What To Eat If You Have A Slow Metabolism?
When it comes to diet, some people with large appetites may have a fast metabolism or some with smaller appetites may have a slow metabolism or vice versa.
The metabolic rate of an individual is determined by a couple of factors like genetics, diet history, fitness, body size, gender, hormonal function and age.
What is Metabolism and Slow Metabolism?
Metabolism is a term used to describe a biochemical process in which food is broken down either for the production of energy in the form of ATP or for the reformation of important building blocks like lipids, proteins, nucleic acids and carbohydrates.
When a person has slow metabolism it means that the body is not able to convert food into useful energy or building blocks as fast or efficiently as it normally would.
As a result, fewer calories in your body get burned and the person will show signs of weight gain, sleeplessness, cold hands and feet, dry eyes, tiredness, constipation, hair loss and loss of appetite.
Credit: Pixabay Caption : Basal Metabolism : breathing
What Does “Boosting Metabolism” Mean?
Your body utilizes energy everyday for the functioning of your organs and cells (basal metabolism), to break down food or during physical activities.
The rate at which these mechanisms carry out is known as metabolic rate. “Boosting your metabolism” simply means increasing efficiency and rate of these activities so that your body will utilise more energy and thus burn more calories.
Most commonly, metabolic rate can be enhanced through your diet when you consume foods which will require larger amounts of energy to be broken down and also affect the basal metabolism.
Another way to boost your metabolism is through physical activities and muscle building as muscles are capable of burning calories.
Metabolism Boosting Foods
A planned and calculated diet consisting of foods that help boost metabolism is one way to fix the issue of slow metabolism and avoid weight gain.
Here’s a list of foods that will boost your metabolism:
Tea
⦁ Caffeine products : Coffee and Tea
Tea and coffee consists of two properties that help boosts metabolism:
⦁ Caffeine: It is capable of stimulating an increase in the production of adrenaline, a hormone.
Adrenaline is capable of sending signals to the fat cells to break down fat and release it into the bloodstream. Once fatty acids are released into the blood the person can burn it through exercise.
In addition caffeine also stimulates the release of dopamine, a hormone which will increase and enhance physical activity and exercise.
⦁ Antioxidants: They facilitate the breakdown of fats and increase the amount of energy that the body uses by 10%.
protein-rich foods
⦁ High protein foods like eggs, meat, fish and nuts
Proteins are one of the most efficient metabolism-boosting foods. This is because the compound requires a larger amount of energy to be broken down and digested compared to carbohydrates and fats.
The amount of calories required by the body to breakdowns and digest food is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). If TEF increases, the body will force the metabolic activity to increase and as a result, it will boost your metabolism.
In addition, proteins reduce the levels of the hunger hormone known as ghrelin. This keeps us from overeating which would consequently lead to excessive weight gain.
Caption: spicy foods Credit: Pixabay
⦁ Spicy food and species
Spicy foods like chilli peppers contain a chemical known as capsaicin. It is an appetite suppressant that reduces hunger and increases metabolic activity.
It does so by increasing the heart rate and the breakdown of stored fats. Moreover, adrenaline is produced which also stimulates metabolism and increases calorie burn.
Capsaicin is also known to prevent ulcers and inhibit bacterias that are found in the stomach.
However, excessive consumption of capsaicin causes irritation in the digestive tract which may lead to diarrhea and laxative effects.
Similarly, other species like ginger, turmeric, black peppers and cumin are so responsible for raising metabolic rate, enhancing calorie burn and reducing appetite.
⦁ Zinc and selenium-rich foods like brazil nuts, yellow tuna, beef and ham.
The thyroid gland is an endocrine gland that is responsible for the secretions of hormones that regulate metabolism.
If these essential hormones are low, the person may experiment excessive weight gain due to low metabolic function.
Levels of zinc and selenium in the body will determine the amount of hormones released in direct proportionality.
Thus, by consuming zinc and selenium rich foods, the secretions of thyroid hormone increases which in turn leads to an increase in metabolic activities.
Other zinc and selenium-rich foods include peas, potatoes, yogurt, shellfish and banana.
Credit: pixabay Alt tag / caption: Broccoli
⦁ Broccoli
It is high in fiber and which helps in gastrointestinal functions like digestion, constipation, low blood sugar and also reduces hunger. It makes it a suitable food product for weight loss.
Glucoraphanin is a substance contained in broccoli and helps enhance metabolism by controlling the levels of fats in the blood.
Credit: pxhere Caption/alt tag : apple cider vinegar
⦁ Apple cider vinegar
It mainly reduces calories intake by acting as an appetite suppressant.
It also slows down the rate of transfer of food from the stomach to the intestine and therefore increases digestion.
The acetic acid present in apple cider vinegar also helps dissolve hydrogen and acetate in your body and as a result boosts calorie burn and decreases sugar production.
Credit: pixabay Caption/alt tag: Spinach
⦁ Spinach
It is rich in vitamin B and iron which helps oxides muscles and build up muscle mass.
This is important for metabolism as even though muscles do not burn fat directly, the more muscle mass one has, the more calories they will burn.
As a result, the metabolic rate and efficiency increase considerably.