A healthy metabolism means a healthy body. Metabolism is a term that includes chemical reactions in your body. These chemical reactions keep your body functioning properly. However, the word metabolism is often confused with the metabolic rate of your body. The metabolic rate is the number of calories that you burn. The higher your metabolic rate, the easier it is to lose weight for you. Having a healthy and high metabolism can ensure that you stay full of energy all day and it also makes you feel better.
In this article, we’ve listed 9 ways to boost your metabolism.
Best Ways to Boost Your Metabolism
1. Have a Protein-Rich Diet
Eating food can improve your metabolism for a couple of hours. This is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF), and it’s caused by extra calories that are required to digest and absorb the nutrients in your meal. Protein causes a huge increase in TEF, and it increases your metabolic rate by 15-30%.
Eating protein is also known to make you feel more full and prevent you from overeating. One small study found out that people were more likely to eat fewer calories every day when protein makes up 30% of their diet.
When you consume more protein in your diet, it can reduce the drop in metabolism. This is also because it reduces muscle loss, which usually happens when you start a diet.
2. Drink More Cold Water
People who drink water instead of sugary drinks are more likely to lose weight. This happens because sugary drinks contain a huge amount of calories and replacing them with water reduces the number of calories you take.
However, drinking water may also speed up your body’s metabolism. According to studies, drinking 0.5 liters of water increases the resting metabolism rate by 10-30% for an hour. The calorie-burning effect may be improved if you drink cold water, as your body uses energy to heat the water to body temperature.
Water can also help fill you up. Studies suggest that drinking water a half hour before you eat can prevent how much food you eat.
3. High-Intensity Workout
High-Intensity interval training (HIIT) means quick and intense activity bursts. It can help you burn more fat by increasing the metabolic rate, even after your workout is finished. This effect is great for HIIT than for other types of exercises. HIIT is known to help you burn more fat.
4. Lift Heavy Things
Your body muscles are more active than fat, and building muscles can easily help in increasing your metabolism. This suggests that you will burn more calories every day even while you’re resting.
Lifting weights will also help you retain muscle and fight the drop in metabolism that occurs during weight loss.
5. Stand Up as Often as Possible
If you sit too much at your job, then it can be harmful to your health. Some health experts have even said that sitting down too much is as harmful as smoking. A longer period of sitting can burn fewer calories and can lead to weight gain.
As a matter of fact, standing up the whole afternoon instead of sitting down can help in burning at least 174 calories. If you have to sit down in a job, then try alternating between sitting and standing. If it’s possible, you should invest in a standing desk.
6. Include Green Tea into Your Diet
Green tea or oolong tea are known to increase your metabolism rate by 4-5%. This tea helps in converting some of the fat stored in your body into fatty acids, this can increase the fat burning process by 10-17%.
As they’re low in calories, these green tea are a good choice for weight loss and weight maintenance. Some studies show that their metabolism-boosting properties can help in preventing the weight loss problems that occur due to a decrease in metabolism. There are endless green tea and oolong tea options to choose from online and offline.
7. Eat Spicy Foods
Peppers contain a substance named Capsaicin, which can help in boosting your metabolism. However, many people can’t handle these spices, and the doses that are required have a significant impact.
One study of capsaicin suggests that eating peppers can burn an additional at least 10 calories per meal. Just by themselves, the effect of adding peppers to your diet can be insignificant. However, it may lead to a slight advantage when they’re combined with other metabolism-boosting techniques.
8. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep is an important factor in staying healthy. Lack of sleep is linked to an increase in the risk of obesity. This is the effect that lack of sleep has on a body’s metabolism. Lack of sleep has been linked to increased level of blood sugar level and insulin resistance. Both of these problems are linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
It’s also shown to boost the hunger hormone and decrease the fullness hormone. This could also explain that people who’re sleep-deprived feel more hungry and struggle to get rid of additional weight.
9. Drink Coffee
Intake of caffeine in coffee can boost your metabolism by 3-11%, this is similar to the effects of green tea. Coffee also promotes fat burning. However, this seems to affect lean people more, and the study also suggests Coffee increases fat burning by 29% for lean women, and 10% for overweight women.
Coffee’s effects on metabolism and fat burning can contribute to weight loss and weight maintenance.
Final Take: Ways to Boost Metabolism
You can improve your metabolic health by making small lifestyle changes and by incorporating the above-mentioned tips into your lifestyle. Having a higher level of metabolism can help you lose weight and maintain weight loss. Improving your metabolism can also give you more energy.