StatinsR(not)us!: Metabolism

Showing posts with label Metabolism. Show all posts

Boost metabolism

Here are 11 proven ways to keep that body burning strong.

1. Sleep!

Almost nodding off in line at Starbucks isn't the only downside of not catching enough zzz's. Researchers have found a link between metabolism and sleep, and not getting enough of it may seriously slow metabolism.

2. Drink green tea

Not only does this superfood pack an antioxidant-punch, researchers have found it speeds metabolism as well . Plus, it's naturally calorie-free, so there's no reason not to enjoy a mug (or two).

3. Amp up workout intensity

Slow and steady may not always win the race. High-intensity interval training (HIIT), such as interval runs, are quick bouts of intense exercise that can jumpstart metabolism and keep us burning calories long after the workout is over. (Afterburn effect, anyone?) .

4. Don't skip breakfast

It may be time to reconsider hitting snooze in favor of getting up to grab a quick bite before starting the day. Studies show the importance of quick-starting metabolism with breakfast . No a.m. appetite? Snack on something small, like a bowl of Greek yogurt.

5. Pump some iron

The weight room isn't only to help bulk up or get lean. Lifting weights can also help speed resting metabolic rate, making those dumbbells our new best friends .

6. Gulp some H20

Drinking enough water is a simple way to speed up digestion and burn calories . We may need more than those recommended eight glasses a day too. Now if only wine could speed metabolism...

7. Spice things up

The next time a chicken breast is cooking up in the kitchen, add a dash of cayenne pepper. The heat from the pepper is thanks to capsaicin, which wont only add a fiery kick—it could help boost metabolism, too .

8. Squeeze in some cardio

Hop on the bike and clock in some miles—one study found that 45 minutes on the bike sped up metabolic rate for over 12 hours . Guess learning to ride a bike way back when was worth it!

9. Eat wisely

Who knew eating could actually help speed calorie burn? Certain foods like tuna and grapefruit have been shown to speed up metabolic rate . Packing in protein has also shown to boost metabolism, so pick some eggs over pancakes at the breakfast table for a morning metabolism boost .

10. Grab a cup of Joe

This caffeinated morning beverage is not only a savior when it comes to pushing through a midterm paper or work meeting. A cup of coffee (or the caffeine in it) is absorbed into the blood stream very quickly, speeding up heart rate and provide a metabolic boost that peaks at about three hours after drinking .

11. Laugh a lot!

A little laughter may go a long way. Scientists have found that as little as 10 minutes of laughter per day (or roughly half an episode of SNL) can burn energy . Just another reason to stay smiling!

Drink Coffee

Studies have shown that the caffeine in coffee can boost metabolism by 3–11%. Like green tea, it also promotes fat burning (77, 78, 79).

However, this seems to affect lean people more. In one study, coffee increased fat burning by 29% for lean women, but only 10% for obese women (80).

Coffee's effects on metabolism and fat burning may also contribute to successful weight loss and maintenance (77, 81).

BOTTOM LINE:Drinking coffee can significantly increase your metabolism and help you lose weight.

Replace Cooking Fats with Coconut Oil

Unlike other saturated fats, coconut oil contains a lot of medium-chain fats.

Medium-chain fats can increase your metabolism more than the long-chain fats found in foods like butter (82, 83, 84, 85, 86).

In one study, researchers found that medium-chain fats increased metabolism by 12%, compared to long-chain fats, which raised it by just 4% (87).

Due to the unique fatty acid profile of coconut oil, replacing some of your other cooking fats with it may have modest benefits for weight loss (88, 89).

BOTTOM LINE:Replacing other cooking fats with coconut oil may help boost your metabolism slightly.

Boost metabolism

Drink Green Tea or Oolong Tea

Green tea and oolong tea have been shown to increase metabolism by 4–5% (53, 54, 55).

These teas help convert some of the fat stored in your body into free fatty acids, which may increase fat burning by 10–17% (56).

As they are low in calories, drinking these teas may be good for both weight loss and weight maintenance (57, 58, 59).

It's thought their metabolism-boosting properties may help prevent the dreaded weight loss plateau that occurs due to a decrease in metabolism.

However, some studies find that these teas do not affect metabolism. Therefore, their effect may be small or only apply to some people (60, 61).

BOTTOM LINE:Drinking green tea or oolong tea can increase your metabolism. These teas may also help you lose weight and keep it off.

Eat Spicy Foods

Peppers contain capsaicin, a substance that can boost your metabolism (62, 63, 64).

However, many people can't tolerate these spices at the doses required to have a significant effect (65).

One study of capsaicin, at acceptable doses, predicted that eating peppers would burn around 10 additional calories per meal. Over 6.5 years, this could account for 1 lb (0.5 kg) of weight loss for an average-weight male (66).

