Aging comes with a variety of impacts, and one of those is your metabolism naturally slowing down. This, however unpleasant, is inevitable and can cause weight gain, lethargy, drowsiness, and much more. But, you need not worry too much as today, we are here to share with you some ways to boost your metabolism and combat the aging process!
Causes of Slowing Metabolism
One of the main reasons why our metabolism slows with age is due to hormonal changes. Our body begins to produce lesser testosterone or estrogen, which causes loss of muscle mass. Since metabolism is essentially the breaking down of food into energy, lesser muscles mean lesser of this process. A fall in metabolism rate can also be caused by certain medications, increase in stress levels, sedentary lifestyle, and failure to consume sufficient calories, causing your body to retain body fat in an attempt to preserve itself. So, how can you counteract these causes?
Exercise More
Firstly, exercise! It is scientifically proven that a simple 20-minute workout can boost your metabolism rate for a few days. What’s more, with consistent exercise, these effects can last for even longer periods! One form of exercise is weight training. This not only restores your muscle mass that decreases with age but also helps burn calories. It also does wonders for your cardiovascular health. The exercises need not be too strenuous either. Just hold a weight in each hand and do some arm raises to help tone your upper body. If you do not have any weights, you can even just use a water bottle or a can of beans.
Ensure You Have Sufficient Vitamin D
We briefly touched on earlier that hormonal changes can cause metabolism rates to decrease. However, this can be easily resolved by getting sufficient vitamin D, which has been shown to boost metabolic rates. This can be achieved by just getting more exposure to sunlight, one of our main sources of vitamin D. Another source, of course, is the food we consume. Start incorporating more egg yolks, fatty fish like salmon, and orange juice into your day-to-day diet to boost your metabolic rates.
Drink More Cold Water
Drinking water has also been shown to increase your metabolism and help lose weight by burning more calories. Moreover, drinking water before you have your meals makes you feel less hungry, meaning you will eat less food. You can reap even more of these benefits by drinking cold water instead of warm or room temperature water. Since the water is cold, your body is forced to burn more calories to keep you warm, thereby burning more calories and boosting your metabolism!
Drink Some Caffeine
Finally, tea and coffee lovers will be glad to hear that drinking caffeine also increases your metabolism. Studies have proven that one’s metabolic rate can increase by as much as 30% simply by drinking some coffee or tea. For you coffee lovers, this is music to your ears. Drinking coffee actually increases your metabolism.
So, once again, do not despair! As we get older, it is natural for our bodies, and our metabolism, to slow down. But you can easily combat this by following some of the steps above. We hope these pointers have been useful, and remember not to stress about it. The most important is thing is staying healthy and happy!
