Weight Loss Tips – How to Speed Up Metabolism

In addition to eating less and regular exercise, dieters on a weight loss quest can eat certain foods to help boost metabolic rate and burn body fat faster. Here’s a quick look at the foods that dieters can consume to shed the extra weight.

Hot and Spicy Foods

Chilli, wasabi, mustard and curry paste are foods that boost the body’s metabolic rate quickly in a short time. That’s why people get all sweaty and flushed when they tuck into a bowl of hot curry chicken. Just don’t add too much rice or naan bread while enjoying a hot and spicy meal. The calories will pile up!

Eating Fish Stimulates Metabolism

A hormone known as leptin is released whenever a dieter eats fish. Leptin in turn stimulates the body to burn calories for energy instead of storing them as body fat. Many fish such as salmon and sardines are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have been known to reduce the risk of heart disease and in the right doses, help boost the body’s metabolism, resulting in fat being burnt a lot quicker.

Quality Cocoa or Dark Chocolate Can Boost Fat-Burning

Who says chocolate is all bad? Eating cocoa is in fact a good way to help increase the fat-burning effects of physical exercise. However, not all chocolates have that weight loss effect. The trick lies in choosing the right kind of chocolate – dark chocolate with very low sugar content and without hydrogenated vegetable oils, also known as trans fats. A good choice would be quality organic raw cocoa powder that can be mixed with the morning beverage.

A Variety of Proteins

Eating protein-rich foods can boost the rate of calorie burning as well. Plus, protein foods help keep the body feel full for a longer period of time, making them very good natural appetite suppressants. Dieters benefit most when they eat a variety of proteins such as soy, low-fat dairy products, lentils, eggs and fish.

Smart dieters who want to reap the true benefit of calorie-burning through proteins can also take tyrosine supplements. This non-essential amino acid is important in the production of dopamine and thyroxin – hormones that have a crucial role in healthy metabolism.

Herbs Can Help Burn Fats

Those serious about losing weight and burning body fat can also turn to herbs. These include:

• Green tea – Drinking green tea speeds up thermogenesis, a process that helps the body to burn fat more quickly.
• Rosemary – Add this fragrant herb into dishes to help stimulate cells that use fatty acids and calories.
• Gymnema – This herb helps block the tongue’s ability to taste sweet flavour, and is great to help those with a sweet tooth to cut down on high-sugar foods.
• Cinnamon – Cinnamon helps weight loss through its ability to help the body maintain healthy levels of insulin and blood sugar. Mix the powdered form of this aromatic herb with beverages, smoothies or porridge.
• Brindleberry – This herb is a good source of hydroxycitric acid, which contains an active compound that prevents the production of fatty acids. It is also known to stop the body from turning excess calories into body fat.

Smart dieting is about eating less and eating the right foods to boost metabolic rate in order to burn up body fat and calories faster. As such, part of a serious weight loss programme should include eating fat-burning foods such as hot and spicy chilli, fish, cocoa, a variety of proteins as well as herbs like green tea, rosemary, gymnema, cinnamon and brindleberry.