4 Easy Ways to Speed up Your Metabolism Naturally
If you’ve ever wondered how you can speed up your metabolism, aka the rate at which your body burns calories, we’ve got good news for you! Natural lifestyle practices as simple as incorporating new foods into your diet, getting proper rest and ensuring you have the right kind of exercise regime can all have a positive impact on your metabolism. Here are four easy ways to speed up your metabolism naturally.
1. Eat Thermogenic Foods
Thermogenic foods are classified as foods that create heat in the body and increase your body’s temperature, which therefore increases the rate at which you burn calories. Most thermogenic foods are spicy or stimulating. Horseradish, chili pepper, fenugreek, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, garlic, turmeric, ginseng, yerba mate, green tea extract, garcinia cambogia and ginger all turn up your body’s temperature and promote a faster metabolism.
2. Get Proper Rest
Without adequate rest, your metabolism can’t function properly. Resting for 7-8 hours per night is crucial to assist your body with it’s repair and regeneration processes and to help promote a fast metabolism. Skipping out on precious Zzz’s will create stress in your body, elevate cortisol levels and slow down your metabolism instead.
3. Exercise, But Don’t Over Exercise
Any kind of exercise will promote a faster metabolism, but strength training has shown to be the most effective. The percentage of lean muscle mass in your body increases the resting rate at which your body burns calories. It only makes sense that lifting weights and building lean muscle mass will help boost your metabolism. While exercise is efficient, be careful not to over exercise. Over exercising can have the reverse effect on your metabolism, and instead stress the body and elevate cortisol levels- two contributors to a slow metabolism. To determine which exercise regime is right for you, speak with a personal trainer to customize your metabolism boosting routine.
4. Drink Water
In a study conducted by The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, it was found that drinking water can actually increase the rate at which your body burns fat. It makes sense that the reverse is also true- dehydration can slow down your metabolism. Be sure to bring your water bottle with you on the go, and add an extra glass of water to your diet for every cup of coffee, alcoholic bevy or soda that you drink. While these 4 tips are helpful for boosting metabolism, this blog post would be incomplete without the mention of the ultimate importance of sticking to a diet rich in whole, nutrient dense foods while avoiding processed foods. Your metabolism can’t do its job efficiently when bogged down by dead foods full of empty calories.