The metabolism has often been understood as a machine that can work faster or slower, with more or less revolutions. Nothing could be further from the truth, since metabolism in the end is nothing more than the set of biochemical processes that take place in our body and that allow us to develop and obtain, for example, energy from food. In this article, and based on the fact that metabolism cannot be accelerated, we explain five habits that can help you have a more efficient and reactive metabolism.
Normally, on the street, when talking about metabolism, it is usually interpreted as the energy expenditure that our body makes. Although it has to do with it, metabolism as a concept goes much further, including, for example, the adaptations that it makes for adaptin to the environment and external factors.
Natural and artificial light
Our body has an internal biological clock that is closely related to the cycles of the Sun, that is, with the hours of light and darkness. It is not only important to go to bed and always wake up at the same time, but it is also important what we do when we get up and what we do before going to sleep:
In the morning when you wake up, try to get direct sunlight as soon as possible. If it is not possible you can cheat a bit with a lamp of at least 10,000 lux. At night before bed, avoid artificial lights from screens such as television, computer or tablets. These types of lights alter some photoreceptors that we have in our retinas and that regulate the release of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
Train strength and endurance
We could have dedicated an entire article just to the benefits that physical exercise has on our metabolism. Without going any further, there is more and more evidence pointing to the amount of muscle mass or strength, measured by a dynamometer, as excellent predictors of long-term health and autonomy.
Although strength training has become very important in recent years, resistance training should not be ignored since although they share adaptations, there are some that are exclusive to the latter. Put another way, there are benefits that are unique to strength and benefits that are unique to stamina.
Although not all debates are resolved using the evolution card, it is true that in this case training makes all the sense in the world to keep us healthy and with an efficient metabolism. In the end, our ancestors had physical activity very present in their day to day for almost anything they wanted to do or manage.
Expose yourself to controlled extreme factors
Part of the beginnings of our species took place during the ice age, that is, we were very used to the cold. Today we live in a heated bubble and we have lost that tolerance to cold.
There are studies that show that exposing ourselves to the cold in a timely and strategic way can “activate” what is known as brown fat, a type of fat specially designed to keep us in thermal balance.
But this is not the only extreme factor that we can use strategically since fasting, for example, is also extreme. Intermittent fasting for 12 or 16 hours from time to time can help us improve our metabolic flexibility and insulin sensitivity.
Eat according to your needs
The fastest way to reduce your metabolism is to eat little. This information may surprise you, especially with the epidemic of overweight and obesity that is ravaging us, but precisely because of these circumstances and aesthetic pressure (which is another matter), diet culture is deeply rooted in our society.
The culture of the diet causes many people to alternate throughout their lives phases of constant bingeing and phases of extreme caloric restriction. Eating little does not allow our metabolism to work properly.
Physical exercise and eating more
The solution is simple: introduce regular physical exercise into your life and eat more. But eat more to be able to perform more, don’t misapproach it by training more so you can also eat more.
Healthy spices
The effect is very small, but introducing something spicy like cayenne, chili, or pepper into your recipes can modestly increase your basal metabolism. It will never be the secret to an efficient metabolism, at least not by itself, but at least your dishes will be richer.
