Foods That Speed Up Your Metabolism – Fact Or Fantasy?
I am sure you have seen the advice – if you really want to lose weight, eat foods that speed up your metabolism. I have even acted upon this advice and changed to the foods recommended, and yes, they do appear to make a difference. But, will these foods seriously, physically boost your metabolism?
Let me say unequivocably, right here, that I am neither a nutritionist, doctor or weight loss expert. I am just someone who finds these things interesting and fascinating and the more I read about metabolism "speeding up" and "slowing down" the more skeptical I become about this notion.
Metabolism is the process by which the food we eat is changed into energy. (To me, that suggests our digestive system is a vital part of metabolism). We need energy to survive. Everything we do needs energy. Even when sleeping we are consuming energy. It is the job of our metabolism to provide this energy. I have no problem understanding the theory of metabolism and it’s function. But take a look at these examples and you will see what I mean when I say it doesn’t always seem logical.
1) We are told that the more exercise we do the more our metabolism will speed up.
Now, this seems perfectly sensible to me because when we exercise our hearts beat faster and we breathe faster etc. So, to me it is logical that if my heart and lungs have speeded up then my whole body and a major function like metabolism would go faster too.
2) It appears that our metabolism slows as we get older because we lose muscle and are less active, and as a result of our metabolism slowing down we put on excess weight.
Now here, I have a problem. If we assume that we are still consuming the same volume of food as we have always done, it occurs to me that the weight gain is not the result of my metabolism slowing down. On the contrary, I would suggest that my metabolic rate is still the same and creating the same amount of energy. It is my energy requirement which has decreased and because I no longer utilise all the energy supplied, my body has no alternative but to store it as fat.
Logic tells me that if my metabolism actually slowed down, it would no longer be able to process as much food. If that was the case, surely my appetite would have to decrease. I believe that my metabolism keeps going at the same rate – it is my energy needs which have reduced. I get fat because I am not using the full amount of energy generated.
3) We are told that if we eat hot, spicy foods our metabolism will increase.
This one seems logical. Hot spicy foods like chillies and cayenne pepper have a chemical constituent that can have a thermogenic (heating up) effect on our bodies. As in the case of exercise this causes our heart rate to increase and in turn this makes our metabolism speed up.
4) We are told that if we eat certain foods our metabolism will speed up. For example foods high in fibre take longer to digest, and so will speed up your metabolism.
Perhaps it’s me, but doesn’t this just mean it will take longer for my body to turn this food to energy? That’s not speeding up our metabolism, that’s simply making our digestion work harder.
It’s true that as a result, I will use more energy digesting and metabolising these foods, which is a good thing, but it is not because this food has magically increased the speed of my metabolism!
I could go on, but I am sure you get my point. Yes, consuming certain foods will make your digestive system and metabolism work harder and consume more energy, but surely then, these are metabolism boosting foods, not foods that speed up your metabolism.
