Metabolism Boosters That are Probably Already a Part of Your Diet

Your weight depends on the calories both stored in, and used up by your body. Any activity or food that helps to burn off these calories will eventually lead you to shed those unwanted fats. Fats, on the other hand, aren’t very healthy. To stay healthy for longer and avoid illnesses associated with accumulated fats,  like High Blood Pressure, diabetes 2 and asthma, you have to rev up your metabolic levels and burn those calories. Besides rigorous aerobics, eight loss is faster with certain metabolism-boosting foods.

Chili Peppers

What! Peppers? Yes. Chilli peppers contain capsaicin, which according to several studies, stimulates metabolism thereby making the body burn approximately 50 calories daily. Additionally, capsaicin helps to reduce appetite. According to recent research, subjects who consumed around 2mg of capsaicin before their meal tend to ingest fewer calories (especially carbohydrates).

Coffee

According to research, caffeine (present in coffee) helps speed up metabolism rate by a whopping 11%! Interestingly, a review of 6 different research results converged to one point lending credence to the fact that caffeine boosts metabolism. According to the research, folks who had at least 270mg or 3 cups of coffee daily burned up an extra 100 calories each day. Besides burning calories, caffeine helps boost your body’s energy level by converting the extra fats into energy necessary for workout processes. Keep in mind that the effects of caffeine will likely vary for different individuals depending on their weight or age.

Legumes and Pulses

Beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas, and peanuts are all legumes that are good sources of protein in plants. When you eat these legumes that have a high protein concentration, your body’s metabolism needs to increase in order to be able to digest the food properly. The good bacteria living in your intestines need the dietary fiber or resistant starch found in legumes. These good bacteria secrete short-chain fatty acids which makes your body burn off accumulated fats as energy, thereby maintaining a consistent level of blood sugar. In one research project, a group of people was subjected to high-protein legumes consumption and after 8 weeks, they were discovered to have improved metabolic levels and lost more weight (about 1.5 times) than the control group. The abundant presence of glutamine in legumes like beans and lentils can help your body increase the number of calories burnt during digestion.

Coconut Oil

The recent upsurge in the popularity and usage of coconut oil could be due to one of many reasons. However, in relation to improving metabolic rate, coconut oils contain MCTs (Medium-Chain Triglycerides). Once MCT enters the body, it journeys immediately to the liver and is converted to energy and not fat. While medium-chain Triglycerides better long-chain triglycerides in improving metabolism, researches have asserted that consuming at least 30ml of coconut oil daily can cause a drastic reduction in waist size of obese folks. So, maybe it’s about time you consider replacing some of your kitchen fats with coconut oil?

Water

Water, cool, clear water, good ol’ water. We all know water keeps you super hydrated as you go through your daily activities but do you know what it means for your metabolism? Water is said to increase metabolism by a staggering 25-30%.  This is because when you take in water, your body burns calories to heat the water to body temperature. Although this surge in metabolism is temporary (90 minutes tops), it might last for longer periods, depending on the individual. As the weather heats up for summer, add ice to your glass – not just to cool you down – but to rev up your metabolism even more.

Seaweed

There are a few trusted sources of iodine that we can actually eat. Seaweed is one of such. Iodine benefits the thyroid glands, which produces hormones necessary for regulating the metabolism rate of the body. If you consume seaweed regularly, you are feeding your body high amounts of iodine and your metabolism rate would be kept at an optimum level. The recommended daily iodine intake for adults is 150mcg. However, Seaweed groups such as kelp might become harmful when consumed in high proportions because of the high amount of iodine in them. Some other types of seaweed, however, such as brown seaweed, contain Fucoxanthin which helps in maintaining high metabolism by increasing the rate of burning calories thereby decreasing the possibility of obesity.

Exercise is not the only way to boost your metabolism. Adding some of the listed foods and beverages to your daily diet is a great way to keep your metabolism up and unwanted fats locked out. So if you’re trying to lose some extra weight, make sure you add some of these to your diet, you don’t have to take huge quantities to feel the difference!