Guest Post: Foods to Rev Up Your Metabolism

If you want to lose weight as quickly as possible, the best possible way to go about doing so is changing your diet. Specifically, you want to introduce foods that your body is able to digest more easily, and those that have certain properties that can cause your metabolism to accelerate and get rid of those extra calories more efficiently. In this article, I want to talk about some foods that are very good at speeding up your metabolism and help initiate the weight loss process as quickly as possible.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should only eat these foods, by any means. In order to lose weight and keep the weight off, you need to have a good, balanced diet that supplies your body with all the nutrients it needs because this is what will ultimately stop the craving of unhealthy food. However, they’re a great way to get started down this path, and these are some of the best that you can get for the purpose:

Whole Grains
Carbohydrates are the main source of glucose (energy) for our bodies, and so we must be very careful about where we get them so we don’t overdo it and cause our insulin levels to get whacked out of balance. One of the best ways to do so is to eat whole grain foods instead of products made from all-purpose flour. Whether it’s brown rice, black bread of just whole wheat flour, by switching to whole grain you’ll give your body the chance to stabilize its insulin levels, which will speed up your metabolism and significantly reduce your appetite. I highly recommend replacing regular bread with stuff like brown rice, oatmeal or just black bread, as it’ll do wonders for your overall health.

Broccoli
Broccoli is a superfood that’s long been known as the go-to vegetable for people who want to lose weight. It’s loaded with tons of useful micronutrients such as vitamin C, K and A, and is also really high in folate, dietary fiber and antioxidants. You might be taken aback by the smell of broccoli while it’s being cooked, and in fact it’s one of the main reasons why many people (especially children) tend to dislike it. But if you get creative with your cooking, trust me that this is not really that much of an issue, and the benefits of this amazing vegetable are numerous.

Soup
Soups are generally a great choice for people with slow metabolisms. A study at the Penn State University discovered that consuming soup on a regular basis serves to reduce one’s appetite, speed up your metabolism significantly and even burn fat reserves. The great thing about soups is that they contain a lot of essential nutrients taken from the vegetables and meat cooked in it, including a lot of fiber and protein. However, it’s very low in calories, which means that you can eat as much as you like without worrying about slowing down the weight loss process.

Spices
Spices have been used to enhance the flavour of foods for years, and throughout history, their price was known to be quite high (an ounce of pepper was as expensive as an ounce of gold at one point). Today they’re thankfully mostly very cheap, but I bet you didn’t know that they were great for weight loss. A study conducted in Canada proved that people who had consumed spices on a regular basis burned up to a thousand calories more per day than those who hadn’t.

High-Calcium Foods
Calcium is very important micronutrient, essential for the development of strong bones and joints – especially in children. A study conducted at the University of Tennesee showed that those who ate at least 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day were inclined to lose twice the amount of weight as people who had a calcium deficiency due to not having enough of it. Although you should try to get calcium from your diet if this isn’t possible feel free to take some kind of calcium supplement in order to kick start your metabolism.

Grapefruits and Citrus Fruits
Despite being very healthy to begin with, certain citrus fruits such as grapefruits, lemons, tangerines and oranges have been proven to have a positive impact on burning fat and accelerating our metabolism. This is largely due to the high concentration of vitamin C in these fruits; apart from being extremely important for the maintenance of our immune system, vitamin C also regulates our insulin levels, which in turn balances out our appetite as well as our metabolism.

Fish
Substituting pork, chicken and beef with fish a couple of times a week can have a significant impact on your metabolism. This is because fish contain the essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These are the only fatty acids that our bodies are not capable of synthesising on their own, and they’re also very important for proper brain activity. Additionally, these acids help reduce the secretion of a hormone known as leptin, which has been scientifically proven to have a slowing effect on your metabolism. In other words, the less leptin there is in your body, the less your metabolism will be inhibited by it, and the faster you’ll be able to digest your food overall.

Jalapeno Peppers
If you like hot, spicy food, you might want to pay attention to this one. Spicy peppers such as the Jalapeno, cayenne and habanero have a direct effect on not only your metabolism, but also your cravings. This is mainly due to the compound known as capsaicin that is abundant in these peppers. Capsaicin slightly stimulates your pain receptors (which is why these peppers are “hot” and seem to “burn” when you put them in your mouth), which ultimately leads to a temporary increase in blood circulation, thus speeding up your metabolism as well.

Green Tea
Did you know that green tea is actually known to have “negative” calories? Well, in reality, it has zero calories, but every time you drink a cup your metabolism speeds up a bit, which results in burning an extra 70 to 80 calories per cup. Additionally, green tea is loaded with essential antioxidants, which carries with it a wide array of various health benefits.

Conclusion
There are many other foods that have also been proven to have a positive impact on your metabolism, but I think that these nine are more than sufficient for now. Hopefully, this article has inspired you to drop those few extra pounds and improve your overall health, and these foods can help you achieve just that. Good luck!

Author Bio:

Vanessa Davis is a 32-year-old fitness enthusiast, mother of two and content writer at www.diet.st .She’s originally from Long Island, New York, and when she isn’t cooking up some new health and fitness article, she enjoys doing yoga and figuring out new, delicious organic-based recipes for herself and her kids.