Are you one of those “unlucky” people with a slow metabolism ? Is keeping the weight off a constant struggle for you or do you belong to the “lucky ones” that can eat whatever they want without worrying about gaining body fat?
Although our metabolic rate (the speed at which our body burns calories ) is genetically determined, there are still ways to alter your metabolism and increase the amount of energy needed for the body to sustain itself.
1. Eat a high calorie meal after a period of fasting
Leptin is a hormone that tells your brain when your body needs food and controls hunger. When your leptin is low you feel hungry and vice versa. Leptin levels decrease by about 50% after only one week of dieting, but to climb back up they only need only 12 to 24 hours. So eating a high calorie meal (of course not junk food but well balanced one) after a prolonged period of starvation is the way to go.
2. Increase the protein amounts you eat
Eating more protein like lean meats, chicken, turkey, egg whites, cottage cheese, fish, whey powder will increase the glucagon production. The mode of action of this hormone is to increase insulin sensitivity of muscle and other tissues , which in turn lowers insulin secretion, because you don’t need as much insulin to transport nutrients into your cells, if your cells are very sensitive to insulin. In other words more fat is burned when you eat more protein.
3. Avoid processed grains and sugars
Processed grains like pasta, white bread and cookies will raise insulin levels in the body. Insulin is the opposite of glucagon and its role is to facilitate the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream into the cells. The more high glycemic carbs are consumed the more insulin is produced to deal with the glucose in the blood. Long story short excess insulin means excess fat. Instead consume low glycemic carbs, vegetables and fruits high in fiber, whole grain pasta and breads.
You might also like : Optimizing Insulin Sensitivity for Muscle Gain and Fat Loss
4. Add green tea to your diet
Research has shown that green tea can increase your metabolic rate up to 4% over a 24-hour period and also inhibit the movement of glucose into fat cells, which prevents high insulin spikes and fat gain. Besides fat loss, green tea was shown to decrease bad cholesterol,reduce appetite and inhibit the growth of some cancer cells.
5. Drink more water
Water helps the body body metabolize stored fat. Drink 2-4 liters of water every day,depending on your physical activity.
6. Take Metabolism Boosters
Some foods and herbs act like metabolism boosters. Compared to other foods, they need way more energy do be digested, and with that they help in speeding up your metabolism. Here is a quick list of the best natural metabolism boosters.
