To boost your metabolism and help manage your weight:. Current as of: September 23, Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: Anne C. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use.
Learn how we develop our content. To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. Updated visitor guidelines. You are here Home » Boosting Your Metabolism. Top of the page. Topic Overview How is it that two people of the same age, gender, and height can eat the same foods and be equally active, but one gains weight while the other loses it?
The age-metabolism-body fat equation As you age, your metabolism naturally slows down. Taking steps to raise your metabolism helps you to: Burn extra food calories before they get stored as body fat.
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Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School. Recent Blog Articles. Health news headlines can be deceiving. Why is topical vitamin C important for skin health? Preventing preeclampsia may be as simple as taking an aspirin. Caring for an aging parent? After the diet, the women who did the resistance training maintained their muscle mass, metabolism and strength.
The others lost weight, but also lost muscle mass and experienced a decrease in metabolism You can find weights to incorporate into your workout online. Lifting weights is important for building and retaining muscle. Higher amounts of muscle will result in a higher metabolism.
Sitting too much is bad for your health In fact, compared to sitting, an afternoon of standing up at work can burn an extra calories If you have a desk job, try standing up for short periods to break up the length of time you spend sitting down. You can also invest in a standing desk 49 , 50 , 51 , You can find standing desk kits and setups online.
Sitting for a long time burns few calories and is bad for your health. Try to stand up regularly or invest in a standing desk. As they are low in calories, drinking these teas may be good for both weight loss and weight maintenance 57 , 58 , However, some studies find that these teas do not affect metabolism.
Therefore, their effect may be small or only apply to some people 60 , You can find green tea and oolong tea online. Drinking green tea or oolong tea may increase your metabolism.
These teas may also help you lose weight and keep it off. Peppers contain capsaicin, a substance that can boost your metabolism 62 , 63 , One study of capsaicin, at acceptable doses, predicted that eating peppers would burn around 10 additional calories per meal. Over 6. Alone, the effects of adding spices to your food may be quite small. However, it may lead to a slight advantage when combined with other metabolism-boosting strategies While you do not have much control over the speed of your metabolism, you can control how many calories you burn through your level of physical activity.
Some people who are said to have a fast metabolism are probably just more active — and maybe more fidgety — than others. Aerobic exercise is the most effective way to burn calories.
You should aim to do at least minutes of aerobic activity, such as walking, cycling and swimming, a week. You can achieve this target by doing 30 minutes, 5 days a week and breaking down your activity sessions in chunks of 10 minutes.
To lose weight, you're likely to need to do more than minutes a week and make changes to your diet. Aim to do muscle-strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms on 2 or more days a week.
Examples of muscle-strengthening activities include lifting weights and high-intensity bouts of exercise. Heavy gardening may also do the job. Try to make activity part of your daily routine. That could include walking or cycling all or part of your journey to work. You could also take the stairs instead of the lift. Get ideas on fitting more activity into your day. Some diseases and conditions can slow a person's metabolism, such as Cushing's syndrome and hypothyroidism an underactive thyroid.
But more often than not, people's weight is a matter of consuming more calories than they burn. If you feel you may have a problem that's not responding to lifestyle changes, speak to a doctor. Read 9 medical reasons for putting on weight. Page last reviewed: 26 October Next review due: 26 October
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