Metabolism is the rate at which the body converts food into energy. The way it occurs is with a process known as thermogenesis, which refers to the generation of energy from burning or using calories.
Normally, this is an efficient process that helps keep everything working as it should within your body.
However, if you are trying to lose weight, you want to find an optimal balance between calories in and calories out.
In order to increase your daily calorie burn, you’ll need to boost the calories you use for digestion, respiration, and other important functions.
This is referred to as your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Anywhere from 5 to 15 percent of your daily calorie burn is from the process of turning food consumed into energy.
As for whether or not you can boost your metabolism to burn more calories with certain foods, the short answer is “yes,” but only on a temporary basis.
This being said, incorporating metabolism-boosting foods into your diet can give you enough of an energy burst after eating to make it easier to benefit from other weight loss methods.
For now, however, we’re going to zero in on the specific foods that have the potential to give you a beneficial metabolism boost.
Foods High in Protein
Because protein takes more energy to break down, more calories are burned.
This added thermic effect means your body will spend more of its energy on digestion and you won’t have as many extra calories that don’t get “burned up,” or converted into usable energy.
You have plenty of options with protein-rich foods, some of which include:
• Skinless chicken and lean beef
• Eggs
• Legumes and pulses
• Almonds, oats, and Greek yogurt
Chili Peppers
One way to literally heat things up with your metabolism is with chili peppers. Specifically, it’s a chemical called capsaicin that makes chili peppers an excellent metabolism booster.
In fact, there’s research suggesting consuming somewhere around 135 to 150 milligrams of capsaicin may burn an additional 50 calories per day – assuming you opt to treat yourself to chili peppers on a daily basis.
Coffee
The caffeine found in coffee stimulates the central nervous system. You’re probably well aware of this fact if you’ve ever had the “jitters” after overdoing it with java.
But in moderation, coffee can be an effective way to burn more calories.
One study suggests coffee may boost the metabolic rate by just over 10 percent, and another one suggests individuals that consume roughly 270mgs of caffeine, which is equal to about 3 cups of coffee, each day may burn an additional 100 calories.
Note: If you are sensitive to caffeine, you may want to be a bit cautious with coffee consumption.
Green/Oolong Tea
Coffee isn’t the only dietary source of caffeine. It can also be found in tea.
Studies suggest that a type of traditional Chinese tea called oolong tea may boost the body’s ability to use more energy from foods consumed by as much as 10 percent within a 2-hour period.
This type of tea may also help increase fat oxidation – the process of turning fat into usable energy. Green tea may offer similar benefits.
It’s important to realize that metabolism can be boosted in other ways in addition to what can be achieved with the foods discussed here.
High-intensity exercise, for instance, is also an effective way to burn more calories in a productive way.
If you find the right combination of healthy diet habits and exercise, you’ll be more likely to keep your metabolism firing on all cylinders in a way that’s ultimately good for your waistline and your overall health and well-being.
