We can sum up all the chemical reactions in our bodies with just one word: metabolism. To help speed up the metabolic rate you need metabolism boosters.
Burning calories at a high rate make it easier for you to lose weight. If you have a slow metabolic rate, you might continually gain weight. You could also suffer from mood swings or feel lethargic. So, if you want a metabolism booster, you might as well learn all there is to know about the metabolic rate.
A Connection Between Hormones and Metabolic Rate
Our bodies have several hormones which control our metabolic rate. Their imbalance can have negative results. An imbalance in estrogen, cortisol, insulin, and testosterone. This may slow down your efforts of a metabolism boost causing you to add weight.
Thyroid glands produce two main hormones, T3 and T4. This keeps your metabolic rate under control. It determines the least number of calories that our bodies need while resting. Also known as the basal metabolic rate. Disorder of the thyroid glands may lead to several diseases. One of them is thyroiditis that makes it impossible to maintain a healthy metabolic rate.
How Does Stress Affect Your Metabolic Rate?
Stress can have a large impact on your efforts. Whether you want a metabolism boost or to maintain it. The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis works together with the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis. Together they produce cortisol, otherwise known as the stress hormone.
Cortisol levels increase when you have stress. It also converts blood sugar into fat, which settles on your mid-section. So, if you want a health boost, take your stress level down a notch.
Tips To Increase Your Metabolic Rate The Natural Way
1) Eat Plenty of Protein at Every Meal
In general, food raises your metabolic rate within 3 hours after consumption. But, the different food groups elevate your metabolic rate differently. While carbohydrates will increase your metabolic rate by up to 10% and fats by 3%, proteins raise the rate by up to 30%.
Protein also has the advantage of giving you the full feeling that will ensure you do not eat as much. The reduced cravings decrease your calorie intake. This implies that you will have better control of your weight. You should incorporate more protein in all your meals. Mater of fact, snack on some protein, such as a handful of cashew nuts or low-fat yogurt and your body will thank you.
2) Drink Green Tea or Oolong Tea
With so many options of tea available in the market, always go for natural green tea. Sipping on a cup of green tea often will increase your metabolic rate by 5%, resulting in your body burning fat.
3) Eat Spicy Foods
If you have not tested your palate with spicy food, you could be missing out on its various benefits. Increased metabolic rate included. Hot pepper contains capsaicin, an ingredient famous for its great metabolic-boosting effects. Some studies claim you could burn ten calories for every meal you consume with hot pepper. It might be a little amount, but you will see the effect with time.
4) Drink More Coffee
You might be happy knowing that your morning cup of coffee does more than starting your day with a kick. It is a metabolism booster of up to 11%. This could be the reason you end up having lots of energy to carry you through the day.
But, if you suffer from anxiety attacks, then coffee might not be the ideal solution. It can worsen your anxiety since it contains caffeine. Known to stimulate the “flight or fight” response.
5) Do a High-Intensity Workout
Excessive cardio or aerobic exercise is working out for 30-60 minutes a day, several times a week. This causes an increase in the level of cortisol in your blood. Which translates to storage of excess fats and binge eating. And the craving of high sugar foods, among other effects.
High-intensity interval training has the opposite effect. It causes you to burn more calories and increase your metabolic rate. You do not even have to sign up for a gym class because you can do the exercise at home.
6) Lift Heavy Things
Muscle is more metabolically active than fat. Building muscle can help increase your metabolism. This means you will burn more calories each day, even at rest.
Lifting weights will also help you keep muscle. It can also combat the drop in metabolism that can occur during weight loss.
One study placed 48 overweight women on a diet of 800 calories per day. Combined with either no exercise, aerobic exercise or resistance training.
The women who did resistance training maintained their muscle mass, metabolism, and strength. The others also lost weight. But they lost muscle mass and experienced a decrease in metabolism.
7) Stand up More
Sitting too much is bad for your health. Some health commentators have even dubbed it “the new smoking.” This is partly because long periods of sitting burn fewer calories and can lead to weight gain.
In fact, compared to sitting, an afternoon of standing up at work can burn an extra 174 calories. If you have a desk job, try standing up for short periods to break up the length of time you spend sitting down. You can also invest in a standing desk.
8) Drink More Cold Water
Cold water is a metabolism booster of up to 30%. However, drinking cold water while eating food will interfere with digestion. So, sip on some room-temperature water, and save the iced water for the rest of the day.
9) Replace Cooking Fats With Coconut Oil
Opt for coconut oil instead of other vegetable oils when cooking. It remains safe even at high temperatures. Besides, coconut oil has fatty acids that help the burning of fat. While speeding up the metabolic rate at the same time.
10) Treat any Chronic Inflammation
Chronic inflammations can be due to many causes. Such as food allergies or inadequate healthy gut bacteria. They may lead to slow metabolic rate. If you can treat such inflammations, then your metabolic rate is sure to increase.
11) Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Inadequate sleep affects your hormones adversely. The less you sleep, the higher your chances of not losing weight.
Metabolic Rate Still Low, What Then?
Unfortunately, you can try all these tips and still feel your metabolic rate is sluggish. A qualified practitioner might shed some light on what the problem could be.
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