As you’ve probably heard, one way to increase your weight loss potential is by speeding up your metabolism. Dozens of supplements and activities work as metabolism boosters, but do any of these products or activities really work? And if they don’t, are there other metabolism boosters available that do work?
What is Metabolism?
Understanding metabolism is important if you want to identify metabolism boosters. Basically, metabolism is a biological process in which your body converts the food you’ve eaten into energy. Any food that is not needed for energy ends up being converted into stored fat for later use. The reason metabolism boosters could work to help with weight loss is that a faster metabolism is going to convert more food into energy, leaving less behind to be stored as fat. While you can boost your metabolism, there are some methods touted today that are not very effective.
Ineffective Metabolism Boosters
Many people today believe the supplements sold on television or in drug stores that “guarantee” to increase your metabolism are effective and are worth the usually high price tags. Science has shown that many of these supposed metabolism boosters do not speed up the process and can, in fact, cause serious negative side effects. The supplements may have a small or short-term effect on your metabolism, but there are better and safer metabolism boosters that provide long-term benefits without the extra cost.
Another increasingly popular approach to increasing metabolism is doing intense exercise in a heated room. One example is the Bikram yoga approach. People do yoga exercises in rooms that can be as hot as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. This can increase your metabolism temporarily, but it can also be very dangerous to your health. The combination of exertion and heat is what causes people to die from heat exhaustion and dehydration. That shouldn’t be a risk you take when exercising or when looking for means to boost your metabolism.
Better Metabolism Boosters
Although you can’t do anything to stop some of the factors that are going to slow down your metabolism, such as your age and genetics, there are some metabolism boosters that have been proven effective that can help perk it up. One is to eat more frequently. Within an hour of eating, our metabolism reaches its peak speed because that’s when it must kick into action to start converting food into energy. By eating five or six small meals a day, we can keep our metabolism rate higher throughout the day. Plus, if we’re eating healthy meals during those times we decrease our tendency to eat unhealthy snacks which is also good for our bodies and important to weight loss.
Increasing your activity level is another good way to speed up your metabolism. When you exercise, your body needs more energy, and that means more food has to be converted into energy through your metabolic processes. This makes your metabolism have to work harder. By combining five days of aerobic exercises and a couple of weight training sessions into your week and normal routine, you can benefit from some real natural metabolism boosters. Remember to divide up your exercise periods throughout the day so you can maximize your potential boost in metabolism and burn more calories.
The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.
26 Nov 2008