To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in. This is much easier to do if you have a fast metabolism. Your metabolism dictates how many calories your body burns each day. The speed of your metabolism is dependent on a variety of factors, including genetics, gender, age and your percentage of lean body mass. Certain drinks can temporarily increase the speed of your metabolism, which may allow you to lose weight faster.
Coffee
One cup of coffee contains an average of 200 mg of caffeine. Caffeine is a mild stimulant, and drinking two to three cups throughout the day can boost your metabolism temporarily by up to five percent. The caffeine in coffee may also increase the efficacy of your cardiovascular system, which can make it easier for you to exercise. If you're not used to drinking coffee, you'll want to start with one cup a day. Otherwise, you may develop unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, anxiety, and tremors.
Green Tea
Green tea contains caffeine and a catechin called epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG, both of which cause thermogenesis. Thermogenesis forces your body to burn more calories, even when it is at rest. Drinking 3 cups of double-brewed green tea can increase your body's 24-hour energy expenditure by up to 4.7 percent, according to a study published in the July 2011 issue of "Obesity Reviews." Green tea also increases the percentage of fat your body uses for energy by up to 16 percent.
Water
Whether water at room temperature can induce an increase in metabolism is still under debate. A study published in the December 2003 issue of "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism" found that drinking water increases energy expenditure by up to 30 percent for slightly over an hour. In contrast, a study published in the September 2006 issue of the same journal found no increase in metabolism when participants drank room temperature water. However, energy expenditure did increase by 4.5 percent when they drank ice cold water. The increase lasted 60 minutes.
Milk
Milk does not directly increase your total metabolism, but it does prevent it from decreasing while you are on a low-calorie diet. This can prevent you from experiencing a weight loss plateau. Milk does directly affect fat metabolism. It causes your body to stop storing fat and start burning a greater percentage of stored fat for energy, according to a review published in the April 2002 issue of "Journal of the American College of Nutrition." You should drink three to four glasses of non- or low-fat milk per day to achieve optimal results
References
- University of New Mexico; Caffeine - Women's Weight Loss Breakthrough or Bust; Len Kravitz and Aditi Majumdar
- "Obesity Reviews"; The Effects of Catechin Rich Teas and Caffeine on Energy Expenditure and Fat Oxidation; R. Hursel, et al.; July 2011
- "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism"; Water-Induced Thermogenesis; Michael Boschmann, et al.; December 2003
- "The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism"; Water-Induced Thermogenesis Reconsidered; Clive M. Brown, et al.; September 2006
- "Journal of the American College of Nutrition"; Regulation of Adiposity and Obesity Risk by Dietary Calcium; Michael Zemel; April 2002
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