole afternoon while standing burns extra calories. If you have a sitting job, consider standing after prolonged sitting hours.

10. Eat little Spicy Foods

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Spices and peppers like capsaicin, contain a natural substance that boosts metabolism. A lot of people aren’t able to tolerate spices as they can have a serious effect on your digestion system. Eating capsaicin additionally burns up to 10 calories per meal. This rate can be more in adults compared to older people. Alone, the benefits of adding spice to the food can be smaller. It leads to higher advantages when they are combined with boosting metabolism strategies.

Reference:

  1. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-ways-to-boost-metabolism
  2. https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-boost-your-metabolism
  3. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323328
  4. https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/metabolism-and-weight-loss/

 

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