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What Boosts Your Body's Metabolism

Metabolism refers to the amount of energy your body burns. The body obtains energy by ingesting calories contained in foods, and your metabolism determines how quickly these calories are burned off. A high metabolism will burn off energy faster than a slow metabolism, resulting in weight loss. Boosting your body's metabolism will help you prevent weight gain or lose excess weight.

  1. Avoid Skipping Meals

    • When you make the decision to skip breakfast, lunch or dinner, your body's metabolism enters "survival mode" and slows down in order to conserve energy. While you may think skipping a meal will help you lose weight, doing this will slow your metabolism and may cause you to gain weight as your body will burn calories slower when you eat again. Eat three healthy meals a day to boost your metabolism and keep it burning energy throughout the day.

    Eat Spicy Foods

    • According to CBS News, eating spicy foods that contain Capsaicin, such as chili peppers, will help increase your metabolism. Capsaicin is the bioactive compound that causes peppers to exude heat. This compound also causes your appetite to decrease. Peppers in any form, whether baked or in salsa, will temporarily boost your metabolism after consumption.

    Exercise

    • Exercise is one of the easiest ways to boost your metabolism. While exercising, your body naturally burns more calories than it does while resting. Strength training workouts such as lifting weights increase metabolism more than cardiovascular workouts such as running, though exercise of any kind will kick-start your metabolism and help you lose weight.

    Eat Protein

    • Muscle burns off energy faster than fat, so maintaining or building muscle mass will permanently boost your body's metabolism. Incorporating lean protein such as chicken or fish into every meal will help your body build muscle and raise your metabolism. Other sources of protein include nuts, avocados and legumes.

    Consume Calcium

    • Calcium-rich foods and beverages such as milk cause the body to metabolize fat more efficiently, according to "Women's Health Magazine." Drinking one eight-ounce glass of milk per day will help your body burn calories from fat that you ingest during meals.

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