Losing weight does not have to be a daunting experience of being constantly hungry and powering through hours of workouts. Find out ways to boost metabolism and burn more calories according to science-backed studies.
You can’t outwork a bad diet. That much is true. But have you ever noticed that some people can easily eat a lot of food and still maintain a slim figure? What do those people do differently? Very likely it is a genetic thing, but what if you could use science to help you shed the unwanted weight?
The best way to lose weight and burn fat without having to do more exercises or starve is to boost the metabolism, more specifically the resting metabolic rate and that is what Max Posternak talked about.
Max Posternak is the founder of Gravity Transformation, a website focused on giving tips and training guidance for people looking to improve their fitness and lose weight. His YouTube channel has over 4 million subscribers.
Posternak decided to share 7 ways to boost metabolism and burn calories utilising findings from scientific studies. Check it out.
7 Ways to Boost Metabolism
1. Optimise Thyroid Function
If you can optimise your thyroid function, you can burn between 500 to 1,000 calories extra each day. The thyroid sometimes is not working properly if a person has vitamins and minerals deficiencies.
Studies have shown that thyroid hormones have a major impact on energy expenditure and metabolic rate.
Out of all vitamins and minerals, it is especially important to get enough iodine.
The thyroid gland uses iodine to make thyroid hormones which boosts the amount of calories you burn each day. To increase iodine you should swap your current salt for iodised salt. Other two important minerals for healthy thyroid function are zinc and selenium.
2. Switch from Regular Cooking Oil to MCT
MCT stands for medium chain triglycerides. MCTs are specifically high in lauric acid and can help improve your resting metabolic rate. A good example of MCT is coconut oil and an easy to do to that is to use coconut oil when cooking.
3. Eat Enough Protein
Out of all 3 macros (protein, carbs, fats), protein is the best at increasing your metabolism. It has a high thermic effect (you burn more calories to digest protein than other nutrients), and it helps build muscle and prevent losing it while you get leaner.
Related: How Much Protein is Too Much Protein?
4. Maintain More Muscle
Having more muscle adds different ways to boost metabolism:
- Improve insulin sensitivity – your body uses glucose more efficiently
- Deplete glycogen stores – refill your glycogen with carbs instead of storing it as fat
- Increase and improve glycogen store capacity – takes carbs into your muscle cell rather than into your fat cells
5. Drink Water Throughout the Day
A study showed that drinking 500 ml of water increases the metabolic rate up to 30% for 30-40 minutes. That means you burn around 24 calories by just drinking two cups of water.
To go even further, drink cold water as a study showed an increase of 25% in metabolic rate for 60 minutes after drinking cold water.
6. Eat Chili Peppers and Spicy Food
Capsaicin, found in chilli peppers, causes an increase in metabolism by activating brown adipose tissue or brown fat. Brown fat can use regular body fat as fuel to generate heat.
7. Cold Exposure, Ice Baths, and Cold Showers
Studies are still scarce on the effectiveness of cold showers and ice baths. For some people, it can increase the amount of calories burned by up to 400 calories per day. That, unfortunately, was an outlier in the study, but on average people spent 75 extra calories daily after a cold shower.
The bottom truth is cold exposure will activate your brown fat, which uses fat cells to generate heat.
Read More: University Professor Explains How To Use The Cold to Lose Fat
And those are 7 ways to boost metabolism and burn extra calories without too much effort. If you want to see a detailed argumentation for each point, click on the video below from Max Posternak.
VIDEO – Ways to Boost Metabolism
Read More: Benefits of Cold Water for Recovery
Image Sources
- Gym ready: Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels