
You can boost your metabolism with water, spices, and a ten-minute workout.
1. You spend the most calories just to maintain life
There is such a concept as the basic rate of metabolism or resting metabolism (resting metabolic rate, RMR). This is the number of calories that the body spends on all the chemical processes necessary for life.
In other words, basal metabolism is the energy we expend when we are doing nothing at all - not moving or even digesting food.
And in most sedentary people, basal metabolism accounts for 65-70% of all daily energy expenditure. Only the remaining 30-35% is due to physical activity and food digestion.
2. Your metabolic rate depends largely on genetics
Studies of siblings and twins have shown that metabolism is 40-45% determined by genetics. The same goes for the thermic effect of carbohydrates: how much energy you use to digest food is 40-50% dependent on your DNA profile.
Even how many calories you burn during exercise depends in part on your genes. However, only when working with low power.
This explains why not all people are equally good at losing weight and gaining muscle mass on certain diets. Everything is individual and you will have to try to find your ideal mode.
3. Metabolism slows down with age and how it can be avoided
The rate of metabolism in adults gradually decreases. Starting from the age of 18-19, you spend less and less energy every year. A sharp decrease in metabolism occurs after 30, then there is a small rise at the age of 50-59, followed by a gradual decline until the very end.
This is one of the reasons why over the years it becomes more difficult to maintain a normal weight and get rid of extra pounds.
But there is also good news: such a decline can be avoided.
In one study, Regular exercise and the age-related decline in resting metabolic rate in women, the metabolic rate of women of different age groups was checked: 21-35 years and 50-72 years. In inactive young people and elderly people, the difference between the metabolic rate differed by about 10%. However, no such difference was found in long-distance runners and swimmers.
Although the study was conducted only on women, scientists believe that regular endurance sports will help avoid age-related changes in people of both sexes. A great reason to finally go for a run or sign up for a pool.
4. The more muscles, the faster the metabolism
Skeletal muscles make up 45-55% of body weight and make the largest contribution to energy expenditure, especially during physical activity.
Therefore, despite their high body weight, obese people have a lower resting metabolic rate than those of normal weight.
The more muscles you manage to pump up, the more energy the body will spend on their maintenance. Therefore, metabolism at rest will also increase.
5. Calculators can be wrong
Different formulas are used to calculate basal metabolic rate, but none of them give an accurate idea of how much energy you actually burn and how many calories you need to consume to maintain or lose weight.
The Mifflin-San Geor and Harris-Benedict equations are considered the most reliable, but they give errors.
The average deviation according to common formulas is from 314 to 445 kcal per day. In fact, it is a complete meal.
In addition, the more muscle mass a person has, the more wrong the formulas are, underestimating energy needs.
When the accuracy of the calculations was tested on young athletes, it was found that the most reliable equations underestimated the daily calorie requirement by 284 kcal in women (23% fat) and by 110 kcal in men (15% fat).
6. Lack of sleep accelerates the metabolism, but it does not help to lose weight
Energy consumption decreases during night rest, so the less you sleep, the more calories you will burn per day.
One study found that people who slept for 5 hours burned 5% more calories per day than those who slept for 9 hours. In another experiment, it was found that 24 hours without sleep increases energy expenditure by an average of 7% per day.
However, along with the activation of calorie consumption, the appetite also increases, as well as the desire for fatty and sweet food. So if you don't control your diet, then after a bad night you will quickly cover the additional energy expenditure with snacks.
7. Stress does not reduce metabolism, but it can lead to weight gain
A recent study showed that psychological stress and anxiety levels have no effect on resting metabolism.
However, chronic stress can still lead to gaining extra pounds. Constant anxiety changes the concentration of hunger and satiety hormones, forcing you to eat more than you need and insist on high-calorie food.
In addition, stress reduces the body's ability to oxidize fats and expend energy after consuming fatty foods.
If you were nervous, in the next six hours you will burn about 104 kcal less than if everything was fine. Scientists have calculated that daily stress can result in an increase of 5 kg per year.
8. Strict diets slow down the metabolism
When you drastically reduce the calorie intake of your diet and lose weight, the body goes into energy-saving mode: the basal metabolism slows down and may remain so even after you restore the normal calorie intake. And a number of studies confirm this.
