Neither Green Tea, Nor Protein Can Boost Your Metabolism (But, Here’s What Can)

March 26, 2015

If you’re trying to lose weight, ‘metabolism‘, ‘reps’, ‘burn‘, ‘circuit‘ and many other such words have probably found their way into your everyday parlance. While the others revolve around the mechanics and tools of working out, metabolism remains unquantifiable, which is the reason why a lot of true lies surround this concept.

The most common of the lot are the ones that urge you to drink more green tea and increase your consumption of protein, which prompts you to splurge on deli meats and the herbal concoction till you burn holes in your pockets.

Well, before you foot the bill, it would interest you to know that the caffeine in green tea is what contributes to weight loss, but the impact is almost negligible. As for protein, it is recommended to aid digestion, and once the process has come full circle, you basically start from ground zero, making the benefits of protein for boosting metabolism, a temporary fix.

Fact File
Metabolism is the rate at which a network of hormones and enzymes convert food to fuel to give you energy. This leads to the burning of fat, which lowers cholesterol and reduces the calories in your body. The rate at which your body produces energy depends on age, body weight, gender, health, oxygen intake, and height.

But the biggest factor that contributes to metabolism is your muscle mass and body:fat ratio. That’s why men find it easier to lose weight than women. Men are endowed with more muscle mass than women, which automatically translates to a high metabolic rate, resulting in rapid fat loss. What’s more, unlike women, men continue to burn calories even during the rest period.

So in the truest sense, the only real metabolism booster is strength training. It increases your muscle mass and reduces your body fat, creating the ideal equilibrium. Supplement this with a good dose of cardio to strengthen your bones, muscle tissue and respiratory system, and soon you will realize that fitness is more than just metabolism and weight loss; it is about good health and high endurance levels.

PS: Here’s an exhaustive list of Diets For Weight Loss.
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