Alone, the effects of adding spices to your food may be quite small. However, it may be slightly useful when combined with other metabolism-boosting strategies (67).

BOTTOM LINE:Eating spicy food could be beneficial for boosting your metabolism and help you maintain a healthy weight.

Get a Good Night's Sleep

Lack of sleep is linked to a major increase in the risk of obesity (68, 69).

This may partly be caused by the negative effects of sleep deprivation on metabolism (70).

Lack of sleep has also been linked with increased blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, which are both linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (70, 71, 72, 73).

It's also been shown to boost the hunger hormone ghrelin, and decrease the fullness hormone leptin (74, 75, 76).

This could explain why many people who are sleep deprived feel hungry and struggle to lose weight.

BOTTOM LINE:Lack of sleep can decrease the amount of calories you burn, change the way you process sugar and disrupt your appetite-regulating hormones.

Boost your metabolism

Lift Heavy Things

Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, and building muscle can help increase your metabolism (36, 37, 38, 39).

This means you will burn more calories each day, even at rest (40).

Lifting weights will also help you retain muscle and combat the drop in metabolism that can occur during weight loss (41, 42, 43, 44).

In one study, 48 overweight women were placed on a diet of 800 calories per day, along with either no exercise, aerobic exercise or resistance training (45).

After the diet, the women who did the resistance training maintained their muscle mass, metabolism and strength. The others lost weight, but also lost muscle mass and experienced a decrease in metabolism (45).

BOTTOM LINE:Lifting weights is important for building and retaining muscle. Higher amounts of muscle will result in a higher metabolism.

Stand up More

Sitting too much is bad for your health (46).

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 (47).

In fact, compared with sitting, an afternoon of standing up at work can burn an extra 174 calories (48). 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 (49, 50, 51, 52).

Do a High-Intensity Workout

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves quick and very intense bursts of activity.

It can help you burn more fat by increasing your metabolic rate, even after your workout has finished (28, 29, 30, 31).

This effect is believed to be greater for HIIT than for other types of exercise. What's more, HIIT has also been shown to help you burn fat (32, 33, 34).

One study in overweight young men found that 12 weeks of high-intensity exercise reduced fat mass by 4.4 lbs (2 kg) and belly fat by 17% (35).

BOTTOM LINE:Mixing up your exercise routine, and adding in a few high-intensity workouts, can boost your metabolism and help you burn fat.

Drink More Cold Water

People who drink water instead of sugary drinks are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off (16, 17, 18, 19, 20).

This is because sugary drinks contain calories, so replacing them with water automatically reduces your calorie intake.

However, drinking water may also speed up your metabolism temporarily (18, 21).

Studies have shown that drinking 17 oz (0.5 liters) of water increases resting metabolism by 10–30% for about an hour (22, 23).

This calorie-burning effect may be even greater if you drink cold water, as your body uses energy to heat it up to body temperature (21, 24).

Water can also help fill you up. Studies show that drinking water a half an hour before you eat can help you eat less (25, 26, 27).

One study of overweight adults found that those who drank half a liter of water before their meals lost 44% more weight than those who didn't (19).

BOTTOM LINE:Water can help you lose weight and keep it off. It increases your metabolism and helps fill you up before meals.

How to prevent your metabolism slowing down

Although the metabolism typically slows down with age, there are many things you can do fight this. Here are six ways you can combat the effects of aging on your metabolism.

1. Try Resistance Training

Resistance training, or weight lifting, is great for preventing a slowing metabolism.

It offers the benefits of exercise while preserving muscle mass — two factors that affect the speed of your metabolism.

One study with 13 healthy men aged 50–65 found that 16 weeks of resistance training three times weekly increased their RMR by 7.7% (23).

Another study with 15 people aged 61–77 found that half a year of resistance training three times weekly increased RMR by 6.8% (24).

2. Try High-Intensity Interval Training

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can help prevent a slowing metabolism. It is a training technique that alternates between intense anaerobic exercise with short periods of rest.

HIIT also continues to burn calories long after you finish exercising. This is called the “afterburn effect.” It occurs because your muscles need to use more energy to recover after exercise (25, 26).

In fact, research has shown that HIIT can burn up to 190 calories over 14 hours after exercising (26).

Research also shows that HIIT can help your body build and preserve muscle mass with age (27).

3. Get Plenty of Sleep

Research shows a lack of sleep can slow down your metabolism. Fortunately, a good night’s rest can reverse this effect (28).

One study found that 4 hours of sleep reduced metabolism by 2.6% compared to 10 hours of sleep. Fortunately, a night of long sleep (12 hours) helped restore metabolism (29).

It also seems that poor sleep may increase muscle loss. Since muscle influences your RMR, losing muscle can slow down your metabolism (30).

