A Few Simple Things to Boost Your Metabolism

Green Tea

We’ve all heard of the health benefits of green tea for years now, but that’s because they are real.  As is true for all health foods, it is not a quick fix where you can eat poorly throughout the day, take a green tea extract pill and expect to be shedding the pounds, but chemical compounds within green tea (such as catechins and EGCg) have real biochemical effects on the body.  One such health effect is how EGCg works on insulin, preventing sugar from being siphoned into fat cells. Even if you can’t give up your morning coffee, sip on some unsweetened (or stevia sweetened) iced green tea for the rest of your day.  Green tea is great for those out there who have difficulty drinking enough plain water throughout the day.  It is perfectly acceptable to replace 50% of your water quota with green tea and still have more than adequately hydrated your body.  Making sure your water or green tea are ice-cold also revs up your caloric turnover, as iced beverages make your body work harder to convert the liquid to your core temperature.  If you’re drinking a zero calorie glass of ice-cold water you’re actually burning calories!

Sleep

I’ve discussed the importance of sleep before, but it cannot be overstated how important a good night’s rest is when discussing hormone regulation and therefore metabolic effects.  Studies have shown that people who forego adequate sleep have higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite and cravings and decreases cellular energy production.  Sleep is how we modulate endocrine function and glucose metabolism, thus lack of sleep plays a significant role in our overall metabolic health.

Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT)

These are triglycerides with a shorter carbon chain that are ideal for energy bursts.  Due to their length and water solubility, they aren’t likely to become stored in adipose cells because your body will metabolize them first for energy.  Get your MCT boost from a tablespoon of coconut oil before an activity or first thing in the morning!