- Will Ferrell, Talladega Nights
In a world addicted to speed, I thought I'd share with you some helpful, clean ways you, too, can get in on the race. But, we're not talking about a contest to the finish...more like a contest to the fittest!
According to Tosca Reno, the guru of Clean Eating, below are the top five foods (and liquids) you should eat in order to speed up your metabolism.
Why do you want to speed up your metabolism? Well, simply because the faster your metabolism runs, the more calories you burn. The more calories you burn, the more weight you lose - so you really want to do anything you can to help out this internal energy mill!
Keep your metabolism revved up by consuming the following five foods every day:
1. Green Tea: "It's the closest thing to a metabolism potion," says Tammy Lakatos Shames, R.D., author of Fire Up Your Metabolism: 9 Proven Principles for Burning Fat and Losing Weight Forever. Along with their high antioxidant content, Green Tea leaves contain a compound called ECGC, which promotes fat burning. Consuming two to four cups of green tea per day may burn an extra 50 calories. That translates into about five pounds per year.
2. Spices: Spices like jalapeno, habanero, and cayenne can temporarily boost your resting metabolic rate, because they contain a chemical called Capsaicin. Capsaicin temporarily stimulates your body to release more stress hormones, such as adrenaline, speeding up your metabolism and thus increasing your ability to burn calories, says study coauthor Angelo Tremblay, director of the Institute of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods at Laval. Sprikle some red pepper flakes in your soup or stir-fry and let those calories burn, baby, burn!
3. Fiber: Simple carbs, such as bagels, white bread, and potatoes, create a surge in insulin that in turn promotes storage of fat and may drive down your metabolic rate, says Louis Aronne, M.D., an obesity specialist at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, who recommends high-fiber carbs instead. Fiber like oatmeal, wheat germ, bran, and flax, also keep you feeling full between meals without the crashes that can accompany the simple carbs mentioned above. My favorite? 1-2 TABLESPOONS of ground flaxseed in my morning smoothies - ya never even taste it but it's doing it's magic all the same!
4. Lean proteins: Research shows that getting plenty of protein can boost your metabolism, causing you to burn an extra 150 to 200 calories a day, says Jeff Hampl, Ph.D., R.D., a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. "Protein is made up mainly of amino acids, which are harder for your body to break down [than fat and carbs], so you burn more calories getting rid of them," he explains. Proteins like poultry, fish, bison and egg whites also keep you feeling satisfied longer and there's less of a chance that protein will be stored in your body as excess fat.
5. Water: H2O, Agua, the miracle liquid...Researchers at the University of Utah found that volunteers who drank eight to 12 eight-ounce glasses of water per day had higher metabolic rates than those who quaffed only four glasses. Water keeps your body lean by helping nutrients flow through it and by washing away waste and free radicals. And, remember to drink it COLD - research has shown that 90 minutes after drinking cold water your metabolism will get a 24% boost over your average BMR. (Base metabolic rate.)
Eating Clean is a great way to stay healthy and speed up your metabolism, but by following these tips you can keep your metabolism on fire all day long!
Stayed tuned next week and I'll share 5 more foods you can incorporate into your diet to help speed up your metabolism along with why they're good for you! Until then, Happy [Clean] Eating, friends!
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