If you struggle to fall asleep, try unplugging from technology at least one hour before bed. Alternatively, try a sleep supplement.

4. Eat More Protein-Rich Foods

Eating more protein-rich foods can help fight a slowing metabolism.

That’s because your body burns more calories while consuming, digesting and absorbing protein-rich foods. This is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). Protein-rich foods have a higher TEF than carb- and fat-rich foods (31).

In fact, studies have shown that consuming 25–30% of your calories from protein can boost your metabolism by up to 80–100 calories per day, compared to lower protein diets (32).

Protein is also essential to fight sarcopenia. Thus, a protein-rich diet can fight an aging metabolism by preserving muscle (33).

A simple way to eat more protein daily is to have a source of protein at every meal.

5. Make Sure You Eat Enough Food

A low-calorie diet can slow down your metabolism by switching your body into “starvation mode” (34).

While dieting has its benefits when you’re younger, maintaining muscle mass is more important with age (35).

Older adults also tend to have a lower appetite, which may decrease calorie intake and slow metabolism (36).

If you struggle to eat enough calories, try eating smaller portions more frequently. It is also great to have high-calorie snacks like cheese and nuts handy.

6. Drink Green Tea

Green tea can increase your metabolism by 4–5% (37).

This is because green tea contains caffeine and plant compounds, which have been shown to increase your resting metabolism (38).

A study in 10 healthy men found that drinking green tea three times daily increased their metabolism by 4% over 24 hours (39).

SUMMARY:Although your metabolism slows down with age, there are many ways to combat this. This includes resistance training, high-intensity training, getting plenty of rest, eating enough protein and calories and drinking green tea.

Eat Plenty of Protein at Every Meal

Eating food can increase your metabolism for a few hours.

This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF). It's caused by the extra calories required to digest, absorb and process the nutrients in your meal.

Protein causes the largest rise in TEF. It increases your metabolic rate by 15–30%, compared to 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fats (1).

Eating protein has also been shown to help you feel more full and prevent you from overeating (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

One small study found that people were likely to eat around 441 fewer calories per day when protein made up 30% of their diet (9).

Eating more protein can also reduce the drop in metabolism often associated with losing fat. This is because it helps prevent you from losing muscle, a common side effect of dieting (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15).

Why your metabolism slows down with age

You’ve probably been told that as you age, you can’t eat like your younger self.

That’s because your metabolism tends to slow with age, making it easier to add a few extra pounds and harder to lose them.

A few reasons for this include muscle loss, being less active and the natural aging of your metabolic processes.

Luckily, there are many things you can do to combat this age-related drop in metabolism.

This article explains why your metabolism slows down with age and what you can do about it.

What Is Your Metabolism?

Simply put, your metabolism is all of the chemical reactions that help keep your body alive.

It also determines how many calories you burn per day. The faster your metabolism, the more calories you burn.

The speed of your metabolism is influenced by four key factors (1):

Resting metabolic rate (RMR): How many calories you burn while you are resting or asleep. It is the least amount needed to keep you alive and functioning.
Thermic effect of food (TEF): How many calories you burn through digesting and absorbing food. TEF is usually 10% of your daily calories burned.
Exercise: How many calories you burn through exercise.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT): How many calories you burn through non-exercise activities, such as standing, fidgeting, washing the dishes and other household chores.

Other things that can affect your metabolism include age, height, muscle mass and hormonal factors (1).

Unfortunately, research shows that your metabolism slows down with age. A few reasons for this include less activity, muscle loss and the aging of your internal components (2, 3).

SUMMARY:Your metabolism comprises all of the chemical reactions that help keep your body alive. Resting metabolic rate (RMR), thermic effect of food (TEF), exercise and non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) all determine your metabolic speed.

People Tend to Be Less Active With Age

Your activity levels can significantly affect the speed of your metabolism.

In fact, activity — both exercise and non-exercise activity — makes up roughly 10–30% of your calories burned daily. For very active people, this number can be as high as 50% (4).

Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the calories burned through activity other than exercise. This includes tasks like standing, washing the dishes and other household chores.

Unfortunately, older adults are typically less active and burn fewer calories through activity.

Research shows that over a quarter of Americans aged 50–65 don’t exercise outside of work. For people over 75, this increases to over a third (5).

Research also shows that older adults burn roughly 29% fewer calories through NEAT (6).

Staying active can help prevent this drop in metabolism.

One study of 65 healthy young people (21–35 years) and older people (50–72 years) showed that regular endurance exercise prevents metabolism from slowing down with age (7).

SUMMARY:Research shows that people are less active with age. Being less active can significantly slow down your metabolism, as it is responsible for 10–30% of your daily calories burned.