Eating Strategies to Boost Metabolism
You can increase your metabolic rate by following these strategies. It's not necessary to drastically cut calories in order to lose weight. Just eat smarter!
-
Don’t skip breakfast.
The longer you put off eating your first meal in the morning, the longer it will be before your metabolism fires up for the day. Eating actually speeds up your metabolism – this is called the thermic effect of food. It has been found that overweight people often skip breakfast, and may eat only 2 meals per day. Don’t skip any meals if you want to keep your metabolism at high speed. -
Eat frequently.
Eating frequent small meals throughout the day is much more effective than eating fewer large meals. Many diet programs suggest three meals and 2 – 3 snacks/daily. Eating even smaller food portions more frequently, such as every 1 – 2 hours, may lead to even more weight loss with improved blood glucose, decreased insulin levels, and better appetite control. Rats that were allowed to nibble on their food all day lost weight, while those fed the same number of calories in 2 meals daily gained body fat. The same thing occurs in people. Become a grazer! -
Eat protein.
Eating protein can increase your metabolic rate. Protein increases the thermic effect of food and stimulates glucagon production, a fat burning hormone. Protein also helps turn off appetite by triggering hormones that tell your brain that you are not hungry. If you make sure that you eat plenty of protein while following a diet, you will also help prevent the loss of muscle that usually goes along with weight loss. Remember that you must have plenty of muscle to burn fat.
Higher protein diets (25 - 35% of calories) are more effective for weight loss than low - moderate protein diets (10-15%), at least in the short term (3 months). This finding has been demonstrated in a number of research studies. A rule of thumb is to multiple your Ideal Body Weight (in pounds) x 0.6 – 0.8 grams. This will give you a range in grams for daily protein intake. For instance, you may weight 200 pounds, but your ideal body weight may be only 140lbs. Your recommended protein needs would be 84-112 grams/day (140 x .6 = 84, 140 x .8 = 112).
However, unless you are exercising heavily (weight training, especially), you do not need to keep your protein intake quite so high forever. Moderate protein intake is fine for health maintenance.
We don’t recommend eating large meals, protein or otherwise. Eating a 12 oz steak is not the way to lose weight! Portion control is important. Spread the protein out through the day – don’t eat it all at once.
Make sure you have a protein source with each meal. The best protein sources include lean meats, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy products, eggs, soy products and protein powders. Beans, nuts, and seeds are also healthy sources of protein, although they will have a larger amount of carbohydrate (or fat in the case of nuts & seeds) along with them. Plant sources of proteins have other health benefits as well. They are a good supply of healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that may protect us from many degenerative diseases.
A protein load at breakfast works well to help control your appetite through the day. You will be less likely to overeat at lunch or snack uncontrollably in the afternoon if you emphasize protein for breakfast. The typical high carbohydrate breakfast of toast, cereal, or bagel, along with a glass of juice or sweetened coffee may spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. You may feel hungry, tired, and cranky just a couple of hours later. Change your breakfast to an omelet or smoothie with added protein powder, and you will find that you sail through the morning with more energy and without hunger pangs.
Protein relieves hunger and food cravings and keeps blood sugar levels at an even keel. It seems that protein is the dieter’s best friend! What if you are a vegetarian, or just don’t want to eat as much protein as recommended here. Can you still lose weight? Yes, you can, but it may not be as easy.
If you have kidney or liver disease, you may need to limit your protein intake. Please check with your doctor regarding the best protein intake for you.
-
Eat enough calories to avoid the starvation response.
If you lower your calorie intake too far, you will lower your metabolic rate. That’s the last thing you want to do when you are trying to lose weight! The body has strong homeostatic mechanisms designed to keep the body in balance. Homeostasis keeps us alive. If you don't eat enough calories your body may sense a “famine” coming on and go into protective mode, lowering the secretion of thyroid hormone.
One study showed that obese people following a very low calorie diet suffered a whopping 66 percent reduction in T3 output. T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone. Lowering thyroid hormone this much can lead to a metabolic disaster.
The starvation response also triggers production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol triggers muscle breakdown, raises blood sugar, and inhibits the effects of muscle-building hormones like growth hormone. Very low calorie diets do not support muscle. In fact they lead to a loss of muscle. Losing muscle is counterproductive to weight loss and is something you definitely want to avoid!
