Alternative Treatments to Boost Your Metabolism

What is metabolism?
Metabolism refers to the physical and chemical processes that synthesis energy in the body. These chemical reactions take place within the cells. This process converts food and oxygen to the energy needed to run the body. Increasing the metabolism increases energy and enables weight loss.  Everyone’s metabolism is different and this is largely determined by genetics. Your metabolism is also influenced by your age, and slows down by 5 percent each decade after age 40. Even so, there are lifestyle and dietary choices that increase metabolism for everyone.

What is exercise metabolism?
Exercise metabolism is the regulation of metabolic processes during exercise. The rate depends on the energy available to the skeletal muscles. The muscles store ATP (adenosine triphosphates) and burn it when the muscle is in use. The body provides the correct amount of ATP that each muscle needs. When your exercise, you increase the need for ATP by the muscles, which in turn creates more conversion of food to ATP for the muscles to use. This is why the best way to increase metabolism and lose weight is by adding exercise, especially weight training to your daily regime.

Possible medical problems:
Certain medical conditions can reduce metabolism, such as thyroid problems and insulin-resistance. Simple blood tests are used for diagnosis and it’s a good idea to rule out a medical condition before changing diet or lifestyle.

Tips for how to lose weight by increasing your metabolic rate:
Increase Muscle Mass: The more muscles the more calories you will burn. Strength training with weights or other muscle building exercise turns your body into a calorie-burning furnace. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so converting fat to tissue via exercise is the best way to boost your metabolic rate.
Eat More Protein: When you eat, you create "dietary-induced thermogenesis" – this is the heat your body creates during digestion.
Exercise After Meals: Exercising after eating nearly doubles the calorie-burning effect.
Eat Regular Meals:  Skipping meals, and having an empty stomach, will lower your metabolism by causing your body to conserve. Eat a few small meals through the day to keep your metabolism working.
Eat Snacks: Recent research on athletes found that eating snacks of 250 calories three times a day increased energy output.
Drink Cold Water: Cold water uses more energy to digest than warm water.
Vitamins:  Thiamine, or vitamin B1, is used by the nervous system and for muscle function. It also helps breakdown carbohydrates. Vitamin C helps build muscle bone cartilage, and blood vessels.
Add Fat-Burning Foods:

1. Protein: All foods are fat burning in reality, because as soon as you begin the process of digestion, your metabolism increases. This is most true in the first hour after eating. However some foods require more energy to digest. Protein requires as much as 25% more energy, so adding high protein snacks and foods to your diet can help boost metabolic rate. Each 100 calories of protein utilizes 30 calories to digest.
2. Spices: A study in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, found that red pepper (cayenne) added to high carbohydrate meals increased both resting and active metabolic rates for 30 minutes after eating. Some suggest that half a teaspoon of cinnamon boosts metabolism as well.
3. Green tea: A similar function has been claimed for green tea. The active ingredient is an anti-oxidant called EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), which acts in the same manner as cayenne pepper.
4. Healthy fats: Our bodies need fat to function and healthy fats increase calorie burning. Healthy oils are found in flax seeds, hempseeds, olives, avocados, nuts, and some fish, for instance salmon and tuna.

The best way to increase metabolism is by increasing exercise and building muscle mass. Add protein-rich foods and healthy fats to the diet and you will find yourself on the way to a healthy metabolism and quicker weight loss.