“Lucky 7” foods that help speed metabolism and burn fat

Are you looking for foods that speed up your metabolism like a Lamborghini?
This will probably surprise you. All foods speed metabolism.

“How is that possible?” you ask.

Let’s take a quick look at just what is metabolism and how does it work. This explanation might help you to better understand the process and how it can affect your body.

It all starts with the mouth…are you surprised? As soon as food enters your mouth, your saliva and teeth starts to break down the food into smaller pieces. Just an FYI note:  {Many people have digestive problems because they don’t chew their food properly. They’re always in a hurry and trying to swallow a meal instead of chewing it.} When you eat a meal, your body begins the process of digesting the food, drawing out the nutrients and processing them to create energy that keeps your body functioning properly and effectively. It takes approximately 2-4 hours just to absorb the nutrients. This is repeated with every meal you eat. In a day, that amounts to 12 hours that your body is busy absorbing each meal’s nutrients.

In short, during the digestion process, our bodies burn calories. This is especially true of foods containing carbohydrates and protein which take longer than other foods to digest. Simply by eating, digesting and absorbing nutrients from the food, you rev up your metabolism.

Does this mean you should eat more to constantly stimulate calorie burning?

Here’s another answer that might surprise you. Yes. But hold on before you park yourself in front of the refrigerator, bib in place, with knife and fork ready to go.

If you skip breakfast and other meals, you will reduce how quickly your body burns calories. In this case, eating more food will help speed metabolism. In fact, by eating smaller meals more often throughout the day, you can keep your metabolism working so that your body is constantly in the state of calorie burning.

As mentioned, there are some foods that require more of your body’s energy to burn. The degree to which they affect your body’s metabolism depends on the particular food choice. Caffeine, coffee, tea, chocolate and a chemical found in chillies are some foods that speed metabolism, but only minimally.

Protein has such a complex molecular makeup it takes your body longer to break it down. Your body works overtime trying to extract the nutrients out of the protein leading to a high caloric burn. A burn so fierce Fire Marshall Bill can’t put it out! –He was one of my favorites growing up.

Carbohydrates and protein trigger the highest rate of metabolism. In fact, a protein meal can burn as much as 25% of that meal’s calories through digestion and absorption.

While a high protein meal might sound appealing, consider that it would not provide your body with its required round of nutrients. Adding vitamin and mineral supplements is not the answer either, because they do not provide the same quality of nutrients that are found naturally in foods.

Your best choice is to eat well-balanced meals regularly that contain protein, non-starchy vegetables, fats and carbohydrates.

The “Lucky 7” foods that help speed metabolism and burn fat

• Whole grain bread
• Chicken
• Salmon
• Eggs
• Fresh Low-fat Cheese
• Asparagus and other non-starchy vegetables
• And, of course, protein rich meats

To temporarily boost your metabolism by as much as 30%, drink cold water.

Wanna know why water does that?  Ask me when you see me. We’ll talk about it.

Remember, there are other factors beyond your control that can affect your body’s speed of metabolism, including your age, sex and any medical conditions.

While these foods can speed metabolism, the best way to lose weight is with a healthy combination of regular meals and physical exercise, especially those that build muscle because muscle burns calories too.

Get your metabolism going today by eating the right foods and start exercising!

If you have any questions or comments please post below. Or email me if you’re too shy to post in the comment section.

Your friend in fitness,

CC Matthews

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 3:57 pm and is filed under Fat Loss Strategies, Fitness Advice, Mind/Motivation, Nutrition Tips & Strategies, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted by admin | in Fat Loss Strategies, Fitness Advice, Mind/Motivation, Nutrition Tips & Strategies, Uncategorized | 2 Comments