Boost Metabolism

Metabolism is the process of breaking down food into fuel to energize our bodies. It's a popular topic in weight loss circles because if you boost metabolism you may lose weight.

There are dozens, probably hundreds, of diet products which claim to help boost metabolism, but what can you do if you don't want to use supplements or drugs?

It's simply a matter of controlling your mealtimes and making a few changes to your daily routine.

Take care about the "how" and "when" of mealtimes.

If you don't eat breakfast, for example, your metabolism slows because your body thinks you're facing a famine. After all, it hasn't had any food since the day before, probably ten hours or more ago.

As far as the "how", dinner should be your lightest meal and some experts say you shouldn't eat anything after 8 p.m. or closer than 4 hours before you go to bed.

Smaller and more frequent meals throughout the day will keep your blood sugar stable, providing a steady source of energy to boost metabolism.

Make sure you eat at least 1100 calories in a day or our body will kick into starvation mode and slow your metabolism.

So if your metabolism is slower than it should be, what can you do to improve it?

Aerobic (cardio) exercises are a great boost for your metabolism, so if you can develop a taste for running, jogging, walking or even aerobics, you'll boost metabolism. As a matter of fact, if you can manage to perform this exercise in the morning you'll raise your metabolism all day long.

If you really want to shift your metabolism into high gear start a weight training routine. You can start off with body weight at first moving up to dumbbells or weights.

You can also help by drinking 8 8-ounce glasses of water each day since the energy burning processes of metabolism need water to work effectively.

Science has found that there are a few foods that boost your metabolism naturally. Although the amount of metabolism boosting power is very small, it can add up over time. And I think that most of us will accept any extra help that we can get.

The following foods are not in any particular order.

~ Oatmeal. Not the instant, sugared and flavored type
but the steel cut rolled oats that takes 5 minutes plus to cook. Oatmeal is high in fiber so it takes a lot of energy to digest it, boosting your metabolism. It also helps to keep you full longer.

~ Apples and pears. Like oatmeal, the fiber in these fruits take a lot of energy to digest so while they are digesting your body works a bit harder and therefore burns more calories.
It has been found that if you eat 1 apple before every meal (3 a day) you will eat 25% less during the day and also increase your metabolism rate. This works as well as a "diet pill" yet, is all natural.

~ Turmeric and Cumin (also spelled cummin). You may have heard that hot, spicy food can help boost your metabolism, well researchers have found that it's not just any hot spices that raise your metabolism and that tumeric and cumin raise your metabolism higher than other spices.

~ Water. Well we all know that water has 0 calories, yet it takes calories to absorb the water. Some researchers have found that by drinking water throughout the day (at least 10 glasses) you can increase your metabolism as much as 30% for a portion of your day. They believe that this higher metabolic rate may last for 20-25 after drinking a full glass of water. Again, the boost is small but you should also know that if your body is dehydrated your metabolism may slow down by 30% for the entire day. So keeping hydrated can make a big difference.

~Broccoli. Like oatmeal, apples and pears, broccoli takes a lot of energy to digest and also helps to keep you full.

~ Grapefruit. Yes, eating grapefruit really does boost metabolism and it's not an old wives tale. One thing that you should note is that grapefruit and grapefruit juice can interfere with many prescriptions - so before you add grapefruit to your diet check with your doctor if you are on any prescriptions (or over the counter products on a regular basis - like aspirin).

~ Lean turkey, lean beef or lean fish. Yes, protein can help to boost metabolism. You do however, have to make sure that the protein is lean. Most people assume that all fish is lean but it's not. Try to stick to salmon (which is also very good for the skin) and tuna.

~Whey protein. Whey protein is usually low in fat, calories, carbs and high in protein. It's great for a morning power shake or in between meal snack. Just read the label to make sure that it's low in sugar as many brands add additional sugar to entice more people to use their brand.

~ Nuts - especially almonds and pistachios. They do pack a lot of calories so try to keep a serving portion to 5-7 nuts a serving. You'll find that by having just a few nuts you will also be less tempted to cheat on your diet.

~ Natural, plain yogurt. Avoid the sugared type. Yogurt contains protein which will help boost your metabolic rate while it's digesting.

Other foods and drinks that can help raise your metabolism are: green tea, coffee, hot peppers, cinnamon, beans, 100% whole grain breads and pasta, spinach and peanut butter.

Always remember that fruit and vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories so the more that you add to your diet the less room you'll have for fatty or junk type foods.

The less processed a food is, the harder it is for your body to utilize it, therefore it takes more calories to digest it and while the food is digesting your metabolism gets a quick boost.

If you hate running, remember, you do not have to run a marathon to stay fit. 10 minutes of cardio each day is good start.

Build up the amount of time you spend on cardio over a period of time.

Did you know that weight and interval training burns more fat than standard cardio?

Making sure that your body is adequately hydrated daily can help keep your metabolism up. If you get dehydrated your metabolism will slow down.