9 Sure-Fire Ways To Speed Up Your Metabolism

Everything we consume on a daily basis has the ability to be converted into energy. However, our body size, sex, and age all factor into the way our body will metabolize things. There are ways in which a person can naturally speed up their metabolism and the faster it is, the more calories that will be burned off.

Exercise

The best and easiest way of boosting your metabolism is through regular exercise. Through increasing the intensity of your workouts, you can jump-start your metabolism and keep burning calories even after your done exercising. High Intensity Interval Training is fast-paced exercise that focuses on challenge and recovery, over and over again. Examples of these exercises include sprints, overhead presses, tricep extensions, pushups and jumping jacks.

Green Tea

Drinking green tea provides the body with a super infusion of antioxidants, and research has proven it increases the metabolism. It is calorie free and made from unfermented leaves. According to the Maryland University Medical Center, it has the highest concentration of phenols, which are powerful antioxidants. Green tea can also be used to treat the following conditions:

• Atherosclerosis
• High cholesterol
• Cancer
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Diabetes
• Liver disease

Drinking Enough Water

The human body needs water to survive and process calories. If a person is slightly dehydrated, the metabolism can slow down. A healthy body that is well-hydrated will flush out any toxins and help in fat metabolizing. An easy way to determine if you have consumed enough water is to take note of the color of your urine. If urine is colorless or light yellow, it means you are well hydrated, but if it is bright or dark yellow it means you should drink more water. Drinking iced water also helps to burn calories because it means the body will have to use energy to warm itself up.

Vitamin B12

This vitamin is water-soluble and naturally found in some foods, but is added to others. Vitamin B12 exists in several forms and contains cobalt, which is a mineral. Methylcobalamin and 5-deoxyadenossylcobalamin are the forms of B12 that are responsible for human metabolism. This vitamin is necessary for the proper formation of red blood cells, DNA synthesis, and neurological function.

See Also: Vitamin B12 Deficiency: The Under-Reported Epidemic

B12 is found naturally in animal products including; fish, eggs, meat, poultry, milk and milk products. Due to the role that vitamin B12 plays in energy metabolism, it is frequently promoted as an energy enhancer and increases athletic performance and endurance. The vitamin is very important for overall metabolic functioning.

More Tricks To Boost Your Metabolism

Protein

The human body burns more calories digesting proteins than it does fats or carbohydrates. As an important part of a balanced diet, you should replace some carbohydrates in your diet with lean, protein-rich foods that can give your metabolism a boost. Some great ways of incorporating protein into your diet is to consume foods like lean beef, fish, turkey, white meat chicken, nuts, beans, eggs, tofu and low fat dairy products.

Eat Breakfast Every Day

It’s important to begin your day with breakfast. Not only does eating breakfast increase your metabolic rate, the National Weight Control Registry found through one of the largest studies of ongoing weight losers that a majority of individuals who had lost at least 30 pounds had managed to keep it off through eating breakfast on a daily basis. Consume a breakfast high in protein in order to balance your blood sugar and prevent an appetite crash later on in the morning due to eating a meal high in sugar and/or starches.

Get Enough Sleep

Chronic loss of sleep has the ability to reduce the capacity of people to perform basic metabolic functions, such as processing and storing carbohydrates and/or hormone regulation. Researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center, found that those cutting back from a regular eight hour sleep schedule down to four per night experienced profound changes in their glucose tolerance and endocrine function. These changes resembled the effects of advanced age or the early onset of diabetes, after only a week. Lack of sleep also altered the production of thyroid stimulating hormone and increased the blood levels of cortisol, particularly during the afternoon and evening.

Drink A Cup of Coffee

Consuming a moderate amount of coffee throughout the day has been shown to have positive effects on metabolism, exercise performance and fat burning. However, it’s important to never consume poor quality coffee and to leave out the additional sugar, creamers and other flavoring additives, because all it does is adds more calories and lead to weight gain.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has gained a lot of attention due to its role in glucose metabolism. The spice is widely used in food preparation and as a traditional antidiabetic remedy, it improves insulin performance and reduces the level of fasting glucose in the blood. It can speed up the metabolism by as much as 8%, but it is temporary. In addition to increasing the metabolism, cinnamon is also beneficial with sugar metabolism. Studies done by the Mayo Clinic have shown it improves insulin resistance and stabilizes blood sugar levels.

Overview

You are probably already aware of the fact that our metabolism slows due to the aging process. If you are looking for a way to give your body a metabolism boost, it is going to involve knowing the basics and applying them to your daily routine. It is true that metabolism is linked to weight gain, but contrary to what you may think a slow metabolism is not normally the cause of extra pounds creeping up on you.

See Also: 5 Tips To Help You Sleep Easy

Although your metabolism influences the way your body functions, it also has to do with the level of physical activity you engage in, and what you eat and drink that will determine if you become overweight or not. It can be very tempting to blame your weight gain on a slow metabolism, but unfortunately it is way more complicated than that.