The slowdown in metabolism is partly due to the loss of muscle mass, which goes along with the fat if nothing is done to preserve it. When you go back to your usual diet, the weight is quickly gained. Fortunately, this can be avoided if you choose the right diet.
9. A large amount of protein accelerates metabolism even on a diet
The body needs to spend much more energy on the assimilation of food protein than on the processing of carbohydrates and fats.
About 20-30% of the calories you get from protein will go towards its absorption.
Due to this effect, protein increases energy expenditure at rest, helping to maintain a normal weight. Moreover, a high protein intake helps to maintain and even increase muscle mass on a diet and thus avoid a slowdown in metabolism.
10. Exercise increases resting metabolism even on a diet
Physical activity not only increases energy expenditure during the day, but also affects the level of metabolism at rest, increasing it even in conditions of calorie deficit.
And power loads cope best with this. They not only increase the effect of metabolism at rest and during sleep, but also help maintain and build muscle mass.
11. Too intense training can slow down the metabolism
Both aerobic and strength training are equally good at maintaining the basal metabolic rate, but if the activity becomes exhausting, the opposite happens.
Observation of experienced cyclists has shown that during periods of heavy loads – up to 150% of the usual intensity of training – energy consumption at rest is significantly reduced.
12. Spices can increase metabolism
Some spices activate thermogenesis during food digestion, causing the body to burn more calories. These include ginger, pepper and chili.
Add these spices to food and drinks and you can spend an additional 40-50 kcal per day. Moreover, ginger and chili pepper have anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties, which can have a positive effect on health in general.
13. Ten minutes of physical activity can speed up metabolism
This applies to high-intensity interval training (HIIT) - alternating short periods of high intensity with intervals of rest or restorative activity. For example, 20 seconds of sprinting and 10 seconds of jogging.
Due to the high intensity of VIIT, more calories are spent than the same time of quiet work, they perfectly pump up endurance and speed up the metabolism at rest.
14. Coffee and tea increase metabolism
The two most common drinks help burn more calories due to their caffeine content, a substance that stimulates the central nervous system.
One cup of brewed coffee (about 250 ml, 100 mg of caffeine) increases energy expenditure by 9,2 kcal per hour during the next three hours after consumption.
Green tea also contains caffeine, as well as catechins - substances that have antioxidant properties. Together, they increase thermogenesis and help avoid metabolic slowdown even on low-calorie diets.
15. Cold water can increase metabolism
Some studies confirm that plain water can activate resting energy expenditure.
For example, in the scientific work of Michael Boschmann (Michael Boschmann) with the participation of 14 healthy men and women without excess weight, they found that 500 ml of cool water (22 °C) increased the participants' metabolism by 30%.
People burned calories at an accelerated rate already 10 minutes after drinking, and after 30-40 minutes the effect was completely off the charts. Scientists have calculated that after drinking 2 liters of water a day, a person can burn an additional 95 kcal.
Three years later, Clive Brown (Clive M. Brown) conducted a similar experiment involving eight young healthy representatives of both sexes and received far less optimistic results.
In his study, about 500 ml of cold water (3 °С) increased the metabolism of the subjects by only 4,5% within an hour after drinking. Brown concluded that this was not enough to help with weight loss.
In addition, the scientist noted that in Boschmann's work, direct calorimetry was used in a special chamber, and not an apparatus for indirect respiratory calorimetry, which is worn on the participant's head in the form of a dome or mask.
Perhaps Boschmann did measure incorrectly, and twice (in 2007 he did the experiment again in the respiratory chamber and got 24% after 500 ml of cold water). But in 2011, another work was published in which the consumption of calories in obese children was checked.
Here, as in Brown's experiment, an indirect calorimeter was used, but the results were similar to those obtained by Boschmann. Within 40 minutes after taking 10 ml of cold water (4 °С) per kilogram of body weight, the resting metabolic rate increased by 25% in children.
It is difficult to draw unequivocal conclusions, since the results are different and the topic needs further research. But if you're looking to lose weight, a couple of liters of cool water a day spread over several meals can do the trick.