What if I told you that overweight, low libido, lack of motivation, and mood swings could potentially result from the decline of your metabolism! If you are used to diet and weight loss, you’ve probably heard about metabolism without knowing exactly what it is. When you finish reading this blog post you will learn the benefits of accelerating our metabolism and how to make it happen. Let's dig into the subject.
Let's first understand what metabolism really is. The metabolism is one of the many physiological processes that take place in our body. It represents the set of chemical reactions that convert food and drinks into our much-needed energy. Our metabolism is never stable, it is always working, even at sleep.
Metabolism plays an essential role in our ability to lose fat. The higher the metabolism rate is, the more energy is spent, the less fat is stored, the more positive our mood is, the better our libido is, and the healthier we are!
On the other hand, people with a slower metabolism rate burn less energy and are more prone to overweight. They also have a stronger tendency for depression and negativity in general. If you suffer from these symptoms, it is probably because your metabolism, or more precisely your thyroid, is barely doing its job. The thyroid gland, located near your neck, secretes hormones regulating growth and development through the rate of metabolism.
Metabolism is influenced by numerous factors that are specific to each individual:
It is also directly correlated to the muscle mass in the body, which explains why the metabolism decreases with the practice of restrictive weight-loss diets that lead to muscle loss and the reason why men tend to have a higher metabolism when compared to women.
Basal metabolism is the turnover of energy in a fasting and resting human body using energy solely to maintain vital cellular activity, respiration, and circulation as measured by the basal metabolic rate.
Daily energy expenditure is closely linked to basal metabolism. Digesting food and recovering from exercise spends energy too. If you spend more energy than the calories you consume, you will lose weight, even if your body is at "rest".
You can calculate your basal metabolic rate very easily with a BMR Calculator like the one below. The basal metabolic rate shows you how many calories your organism needs to properly function considering you will be at rest all day. The basal metabolic rate accounts for the largest amount of the total calories a person burns each day (something from 60 to 80 percent for most adults). This post is intended to help you boost the remaining 20 to 40 pecent of calorie expenditure!
Now you know your basal metabolic rate. The result you got doesn't take into account the energy you need to digest or the energy you will burn while doing physical activity nor the energy used to repair your body after exercise. This other calculator now takes physical activity into account and asks for your desired weight allowing you to plan your calorie intake in accordance with your goals, be it gaining or losing weight.
Increasing our metabolism means boosting our energy expenditure (burning more calories). We can increase our metabolism by:
Having an efficient physical activity routine can help you to increase your metabolism.
Muscle tissue has higher metabolic activity than fat tissue and its maintenance requires much more energy (calories). Therefore, moderate to high physical activity is one of the best ways to boost your metabolism and burning more calories. Muscle mass is metabolically much more active than fat and accelerates metabolism, even at rest!
Physical activities that involve muscle mass, such as fitness workouts and strength training (CrossFit), increase basal metabolism drastically. Our HIIT routine is an excellent exercise routine to try that stimulates muscle mass!
Digesting food requires energy and this is why it is important to talk about the thermic effect of food. (TEF). The TEF is the amount of energy expenditure above the BMR due to the cost of processing food for use and storage and is one of the components of metabolism along with the BMR and exercise. About 10% of our daily energy expenditure is due to digestion.
Everything your body does requires energy (calories). When you run, cycle, dance, walk, eat, work, breathe or sleep, your body uses a substance called ATP (Adenosine triphosphate).
This organic chemical that provides energy can be found in glucose, coming from the foods we eat.
If you have more glucose in your blood than you spend energy, glucose is converted into fat, so you can use it as an energy source later. But if you burn more energy than you consume, the body must use your fat stock as an energy source.
Some foods require more energy than others to be assimilated. Keep reading if you want to discover 10 foods that increase metabolism!
1. Spicy food & Spices
Spicy foods are excellent for boosting your metabolism.
Chilies contain capsaicin, which is the nutrient that provides the spicy taste. This chemical compound helps the body to burn calories, but it also helps to release the stress hormone, and this increases the overall metabolic activity.
Don't hesitate to add spiciness to your life and meal! Why not top your dishes with jalapeño or cayenne pepper?
Spices are also a good ally. For instance, you could use ginger which contains antioxidants. It has the ability to accelerate metabolism and promote a feeling of satiety.
