Metabolism Boosters

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You've heard the buzz word 'metabolism'. You may not know exactly what it means but I bet you feel that your metabolism is sluggish or even asleep. No doubt you've seen or heard of many products such as skinny teas, energy gum, dieter's tea, and others that promise to stimulate your metabolism. Let's talk about what really works to give your metabolism a kick start.

First, think of metabolism as the process by which your body converts or turns food into fuel. The metabolism process determines the rate at which you burn calories and fat.

Several factors affect your metabolism:

1. Your age. After age 40, metabolism slows about five percent per decade. One reason is the loss of muscle mass for men and women as they age called sarcopenia.
2. Sex. No, not the act of but your sex or gender. Men usually have a higher metabolism and burn more calories than women due to their bodies having a higher percent muscle mass.
3. The proportion of lean body mass that you have. Muscle burns more calories than body fat. If you have more body fat, you will have a slower metabolism.

Are you wondering if your metabolism is destined to remain a slug or can you give it a boost and burn more calories and fat every day? Yes, you can bump up your metabolism. Since we tend to be a vain society, let's start with the two items that will make the biggest difference in your metabolism both now and down the road.

1. Increase your lead body mass. We just talked about how metabolism slows with age. It's a natural part of the aging process in part due to the change in body composition. Think about it. You tend to play and exercise more when you're young. Then as work and family demands increase, what usually happens? 'Me' time goes down the tubes and exercise and activity go right along with it. We're too tired to do anything at the end of a long day so the remote control sees all the action. You know the saying if you don't use it, you'll lose it. Well, here is a case where that's totally true. When the body doesn't get exercise for routine maintenance just like your car, it won't run well. Lean muscle mass needs to be maintained. Otherwise your body composition starts to change resulting in more body fat and less lean muscle.
   
   Remember we said that lean muscle burns calories and fat? It is the furnace of the body or the metabolically active tissue. The more you have the more calories you burn. One pound of muscle burns around 30-50 calories per day compared to body fat which burns around 3-5 calories per day. If there was ever a case to get up and move around, this is it. Find activities and types of exercise that you enjoy and make them a part of your life now. Include strength training as it boosts metabolism even more. For weight loss and as a metabolism booster, maintaining and increasing lean muscle mass is the best move you can make.
   
2. Eat more protein. New research suggests that modestly increasing the amount of protein in the diet may improve body composition, facilitate weight loss and improve weight maintenance after weight lost. The range for protein has traditionally been 5-35% of totally daily calories. Now the suggestion is to reach the higher end of that range..20-35% of total calories coming from protein. This additional protein enhances or helps with muscle development and maintenance and reduces the loss of muscle mass with age. Protein makes you feel full so you tend to eat less and feel more satisfied. A moderately-higher protein meal increases thermogenesis and thus burns more calories.
   
   So, let's say you've been eating around 1800 calories per day and you want to consume about 25% of those calories from protein. 25% of 1800 is 450 calories per day from protein. To figure this as grams of protein, remember that there are 4 calories per gram so 450/4 = 112 grams of protein per day. This amount is probably more than most women eat per day but typical for many men.

What to do? Be sure to include a protein source at every meal and snack. Choose high quality protein such as eggs, low fat cheese, fish and poultry, yogurt, lean pork or beef or meat alternatives. Also include nuts, soy, dried beans and peas.

What about caffeine, green tea and breakfast to boost metabolism? If you don't eat breakfast now, you're missing out on a metabolism booster. Why? Breakfast means break the fast that occurs during the time you sleep. Breakfast kick starts your metabolism and without it your body continues in slug mode.

There are many ads for green tea supplements and beverages. Green tea contains EGCG an antioxidant which is proposed to burn calories by increasing thermogenesis or heat production. This is not the heat production which you feel but rather it is tied to increasing the amount of calories burned throughout the day. Some studies suggest a small metabolism boost in the range of 2-4%. Until we know more, including green tea as a beverage in your diet is smart for its various health benefits.

What about caffeine? Caffeine is well known for its stimulant effects on the brain, but there are other effects that occur. Fat stores are broken down and are released into the blood stream for energy. These effects usually last a few hours which is why endurance athletes have used caffeine. Within a few days of regular use, the body develops tolerance to many of the effects of caffeine thus the benefits for boosting metabolism as it relates to weight loss are not there.

You can take control of what you eat, how much and how you move to boost your metabolism. It's doesn't have to stay in slug mode any longer.