It’s no secret that as a society we are fixated on speeding up our metabolisms, but what does that really mean?
The formal definition of metabolism is the sum total of all chemical reactions in the body. In simple terms, your metabolism is the amount of energy your body burns to maintain itself. This can be broken into anabolism (building up) and catabolism (breaking down). In other words, anabolic reactions use up energy to build new compounds in the body, while catabolic reactions give out energy by breaking down compounds.
Metabolism is the process responsible for burning calories from food. When dealing with our metabolism and weight loss, we need to understand that metabolism is largely genetic and outside of a person’s control. There are many factors that contribute to your metabolism.
- Basal metabolic rate (BMR): This is the energy your body requires to function at rest. This is mostly determined by your genes, but can be greatly impacted by: your sex, your age, and your body size/composition (larger people tend to burn more muscle at rest).
- Food processing. How many calories do you burn digesting your food? About 10% of the calories you ingest are used to digest and absorb the nutrients from your food.
- Physical activity. Exercise greatly affects how many calories you burn each day.
So what does a high/fast or low/slow metabolism mean? A fast metabolism means that your body or “engine” needs more food or “fuel” to run. This explains why some people can eat more without gaining weight.
Regardless of your natural metabolism, there are some easy changes you can make in your diet to boost your metabolism. Here are 8 small diet changes to boost your metabolism:
- Make sure you’re eating enough calories: Cutting calories by too much will force your body into starvation mode. Instead, focus on adding in metabolism-boosting ingredients.
- Whole grains: Slow-releasing carbs offer long-sustaining energy, while keeping insulin levels low to prevent fat storage.
- Fermented foods: Probiotic foods keep your gut at optimal health, which has been shown in recent studies to encourage weight loss.
- Green tea: The compound EGCG in green tea increases your body’s fat burning properties as well as boosts your metabolism from the caffeine.
- Eat more fiber. Fiber can encourage your body to burn more fat, along with reducing inflammation. Ingredients: Beans, lentils, almonds, chia seeds, chickpeas, kale, raspberries.
- Drink more water. You can increase your metabolic rate just by upping your liquids each day. We recommend adding metabolism boosting shots to a bottle of water for an added boost to your metabolism. Ingredients: ginger, apple cider vinegar, cayenne, lemon, turmeric, herbal teas.
- Eat more organic. Pesticides can disrupt your hormones, thus leading to a slower metabolism.
- Get more protein and healthy fats. More protein and fat will promote feelings of fullness, therefore quelling your appetite. Ingredients: Quinoa, hemp seeds, spirulina, coconut oil, avocado.
There are several other important lifestyle factors to keep in mind when working on boosting your metabolism:
- Sleep. Recent studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to the dysregulation of glucose metabolism, leading to increased appetite and decreased energy expenditure. Make sure to get those 8 hours!
- Stress. When you’re stressed, you activate your hypothalamus-pituitary-axis to return your body to homeostasis. Chronic activation can lead to increased fat storage, insulin resistance, and increased appetite. This is a major reason to avoid starving yourself while dieting to avoid activating the HPA.
- Endocrine-disruptors. There are environmental chemicals that can affect your hormone balance, resulting in changes to your metabolism. Check out the dirty dozen.
- Exercise. Specifically, resistance training. This is integral to a healthy metabolism in that it helps increase calorie burn per day.
At Thistle, we focus on high-fiber, high-protein, organic plants to boost your metabolism and flush your body with nutrients. Our meals do not cut back on calorie intake, but instead, substitute out processed foods for ingredients that are satiating and nourishing.
It’s no secret that as a society we are fixated on speeding up our metabolisms, but what does that really mean?
The formal definition of metabolism is the sum total of all chemical reactions in the body. In simple terms, your metabolism is the amount of energy your body burns to maintain itself. This can be broken into anabolism (building up) and catabolism (breaking down). In other words, anabolic reactions use up energy to build new compounds in the body, while catabolic reactions give out energy by breaking down compounds.
Metabolism is the process responsible for burning calories from food. When dealing with our metabolism and weight loss, we need to understand that metabolism is largely genetic and outside of a person’s control. There are many factors that contribute to your metabolism.
- Basal metabolic rate (BMR): This is the energy your body requires to function at rest. This is mostly determined by your genes, but can be greatly impacted by: your sex, your age, and your body size/composition (larger people tend to burn more muscle at rest).
- Food processing. How many calories do you burn digesting your food? About 10% of the calories you ingest are used to digest and absorb the nutrients from your food.
- Physical activity. Exercise greatly affects how many calories you burn each day.
So what does a high/fast or low/slow metabolism mean? A fast metabolism means that your body or “engine” needs more food or “fuel” to run. This explains why some people can eat more without gaining weight.
Regardless of your natural metabolism, there are some easy changes you can make in your diet to boost your metabolism. Here are 8 small diet changes to boost your metabolism:
- Make sure you’re eating enough calories: Cutting calories by too much will force your body into starvation mode. Instead, focus on adding in metabolism-boosting ingredients.
- Whole grains: Slow-releasing carbs offer long-sustaining energy, while keeping insulin levels low to prevent fat storage.
- Fermented foods: Probiotic foods keep your gut at optimal health, which has been shown in recent studies to encourage weight loss.
- Green tea: The compound EGCG in green tea increases your body’s fat burning properties as well as boosts your metabolism from the caffeine.
- Eat more fiber. Fiber can encourage your body to burn more fat, along with reducing inflammation. Ingredients: Beans, lentils, almonds, chia seeds, chickpeas, kale, raspberries.
- Drink more water. You can increase your metabolic rate just by upping your liquids each day. We recommend adding metabolism boosting shots to a bottle of water for an added boost to your metabolism. Ingredients: ginger, apple cider vinegar, cayenne, lemon, turmeric, herbal teas.
- Eat more organic. Pesticides can disrupt your hormones, thus leading to a slower metabolism.
- Get more protein and healthy fats. More protein and fat will promote feelings of fullness, therefore quelling your appetite. Ingredients: Quinoa, hemp seeds, spirulina, coconut oil, avocado.
There are several other important lifestyle factors to keep in mind when working on boosting your metabolism:
- Sleep. Recent studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to the dysregulation of glucose metabolism, leading to increased appetite and decreased energy expenditure. Make sure to get those 8 hours!
- Stress. When you’re stressed, you activate your hypothalamus-pituitary-axis to return your body to homeostasis. Chronic activation can lead to increased fat storage, insulin resistance, and increased appetite. This is a major reason to avoid starving yourself while dieting to avoid activating the HPA.
- Endocrine-disruptors. There are environmental chemicals that can affect your hormone balance, resulting in changes to your metabolism. Check out the dirty dozen.
- Exercise. Specifically, resistance training. This is integral to a healthy metabolism in that it helps increase calorie burn per day.
At Thistle, we focus on high-fiber, high-protein, organic plants to boost your metabolism and flush your body with nutrients. Our meals do not cut back on calorie intake, but instead, substitute out processed foods for ingredients that are satiating and nourishing.
