The metabolism process in a person’s body is very closely related to weight loss. The higher the rate of your metabolism, the more fat and calories you burn. But the critical question for everyone looking for an effective way to lose weight is how to boost your metabolism?
Your body requires energy all the time for everything it does. Even when you are sleeping, in order to repair cell damage, breathe, and keep your heart and other organs going, your body needs fuel. The metabolism process makes that fuel for you by breaking and turning your food into energy.
But more energy and weight loss are not the only perks of a fast metabolism rate. They include but are not limited to food digestion, body temperature control, blood circulation, and breathing. The Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the number of calories that your essential bodily functions require.
Many factors affect your metabolic rates, such as your age, sex, genetics, the activity level you perform daily, muscle mass, and body fat. Let us get straight to learning how to boost the metabolism rate that can help you shape your waist circumference and enhance your energy levels.
Eat Organic
You can identify your thyroid as the thermostat of your body. It makes your bodily functions run fast or slow by creating more or less thyroid hormone, respectively. The pace with which your heart beats and you burn calories, etc., is determined by it. When you eat inorganic food, it interferes with the functions of your thyroid, which results in slow metabolism. On the contrary, organic foods such as grains, vegetables, and fruits that have not been exposed to pesticides, do not weaken your thyroid with toxins and make your metabolism stronger.
Do Not Stress
There is an enzyme that is used in breaking down fat in your body. Betatrophin is a protein that restrains that enzyme. Frequent stress helps stimulate Betatrophin production. A study conducted at Ohio State University analyzed the calorie-burning rate of stressed and unstressed women after giving them a high-fat meal. The researchers concluded that stressed women burned around 104 fewer calories following the next seven hours than their counterparts.
Sleep More
Getting at least seven hours of sleep every night is essential for good metabolism. The digestion of fat in your food can become slow if you are not well-slept. Sleep deprivation can also cause you to feel less filled after eating, causing you to eat more.
Practice Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting allows you to eat during a specific period and halt your calories intake for another. You can practice it by designating 8 hours of a day during which you can eat anything you like and do not eat for the rest of the day. Another way is alternate-day fasting. Eat as much as you want on alternate days and fast for a good number of hours during the other days. A study compared the change in the metabolic rate of a group that exercised intermittent fasting to a group that consumed 25% fewer calories overall. The result was the same, and after 18 weeks, they all lost an average of 13 pounds. But remember, it is not for everyone, and you should take advice about it from your physician before considering it.
Take Breaks From Screens
The bright light emerging out of the screens of computers, mobile phones, tablets, etc., can cause and increase insulin resistance. Your body cannot do away with glucose from within your bloodstream effectively. This phenomenon can tamper with your metabolism. The study also found that the light from screens makes people feel more hungry before and after meals. It is recommended anyway to get away from screens every now and then.
Maintain Body Muscle Mass
The muscle mass in the body takes up the energy to sustain itself. Even when you are sleeping, it continues to burn calories in order to absorb the resulting fuel. Building muscle mass and maintaining it is a great way to lose weight as well as boost your metabolism rate.
Consume Coffee
As it turns out, the most popular drink in the world can help in this regard. A coffee cup without cream or syrup can provide you with antioxidants and a boost in energy. The caffeine in it helps speed up your nervous system, which accelerates your metabolism.
Befriend Seafood
Fish oil has the ability to decrease the enzymes in your body responsible for storing fat. Seafood is filled with omega-3 fatty acids and proteins, both of which support the increase of muscle mass, decrease of fat, and boost metabolism.
Do High-Intensity Interval Training
Interval training is when you add short intervals of paced-up exercises to your normal low-level cardio workouts. If you are running or swimming at a steady speed, increase the intensity and pace for 30 seconds before going back to the slower pace. By doing this, you can get your cell powerhouses, called mitochondria, to burn more calories as your body takes in more oxygen. HIIT is an excellent way of fat loss and increasing the rate of metabolism for people who like to exercise more in less time.
Remember, eating less than your resting metabolic rate can make your metabolism process think there is not enough food out there and cause it to slow down to preserve energy. So, do not deprive your body of the calories it requires for its basic needs. The key is to fill in your body with good calories. Eat healthy and organic food, proteins, dietary fibres, etc., and try to stay away from trans fats and high-sugar foods.
One calorie equals one calorie but might still differ from it. A single calorie you consume in the shape of trans fat can cause insulin resistance and hinder your body’s ability to burn fat, which a calorie from the seafood will not. Also, eating too much at once can cause an insulin spike, resulting in gains in metabolism and negatively impact weight loss. Now that you know how to boost your metabolism, we hope you will follow at least some of these practices and benefit from a paced-up metabolic rate.