9 Foods That Boost Your Metabolism Naturally

Metabolism involves all the chemical reactions taking place within our body. It includes the breakdown of molecules and the synthesis of different compounds in order to get energy and maintain life. A good metabolism means that your body is functioning properly and has minimum chances to get affected by some diseases. It also provides you more energy to perform different tasks and exercises, and that obviously helps you stay fit.

Metabolism usually depends on your genetics. If your parents have a good metabolism, you are more likely to have a good metabolism as well. But, you can boost your metabolism naturally too, by eating healthy food that helps you speed up your metabolism and help you burn extra fats.

Image Credit: healthyvogue.com

There are 9 foods that can be of a great help:

1. Egg Whites

Full of proteins and vitamin D, egg whites are a perfect and healthy food to boost your metabolism. David Grotto, RDN, a Chicago based nutritionist says that egg whites contain a lot of long chain amino acids that work wonders when it comes to speeding up your metabolism.

2. Green Tea

We all know how popular green tea is, when losing weight is the issue. According to research, green tea helps speed up the metabolism because it has a plant compound in it, called ECGC. This is responsible for burning the extra fats present in our bodies.

3. Lean Meat

Iron is very beneficial for our body and especially, our metabolism. Lean meat is rich in iron and eating lean meat can help you boost up your metabolism as iron deficiencies are sometimes the main reason behind slow metabolism.

You should eat 3 to 4 servings of iron rich food daily, for example chicken or fortified cereal, in order to speed up your metabolism.

4. Coffee

According to a study that was published in Physiology and Behavior, it was found that people who drank caffeinated coffee had a metabolic rate about 16% higher than those who drank decaf. This show how much a cup of coffee can speed up your metabolism.

Just remember not to add too much sugar, so you can lose some extra pounds.

5. Chili Peppers

Dr. Isaacs says that chili peppers have a compound in them called capsaicin, which can boost your metabolism to higher levels.

He suggests that you should consume a tablespoon of chili peppers in your meal once a day. Another benefit of eating chili peppers is that they are rich in Vitamin D, that has a lot of benefits for your body.

6. Water

Scott Isaacss, MD, clinical instructor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine emphasizes on the importance of water, saying that even a mild dehydration can be a reason behind slow metabolism.

You should drink enough water that keeps you stay hydrated so that your body performs all the functions normally.

The best way to drink water is to drink it cold. This makes your body use more calories to warm it up.

7. Milk

Apart from a lot of its other benefits, milk also helps boost metabolism. Michael Zemel, PhD, former director of The Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee conducted different studies and now suggests that consuming more calcium helps your body to burn fats more actively.

Milk is a rich source of calcium and so, helps speed up the metabolism.

8. Whole Grains

Whole grains are way better than processed grains like pasta and white bread. The reason behind this is that they require more effort to be metabolized as and as a result of this metabolism, your body burns more fats.

Brown rice and oat meals are the whole grains that are rich in fiber and are a perfect meal for a healthy body.

9. Lentils

20% of women, on average face iron deficiency. This means that your body cannot burn fats properly as iron is an important nutrient that speeds up the fat burning process. Iron deficiency means a poor metabolism and unfit, bulky body.

Lentils are an amazing source of calcium and they are so rich in it, that taking one cup lentils a day can fulfill 35% of your body’s iron requirements.

These foods are easily available and some of them can be found in your kitchen any time. It does not require a lot of money or resources to fulfill your body’s basic requirements that help you stay fit and active.

You just need to avoid unhealthy and junk food and eat what is good for your body.