If you're trying to lose excess weight or prevent gaining unwanted pounds, boosting your body's metabolism may help. Your metabolism -- the way your body turns the food you eat into the energy it needs to function -- can help you achieve a healthy weight when it's running efficiently. Eating certain types of foods may boost your metabolism to optimum efficiency, making it easier for you to manage your weight well.
Fiber
One way you can boost your body's metabolism is by eating more foods that contain lots of fiber, reports ClevelandClinic.org, which recommends including a variety of vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grain foods such as natural bread and unprocessed cereal in your diet regularly. Family Doctor.org suggests eating 1 to 2 cups of fruits and vegetables and 2 to 3 oz. of whole grains at most meals to boost metabolism and promote weight loss.
Healthy Fats
Replacing unhealthy saturated fats, like those in meat and dairy products made from whole milk, with healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, like those in fish and nuts, can also boost your body's metabolism, ClevelandClinic.org explains, and so can limiting the amount of fat you consume to between 30 and 45 percent of your daily calories. Try to eat no more than 20 g. of saturated fats each day, advises Family Doctor.org, and avoid man-made trans fat completely. Choosing healthy fats can help your heart as well as your metabolism, because eating healthy fats can lower the levels of unhealthy LDL cholesterol in your blood.
Complex Carbohydrates
Limiting the amount of carbohydrates you consume to no more than 50 percent of the calories you consume can boost your body's metabolism as well, reports ClevelandClinic.org, which also recommends replacing simple carbohydrates such as white bread and white rice with complex carbohydrates such as whole wheat bread and brown rice. FamilyDoctor.org recommends eating a simple sandwich made on whole wheat bread for lunch regularly, and including whole grains in snacks and other meals throughout the day. Don't skip breakfast, since doing so can slow down your metabolism. Instead, aim to eat at least three meals and one snack every day to help boost your metabolism.
Member Comments