How to Improve Thermogenesis

People are always looking for easy ways to lose or maintain weight. Luckily, burning calories doesn't always have to come from hours in the gym, but can come from thermogenesis. Thermogenesis is the heat production in the body, determined by a person's basal metabolic rate (calories burned while sedentary). But it is also dependent on what a person consumes and the total physical expenditure. Diet-induced thermogenesis takes into account how food affects a person's body. For instance, eating protein plays an important role in how much energy a person body uses to break down the protein; the department of Human Biology at Maastricht University in The Netherlands concluded that protein-induced thermogenesis affects satiety and therefore plays a role in weight maintenance. Other foods and supplements can improve diet-induced thermogensis. Non-exercise thermogensis, on the other hand, occurs when people brush their teeth, prepare meals and walk to the bus stop, just to name a few such activities. It is the accumulation of all the physical tasks people do every day but does not include formal exercise routines. Improving non-exercise thermogenesis would include completing simple physical tasks such as washing and drying dishes by hand instead of using a dishwasher.

Things You'll Need

• Iced water
• Chili peppers
• Green tea

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Instructions

• 1

  Drinking iced water raises the metobolic rate.

  Drink iced water whenever possible. Studies show that the body burns more calories when you drink ice cold water because the body has to warm up. While the calories are minuscule, in conjunction with other thermogenesis-boosting foods or activities, the results maybe more substantial over the long haul.

• 2

  Taking the stairs increases non-exercise thermogenesis.

  Take the stairs instead of the elevator. According to a 2003 study by Professor Lorraine Lanningham-Foster and colleagues, people who didn't use convenience devices such as elevators and dishwashers burned an additional 120 calories per day.

• 3

  Capsaicin promotes thermogenesis.

  Eat spicy food. A study conducted by Yasser Mahmmoud at University of Aarhus in Demark showed that the chemical capsaicin in chilies caused heat in the body that promoted thermogenesis and in turn boosted metabolism.

• 4

  Green tea boosts thermogenesis.

  Sip green tea regularly. The ECGC in green tea leaves is shown to boost metabolism. ECGC (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) is a cancer-fighting plant flavonoid in green tea that fights free radicals in the body. Also, the caffeine in green tea boosts metabolism and aids in the thermogenesis of adipose (fat) tissue in the body.