-
Drink green and oolong tea.
Several studies have confirmed that both green and oolong (sometimes called Wu-Long) tea can boost metabolism by 3 – 4% when consumed several times per day. This increase can be significant when combined with other eating and exercise strategies. Green tea, in particular, has other health benefits as well. Green tea extract is available in supplement form and is quite affordable. You may want to add this to your daily regimen. -
Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids.
This includes fish, krill, and flax seed oils. These important fats can actually stimulate fat burning as well as provide other valuable benefits to your health. Unfortunately, the modern diet is extremely deficient in these fats. We highly recommend taking a fish or krill oil supplement since even a good diet is likely to be low in these fats, and the best source (fish) may be high in mercury.In fact, some experts estimate that 99% of us are deficient in omega-3 fats. The most plentiful food sources of these fats include fish, especially oily fish, like salmon, sardines, and mackerel, flax seeds and its oil, walnuts, and certain eggs that are high in omega-3 fats. Other fish, like tuna, and seafood have some, but lesser amounts of fish oil.
Note that farmed salmon is not a good source of omega 3 fats due to the type of diet that they are fed. Unfortunately, wild salmon, especially if it is certified to be mercury-free, can be quite costly. Taking a supplement is often the more affordable choice.
-
Increase calcium intake to accelerate fat burning.
High calcium diets have been shown to increase fat breakdown and preserve metabolism during a calorie-restricted diet. (High calcium diet in this study = RDA of calcium and actually means adequate calcium.) It is recommended that adults consume at least 1000 mg day, and this number is 1200 – 1500 mg/day for postmenopausal women.)
Having an adequate calcium intake prevents a rise in the hormone calcitriol. This hormone dampens thermogenesis and lowers the rate of calorie burning in fat cells. A lack of calcium in your diet can prevent weight loss despite your best efforts. So you may need to consider calcium supplements since the average persons does not get enough calcium in their diet.
Dr. Michael Zemel, a chief researcher in the area of calcium and weight loss, states that dairy products may provide an additional advantage due to the additional presence of whey proteins found in dairy foods. Certain amino acids that are high in whey seem to interact with calcium to provide an additional metabolic boost
-
Increase your antioxidants.
A recent study showed that a group of thin individuals had higher vitamin C levels in their blood than a group of overweight individuals. Another study actually injected vitamin C intravenously into a group of older test subjects (aged 60 -74). The results showed that after the vitamin C infusion, the resting metabolism increased significantly. This correlated to a rate increase of approximately 100 calories/day, a fairly significant rate! Other studies have shown that taking vitamin C supplements boosts weight loss.
Antioxidants can protect your metabolic machinery from damage due to the oxidation (burning) of fats. Other dietary antioxidants include vitamin E, glutathione, alpha-lipoic acid, coQ 10, and a host of phytochemicals found in vegetables, fruits, herbs, and spices. Oxidation is the method the body uses to break down fats into useable forms of energy. However, oxidation of fats leads to nasty by-products of metabolism called “free radicals”. Free radicals are oxygen-containing molecules that can trigger a chain reaction of damaging effects on your mitochondria, DNA, and other vital cellular structures. A higher level of antioxidants in your body may preserve your metabolic machinery and your ability to burn fat (and help protect against cancer and heart disease).
-
Spice up your food.
Studies verify the idea that eating hot chilis can increase your metabolic rate. Adding cayenne or red pepper to food or eating a variety of hot chilis can burn fat as well as your tongue. The burn comes from its active ingredient capsaicin.
Chilis also seem to decrease the glycemic load of a meal. Test subjects fed fresh chili pepper along with a sugary drink had a lower rise in blood glucose and insulin than those who drank the sugar water without the chilis. Capsaicin has also been found to lower cholesterol and help control appetite.
However, research also shows a negative side of consuming too many spicy foods. Population groups that consume a lot of chilis also have a higher incidence of stomach cancer, so don’t overdo it with the hot sauce.
-
Drink water.
This seems too easy, but it’s true. You must be well-hydrated in order to burn fat and keep the metabolic systems running at full speed. Make it ice water for a real metabolic boost. Your body has to spend calories just to warm it to body temperature.