5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Metabolism

Improve Your Metabolism - 5 Simple Ways

Many people say that their weight is because they have SLOW METABOLISM. But what does that mean? Is Metabolism the real reason? Whether or not this is true, can you speedup your so that you burn more fat?

The fact that Metabolism is linked to how much you eat is true. But, contrary to what most people think, Slow Metabolism isn't always the reason people gain too much weight.

Metabolism is the process of converting food into energy: It's how your body turns what you eat and drink into energy. During this complicated process, calories in food and drinks are mixed with oxygen to make the energy your body needs to work.

Even when you're at rest, your body needs the energy to do all of its "hidden" things, like breathe, circulate blood, adjust hormone levels, and grow and repair cells. The number of calories your body needs to do these simple things is called your basal metabolic rate.

5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Metabolism:

There are many things that can affect how quickly your body burns calories. Some people are born with a fast metabolism. As we all know, men tend to burn more calories than women even when they're just sitting down. For most people, their metabolism slows down a lot after the age of 40. Even though you can't change your age, gender, or genes, there are ways to improve your metabolism. Here are 5 of them.

Snack Smart: Eat more often to lose weight. It takes your body longer to get ready for the next meal if you eat a lot of food and have a long break in between. You burn more calories if you have a small meal or snack every three to four hours. Another study shows that people who snack often eat less at mealtime.

Power Up with Protein: Your body burns a lot more calories digesting protein than it does fat or carbs. As part of a healthy diet, replacing some carbs with lean, protein-rich foods can help your body burn more calories at mealtime. People who need a lot of protein should eat lean beef, turkey, and fish, as well as white meat chicken and tofu, nuts, beans, eggs, and low-fat dairy.

Avoid Crash Diets: People who want to speed up their metabolism shouldn't go on "crash diets," which means eating less than 1,200 (if you're a woman) or 1,800 (if you're a man) calories a day. These diets may help you lose weight, but they don't give you good nutrition in the process. Plus, it backfires because you can lose muscle, which slows down your metabolism, so it doesn't work as well. The end result is that your body doesn't burn as many calories and you gain weight faster than before the diet.

Spice Up Your Meal: People who eat spicy foods can get their metabolisms revved up by eating them. Cooking food with a tablespoon of chopped red or green chili pepper can help you burn more calories. The effect is likely to be short-lived, but if you eat spicy foods a lot, the benefits could add up over time. When you need a quick boost, add red pepper flakes to pasta, chili, and stews to make them spicier.

Recharge with Tea: Drinking green tea or oolong tea is a good way to get the benefits of caffeine and catechins, two substances that have been shown to speed up the metabolism for a few hours. Research says that drinking 2 to 4 cups of either tea may help the body burn 17% more calories while exercising for a short time.