Some people can seemingly eat huge meals and never gain an ounce while others gain weight at the mere smell of food. While some seem blessed with a high metabolic rate, others suffer with a slow one. If you're unhappy with your metabolic rate, why not change it? A simple program of dietary change and exercise may be all you need.
Daily Metabolic Rate
The energy required to maintain life and function throughout the day is provided by a series of chemical reactions collectively known as metabolism. The total amount of metabolic energy produced each day includes the energy required to simply sustain life functions such as heartbeat, which is referred to as the basal metabolic rate, the amount of additional energy required for daily activities such as dressing and walking, the energy used in exercise activities and the energy used in eating, digesting and absorbing our meals. This last category is referred to as the thermic effect of food.
Thermic Effect of Food
All meals require the use of metabolic energy to support the muscle contractions of chewing, swallowing and the peristaltic contraction of your esophagus, stomach and intestines. Additional metabolic energy is required to produce and replace digestive enzymes, to absorb nutrients that are released by digestion and to concentrate and excrete the waste products left behind. All of this energy used in the processing of the food you eat is categorized as the thermic effect of food.
Content of Your Diet
The standard diet consists of approximately 58 percent carbohydrate, 30 percent fat and 12 percent protein. Many popular diets rely on lowering the intake of carbohydrates by replacing them with additional amounts of protein and fat. These diets typically rely on ratios of 30 percent carbohydrate, 40 percent protein and 40 percent fat. Since protein is harder to digest and absorb than carbohydrate and has a higher thermic effect, increasing the protein content of your daily food intake can help to raise your overall metabolic rate.
Frequency of Your Meals
Eating several small meals throughout the day, six for example, rather than the typical three, will activate your digestive system and contribute to a higher daily total thermic effect. You should not increase the total amount of food you consume each day but simply break your normal food intake into smaller, more frequent meals.
Exercise
Any attempt to increase your metabolic rate should also include a program of regular aerobic and resistance exercise. The increased mass of metabolically active muscle tissue that results from resistance exercise will raise your metabolic rate. Adding aerobic activities can further increase your metabolic rate and will provide benefits to your cardiovascular system.
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