How to Improve Midlife Metabolism

How Does Metabolism Work?

Metabolism is the process of food being converted into energy. The food you consume is either used for proper body function or to fuel exertion from activity. When there is excess of available energy from food in the body, it is stored in your muscles, organs, tissues, or as body fat. Metabolism slows down after the age of 40, and as a result the amount of food stored as fat increases unless we properly adjust our food consumption and daily activity.

While our metabolism is important at any age, it is important for those 40 and over to assess how your metabolism is affecting your body and whether your energy and weight has room for improvement. When your body cells’ mitochondria begin to deteriorate at this age, your metabolism naturally will slow down because the mitochondria is no longer turning your food into energy at the same speed. Even if you have a healthy diet and lifestyle, you may find that the combination of aging and increasingly lower metabolism has led to unexpected weight gain. If you have any health conditions where weight gain exasperates the negative symptoms, you will want to take metabolism into consideration as part of your treatment plan. The good news is that you can do something about this.

Ways to Improve Metabolism

Here are some ways to keep your metabolism burning and working with you.

• It’s a little like the concept that you have to spend money to make money. Sometimes you have to burn energy to make more energy. Turning up the intensity for short intervals in your activity will change your cell activity to increase metabolism. If you are used to consistently paced jogs, try running hard for 30 seconds, then going back to a steadier rhythm to catch your breath. Try starting with five minutes where every other minute you are pushing yourself to high or maximum effort for 3o second bursts. Aim for half an hour of this interval work a couple of times a week. Try this format for power walking, jogging, biking or swimming and find what works for you.
• Muscle up. Why not build up muscles to do our metabolic work for us? Putting in at least two sessions of strength training a week will increase your metabolism to burn approximately an extra 100 calories daily than prior to building up your muscle. Weight training to increase muscle mass is important for other reasons besides metabolism in aging adults as well. The work to have healthy muscle composition will help protect your bones as well as counteract muscle deterioration.
• Since you have to eat and drink anyway, why not consume things that will give you faster metabolism? Let’s start with the basics: drink a glass of water every morning right when you wake up. This will help provide your body with essential and calorie-free fuel right away. Besides hydration, water helps your metabolism stay active because it aids effective body function. Getting plenty of water throughout the day will prevent your metabolism from dropping.
• Another thing you can drink daily that is good for boosting metabolism is green tea. The drink is linked to a number of health benefits including weight loss and life expectancy. Studies encourage people to drink green tea for the antioxidants that help fight cancer and other diseases. When it comes to metabolism, green tea’s catechins are linked to boosting your body’s pace.
• Similar to drinking water consistently, smaller meals and regular snacking will also keep your metabolism working better than larger meals with long periods of time in between. Eating breakfast is one of the best ways to get your metabolism going right when you start your day. It is also important that you do not overreact to slower metabolism by thinking you need to counteract by cutting your caloric intake. Yes, cutting back can help, especially if you were consuming more calories than was best for your height, weight and age, but you still want to get the minimum amount for your . You are aiming for a slightly lower but still healthy balance because if you don’t eat enough, your body will go into survival mode and store food as fat, which is not what you want.

Use your changing metabolism as an opportunity to learn about healthy nutrition, exercise and lifestyle. If you have any questions, your doctor and other health professionals are there to help!