All of your body’s chemical reactions can be defined with the help of a single phrase – Metabolism.
Metabolism is a set of life-sustaining chemical transformations that keep us alive.
At ElevateMe, we consider metabolism to be one of 7 core performance areas that are foundations for optimum life.
However, you’re here to find out how to speed up your metabolism. So here’s a useful checklist.
In this checklist, we divide metabolism-boosting tasks across lifestyle, nutrition, and supplements. These three categories reflect how the ElevateMe health app categorises recommendations in your journey to speed up your metabolism.
Lifestyle changes to increase your metabolism
1. Try getting a good night’s sleep
Sleep is fundamental to an optimised life.
Lack of sleep is linked to a significant rise in the risk of obesity1. This may be partly due to the negative effects of sleep deprivation on metabolism2. Lack of sleep can:
- lower your calorie burn3
- change the way you process sugar3
- disrupt your appetite-regulating hormones3.
Aim to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night if you are looking to provide a boost to your metabolism.
2. Drink more water
People who drink water instead of sugary drinks have a better chance of losing and keeping weight off4.
Moreover, it doesn’t get any easier than this when it comes to losing weight.
Simply drinking more water increases the rate at which you burn calories and is a healthy metabolism booster. In fact, drinking two glasses (around half a litre) of water can speed up metabolism by 10-30% for an hour5.
Water can help you lose weight and maintain it. It is a perfect example of a healthy metabolism booster.
3. Try out High-Intensity Workouts
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is one of the best types of exercise for the body. It’s basically short bursts of intense activity. In other words, HIIT involves stringing exercises together and maintaining active rest to keep your heart and breathing rates up. Thus with HIIT you also get the benefits of aerobic exercise. Even after your workout, it can help you burn extra fat by raising your metabolic rate6.
Try HIIT workouts for just 10-15 minutes daily. The high-intensity workouts will help you burn fat and boost your metabolism.
Here’s a great 5-minute HIIT session for you to watch or bookmark for later!
Nutritional changes to increase your metabolism
1. Include a good deal of protein in your diet
Eating protein-rich food can be a metabolism booster for a few hours.
The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Eating protein maintains these muscles and prevents the reduction of your metabolic rate.
Additionally, since protein is more difficult for the body to break and digest than other nutrients, it increases post-meal calorie burn by 5%7.
The following protein-rich foods can help speed up metabolism fast7:
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Chicken breast
- Minced Turkey
- Beans.
2. Try whole grains
Whole grains require extra effort by the body to break down rather than more refined and processed grains, such as the flour used to make bread and pasta.
By consuming whole-grain foods you can keep your metabolic rate elevated because your body needs to work harder to digest them. Research has shown that when compared to eating processed foods, eating whole foods raises your post-meal energy expenditure by 50%8.
Here is a list of whole grains that are sure to speed up metabolism 9:
- Brown rice
- Oatmeal
- Quinoa
3. Consider eating spicy food
Spicy foods can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight by boosting your metabolism.
Capsaicin, a compound found in peppers, can help to speed up your metabolism10. Capsaicin helps burn 10 additional calories per meal11.
On their own, the effects of adding spice to your food may be quite small. However, when paired with other metabolism-boosting strategies, it may provide you with quite a significant edge.
Supplements to increase your metabolism
1. Consider adding MCT oil to your morning drink
Medium Chain Triglycerides or MCT are brain powering and fat burning compounds.
These fat-burning compounds are commonly found in coconut and olive oil. As they don’t require special enzymes to be digested, they are absorbed through the gut, straight into the bloodstream and into the liver. They are burned immediately by the body for energy instead of being stored as fat12.
Start with a tablespoon of MCT oil in your morning hot drink or add to your breakfast. Then gradually include it across your meals for the day. This is a great way to improve cardiovascular health and speed up metabolism.
2. Vitamin D Supplement
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and is the one supplement that you should consider taking.
In fact, higher levels of vitamin D are linked to less weight gain13. It does this by effectively reducing the accumulation and storage of fat cells14.
Getting enough vitamin D can help you lose weight, reduce body fat, and prevent weight gain. Consider taking a vitamin D supplement to help increase your metabolism.
3. Iron Supplement
Consuming iron-rich foods is normally enough to maintain healthy iron stores and ferritin levels in most people. However, an iron deficiency can be a massive blow to your metabolic health15.
Your body cannot work efficiently to burn calories when it doesn’t have sufficient iron to work properly.
If you have a sufficient iron intake, you can lose weight, and improve your metabolic parameters such as lowering blood pressure, and bad cholesterol levels15.
Consider taking an iron supplement to help increase your metabolism. However, be cautious with the dosage as too much iron can be toxic to the body.
How can you improve your metabolism with the ElevateMe Health App?
The ElevateMe health app is tailored for you.
Our at-home blood test kits check and identify the biomarkers that have a direct impact on your metabolism.
Our health algorithm combines your blood test results with your lifestyle survey and provides an overall score of your body’s metabolism. Additionally, after analysing your scores, it provides you with a personalised action plan to help you improve your metabolic rates.
Sign up today with an ElevateMe health plan to track and improve your metabolism and 6 other performance areas.
Is your metabolism slowing down?
Did you know that our metabolism slows down with age? A combination of several factors, including your genetics and your lifestyle, can have a significant impact on your metabolism, leading to weight gain and other health issues.
Take an ElevateMe blood test today to capture 21 blood test insights and track your metabolism, fitness, energy, sleep, cognition, mood, and immunity.
