5 Metabolism Boosting Tips

When it comes to boosting your metabolism through diet, a lot of the information floating around is either false or heavily exaggerated. However, if you know which information to listen to and which information to ignore, you can quite easily increase the amount of calories you burn each day with a few simple dietary changes. In this article I’m going to be showing you how to do just that by listing five highly effective metabolism boosting diet tips.

Eating for a Healthy Metabolism 

One of the biggest metabolism truths out there is eating for stabilized blood sugar levels. A healthy metabolism has a lot to do with the quality of your nutrition and the stability of your blood sugar levels. What does that mean? Following a schedule that fits your day while also choosing clean whole foods that nourish your body. Skipping meals and snacks only puts you in a lower metabolic rate (your body does not know the difference between busy and starvation). When you miss your meals and snacks your body’s primary source of fuel, glucose (blood sugar) plummets leaving you ravenous and more likely to make high glycemic food choices (your brain is literally telling you to!). Blood sugar also instability increases your risks for cravings and overeating as well! 

The goal is to create an eating schedule/meal plan that suits your day-to-day lifestyle. Focus on unprocessed whole foods that will not only provide a spectrum of bioavailable nutrients, but also contain fibre, clean burning protein and complex carbohydrates that will help to stabilize your blood sugar levels. By doing this, you will be supporting improved energy levels and living in a more nourished body!

Utilize Spices

Spices are a great way to add a kick to your meals and they also boost your metabolism in the process. When you consume spices, they temporarily stimulate your body’s fat burning processes and this results in you burning more body fat after you eat them. In addition to this, eating spices raises your body’s temperature and your body then uses up more calories as it regulates this temperature increase.

So if you don’t currently utilize many spices in your cooking, start making some changes today. There are plenty of different spices available with different intensities and flavors, so you can easily find one that you like. Spices are also incredibly versatile and can be used to season your organic meat, nut and seeds, vegetables and whole grains.

Base Each Meal Around Protein

By basing every meal, you eat around protein, you give your metabolism a huge natural boost. Unlike refined carbohydrates (which burn very few calories during digestion), studies that when you consume clean protein, your body uses up 25% of the calories it contains during digestion.

So, if most of your meals are rich in processed carbohydrates (such as white pasta or white rice), base them around a plant-based protein source instead and then top up the meal with even more vegetables. By doing this you’ll still get some nutrient packed carbohydrates in your meal, but you’ll cut out the processed carbohydrate calories and enjoy the calorie burning effects of protein.

Get Plenty of Fibre

Like protein rich foods, foods that contain high levels of fibre require more energy to digest so naturally enhance your metabolism when you eat them. Fibre rich foods also increase the amount of nutrients you can absorb from your foods, protect against bowel disease and much more. Most plant based foods contain high levels of fibre. Therefore, to get plenty of fibre in your diet, simply fill up on fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables. The great news is when you focus on more plant-based protein sources in your diet, you also get more fibre!

Avoid Processed Carbohydrates

As mentioned above, if your diet contains a high concentration of processed carbs and you want to maximize your metabolism, then you need to be replacing your carbohydrate rich meals with complex carbohydrates and clean burning protein.

The reason for this is that processed carbs require very few calories to digest, so the more processed carbs you eat, the fewer total calories your digestive system burns off. In addition to this, processed carbs contain very few, it any vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. These nutrients support numerous processes within your body (including metabolism) and by failing to get enough of them in your diet, you can slow down your metabolism and reduce the total amount of calories you burn each day.

So to keep your nutrient levels topped up, increase the amount of calories you burn during digestion and maintain an optimal metabolism, cut back on processed carbs and instead fill up on whole-foods which are fiber rich, nutrient packed. These whole foods include: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains.

Summary

As you can see, there are no magic dietary tricks when it comes to boosting your metabolism. However, by being sensible and adapting your diet so that it incorporates the five tips above, you can naturally raise your metabolic rate and burn through an increased number of calories each day.

Yours in Good Health

Alisa Herriman