5 Ways To Speed Up Your Metabolism
10:33 AM
We all have various things we reminisce about. But there’s one thing we all can agree that we definitely miss: our young high-speed metabolism!
Most of us can think back to a time in our lives that we didn’t think twice about food. We ate what we wanted and never stopped to consider the calorie count or the fat content. As we age however, food becomes more and more of a foe that we feel we must constantly battle and manipulate thanks to our ever slowing metabolism.
There’s no need to throw in the towel completely however. While it’s true that our metabolism will continue to slow ever so slightly year after year, there are things we can do, foods we can eat and activities that we can start to help give it a boost!
Below are 5 ways you can give your metabolism a jump-start right away:
Below are 5 ways you can give your metabolism a jump-start right away:
1) Stick to “chewy foods”: The more you have to chew food, the more your body needs work to break down the food and the more calories you burn ingesting that food. Things like lean meats, nuts, whole fruits and vegetables force the body to work harder to break it down and thus burn more calories. So instead of having applesauce, go for the whole apple and make your body work for it!
2) High Fiber Foods: High fiber foods not only take up more space in your stomach (compared to other foods with the same amount of calories) making you feel fuller faster, but they also burn 10% more calories and increase the thermic effect of foods. (The calorie-burn we get digesting a given type of food.)
3) Spicy foods: While many spices give a slight boost to your metabolism, spices can also be used to flavor healthier choices to be more palatable, helping you to stick to denser, more fibrous, lower calorie and more metabolism-boosting foods.
Also, foods such as peppers, cinnamon, ginger, mustard, vinegar, garlic and cloves can be used to help fully activate calories ingested during a meal.
A new study from UCLA shows that dieters taking capsaicin, the chemical that gives peppers a burning sensation doubled their energy expenditure for several hours after eating. Even mild peppers were proven to help eliminate an additional 100 calories a day by sending fat-burning signals to the brain.
4) Activity boosts metabolism: Diet and exercise have been drilled into our minds as something that go hand in hand as long as you can remember. So, make sure to use them both to your advantage. And don’t forget to tone. For each additional pound of muscle you have you burn an additional 10% more calories each and every day.
5) Energizing Foods: When used in moderation, caffeinated foods such as coffee, black and green tea and dark chocolate help boost your metabolism. As an added bonus, once you have the additional energy you will likely be inspired to move more and thus burn even more! Remember to eat chocolate in moderation and avoid too much cream and sugar in your coffee!
While we may not be able to revisit our old speedy metabolisms any more than we can relive high school but if you add metabolism boosting habits to your daily regimen you can keep a slowing metabolism from hindering the wonderful life you have now!
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