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 have guided us towards this approach, but our experience has also taught us that, unfortunately, most medical doctors do not know much about the details of food. Doctors tend to know a lot about diseases, different medical responses of the body, various prescriptions, and a huge host of other scientific details.  (As in, we VERY MUCH RESPECT Doctors and their areas of expertise). However, Doctors over the years have informed us that how various foods impact the body does not seem to be a part of many medical conversations.

Over time, our hope is 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.  Today, we’ll be diving into your metabolic rate - here’s what it is, what it matters, and how you can support your metabolic rate with food!

What is Your Metabolic Rate?

A person’s (or other organism’s) metabolic rate is the amount of energy expended by that organism in a given time period - typically calculated daily.  Said simply, it’s basically how quickly your body burns calories throughout the day. Thus, your metabolic rate includes the number of calories you need to consume in order to do any of your daily activities - everything from resting, breathing, digesting and absorbing nutrients, or even climbing massive mountains!

Why is Your Metabolic Rate Important?

This bodily system is constantly providing you with energy via your caloric consumption.  It’s essential to do literally anything you want to do!

Though it’s not just how much you eat that’s important. What you eat is important, too!

We’ll dive into some key factors to consider to support your metabolic rate with food, but you should know that it’s your daily dietary intake that matters most. Eat enough to give your body the energy it needs. Eat good quality foods. Fuel your body with quality nutrients to help you live a high quality, high energy life!

Five Way to Support Your Metabolic Rate with Food

1)      Consider your eating patterns

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, when it comes to your metabolic rate, we recommend eating 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 people that eat more lean proteins, such as chicken and fish, tend to burn more calories and have higher resting metabolic rates (both typically considered “good” signs) 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)      Stick to whole grains to increase 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, whole grains take longer for your body to break down and digest, thus providing your body with more stable energy to use over time, and support your body as a good source of complex carbohydrates and fiber.  Avoid simple carbohydrates whenever possible to keep your metabolism revving.

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

The average colon is 6-feet long!  That takes a lot of energy to push nutrients all the way through - especially fiber. High fiber foods, such as whole grains, 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 all day (and night) long.

5)      Drink a glass of water before each meal

Most bodies feel hungry, even though they’re actually 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… your body is likely feeling very dehydrated!  To keep your body running smoothly, drink lots of water. Add in at least one glass of water before meals to keep your metabolic rate high throughout the day.

Ready to learn more?

Chef Tony and Nutritionist Christine Caruso have partnered together to create a workshop that helps you learn more about your body, including foods and recipes that will help you to support it for a long and healthy life. Want to sign up? Great!

Their next workshop will be hosted on May 28th, where they’ll be diving into Macronutrients. Click this link to learn more and sign up!