Here’s How You Can Enhance Your Metabolism In 6 Easy Ways
We all hear those buzzwords ‘boost your metabolism’ being thrown around in the health and wellness space. But how can we go about doing this?
Your metabolism describes the rate at which the body uses energy (burns calories). Although the speed of your metabolism can partly be determined by your genetics, sex, age, lean muscle, and body fat percentage, there are several things you can do as part of a healthy lifestyle to increase the rate your body burns calories. Here are some of the best ways you can do so.
Eat Regularly
Despite the increasing popularity in intermittent fasting, your body needs to have a regular intake of energy in order for your metabolism to keep ticking over nicely. If you last for hours and hours without eating, your body will start to slow down the metabolism to save energy. Providing your body with regular nutrition can have the opposite effect and gives your metabolism a boost. Aim to eat 3-4 meals a day with a few snacks in between.
Start Weight Training
Heading to the gym to do some resistance training to gain strength and build more muscle. Muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat, meaning the more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you will burn at rest. This can also counteract sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass with age).
Stay Hydrated
Water is essential for metabolism to function correctly. It’s also important in order for you to maintain a good level of general health. Severe dehydration can have serious consequences on the body. Staying hydrated may also help you to lose weight if that is your goal. Aim to consume around 1.5-2 liters every day, and even more if you’re regularly performing high-intensity exercise.
Decrease Your Stress
Stress signals danger to the body. Cortisol, the main hormone that is released when we are under stress, can have a negative effect on our metabolism. High cortisol has been linked to disordered eating and slow metabolic rate. Try to reduce your stress as much as possible. Reduce your workload, take regular rest days, and practice some form of mindfulness or meditation.
Eat Your Fruits And Vegetables
All the vitamins and minerals that are essential to carry metabolic reactions in the body are present in fruits and vegetables. The vitamin B in them helps to enhance the metabolic rate. So consider trying a variety of fruits and vegetables so that you can get the best results.
Get Enough Sleep
Lack of sleep can lead to a slower metabolism. The reason for this is that because cortisol increases. You may also be likely to overeat the wrong types of foods due to a rise in hunger hormone and ghrelin. To maintains your hormonal balance and further increase metabolism, consider getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night.
Featured Image by Trang Doan via Pexels