How Eating Healthy Foods Can Increase Metabolism

In the ever lasting war to cut weight people have tried all sorts of calorie cutting diets, energy boosting supplements and the latest "Fat Buster" exercise gizmo’s seen on late night TV. Many times we get taken in by all the hype only to find out that what is being advertised does not quite mesh with reality. The reality is that if we give our body the nutrition that it needs by eating health-enhancing nutrient rich foods we’re already half way there.

What happens when we eat healthy nutritious food? Our bodies respond by increasing our metabolism, which in turn burns away additional fat. Now while this is rather simplified and loosing weight can require a little more commitment as far as exercising and eating the right foods, the fact is that eating right is the first best step to start shedding those excess pounds.

Understanding how our body’s use and store energy is an important point to understand when it comes to metabolism. Our cells metabolize energy from the protein, carbohydrates and fats that we eat. These energy sources come in many different forms and our body’s metabolism is affected by what forms we get them from.

In the case of fat our bodies have very little trouble converting them directly into fat stores for future use. Because fats tend to get sent directly to adipose storage the body uses very little energy, or calories, turning them into fat stores. The majorities of most people diets consist of refined or processed foods. These are known as simple carbohydrates and most of them come from foods that include refined sugars. The body uses very little energy processing these refined sugars and quickly turns them into fat. An overload of refined sugars can also lead to insulin resistance, which is a condition in which the cells begin to resist insulin’s ability to open the door for glucose to enter the cells for metabolic functions. This leads to high blood sugar which the body will convert to fat stores.

In order to increase metabolism it is important to eat foods that are high in complex carbohydrates and proteins. Because the energy required to break down proteins and complex carbohydrates is much greater than the calories needed to metabolize processed and refined foods. Eating healthy foods results in more calories being burned just to digest and metabolize the nutrients in them.

Eating foods that are high in complex carbohydrates also have the ability to increase metabolism in another way. The body’s digestive system must work much harder to break down the vital nutrients in complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates and sugars are much easier to process for the body’s digestive processes. This longer digestive process allows the energy in complex carbohydrates to be released over a more extended time frame. This continuous energy release gives our body’s the energy it needs during the course of the day without the constant need to snack on sweet sugary foods. It also results in less insulin being released into the blood stream which is key to overall health. The energy spikes caused by sugary and fatty foods create high and low energy periods which tempo us into eating more foods that are not only unhealthy but also add to existing fat stores.

Fruits and vegetables comprise most of the complex carbohydrates we eat. Not only do they supply complex carbohydrates they can also help to increase metabolism in another way. Because of their high fiber content our body’s much burn more calories to digest them. This leads to the theory of “negative calorie” foods of which the fruits and vegetables are considered to be. The idea behind a negative calorie food is that it takes more calories to digest and metabolize these foods then the food themselves have. This increase in metabolism from negative calorie food can help to melt away excess body fat and result in gradual weight loss. Combining eating healthy with a good exercise program can take a metabolism increase to the next level.