The purpose of the metabolism is to convert food into energy and fuel for the body that keeps it functioning. This energy allows your body to digest food, circulate blood, breathe, move, and repair damaged tissues and cells.
Metabolic health differs from metabolism in that there are five health markers that determine if the body is in metabolic health: blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference.
When these five markers are within optimal ranges, you are in metabolic health. If you are looking to boost your metabolic health, read on for tips, such as consuming C15:0 (pentadecanoic acid) and finding healthy ways to manage stress.
Follow a Strategic Metabolic Diet
As with most diets that are focused on improving health, a metabolic diet should be rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein.
B vitamins are a great way to increase metabolic rate and can be found in foods such as bananas, spinach, peas, and whole grains. Fatty acids such as C15:0 and omegas 3 and 6 are proteins that help the metabolism function.
The foods you eat will help your metabolic diet but keeping with a regularly scheduled routine will be important for metabolic health as well.
Eating at consistent times can help improve the balance of your metabolism. For this reason, skipping meals can damage your metabolic health.
Breakfast, in particular, is essential as it restarts your body’s metabolism following sleep.
Hydration is important for any healthy diet, so ensuring your body gets the water it needs is helpful. But aside from that, making sure you drink plenty of water allows you to make better beverage choices.
Stay away from sugary beverages and opt for water to help maintain a healthy weight.
Exercise Regularly
Exercising is another key way to maintain health and can have a positive effect on metabolic health. Aim to get at least 30 minutes of exercise or physical activity each day.
Cardio exercises and weight training routines are both great ways to assist your body and metabolism in functioning.
The reason exercise is important is that it helps the body burn fat to increase your metabolic rate.
Cardio helps burn fat at the moment, while weight training and building muscle allow the body to help the body burn fat while resting.
Get Plenty of Sleep
Rest is essential to maintaining your health and wellness and it is recommended that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep each night.
A lack of sleep can negatively affect the body as well as metabolic health as it can inhibit decision-making.
The ability to make healthy decisions is important as it can be easier, without enough sleep, to fall into bad consumption patterns that negatively affect health.
Not getting enough quality sleep can affect one particular marker of metabolic health: blood sugar. Increased blood sugar levels can increase the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
A lack of sleep can cause people to gain weight as well because sleep deprivation can lower the calories the body burns, alter how the body absorbs sugar, and leave the body constantly hungry.
Avoid Drinking Alcohol and Smoking
Drinking alcohol and smoking can increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, which occurs when at least three of the five markers are high.
These lifestyle habits, on their own, can affect cardiovascular health and can negatively affect metabolic health. Each of these can prevent the body from getting adequate sleep and exercise, putting further strain on the metabolism.
Find Healthy Ways to Manage Mental Health
Stress has been shown to affect the body’s hormone levels. When hormone levels rise, this can cause the body to produce more cortisol, the hormone that aids in the regulation of cravings, and could slow down the metabolism.
Diet is affected negatively when this occurs and can alter the metabolism. Similarly, anxiety can affect sleep quality, which is also shown to affect a healthy diet.
When trying to boost metabolic health, it is important to take care of mental health. This could be a huge roadblock to ensuring your metabolism is functioning as it should.
Maintain regular appointments with therapists and other doctors to help manage mental health in a healthy manner.
Conclusion
If you are looking to boost your metabolic health, practicing these lifestyle habits (or removing unsavory ones) can help you maintain the level of wellness you are looking for in your life. Not only will your body function better, but you will feel better in the long run.
