Foods that Speed Metabolism

The foods that speed metabolism and burn body fat can literally transform your body.

If you follow the advice here about how to increase your metabolic rate, you will achieve real weight loss that will last! It’s simple: The higher your metabolic rate, the faster you will lose body fat.

Your metabolism is all those chemical processes in your body that result in energy production.

The higher your metabolic rate, the more energetic you will feel.

The lower your metabolic rate, the more lethargic you will feel. By itself, eating well will increase metabolism.

So, stop eating the wrong foods and start eating the right foods.

So, let's find out how.

The power of proteins

Exercise and proteins are your greatest allies if you wish to lose excess body fat, cure or avoid obesity, and achieve lasting weight loss.

How do proteins relate to metabolism and fat loss?

In terms of its "thermic effect," protein has twice the power as either of the other two macronutrients, namely, fats or carbohydrates.

Your body must work much harder to process proteins than to process either fats or carbs. (Drinking plenty of water helps your body do this.)

So ingesting proteins powerfully boosts your metabolism. Slightly over-consuming them from natural sources signals your body that times are good and permits weight loss.

It will rev up your metabolism and accelerate your fat loss.

In addition, protein makes us feel more satiated or full than either fats or carbohydrates. That feeling will also last longer than when it’s based on fats or carbs. Just stop eating when you feel full.

For both physiological and psychological reasons, and to avoid food cravings, eat plenty of protein (preferably from natural sources) every 3 to 5 waking hours. See the companion page [the page link is given at the bottom of this page] for a full explanation about the reasons for doing this and exactly how to do it.

In time, ingesting complete proteins will also improve your insulin and glucose levels.

The best quality proteins

Quality Proteins are foods that speed metabolism. Here are the best protein foods that speed metabolism

(1) Lean game meat. (This was the staple food of our ancestors.)

(2) Meat and organ meat from range-fed ungulates like cattle, beefalo, and bison that eat grass.

(3) Wild-caught fish and seafood such as sockeye salmon, herring, mackerel, clams, halibut, Chilean sea bass, and anchovies. (To help avoid fish that is contaminated with heavy metals, eat large fish such as tuna sparingly.)

(4) Organic chicken eggs (but not fried and, since they are high fat, no more than one yolk daily).

(5) Free-range, organic poultry.

Even though they are high in proteins, the proteins below should not be eaten:

(1) Avoid farm-raised fish and farm-raised seafood. Since farm-raised fish neither move nor eat like their wild cousins, it may not surprise you to learn that their flesh contains more contaminants.

(2) Avoid meat from ungulates that have been fed corn, given antibiotics, and raised in feedlots. Since they don't move naturally or eat natural food, it may not surprise you to learn that their flesh is nutritionally inferior, in some important respects, to flesh from their more natural cousins.

The goodness of good fats

Even if you exercise well (as we encourage you to do on this website), you should not be getting much more than about one-third of your daily calories from proteins. You need to get over half of your daily calories from fats and natural low carbohydrate foods. Which fats and natural low carbohydrate foods should you eat? The answer: good fats and good low carbohydrate foods!

“Good” fats have an ideal ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 fats that is between 2 and 3 to 1. Fats that most North Americans consume regularly, however, have a ratio that is between 10 and 15 (or even twice that!) to 1. (Some experts think that the best ratio is 1:1.)

You’ll naturally get good fats in the best protein foods listed above.

Unfortunately, except for walnuts nearly all nuts and seeds have unacceptably high ratios, which is why you should consume them sparingly.

The best oils to use are flaxseed oil and coconut oil. Walnut oil is acceptable. (If you use olive oil, blend it with one of the best oils.) Avoid all other oils.

Bone marrow is a good fat that won’t raise your cholesterol.

Peanuts and other legumes should be avoided. They are not foods that speed metabolism, and they contain antinutrients (such as lectins) that can undermine your health. (This is why many people are allergic to peanuts and pine nuts in particular.)

So avoid: peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, cashews, pistachio nuts, hazel nuts, pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, and almonds.

The carbohydrates good and bad

On average, North Americans consume a whopping 300 to 500 grams of carbohydrates daily!

If you want to lose excess body fat, we recommend consuming less than one-tenth of that -- 25 grams on most days. At least if you have your physician’s blessing, you won’t damage your health. There is no minimum daily requirement for carbohydrates; in other words, they are not necessary for excellent health.

In addition, most of the carbohydrates consumed by North Americans are refined processed carbohydrates (rather than carbohydrates from natural sources such as vegetables and wild berries).

Refined processed carbohydrates are a major cause of heart disease, weight gain, obesity, diabetes, some cancers, and other diet related diseases.

They are not foods that speed metabolism. (You'll find the page link to a list of these foods awaiting you at the bottom of this page.)

If you restrict carbs, your insulin, glucose, blood pressure, and inflammatory markers will all improve. You’ll lose body fat, particularly around your middle. Your triglycerides will go down, your good HDL cholesterol will increase, and your LDL will improve in quality.

On the other hand, if you completely eliminate carbs, you may not feel well mentally and you may feel less energetic. Experiment to find what works best for you. However, please don't exceed 15 grams on most days.

After a week your leptin levels will fall to about half their normal level. This isn't good. It signals your body that you are starving and, in response, your body will reduce its metabolic rate and burn less fat.

So, for most people what works well is one cheat day per week.

Cheat days

For most people (but not all) what works well is one cheat day per week during which you have 1 or 2 meals in which you combine some (preferably high glycemic index) carbs with fats to spike your leptin level back to normal.

A cheat day can have important physiological as well as psychological benefits. Even on this day, however, please don't eat until you are feel stuffed. Always stop eating when your hunger disappears.

Since this will also spike your insulin level, if you are diabetic you should not have a cheat day (unless your physician permits it in advance).

To maximize your cheat day, the day after your cheat day should be one of relatively low caloric consumption (but not low protein consumption!).

It's also best to do a strength training workout on that day.

Since fat has a lower metabolic rate than muscle, whatever causes you to lose fat and build muscle will help to increase your metabolism. The good carbs that are foods that speed metabolism are the complex carbs.

It’s true that, when digested, all carbs end up as sugar. Still, most complex carbohydrates contain small amounts of fats and proteins as well as vitamins and minerals.

Good carbohydrates are organic fresh vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables, and low carbohydrate fruits such as berries.

The bad carbohydrates are the sugars and simple carbs. They are all unnatural, refined processed carbohydrates. The bad carbohydrates are not foods that speed metabolism.

(You'll find the page link to a list of these foods awaiting you at the bottom of this page.)

From a physical point of view, we function best eating the foods that we evolved to eat. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors centered their meals on lean meats and fish as well as vegetables and fruits.

If flourishing physically is your goal as well as losing excess body fat, so should you.