Metabolism Boosters
Speeding up your metabolism is a question that most everybody wants the answers too. Having a speedy one is what everybody wants, but unfortunately as we age, this slows down (not to mention our bad eating habits too). Luckily, there are plenty of things in our control that can give our metabolism a boost. These few things I think are pretty easy to adjust, it is just know what to adjust is the question. Try these proven foods and activities to give yourself the best advantage…
Add whey protein to your smoothie
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When you’re tossing fruit, ice, and other smoothie mix-ins into your blender, take an extra second to add one more metabolism-boosting ingredient—whey protein powder. “Whey protein increases calorie burn and fat utilization, helps the body maintain muscle, and triggers the brain to feel full,” says Paul Arciero, a professor in the Health and Exercise Sciences department at Skidmore College who has studied whey’s effects on the body. All types of protein rev up your metabolism—protein has a thermogenic effect, meaning it makes your body produce more heat and, in turn, burn more calories—but whey may be the most effective non-animal protein. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that fat oxidation and the thermic effect was greater with whey than with soy or casein.
Drink before you eat
Drinking two glasses of water before every meal helped dieters lose an average of 15.5 pounds (five pounds more than the non-water drinkers) over three months in a study presented at the American Chemical Society’s annual conference. Taking quick hydration breaks throughout the day also boosts your metabolic machinery, says JJ Virgin, celebrity nutritionist and author of The Virgin Diet Cookbook, and research shows staying properly hydrated keeps you feeling energized. Try to consume half your body weight in water ounces, Virgin suggests; a 150-pound person would drink 75 ounces a day.
Brew a cup of coffee
Caffeine’s ability to speed up the central nervous system makes it a powerful metabolism booster. “In addition, coffee beans provide antioxidants and real health value,” says Amy Goodson, RD, a dietitian for Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine. “Provided your cup is not laden with cream and syrup, coffee can be a great way to give you energy as well as some antioxidants.” Coffee has been shown to improve energy levels during exercise, especially endurance activity, and help people work harder longer, which therefore burns more calories. Drinking coffee after a workout can also be beneficial. Consuming caffeine after exercise increased muscle glycogen by 66% in endurance athletes, enabling them to more quickly replenish energy stores used through exercise, according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Snack on yogurt
Probiotics, the healthy bacteria found in yogurt, pickles, and other fermented foods like sauerkraut, may help you lose weight—if you’re a woman, shows a new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Overweight men and women followed a 12-week weight loss diet; half of the volunteers also took a probiotic pill every day. Women in the probiotic group lost more weight than those in the placebo group and continued to lose weight during the 12-week maintenance period afterward (the probiotic didn’t make any difference for men).
Consuming probiotics in food form has other waist-friendly benefits: “Yogurt, like other full-fat dairy, also has a fatty acid called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) that studies show can improve fat burning,” says Virgin. Avoid fruit-on-the-bottom varieties, which can have as much sugar as a candy bar.
Eat a mini meal
It’s 3 p.m. and your belly is rumbling. (We’ve all been there.) If you wait until dinnertime to eat, you may be so starving that you wind up overdoing it. Eating a small mid-afternoon meal will prevent that—and it will also keep your metabolism stoked, says Goodson. “Think of your metabolism like a fire. In order to get a fire going you start it with a decent amount of wood, then you add a few pieces of wood every few hours to keep the fire burning.” Eating small meals raises your metabolism every time you eat. The key is to include a lean protein and complex carb each time, not processed or junk food. A few no-effort options: cottage cheese and fruit, peanut butter and an apple, or Greek yogurt with berries.
Get Some Sleep
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Almost nodding off in the middle of the day isn’t the only downside of not catching enough sleep. Researchers have found a link between metabolism and sleep, and not getting enough of it may seriously slow metabolism.
Source Health Magazine
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