Many people want to stimulate their metabolism – but why? Eat smarter explains in detail the factors that promote good metabolism and how to promote metabolism through these five skills.
Why stimulate metabolism?
Metabolism refers to all biochemical processes that occur in our cells, such as breaking down nutrients in food, providing energy when the body needs it, or removing waste from organisms. To do this, the body will use the nutrients we provide and the reserves it has established.
Digestion is usually equivalent to metabolism, but it is only the primary stage of the metabolic process. It is not just a single metabolism, but many different metabolism: including glucose metabolism, protein metabolism and lipid metabolism, which are related to adipocytes.
Hormones and enzymes are important for metabolic processes because they are controlled by hormones and the nervous system. The most important metabolic organ is the liver. Sometimes, however, metabolism is too slow and doesn’t work properly – possibly hypothyroidism.
In this case, a metabolic therapy can be recommended to restart it and help you lose weight.
The “better” your metabolism, the more energy you have. People with “good” metabolism are good feed changers. In addition, good metabolism – as science calls metabolism – is easier to lose weight and maintain weight.
Eat smarter explains how to stimulate metabolism through these five techniques.
Drink plenty of water to activate metabolism
Drinking water can promote digestion and improve basal metabolic rate. The German Society for nutrition (DGE) recommends drinking about 2.7 litres of water a day, of which about 1.5 litres come from beverages. According to a research series by the Berlin charity, in the next 60 minutes, only 500 ml of water will increase energy consumption by 24%.
If you drink water instead of sugary drinks, you will automatically burn fewer calories and are more likely to maintain or reach a healthy weight. If you drink water half an hour before eating, you will eat less because you feel fuller. According to one study, this actually resulted in 44% weight loss during dieting (e.g. metabolic diet).
Therefore, drinking water can stimulate metabolism. Cold water is more effective in stimulating metabolism because the body must consume more energy to heat it to body temperature.
Green tea and coffee are also known as fat killers, which can promote metabolism. Green tea helps to convert body fat into free fatty acids, increasing fat burning by 10% to 17%.
Coffee is said to have the same effect, but according to a study, it is more effective for slim people than obese people.
be careful!
Drink plenty of water! This can stimulate metabolism and help lose weight. Green tea or coffee can also effectively promote metabolism.
Eat spicy and high protein to promote metabolism
Eating can boost your metabolism in a matter of hours. This effect is called TEF, that is, the thermal effect of food, which refers to the additional energy required by the body to digest and process nutrients in the diet.
The body needs the most energy to get protein, so you can increase your metabolism by 15% to 30%. The nutritional density of carbohydrates is low. On the other hand, it only stimulates metabolism by 5% to 10% and fat by 0% to 3%.
It is generally recommended to use proteins during the weight loss phase, because they can make you energetic, counteract the decomposition of muscle mass and prevent the Yo Yo effect.
If you also flavor your food, it will be better for your metabolism: spicy foods such as pepper contain capsaicin, which is a real fat burner. This alkaloid can cause heat or irritant stimulation in the body and promote metabolism.
However, in order to achieve this positive effect, not everyone can tolerate the dose required. In one study, adding an appropriate amount of pepper to each dish burned 10 more calories per meal. However, you have to wait about 6.5 years to lose half a kilogram.
Spicy spices are not particularly effective, but when used with other foods, they can definitely play a role and promote metabolism. In addition, amino acid tyrosine is said to be beneficial to metabolism because it helps improve performance.
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The body needs more energy to process proteins than they provide – proteins also keep you full for longer and prevent muscle mass from breaking down.
Promote metabolism with coconut oil
Coconut oil contains more medium chain fatty acids than most oils. Medium chain fatty acids stimulate metabolism more than long-chain fats, such as butter. According to one study, the basal metabolic rate even increased by 12%, while long-chain fat stimulated it by only 4%.
Therefore, according to these studies, more frequent use of coconut oil may be beneficial.
However, coconut oil can only be eaten in moderation, because the proportion of fatty acids is unfavorable: the proportion of saturated fatty acids is 90%. These increase the risk of dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease and even breast cancer.
be careful!
According to some studies, coconut oil can stimulate metabolism. However, due to its high content of saturated fat, it can only be eaten in moderation.
Exercise promotes metabolism
Exercise can improve basic metabolism. With the growth of muscle, the basal metabolic rate and energy consumption are also increasing. Since the amount of fat and muscle will be reduced during weight loss, it is more important to compensate for this through exercise. DGE recommends exercising 30 to 60 minutes a day.
Not only endurance exercise, but also strength training, because lean muscle mass is very important for weight loss success.
Some studies have shown that strength training is one of the most effective types of exercise to strengthen muscles and optimize metabolism. The best results can be obtained when aerobic exercise is combined with strength training.
Current research shows that HIIT exercise (high-intensity interval training) is particularly beneficial to metabolism because it has the strongest afterburning effect compared with other sports.
This means that metabolism remains elevated even after training. In addition, HIIT training alternates between high-intensity training and short rest intervals, promoting fat burning and thus weight loss.
In the 12 week study series, male subjects who regularly exercised with HIIT lost 5 pounds and 17% less abdominal fat.
Even small changes can have an impact. Rather than sit and work all day, stand up or work standing. According to one study, just one “stable afternoon” can burn up to 174 extra calories (kcal).
Dr Tobias Weigl suggested: “If in doubt, always do small exercises that are not too intense. How do you train this? The goal is to always train in the aerobic range, that is, improve basic endurance. This means that you should measure your maximum heart rate. This should be determined in advance – 70% to 75% of the training is in the aerobic area. But other forms of training are also useful, such as muscle strengthening, because strengthening muscles also helps burn fat, just like hit training.”
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Exercise can improve the basal metabolic rate. The combination of strength training and endurance training is the most effective for weight loss.
Sleeping is good for metabolism
Sleep has a positive effect on metabolism. Here, deep and continuous sleep is the most important in the first three hours of night sleep. Interrupted or insufficient sleep can lead to obesity, which usually has a negative impact on metabolism.
Poor sleep patterns have been shown to increase blood glucose levels and insulin resistance. Both can lead to diabetes.
Adequate sleep is also important for athletes because muscles stimulated by training during exercise regenerate during sleep.
Poor sleep can also stimulate ghrelin, a hunger hormone, and reduce leptin, a satiety hormone. This can explain why people who don’t get enough sleep often feel hungry and have difficulty losing weight.
But what if you have insomnia?
“Usually, non drug measures help solve sleep disorders, which are summarized as sleep hygiene. Some general rules are: get up regularly in the morning; go to bed when you’re tired at night; exercise regularly. Exercise, but not shortly before bed; a quiet, cool sleep environment; and no caffeine, heavy food, or alcohol at night. Relaxation techniques such as self training or progressive muscle relaxation usually help.” Dr. Neil podelski, an expert in sleep medicine.
“Sleeping pills should only be considered if these methods do not help, but only consult your doctor. Anyone with long-term sleep problems should know whether they have restless legs syndrome or restless legs syndrome. The reason for the problem of sleep apnea syndrome is that many internal and mental diseases can also lead to sleep disorders,” the doctor said. Podelski went further.
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Sleep is important for good metabolism. On the other hand, lack of sleep can lead to increased hunger, weight problems, and even diabetes at worst.