7 Foods That Speed Up Your Metabolism

Copyright (c) 2009 Stephen Smith

Here are 7 foods (and some additional strategies) that can dramatically increase your metabolism and therefore help you lose weight faster!

Chili

Chilies of various types contain an ingredient called, 'capsaicin'. Capsaicin has the effect of stimulating receptors on the sympathetic nervous system and therefore inducing a thermogenic effect, which may assist fat burning and weight loss.

It is definitely worthwhile adding this food to your meals if it is well tolerated.

Protein

Protein is a component of various foods, however, for most people it is not consumed very often throughout the day except in their dinner meal at night.

It is a component of foods like, red meat, eggs, fish, chicken, dairy products, nuts, seeds, beans and grains.

Protein is definitely one of the foods to speed up metabolism or rather it is a component of foods that has a positive impact on your metabolism. It has the effect of increasing the thermic effect of food, which means your body will burn up more energy digesting it. This means your metabolism will speed up whenever you eat it.

Protein is also a component of body tissues and since the body is a dynamic structure it is definitely useful in helping to maintain muscle mass. By doing so, your metabolism will stay elevated and you will burn off body fat much faster.

From this perspective it is also a food that increases metabolism indirectly.

Coffee

One of the main ingredients in coffee, various teas and chocolate is caffeine. Caffeine from the herb guarana is also a component of XLR8 Thermogenic .

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant that can dramatically increase metabolism; it is one of the best foods to speed up metabolism and is readily available for virtually anyone, especially if they want to burn off body fat fast!

Meal Frequency

Even though it isn't one of the foods to speed up metabolism, it is certainly a strategy related to food that can speed up metabolism naturally.

Having more frequent meals has a dramatically positive impact on your metabolism. 5 or 6 small meals a day keeps your metabolism elevated throughout the day because your body never has to invoke its 'Anti-Starvation Response', which gets called into play whenever you skip meals or go without a meal for greater than about 3 hours.

Graprefuit

Grapefruit contains a compound called, naringenin. Naringenin gives grapefruit its bitter taste. It also has the effect of inhibiting the breakdown of caffeine in the liver so this results in caffeine's effects lasting for a longer period of time in the body.

As a result, grapefruit is one of the foods to boost metabolism indirectly when it consumed with caffeine.

Sushi

The outside wrapping of sushi is made from seaweed, which is a rich source of iodine. Iodine is an essential mineral for optimising thyroid function.

If you have a slow metabolism resulting from an under-active thyroid gland , increasing your intake of iodine from sushi may be beneficial. It may help to up-regulate your thyroid's functioning.

The thyroid gland is responsible for controlling the metabolism of all body cells. Helping increasing its production of thyroid hormones by eating food that increases metabolism, such as sushi, is definitely worthwhile.

Nuts, fish, cereals

These foods are good sources of selenium. Selenium has also been shown to be beneficial in optimising thyroid function. Adding them to your diet is enormously beneficial in giving you a natural metabolism boost.

Supplements - herbal or fruit extracts

Various herbal or fruit extracts can also help to speed up metabolism naturally. All of the ingredients in XLR8 Thermogenic stimulate different receptors on your central nervous system or your sympathetic nervous system. By only having 2 capsules a day you can dramatically increase metabolism.

However, XLR8 Thermogenic is not for everyone. People who have high blood pressure, are on blood pressure medication, are pregnant or nursing or are under 18 or over 65, should avoid using this product.

So there you have it! 7 foods to speed up metabolism (and some additional strategies) that you can use to help speed up the fat burning process in your body!