Weight Management

Metabolism

Weight management problems

Many dieters are familiar with Plateau stage weight loss, whereby after losing a significant amount of weight over a few weeks the weight than simply sticks, in spite of stringent dietary restrictions. The inability to shed those extra stubborn pounds prevents many from attaining their ideal goal weight.

Another contributory factor in diet failures is also persistent hunger. Both phenomena have been attributed to the theory that we are all born with an inbuilt metabolic rate, or set point, at which our bodies function at optimal level.

As weight is lost, signal sent out by the brain (principally the hypothalamus) increases feelings of hunger and the metabolic rate slows down in order to conserve calories/kilojoules.

Weight management and metabolism

Dieting can lower the body's basic metabolic rate and studies the Queen Elizabeth College in London show the long-term dieters become metabolically adapted to eating less food, with the result that the rate of weight reduction then decreases.

There is no mystery about this, since the body that weighs less obviously requires less energy is the one that weighs more.

Some researchers suggest a rather neat corollary to this adaptation syndrome, namely that abandoning the diet results in rapid rebound weight gain. The reason for this is either that the metabolic rate is too sluggish to burn up extra calories/kilojoules or, as some studies suggest, the body has to struggle to regain its former weight and establish a normal metabolic rate.

Trying to maintain a reduced body weight by taking in fewer calories/kilojoules than normal seems to place the metabolism and the stress, and rebound binge eating after dieting reflects a response to that stress.

What all this suggests though based as yet on empirical rather than hard scientific evidence, is that opting for very rapid weight reduction by going on a crash diet may cause the metabolic rate to become more unstable than it would as a result of losing weight slowly and steadily at a rate of about one to two pounds (450 g to 1 kg) a week.

Easing oneself slowly and gently into a different, but balanced, eating pattern may prove less of a shock to the metabolic rate and the brains appetite centre.

Weight management and exercise and increased metabolism

Ultimately, this enables you to maintain the new lower weight more easily. Proponents of this theory the dieting can make you more liable to put weight on, also argue that weight loss can be achieved more effectively through upping energy output, ie, by increasing exercise.

There is some evidence to suggest that taking fairly vigourous and regular exercise can raise metabolism significantly over short periods and help you burn off more calories/kilojoules.

However, whether increasing physical activity can permanently alter the body's metabolic rate, remains as yet unproven. What does seem certain that our metabolic rate is determined genetically.

Scientists hope one day to develop a drug that could be used to crank up a defective or sluggish metabolism without harmful side-effects.

Foods to increase metabolism

Foods that contain special elements, capable of burning calories fast. Such nutritional elements include chromium, carbohydrates, fiber, iodine, vitamins, folic acid and caffeine.

Chromium to increase metabolism

Calcium accelerates metabolism of fats and carbohydrates.
Foods that can speed up metabolism because they have a high Chromium content include brewer’s yeast, liver, beef, chicken, wheat germ and spinach.
If you incorporate these foods into your diet your body will start burning calories faster.

Carbohydrates to increase metabolism

Foods that can speed up metabolism due too a high content of carbohydrates and fiber include grains, fruits and vegetables. Carbohydrates in combination with fiber help maintaining levels of insulin in the blood for several hours. When the insulin level in the blood increases the body perceives this as an alarm signal to start storing fats. Keeping the insulin level normal will increase your metabolism.

Calcium to increase metabolism

Calcium containing foods that speed up metabolism are low-fat milk, yogurt, and cheese. Calcium also helps to accelerate the metabolism. Studies by British nutritionists show: people, who increased their daily calcium intake to 1200-1300 mg, lost excessive weight twice faster than those who got calcium at their regular rate.

Iodine to boost metabolism

Foods with high content of Iodine are, vegetables, eggs, fish and shellfish.
Iodine activates thyroid, thus speeding up metabolism. Six grounded apple seeds will provide you with the daily rate of iodine.

Vitamins

(especially Vitamin B6, found in nuts and beans) also help speed up your metabolism. Foods that speed up metabolism with the aid of vitamins embrace all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Including fruits and vegetables into your diet will help you lose weight faster.

Folic acid

Fortified cereals are among the most common foods that speed up metabolism due to high content of folic acid. Folic acid speeds up metabolism in the body, strengthens the immune system and cleanses the body.

Caffeine to give your metabolism a boost

Foods that speed up metabolism due to caffeine content include coffee and tea.The best time to take caffeine is early morning so the effects of boosting metabolism are present during the day and you should still be able to sleep at night. Drink 2-3 cups of tea or coffee per day, and your body will start burning calories faster.
Including the calorie burning nutrition into your diet will accelerate your metabolism.
Caffein is also available in tablet form from your drug store and super market.

Spicy foods to speed up metabolism.

Foods that are reknown for speeding up metabolism are hot peppers, chillies, grapefruits, lemons, fish, and, surprisingly, meat.
Let’s see what each of these foods can do for speeding up metabolism:

Foods that speed up metabolism include -:

Hot peppers

.

This is due to Capsaicin this is a substance that gives peppers their “hotness”.
Hot peppers speed up the heart rate and raise the body temperature. Studies show:

spicy foods speed up metabolism by up to 25% for a whole 3 hours after their consumption.

Light snacks, seasoned with spicy red pepper will help you burn more than 300 kcal per day without any effort.

Grapefruits

are also among the foods that speed up metabolism. Grapefruits capacity to improve digestion and to accelerate metabolism makes them top fruits for weight loss. Mild grapefruit acids accelerate metabolism and allow you to lose extra pounds.

Lemons

to increase immunity and accelerate metabolism. Lemons are often used for various metabolic disorders. Tea with lemon or water with lemon will speed up your metabolism and fat burning processes.

Seafood and fish oil

Fish is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which regulate levels of leptin in the body. According to researchers, this hormone is responsible for the speed of metabolism in the body, as well as for your body making a decision, whether to burn fat at the point, or to store it.

You cannot stand fish? No problem. Nowadays, fish oil is also sold in capsules. According to French nutritionists, if you replace just 6g of your daily fat by fish oil, then you will lose more than two pounds of excess weight over 12 weeks.

Protein and metabolism

The body spends more time to digest meat (proteins) in comparison to easily digested carbohydrates and fats. According to American nutritionists, digesting proteins accelerates burning of calories almost twice.

Danish researchers provide even more optimistic numbers. According to them, adding 20% of protein supplements in your daily diet will increase burning of calories by more than 5%.

Simply add some of the above foods into your diet, and you will be amazed by your accelerated metabolism and the weight loss that it gives.