Metabolism is a combination of two very complex processes, chemical and biological, at the cellular level. The action of these processes in the body can be compared to the work of a chemical laboratory, but only inside us.
If you monitor what happens after eating food, under the sight of a kind of television camera, you can see that food begins immediately in the first stages, during chewing, to be broken down into components that are converted or synthesized into substances necessary for us. As a result, the energy needed both for this synthesis and for human life in general is released. You can say all the processes that occur inside our body are metabolism or metabolism - the rate at which nutrients are converted into energy.
When changes in metabolic rate occur, the metabolism is said to be slow or, conversely, fast.
The type of metabolism we have is influenced by such life factors as:
- genetic predisposition
- age after 50 years
- Lifestyle
- proper nutrition
- exercise stress
If we can’t do anything about heredity, unfortunately, we can’t do anything about age either. But as far as lifestyle is concerned, everything is in our hands.
Regarding those factors that we cannot influence (age and genetic predisposition), we simply must know what is happening to the body and help it. We can influence changes in metabolic rate only by the amount of food taken. After all, the basis on which metabolism works is the substances that come to us from food. If we stop eating, then the energy simply won’t come from anywhere.
Substances necessary for our metabolism
Omega-3 fatty acids
They regulate leptin levels in the body. According to many researchers, it is this hormone that is responsible not only for the metabolic rate in the body, but also for fundamental decisions about whether to burn fat at the moment or accumulate it. The best foods high in omega-3 fatty acids include fatty fish, flaxseed and flaxseed oil, broccoli, beans, bok choy, cauliflower, and walnuts.
How to improve metabolism after 50 years
After 50 years, the problem of getting rid of excess weight becomes even more pressing.
After 50 years, a woman’s body undergoes menopausal changes; the synthesis of many hormones decreases to a minimum. Health problems that have accumulated since youth may begin to bother you. Therefore, it is especially important to work on speeding up your metabolism.
Measures to speed up metabolism after 50 years come down to the following:
- Follow all general recommendations: proper nutrition, a fairly active lifestyle. A massage that stimulates metabolic processes may also be indicated.
- It is recommended to replace active workouts with calmer energy exercises, walking, and light exercises. It is important not to over-stress your heart, lungs, blood vessels and bone tissue.
- Walking is useful in the morning or evening. Try not to walk in too hot weather.
To improve metabolism in the body after 50, it is important to give up junk food that slows it down and enrich your diet with healthy components that help speed it up. These include the following:
- Protein. To assimilate protein foods, the body needs significantly more energy than to perform the same operations with fats and carbohydrates. Therefore, it promotes weight loss and accelerates metabolism. But it’s important not to overdo it, since excess spruce also poses its own danger.
- Carbohydrates and fiber. Carbohydrates, along with fiber, are digested rather slowly and maintain insulin levels in the blood for several hours. When the level of insulin in the blood jumps, the body perceives this as an alarming sign, and it begins to accumulate fat reserves. By consuming complex carbohydrates, you can speed up your metabolism by 10% or more.
- Omega-3 fatty acids. These substances help regulate leptin levels in the body. And this hormone directly affects metabolism and fat burning processes. The best sources of omega-3 are fatty fish, flaxseed oil and seeds, beans, broccoli, cauliflower and Chinese cabbage, walnuts.
- B vitamins. Help accelerate metabolic processes in cells. Their sources are meat, fish, liver, eggs, bread made from dark flour, bananas, legumes, brown rice, yeast, nuts.
- Folic acid helps accelerate metabolic processes in the body, strengthen the immune system and cleanse the body. It is found in eggs, legumes, leafy vegetables, wholemeal baked goods, yeast, orange juice, and wheat bran.
- Chromium. Promotes the processing of fats and carbohydrates, regulates the flow of sugar into the blood. The main sources are baked goods made from wholemeal flour, cereals, legumes, and vegetables.
- Calcium. Another component that helps speed up metabolism. Its sources are cottage cheese, milk, eggs, cheese, soy.
- Iodine. This trace element helps activate the thyroid gland, which also speeds up metabolism. It is found in seafood, seaweed, and apple seeds. By chewing just 6-7 of these seeds, you will get your daily requirement of the mineral.
Iodine
It activates the thyroid gland, that is, it also speeds up metabolism. A lot of iodine is found in seaweed, seafood, and even apple seeds. If you chew only 6-7 seeds a day, you will get the daily requirement.
With normal metabolism, the body completely processes what it receives from food, water, air and sun into energy. With a slow metabolism, these substances are poorly absorbed, which means that a person receives little energy.
The influence of age on metabolic characteristics
As we age, everyone's metabolism begins to slow down. This begins with the end of a person’s physical growth. This usually happens by age 25. And at the same time, metabolism begins to slow down. From the age of 25, your metabolism drops by one percent every year.
If at the age of 40 we eat the same as at 25, then it is clear that our metabolism will not be able to digest and utilize everything that we give it. Therefore, we can say that only through the right lifestyle we can influence even virtually unchangeable factors such as age and heredity.
