What Really Speeds Up Your Metabolism?

"The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence"

-Charles Bukowski

Sometimes bad logic makes a lot of sense and as a result, we end up buying into these fallacies without question. We still submit because it is coming from a source we trust like a favorite influencer or a family member(ie. someone who has more life experience or expertise than us). Some BAD logic I've heard from so-called "fitness enthusiasts" are as shown below:

-The more you eat the faster your metabolism works due to increased stress on the body.

-Nibble all-day

-Having some form of protein with a bad meal can make it a healthy one

-Drinking copious amounts of water will lower blood sugar levels

-Having superfoods alone can be a sufficient way to speed up your metabolism... they are super for a reason.

Despite having absolutely no scientific backing some of them are just flat out stupid often justified by the person using them for their own motives & reasoning. Today I'm going to go over the so-called "methods" that actually prove to be true with scientific literature backing them strongly and very practical personal methodology.

Fasting & Increased Base Metabolic Rate

First and foremost lets set the record straight. Fasting BY FAR is the easiest and best way to increase your BMR (Base Metabolic Rate). It's great because it requires nothing but a little discipline and its effects can be groundbreaking.

You might ask... "well what gives fasting the authority to say its the best way to increase BMR?". Fair question. Let us Inquire.

See Fasting has effects not just on a cellular level but on multiple levels including cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and whole organisms. A study, published January 29, 2019, in Scientific Reports, presents an analysis of whole human blood, plasma, and red blood cells drawn from four fasting individuals. Fasting appeared to enhance the metabolism of purine and pyrimidine, chemical substances which play key roles in gene expression and protein synthesis. The finding suggests fasting may reprogram which proteins cells build & at what time, thus altering their function and severity. The change may promote homeostasis in cells, or serve to edit their gene expression in response to environmental influences. When metabolized, purine and pyrimidine also boost the body's production of antioxidants. Several antioxidants, such as ergothioneine and carnosine, were found to increase significantly over the 58-hour study period.

They also found a global increase in substances produced by the citric acid cycle, a process by which organisms release energy stored in the chemical bonds of carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids. The marked increase suggests that, during fasting, the tiny powerhouses running every cell are thrown into overdrive [1].

During a time when bad logic would be to expend more energy because of decreased energy input, the body has taken consideration. At around the 24-hour mark, the body starts utilizing energy sources other than glucose primarily. This "illogical" choice is made as a preliminary attempt to increase ketone bodies in an attempt to supplement energy. This would, in turn, motivate the participant to go out to hunt to obtain his or her next meal. First hand I can confidently say this "action-reaction mechanism" is notable, to say the least.

HIGH PROTEIN DIET

A good place to look at when trying to increase metabolism would be diet. Digestion is composed of many small chemical reactions in your body that carry out a larger purpose. All these small chemical reactions are made responsible via 3 macronutrients. Fat, Carbohydrates and Protein are the 3 but lets put protein under the microscope because of its applicability. It is important to understand thermogenesis first and it is outlined as follows. The thermic effect of food is when a macronutrient isn't very easy or efficient to digest and some of the invested energy is lost to heat. Think of it like a stock, you have to invest money to make money. It is simply logical to state that digestion requires energy (ATP) to take place and the result of digestion is new energy or new ATP acquired from the digested food. On a cellular level heat is always naturally a by-product of the Krebs cycle and no food is 100% efficient to digest otherwise we wouldn't need digestion. What makes protein so special is that it is ATP expensive or in straight forward terms, it is extra hard to digest!!! Even more so than Carbs and Fats and by a significant amount! The Thermic effect of protein is about 35-40% in comparison to fats which is 5-10% and carbs which is 10-15%. If we go with a thermic effect of 30% for protein, this means that 100 calories of protein only end up as 70 usable calories. Raw celery and grapefruit are often claimed to have negative caloric balance (requiring more energy to digest than recovered from the food), presumably because the thermic effect is greater than the caloric content due to the high fiber matrix which makes them good options for weight loss. This is why protein itself boosts metabolism because it makes your body work hard to digest and leaves more room for other foods!

Water Intake

You're probably thinking I'm being absolutely ridiculous in saying increasing your water intake can speed up metabolism, but what if it is actually true. Recent studies have shown that water drinking provided a sympathetic stimulus which increased the metabolic rate, i.e, thermogenesis, which in turn augmented the daily energy expenditure[2]. Drinking 17 ounces (0.5 liters) of water increases resting metabolism by 10–30% for about an hour[3] and drinking cold water might even have greater effects! Think about it for a second. You're drinking a substance that has 0 net calories, that increases blood levels within the body (which in turn makes your heart beat faster and harder), makes your organs carry out functions like the filtration via the kidneys and comprehensively changes the internal environment of the body resulting in a need for re homeostasis. All I'm saying is don't underestimate its power, good old H20...bro.

These 3 are just three of many things that speed up metabolic rate (or burn more calories) throughout the day. Hopefully, they apply to you individually and are easy enough that you can incorporate them into your day to day as they aren't expensive or hard to do!

As always I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to read my little chunk of info I'm so passionate to bring to you! Be sure to follow us on Instagram @striationsfitness.

Have an amazing rest of your day, you beautiful human, and always strive to reach your element of achievement :)