Eat Up, Lose More: Boost Your Metabolism with the Right Food

Have you been trying to lose weight but the scales don’t seem to budge? Have you been dieting for months and still can’t fit in those jeans?

A sluggish metabolism is your body’s natural response to aging, lack of sleep, sedentary living, and other lifestyle decisions. You’ll need higher metabolism levels to shed the excess pounds and maintain your ideal weight.

Dieting seems like the first course of action for people who wish to battle their metabolism-related concerns. But did you know that isn’t always the case?

Don’t restrict yourself to a strict diet; instead, give your metabolism a boost by eating. Yes, you read that right: EATING. By consuming certain metabolism-boosting foods, you give your body a fighting chance at shedding the excess weight.

What Should You Eat?

Before you gorge on your favorite treats, keep in mind that not ALL food and drinks are good for your metabolism. Bread, pasta, processed foods, and high-fat food items will negatively affect your metabolism.

Instead, switch to a plant-based, whole-food diet. Also, include the following items:

Chili Peppers

Chili peppers contain capsaicin, a chemical that may improve your metabolism by increasing the number of calories and fat your burn. Researchers believe this active ingredient is a thermogenic chemical that decreases your appetite and turns unhealthy fat into good fat.

In addition to improving your metabolic rates, chili peppers may also help you burn more calories because of its spiciness.

Consumption of spicy peppers causes your body’s temperature to rise. When it rises, your body will go into a cooldown mode, which triggers the burning of calories.

Coffee

Your cup of Joe doesn’t just wake you up; it also shakes your metabolism alive.

Coffee speeds up your metabolism by stimulating thermogenesis, which encourages your body to burn more fat. Thermogenesis also temporarily lessens your need for food and reduces your appetite.

It’s important to note that weight loss with coffee is only achievable if you drink black coffee and not your sugary caffeine faves. While a dash of milk is OK, sugar-filled coffee might lead to more weight gain.

Whole Grains

Get your daily source of carbohydrates and burn the calories at the same time with whole grains. This food group includes oats, rice, barley, and wheat.

Research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition studied 81 men and women between the ages of 40 and 65. The researchers provided participants with meals that included refined grains or whole grains. They also asked the participants to only consume the provided food and continue with their usual physical activities.

At the end of the study, results showed that participants who ate whole grains had better resting metabolic rates compared to the refined grains group. They also lost an additional 100 calories each day and had greater fecal losses.

This is because whole grains can burn more body fat since they require more effort to break down compared to refined grains.

Ditch the white bread and pasta and make the healthy switch to oatmeal and brown rice.

Speeding up your metabolism doesn’t always have to equate to dieting; you just need to make the right food choices. With these metabolism-boosting food and drinks, you can still eat and lose calories at the same time.