If a person has a slow metabolism, acquired over time or hereditary, then he should either eat smaller portions and often, or speed up his metabolism.
An important factor is hormones, which are responsible for where fat is stored in our body. Knowing which hormones dominate in us, we can prevent its excessive accumulation in problem areas of our body.
How to speed up the body's metabolism naturally?
- Don't skip breakfast
This is an important rule that you must follow if you want to lose weight. The body does everything it can to survive. When you skip breakfast in the hope that you will lose weight, then you are very mistaken. The fact is that the body, without receiving food for breakfast, adapts and burns calories more slowly. It's better to eat less at dinner because your metabolism slows down before bed, which means fewer calories are burned. It's a known fact: people who eat breakfast look slimmer than those who skip breakfast. It is recommended to eat eggs for breakfast. They are very good for helping you lose weight and reduce the number of calories you take in.
- At least 1200 calories per day
This recommendation is suitable for women who are on a strict diet. The fact is that if the body receives fewer calories than needed, then the metabolism slows down. Therefore, if you want to adhere to any diet, first calculate the number of calories you will consume on this diet.
- Eat small meals
- When people skip meals and eat only when they have free time, they kill their metabolism. Simple chewing, digestion and absorption of food speeds up metabolism. The more you eat, the faster your metabolism occurs. Your best bet would be to eat 3 large meals and 2 snacks throughout the day.
- Hot and spicy food
Scientists have found that foods seasoned with pepper or other spices can increase your metabolism by 20% within 30 minutes of eating.
- Drink green tea
Green tea stimulates metabolism in the body. Research shows that green tea helps burn fat and is also a good help against many diseases. It would be ideal if you drink 4-5 cups of green tea per day.
- Drink cold water
Water is very good at removing toxins from the body while burning excess weight. Cold water can also speed up metabolism. The fact is that many calories are burned to maintain body temperature.
- Eat more protein foods
To digest and synthesize proteins, the body spends up to 25% of energy. Theoretically, food that contains more protein than carbohydrates speeds up the body's metabolism.
- Don't sit still
If you spend most of the day sitting or lying down, your metabolism slows down. To avoid this, get up every 20-30 minutes and do light exercise (if you work in an office) or just walk around the room. Be active. Playing sports is the best way out. Exercise doesn't just help us burn calories, it helps us increase the number of mitochondria and enhance their activity. Moreover, exercise should be balanced, namely, it should include strength exercises, which help increase muscle mass, and aerobic exercises, which burn calories and strengthen the cardiovascular system.
- Take care of your sleep quality
Maintain a healthy sleep schedule to keep your metabolism normal. Due to irregular or improper sleep, the entire functioning of the body is disrupted. Not only are you slowing down your metabolism, but you are also putting yourself at risk of serious illness.
- Try to eat balanced foods
In general, we can say that eating a balanced diet means getting all the necessary substances and in approximately equal shares, since a shift towards one thing leads to a disruption of the biological, energetic balance in our body.
- Be careful with dietary supplements
Do special dietary supplements speed up metabolism? This question interests many. You need to be very, very careful with various dietary supplements, experts advise, since you are essentially just conducting an experiment on yourself. The fact is that this product does not fall into the category of drugs, and therefore is not subject to mandatory testing. Moreover, even if the drugs contain herbs that are known to us for their usefulness, it is unknown what effect they give when interacting with each other in a complex manner.
- Don't forget your heart. We recommend 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 5 times a week.
- Keep a diary of your food. This will help you be honest with yourself about what you eat.
- Expect a weight loss of 0.5 - 1 kg per week. Years of inactivity and poor nutrition cannot be corrected in a day. If you lose 0.5-1 kg per week, you will be more likely to maintain your new weight consistently.
How to boost metabolism with drugs?
Now let's talk about pills. A number of pharmacological drugs are used to speed up metabolism.
Dairy
And this is not only kefir, natural yoghurts, fermented baked milk, but also regular milk. However, recently many people have become lactose intolerant, so the consumption of milk directly may be limited.
If you do not have milk protein intolerance, you can safely drink milk (Photo: Pixabay.com)
The benefit of such products is calcium, which not only strengthens bones and teeth, but also speeds up metabolism. Also, thanks to this mineral, fat is processed faster and is not deposited “on the sides.”
