Health, Wellness
HOW TO HELP OUR METABOILISM
17/08/2022
We are all aware of the importance of exercising and eating well. They are the "magic" formula for staying fit and eventually losing some weight, but in everyone‘s life we hear more and more about metabolism. But why is it so important when it comes to fitness? Why do we hear so much about fast metabolism or speeding up metabolism?
Metabolism consists of the breakdown of nutrients to produce energy. Simplifying, we could define it as «the set of processes that our body uses to derive energy from food and consume it».
This term, therefore, is generally associated with physical fitness. Professor Daniela Lucini, Head of the Section of Exercise Medicine and Functional Pathology at the Humanitas Institute in Milan, Italy, defines it as «the set of biochemical processes that are essential to produce energy from what we introduce with food. Our body receives nutrients and uses them according to the body‘s demands. Food introduction and energy consumption are thus the two arms of the balance. Other factors then come into play in this delicate and complex balance, such as genetics, age, lifestyle, level of physical training, and body size. When we talk about metabolism, weight also has something to do with it, but what counts is muscle mass. Let‘s take an example: an obese person (who therefore has a significant weight) might consume less than a normal-weight person because he or she might have, in addition to a large reserve of adipose fat, little muscle mass», explains Professor
How do you work on metabolism?
The factors that need to be addressed are nutrition and energy consumption. Strategies will vary according to clinical goals: there are people who only need to lose weight and people who need to improve body composition; ideally, this should have a proper muscle component and an essential fat reserve.
In general, as numerous studies also show, it is good to ensure a healthy, proper and balanced diet that contains the right amount of protein, the right amount of quality carbohydrates (whole grains, better to limit white flours and sugars), fruits and vegetables. In fact, the metabolism works depending on what we eat. If we do not introduce enough protein but many carbohydrates and fats, it will not be possible to build/maintain a proper muscle component; however, the metabolism will turn excess carbohydrates into fat, only increasing fat mass.
It is then necessary for physical activity to be aerobic (running, walking), of medium to high intensity, and above all continuous: it is continuity that exerts metabolic modulation; therefore, it is better to do the right amount every day than to exaggerate occasionally.
Nutrition and diet to accelerate metabolism
How (and how much) should you eat to boost your metabolism? The answer might seem paradoxical: to keep your metabolism "exercised" you need to avoid drastic diets, which might even slow down your metabolism. But then how to regulate how much to eat?
How much to eat?
According to the claims of New York-based nutritionist Keri Gan (author of The Small Change Diet), if one eats much less than the daily requirement, the body will enter the physiological condition of being hungry, and thus assimilate all foods, turning them into fat. A woman with a moderately active lifestyle needs about 1,400 to 1,700 calories per day, which should come from a variety of nutrients: fiber-rich carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits and vegetables), lean proteins (fish, skinless poultry and ham) and healthy fats (nuts, seeds, olive oil).
In short, it sounds like a paradox, but taking in less than 1,200 calories a day can actually slow weight loss.
How to eat to speed up metabolism
Certain habits in the way of eating promote the work of metabolism: knowing them is very useful because they are extremely simple strategies that can be put into practice every day.
- Eating slowly, helps us eat exactly the amounts of food we need, while eating quickly can trick us into feeling full;
- Do not fast: if we deprive our body of fuel, the body will put itself in a position to burn as little as possible;
- Eat little and often: on the contrary, if we provide our body with nutrients in frequent doses, the body will tend to burn energy more efficiently;
- Eat breakfast: for the same reason that we should not fast (this obviously applies to all meals, but particularly to breakfast, which is often underestimated)
Always be on the move
According to the latest studies, moving throughout the day even very little (getting out of a chair, walking in enclosed spaces, taking the stairs, doing household chores) speeds up metabolism.
«People who move constantly during small daily activities gain less weight than those who tend to sit down as soon as they can - says James Delaney, an endocrinologist at the University of Pittsburgh - That‘s why it‘s better to climb the stairs as soon as you can, instead of taking the elevator, and get out of your chair at least every hour"
If you add up these small activities, your metabolism will thank you.
