How to Increase Metabolism to Aid Weight Loss

How to Increase Metabolism to Aid Weight Loss

By Misti Sarkar / 08 Jun 2020

A person who has a misbalanced diet, concentrating on only one nutrient or comprising of just junk food will find it difficult to burn the calories and the extra fats. Which gets stored in their bodies. Junk foods take a longer time to break down and the calories they contain do not burn easily. This is how a proper diet leads to a proper digestive system which in turn stimulates better metabolism which helps in weight loss. 

Thus overlooking the metabolism while losing weight can affect us in an adverse way. There are different ways of increasing metabolism for a healthy weight loss.

  • • Balanced Diet: First, before anything else, we should look after our digestive system. Easily digestible and healthy foods speed up the digestion rate and thus enhances metabolism. It's easy to digest healthy foods that can easily provide us energy by breaking down at a faster pace and the calories from such foods are easier to burn. 
  • • Eat more proteins: The body burns more calories while digesting proteins rather than fats or carbohydrates. Proteins have the highest TEF(Thermic Effect of Food)which is caused by the extra calories needed to digest and process the food. Proteins increases metabolic rate by 15-30% compared to carbs(5-10%) and fats(0-3%). Eating proteins make us feel more full and thus, prevent overeating, aiding weight loss. 

Add Vitamin B in diet: We can add vitamin B1, B2, and B6 enriched foods as they are equally important for increasing metabolic rate

Consultation With Doctor In Case Of Diseases: Increasing metabolism is not possible if the consumption of calories is more than the calories which get burned but sometimes even after trying a lot our metabolism may not increase. It can be due to the presence of any diseases in our bodies like hypothyroidism. In such a case, diet and exercise should be decided after consulting a doctor.

  • •    Do High-Intensity Workout: It helps to burn calories even after the workout finishes.
  • •    Avoid Sitting For Longer Time: This is nothing less than addiction as it leads to weight gain. Standing up at work for one afternoon can burn as much as 174 calories.
  • If one has a desk job, standing up at different intervals gives a break to our body from remaining idle by sitting for a long time 
  • •    Drink Green Tea Instead Of Milk Tea: Green tea and oolong tea increases our metabolism rate by 4-5%. These tea convert fat into free fatty acids which may enhance fat burning by 10-17%.
  • However, some studies prove that these teas have no or really low impact on metabolism.
  • •    Adding Spicy Food In Diet: Peppers contain Capsaicin, a substance that can burn our calories but however, every person does not have tolerance towards the doses required for the desired effect. 

According to one study, eating the required doses of peppers can burn 10 calories per meal.  Over 1 year it can account for 0.5kg  of weight loss for an average male.
The effect of adding spices may be small but it can be enhanced by adding other methods of boosting metabolism in our daily life 

Weight Lifting: Building muscles does not only make our body look fitter and more attractive but it also has many hidden benefits. People with more muscles have a better metabolism rate as one pound of muscle uses 6 calories to sustain whereas each pound of fat uses 2 calories. Thus, muscle training can help us to a great extent to burn fats and enhance the metabolism rate.

  • •    Drink Cold Water: Drinking Cold Water burns more calories as the body uses energy to bring the cold water to body temperature. Water doesn't just calm our thirst but also our bodies. People who drink 8-9 glasses of water have a good metabolism rate as calories need water to be processed and burn. Drinking water before and after every meal will help the body to break down the food easily while keeping us hydrated. Cucumbers, tomatoes, and other such vegetables and fruits with high water content can also be consumed to boost up our calorie-burning capacity.
  • •    Good Sleep: Never cheat on sleep. When sleeping our body produces a  hormone named ghrelin(increases hunger)and releases less of the hormone reptin(helps a person to feel full). Thus, enough sleep balances the hormones and prevents overeating. 

Our body is our temple and thus, some minor sacrifices of cravings and laziness are the basic needs to increase metabolism for a healthy weight loss. Get up, make the routine, keep patience, and go for it.