Many people know that boosting metabolism can aid in weight loss, but how much do you really know about how to boost metabolism?
1. Drinking cold beverages and eating cold food makes the body burn more calories.
Correct. This news will be exciting for many. Research has found that drinking five to six glasses of ice water a day can burn an extra 10 calories daily, which can lead to losing a pound of weight in a year without any effort.
Tip: This effect is not very significant. For people with sensitive stomachs, eating cold food can be harmful to the stomach, so you should weigh the pros and cons yourself. 2. Drinking adequate water helps the body burn more energy.
Correct. All chemical reactions in the body, including metabolism, require water. According to researchers at the University of Utah, when the body is dehydrated, it burns 2% fewer calories. They conducted an experiment on 10 adults with varying daily water intake. The final results showed that people who drank 8 to 12 glasses of water a day had a higher metabolic rate than those who only drank 4 glasses.
Tip: If your urine is not a light yellow but a darker color, it indicates you are not drinking enough water daily. Remember to drink a glass of water half an hour before each meal or a snack. 3. Dieting slows down the resting metabolic rate and hinders weight loss.
Correct. For every pound of weight lost, the resting metabolic rate burns 2 to 10 fewer calories per day. If you lose 10 pounds, your daily energy expenditure decreases by 20 to 100 calories, so your caloric intake must also be reduced by 20 to 100 calories. However, it is possible to prevent the metabolic rate from dropping while losing weight. One way is to lose only fat while maintaining lean body mass, and to continue with aerobic and endurance exercises. Warning: If your daily calorie intake is below 1000, the proportion of lean muscle in your body is likely to decrease.
Tip: The best way to lose weight is to reduce your daily calorie intake by 250 and burn an additional 250 calories through exercise. This way, you can lose fat without losing lean muscle, which would otherwise affect your metabolic rate.
4. Spicy food can speed up the metabolic rate.
Correct. Capsaicin is a compound that acts on living tissue, giving peppers their heat, like a torch, which accelerates metabolism and causes the body to burn more energy. Research has found that one tablespoon of pepper contains 30 milligrams of capsaicin, which can increase the metabolic rate by 23%. In another study, participants were given tomato juice with 0.9 milligrams of capsaicin to drink, and it was found that their daily energy intake decreased by 10% to 16%. However, after two days, these participants did not feel hungrier because they had eaten less.
Tip: Sprinkle some pepper powder when making stews or pasta. It not only enhances the flavor but also helps with weight loss. Why not? 5. Supplementing with more protein can speed up metabolism.
Correct. Protein boosts metabolism more than fat and carbohydrates because the body needs more energy to digest protein. This is the principle of the thermic effect of food (TEF): the energy required to digest food. Research has found that the energy needed to digest protein is twice that of carbohydrates. In a typical diet, 14% of energy comes from protein. If we change our diet to double the calories from protein while reducing carbohydrates, we can increase the calories burned by metabolism by 150 to 200 per day.
Tip: Supplement with 10 to 20 grams of protein per meal. A cup of low-fat yogurt for breakfast can provide about 13 grams of protein, a serving of beans for lunch about 10 grams, and a serving of fish for dinner about 17 grams. 6. Eating grapefruit before meals can speed up metabolism.
Incorrect. Grapefruit is not a magic food that can perform metabolic miracles, but it can indeed help people lose weight. Eating half a grapefruit before every meal for 12 weeks can help people lose 4 pounds. The principle is that grapefruit is rich in fiber and water, which can reduce calorie intake during main meals.
Tip: Having half a grapefruit or an orange instead of a salad or soup before your main meals is a good trick for weight loss.
7. Lifting dumbbells is more effective than aerobic exercise for boosting metabolism.
Correct. Strength training helps build muscle. For every 3 pounds of muscle gained, the metabolic rate increases by 6% to 8%, which means you can burn an extra 100 calories per day. Aerobic exercise, however, does not help build lean muscle. The best way to increase lean muscle is through endurance training.
Tip: Intensify your workouts, especially those that work lean muscle groups, like pull-ups and squats, to increase muscle mass. 8. Celery is a negative-calorie food because the calories required to digest it are more than it provides.
Incorrect. The thermic effect of food indicates that digesting food requires a certain amount of energy. However, the energy consumed in this process is very small. A stalk of celery contains only about 6 calories, and the thermic effect from digesting it burns only 0.5 calories.
Tip: Celery is a healthy food that can lower blood pressure. But don't delude yourself into thinking eating celery will help you lose weight. 9. Tea can boost metabolism.
Correct. The polyphenols in green tea and oolong tea can increase the body's rate of fat burning. A Japanese study found that drinking one cup of oolong tea a day can increase the metabolic rate by 10%, and drinking one cup of green tea a day can increase it by 4%. Another study found that drinking two to four cups of tea a day, containing 375 to 675 milligrams of polyphenols, can increase daily energy expenditure by 50 calories, leading to a weight loss of 5 pounds in a year.
Tip: Drinking a cup of green tea daily along with lemon water can help the body absorb polyphenols. 10. Increased appetite before menstruation can boost metabolism.
Correct. If there's any benefit to premenstrual symptoms, it's that the resting metabolic rate increases during the luteal phase (the day after ovulation until menstruation). This increase in metabolism can burn an extra 300 calories, which is why many people feel especially hungry before their period.
Tip: Keep a record of what you eat during the week before and the week after your period. By appropriately controlling your food intake during this time, you can effectively use this period for weight loss. 11. If you are short on time, increasing the intensity of your exercise can increase the calories burned by metabolism.
Correct. After high-intensity exercise, a person's resting metabolic rate can be several times higher than normal. Even after stopping the exercise, the body continues to burn calories at a rate that is 10% of what was burned during the exercise itself.
Tip: Increase the intensity of your workout appropriately; for example, jog instead of walk for better results.