Foods That Increase Metabolism
Healthy foods that increase metabolism do so by either stabilizing insulin or cortisol (they accelerate fat storage), by keeping you full longer to help reduce your cravings for junk foods or by increasing your lean muscle mass (burning fat and increasing your resting metabolic rate).
Metabolic rate is basically the daily amount of calories a human body uses. Three factors influence your body’s metabolic rate:
1. The rate you burn energy during exercise or any other activity.
2. The rate you use energy during digestion of food.
3. The rate you use energy for vital body processes.
The easiest way to have a better metabolic efficiency is to change what you eat as well as the way you eat and to exercise.
Foods that contain lean protein, vitamin C, complex carbohydrates, dietary fiber, good fats are generally the type of foods that increase metabolism:
Low fat protein– Processing protein requires the greatest amount of energy. Estimates range as high as 30% above your resting metabolic rate. Protein causes your body to burn hotter which helps you burn more calories. Meat, poultry and fish along with egg whites and egg substitutes are some of your best sources of protein foods that increase metabolism. But be careful to choose lower fat options, such as grilled or baked, not fried or breaded, skim milk rather than whole milk, skinless chicken breasts rather than fried chicken patties. Fish is another good alternative to high-fat meats.
Because the body requires vitamin C to burn fat, eating foods that are high in vitamin C is said to help metabolize fat faster and make losing weight less difficult. You might want to try eating more oranges, pineapple, grapefruit, lemons, limes, green peppers, red, peppers etc.
Foods that are high in Omega-3 fatty acids are great foods that increase metabolism. These acids reduce the production of a hormone called leptin, a natural chemical thatlowers metabolism. Animal studies done at the University of Wisconsin found that lab mice with low leptin levels produced faster metabolic rates than mice with higher levels of the hormone.
With more dietary fiber, you will feel fuller earlier than you normally do and this will last longer. You will eat less and the amount of overall calories that you take in will decrease, and this will lead to fat loss. Even just adding a high fiber low sugar cereal in the morning can help boost your fat loss efforts.
Calcium rich low fat dairy products– low fat milk, cheese and yogurt have the capability to break down fat cells in the body which can be then used up by the body’s metabolism. Some research studies have showed that cheese and yogurt actually act as better fat burning foods than milk.
My Favorite Foods that Increase Metabolism
Oatmeal
Oatmeal or porridge is probably the best breakfast you can have for a great start to your day. It has the healthy type of slow carbohydrates that will keep your blood sugar levels stable as well as protein and dietary fiber to help your brain and body to function efficiently for the rest of the day.
Low Fat Plain Yogurt
As a source of protein, good fats and pro-biotic cultures, low fat plain yogurt is the type of food you must have every day.
Apples
Pectin in apple restricts the cells to absorb the fat; and also encourages water absorption from the food which helps in releasing the fat deposits from the body. The antioxidants in apples may help prevent metabolic syndrome, a condition marked by excess belly fat or an apple body shape.
Eggs
Eggs are one of the highest quality protein sources available. Eggs should be part of everyones diet and is perhaps the best food at speeding up the metabolism.
Chicken Breast
Chicken breast should be a staple in anyones diet. It’s lean, easy to make and you can find it cheap at the local supermarket. I prefer the bonless, skinless kind because it takes extra time to skin/debone it.
Nuts
Nuts are loaded with good fats- essential fatty acis, fiber and incomplete protein, they help your body raise the metabolic rate. Any type of fat is high in calories so be sure to have a few nuts every day, not more. You can mix almonds with pine, cashews and walnuts as they all contain varying amounts of good fats and antioxidants.
Olive oil
Olive oil is actually a fat in itself although it will help fight against bad cholesterol levels in the body. For this reason, they are often recommended as fat burning and metabolic rate increasing foods in a diet. If you use any other oil as your primary cooking oil, you will be well advised to switch to olive oil if you can afford it.
Green Tea
Green tea and other teas contain caffeine, which is a natural stimulant that can help your body burn more calories while at rest. It also includes ECCG compounds that are also supposed to help boost your metabolism as well. You can find green tea supplements as well as normal tea bags in your local grocery store.
Spices
From cayenne to garlic to cinnamon, spices are one of the best ways you can keep your metabolic rates high. Especially speedy are the more pungent spices such as black pepper, mustard seeds, powdered onion and ginger. One Canadian study found the use of spices enabled people to burn up to 1,000 more calories daily than those not incorporating spices into their diet.
Fruits such as grapefruit have been shown to help us burn fat and keep metabolism high. This could be related to the fruits’ high amount of vitamin C, a component that again, reduces insulin spikes.
List of Other Foods that Increase Metabolism:
• Almonds
• Asparagus
• Avocado
• Beans
• Berries
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Cayenne pepper
• Celery
• Chickpeas
• Coffee
• Cucumbers
• Garlic
• Grapefruit
• Green, Leafy Vegetables
• Lemons
• Lettuce
• Mangos
• Onions
• Oranges
• Papaya
• Peanut Butter
• Pineapple
• Raw Nuts and Seeds
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Turkey
• Turnips
• Zucchini
• Whey Protein Powder
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