2. Broccoli
Broccoli is clearly one of the best foods to add to your daily diet! It contains so many nutrients that will help you to increase your metabolism:
3. Green tea
Green tea is a very tasty hot drink, but it is also the perfect food to boost metabolism! As a matter of fact, it has a high content of antioxidants called flavonoids.
The theine, contained in tea, increases basal metabolism, which promotes energy expenditure.
Prefer to consume organic tea in leaves. Green tea leaves have tannins which also reduce the assimilation of fat.
4. Citrus Fruit
Citrus fruits are delicious and contain a great amount of vitamin C, which can help to regulate the insulin level. This hormone requires the body to store food in the form of fat. Thanks to citrus fruit and its benefits, we are able to regulate insulin and therefore increase our metabolism.
Due to its high fiber content, citrus fruits such as lemon help you to digest quickly.
My favorite of them is Grapefruit, and you?
5. Cold Water
It is common knowledge that water is the best drink for you. Did you know that our bodies contain 60% of water?
I recommend you to drink cold water. When you ingest any food that is too cold, your body uses more energy to heat the water it ingests. Therefore, you will burn more energy to do so, which will boost your metabolism.
Try to start your day with a big glass of cold water with lemon juice and ginger!
6. Oats
Oats are a cereal high in soluble fibers that generate an immediate feeling of satiety. Therefore, it is very beneficial if you want to avoid the feeling of craving in the middle of your day. In fine, it accelerates the metabolism.
Moreover, this type of fiber reduces the absorption of cholesterol into the bloodstream. Therefore, it helps to fight against heart diseases and cardiovascular accidents.
7. Omega 3 food
Omega 3 can be found in nuts and seeds such as:
These foods increase your metabolism because omega 3 reduces the production of the leptin, which is a chemical compound that slows down the metabolism, the opposite of what we are looking for!
Try to include more omega-3 foods in your diet. You should try our Chocolate Chia Pudding for breakfast, which is also high in protein!
8. Beans
If you implemented a vegetarian or vegan diet, you are probably very familiar with beans.
As a plant-based protein, they can help your muscle recovery after the physical activity.
Digesting beans also represent a great effort for the body, as it takes time to be integrated. This activity will make your digestive system burn more energy, which will improve your metabolism.
9. Almonds
Almonds, such as other oilseeds, contain a lot of fiber and fatty acids. The fats in almonds are natural and healthy, and the body can easily burn them to make energy, which is helping the metabolism to improve.
Don't abuse it, as almonds are caloric!
10. Soups
Not only soups are delicious, but they are a great metabolism booster.
Exactly like the cold water, the thermal effect of the food will require your body to use more energy in order to cool down the food ingested. Therefore, you will burn more energy to do so, which will boost your metabolism.
Eating less to reduce the number of calories absorbed could be a good idea. However, it is not enough to lose weight because the body adapts its metabolism accordingly, as it was putting itself in the "survival mode". You will certainly lose a few kilos in the first few weeks of the diet, but it will become more difficult afterward. The basal metabolic rate decreases as you lose weight.
As mentioned earlier, metabolism depends on several factors that are specific to each one of us. If you are looking to lose weight, don't try to follow the Beyoncé diet or any other dietary regimes you saw online! Make an appointment with the nutritionist to elaborate with him on a program that fits your needs.
We try to be as simple as possible, but it's important that you check with a Health professional how to boost your metabolism regarding your body and its particularities.
We hope that you learn a lot about being healthier in this article!
Don't forget to drink Falcon Protein to complete your diet and get the amount of protein you daily need! Have you checked our Metabolism Boosting Smoothie recipe yet? For this and more content about Health, fitness & lifestyle, please feel free to have a look at our Birdman blog.
Hey Marine! Thanks for this blog on metabolism and for the list of foods that can help increase it. I’ll make sure to take in more of those. Thanks for the bmr calculator too. I always need one in order to calculate my tdee – I use this tdee calculator https://theblakediet.com/tdee-calculator/ which is great btw. I’ve been watching my calories ever since I started my weight loss journey and it does help to eat less to actually lose weight (I make sure to not take more than my total tdee minus 300 calories). So far I feel great so I think my metabolism is okay but I guess we’ll see over time. Thanks again!
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