Top 5 Things to Know About Your Metabolic Rate

If you’ve been around here a while, you know that we are committed to helping families eat whole, fresh, complete foods to be their healthiest selves.  We believe that focusing on healthy foods is and always will be the best strategy.

There are several scientific reasons that we have learned that this thought process is best, but we have also learned that, unfortunately, most medical doctors do not know much about the details of food. They know a lot about diseases, different medical responses of the body, various prescriptions, and a huge host of other scientific details, but how various foods impact the body does not seem to be a part of many medical conversations.

Over time, to provide you with some of this information so that you can make smart choices for your family when it comes to how to best fuel your bodies with food, we’ll dive into some of these conversations at a high level.  Today we’ll start with information you should know about your metabolic rate.

Five Important Things to Know About Your Metabolism

1)      Your eating patterns impact your metabolism

While everybody is different and unique, and we typically don’t recommend eating if you’re not hungry, skipping meals does tend to wreak havoc on your metabolism.  In a study from the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, researchers found that those that eat one big meal a day and skip all other meals tend to develop metabolic problems and gain more fat than those that eat several times a day – even if the first group eats less calories overall!  This is because your body will have a large insulin spike when you finally do eat, driving your body to store that extra energy as fat so that you can have energy to fuel you throughout the day.  Instead, eat 3-5 smaller meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism fueled so that it doesn’t go into starvation mode.

2)      Eating more protein will likely boost your metabolism

A study from the Journal of the American Medical Association found that those that eat more lean proteins, such as chicken and fish, tend to burn more calories and have higher resting metabolic rates than those that followed a low-protein regimen.  While we wouldn’t suggest switching to a purely protein diet, including carefully selected lean proteins in most of your meals can help to keep your metabolism revving throughout most of the day.

3)      Simple carbohydrates will lower your metabolic rate

While we are not of the belief that all carbohydrates are “bad,” simple carbohydrates are not going to help your body perform well.  Foods like white breads, donuts, and most crackers raise your insulin levels and encourage your body to store that sugar as fat to use for later.  Alternatively, complex carbohydrates, such as vegetables, beans, and fruit, take longer for your body to break down and digest, thus providing your body with more stable energy to use over time.  Avoid simple carbohydrates whenever possible to keep your metabolism healthy.

4)      High fiber foods will help to keep your body working all day

The average colon is 6-feet long, and it takes a lot of energy to push fiber all the way through. High fiber foods, such as fruit and vegetables, are low in calories, clean out your colon, keep your body feeling full, and keep your metabolism working for you.  Incorporate more high fiber foods to keep your body working for you.

5)      Drink a glass of water before eating each meal

Most bodies feel hungry when they’re actually, simply very dehydrated. Especially in our dry Denver climate, almost all of us are walking around at least slightly dehydrated.  Add to it that most processed foods have significant sodium and processed sugar, the majority of our city is involved in high levels of activity (you lose 2-3 liters of water per hour in heavy activity), and that you may not be drinking water when you enjoy that glass of wine, and your body is likely feeling very dehydrated.  To keep your body running smoothly, drink lots of water, and at least a glass of water before meals to keep your metabolic rate high throughout the day.

Did you know: We offer specialized classes with our favorite nutritionist, Vicki Robichaux! Her next class will be Wednesday, December 4th where she’ll be teaching us about how brightly colored foods are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients, which can help slow the aging process and reduce our risk of oxidative damage, which plays a major role in disease. Sign up and learn more details by clicking here.