Thyroxine
This drug is prescribed for hypothyroidism. It blocks appetite and increases stamina. Thyroxine also speeds up metabolism and burns fat. It is often used by bodybuilders during the drying period. Remember that this is a strong hormone that has a very detrimental effect on a healthy thyroid gland! Familiarize yourself with the side effects and think carefully.
conclusions
To speed up your metabolism you need:
- 30-45 min. exercises to strengthen the heart in the morning after getting up
- Breakfast in 45 minutes. after getting up
- Eating every 4-6 hours
- Including protein in every meal (soy, tofu, egg white, cheese, lean meat, turkey, chicken, fish, beans, peas)
- Strengthening muscle tone - resistance training - needs at least 3 months to get the first results
- Quitting smoking, alcohol and fasting
- Consuming 6-8 glasses of water per day
- Consuming foods with high nutritional value – 5 servings of vegetables and fruits
- Consumption of foods with a low glycemic index (apples, asparagus, berries, broccoli, cabbage, celery, cauliflower, chili, garlic, grapefruit, lemon, mango, onions, oranges, papaya, pineapples, spinach, zucchini. And this is not a complete list )
- 8 hours of sound sleep (in complete darkness)
Video
Eggs
Their main advantage is amino acids. Without them, your metabolism will only slow down. Many may be surprised, because amino acids are found in other foods, but in this case, eggs are the standard. It is as a percentage that proteins in meat, fish, and even industrial protein, which can be bought at a sports nutrition store, are measured.
But you can eat no more than two eggs a day (Photo: Pixabay.com)
Moreover, I would like to note that even the most expensive additives do not reach the quality of egg whites.
What is metabolism?
This concept refers to a set of chemical reactions in the body, which is responsible for the functioning of many systems, in particular the digestive system. In relation to it, metabolism refers to the rate of breakdown and processing of food entering the body into energy.
There is an opinion that metabolism occurs during any physical activity. In fact, this is not the case - it occurs even at rest. This whole process is divided into two stages, which are called anabolism and catabolism. During the first, any product is processed and broken down into its component parts. At the second stage, new elements are united and built, on the basis of which tissue and blood are renewed.
Porridge
What could be the connection between porridge and metabolism, since porridge is very high in calories? But if you eat them only for breakfast, your metabolism will really speed up. If your breakfast is hearty, this will speed up your metabolism, and your body will work harder throughout the day.
But if you skip breakfast, the body will be half asleep: it will decrease to 30%.
For breakfast, you should choose whole grain cereals, as well as oatmeal, pearl barley, and buckwheat porridge, which will fill you up, speed up your metabolism, and provide a feeling of fullness.
How to find out your metabolic rate?
To improve energy production in the body, you need to know the method of calculating metabolism, which is different for men and women.
For men
First of all, you need to measure your parameters: height and weight. After this, you need to use the calculation formula or calculator:
For women
Height and weight are also measured, but the formula will differ from that for men.
The resulting number is BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), i.e. resting rate.
Metabolic Rate Calculator
Causes of Low Metabolism
There can be many reasons to be concerned about your health, some of which affect your metabolism. Some of the following factors can improve or decrease the indicator:
- The ratio of muscle mass and fat mass. People with different body structures can weigh the same number of kilograms. This happens because muscle is much heavier than fat tissue. Therefore, tall people with an athletic build have almost the same weight as short obese people. However, the rate of breakdown of substances will be different for them - for tall athletes it will be much higher.
- Age also has an impact on the indicator. Metabolism reaches its peak activity during puberty. After this, the older a person gets, the lower the rate becomes. Restoration of bone and muscle tissue after injury also affects the parameters - metabolism improves during the traumatic period.
- Hyperthermia of the body during viral or infectious diseases can improve the synthesis of products entering the body.
- If you constantly stick to diets, it won’t go well and will also cause low metabolism over time, which will be more difficult to improve.
- Pregnancy can completely restructure the functioning of various systems in the body, including the digestive system.
- Heredity also plays an important role.
- In addition, the psychological aspect should be taken into account. Eating disorders (most often in childhood) are a consequence of effects on human psychology. At a more conscious age, this leads to disruption of metabolic processes.
Ways to speed up metabolism
There are several ways to improve your metabolism. It is better to use them all together, this will help achieve the greatest efficiency. However, many of them may have contraindications; they must be taken into account before being guided by them. Here are some of them:
- to improve metabolism, you need to add three cups of green tea without added sugar to your daily diet;
- if physical activity is absent, then it must be included in the routine. A situation may arise in which loads are present, but do not produce visible results, and the weight increases. This is called the plateau effect and is a consequence of the body getting used to the stress. To avoid this, you need to change the intensity of training or its type;
- if you are very busy and it is impossible to add sports training to your daily sedentary lifestyle, you can even include physical activity while working - use an arm exercise machine, bend and straighten your legs, do a little office exercise;
- exclude diets and hunger strikes - they negatively affect the functioning of the digestive system and do not help improve metabolism;
- observe the drinking regime. It includes daily consumption of clean still water, the total volume of which is at least 2 liters;
- you can add hot spices to all dishes from the usual menu, the burning effect promotes the fat burning process;
- excellent results can be achieved by reducing the size of food consumed by increasing the number of meals;
- Drinking coffee in the morning also gives amazing results. The drink should not be instant, but natural;
- whenever possible, it is better to replace travel by transport with walking;
- You can improve your metabolism by removing toxins and waste from the body. This can be achieved using bath procedures, and the sauna is especially effective;
- create your daily menu in accordance with the principles of proper nutrition, including for the most part those foods that can improve metabolism.
