How to increase the metabolism through healthy eating habits.
Eating the proper amount of calories can help someone lose weight, but it doesn’t increase the metabolism. As weight is lost and fat is burned away the body releases less leptin and the metabolism slows down. This is part of the reason why people fail in their diets, that urge not to eat is decreased.
Many nutritionist and heath experts say to eat often and less instead of eating few and more. Eating more frequently increases the metabolism by not letting the body go hungry and release the metabolic slower – ghrelin. Eating every three hours will cause the body to release the metabolic booster leptin more often and decrease the counter to it ghrelin. More non-countered leptin will increase the metabolism, and also have more appetite suppressed.
These are not heavy meals. The calories may be the same as three big meals, but it’s like these three meals are cut in have and spread out for every three hours. These smaller meals “top us off” and help keep us feeling full so that the body continues to keep our metabolism up with leptin.
Improving the Metabolism through Exercise
Endurance exercises like distance running do more than just improve the heart and burn fat. Endurance exercises actually release some chemicals in the body that increase the metabolism. Somatotropin (also known as Growth Hormone) is released which helps in the production of lean fat-burning muscle used in endurance exercise. The more of this muscle the more energy burned and the higher the metabolism.
Endurance exercises release another hormone called thyroxine. This helps improve the cardiovascular system, and absorb calcium reducing the risk of osteoporosis. So not only does thyroxine improve the heart, but also the bones. With a better heart the body can increase heat and cycle through the blood energy and pull fat off of the muscle.
Its not only endurance training that increases the metabolism, but also power training as well. Remember that hormone Leptin -- that full-filler metabolism booster. It was mentioned before that leptin is in fat cells. Adding a little fat does increase the metabolism, but extra fat on the body isn’t healthy… or is it?
Through high intensity power training the body does actually store fat. But don’t worry this is not extra fat on the body, this is fat stored in the muscles. It’s natural and it is healthy. The body needs fat, and this is the best place to put it. Adding this fat actually increases the metabolism by increasing leptin in the body. Power training increases the metabolism in a different way than endurance training. Though it’s not recommended to perform both types of training because they can counter each other, performing any exercise will improve the metabolism in different ways. Just stick to one type for best results.
Other methods to improve the metabolism
Proper sleep
Leptin is gained when the body is asleep. Without getting the proper rest the body doesn’t regain the leptin to use during the day, so it is essential to get the proper rest to have a faster metabolism
Laughter
Somatotropin released in endurance exercise is also released during laughter. So a life full of laughter actually increases the metabolism. So laugh hard and laugh long to be healthy.
Eat smart, sleep good, and play merry for tomorrow your metabolism will rise!
References
Elaine Magee, M. R. (2006). Your Hunger Hormones. Web MD .
