According to the United Nations University, your metabolism or metabolic rate declines with age. This also causes skeletal muscle loss and makes it harder to lose or maintain your weight. Other than a small minority of people that need to gain weight, the majority of people over 40 years old would benefit from having a faster metabolism. Make several dietary and lifestyle changes to maximize your metabolic rate.
No Foods Significantly Increase Metabolism
There are no foods that can increase significantly your metabolic rate, according to Illinois State University. Dr. Paige Kinucan and Dr. Len Kravitz, Professors of Execise Science at New Mexico State Universty, report that only foods that may provide a temporary but non-significant increase to your metabolism are spicy foods. Dr. Kinucan and Dr. Kravitz explain that spicy foods can slightly raise your body temperature but the increase in body temperature will not make a significant difference in your daily caloric expenditure.
Eating More Often Increases Your Metabolism
Although no specific foods will increase your metabolism, eating more often will increase your metabolic rate. Ideally, you want to eat small meals or snacks more frequently and not eat large meals. The University of Montana suggests that you eat three meals and two snacks every day, spacing your meals and snacks out every 2 to 4 hrs. When you consume food, your metabolism is activated to digest the calories that you have eaten. Try and keep your metabolism active the entire day by eating often.
Eat Breakfast
Eating breakfast every day is particularly beneficial to your metabolism. Not only does eating breakfast every morning provide the fuel and nutrients that is essential for your body's optimal physical and cognitive performance, but eating breakfast will speed up your metabolism. When you are sleeping, your heart rate, breathing rate and metabolic rate are all significantly decreased because your are not active and moving around. The University of Montana stresses the importance of eating breakfast every morning to maximize your metabolism for the day. The metabolic boost that breakfast provides is also part of the reason why people that eat breakfast are more successful at losing weight than people that skip breakfast. You do not want to skip any meals, but breakfast is particularly important.
Exercise
After the dietary changes, perhaps the best thing you can do to raise your metabolic rate if you are over 40 is exercise. This can especially be effective if you have been living a sedentary lifestyle. Illinois State University explains that exercise burns calories while your working out but also continues to burn calories after your finish exercising. Exercise works by increasing your energy requirements which increases your metabolic rate. Even if you do not go to the gym, just increasing your physical activity slightly can yield noticeable metabolic benefits. If you are completely inactive, for starters, you should at least just start to begin move around more. Try taking the stairs instead of the elevator, choose a parking spot that requires you to walk a little further or taking a walk around the block in the morning.
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