Archive for February, 2009

Are there certain foods that will help increase metabolism?

The answer is YES!

The types of foods that boost metabolism are known as negative calorie foods. This means that you burn more calories from digesting the food than the food is actually worth.

For example, if you eat a food containing 100 calories and you find out that the food will burn 120 calories, you have burned a net of 20 calories just by eating that food. AWESOME!

Negative Calorie Foods

Foods that are capable of producing negative calorie results include:

Fruits

• apples
• blueberries
• raspberries
• strawberries
• grapefruit
• lemons
• mangos
• pineapple
• oranges
• tangerines

Vegetables

• carrots
• broccoli
• cauliflower
• lettuce
• cabbage
• asparagus
• beets
• spinach
• onions
• celery
• zucchini

Warning: Avoid “empty calories” (junk food) or calories from foods with poor vitamin and nutrient content. These types of foods have a reverse effect on our metabolism; they add more to our body fat because they require fewer calories to digest than the amount of calories they contain. End result - slower metabolism.

The best way to jumpstart your Metabolism is Exercise!

Sheila Rolling, Personal Fitness Trainer and Owner of Fit for Life - Fitness Club in Faribault, MN.

We all know that drinking water is beneficial in an exercise regimen - what about high energy drinks?

One can of high-energy drink, such as Red Bull, Wired, Fixx, No Fear, or Monster Rockstar contain an average of 14 times the caffeine of a regular can of soda or are equivalent to 7 cups of very strong coffee. These types of drinks are sold as supplementary drinks instead of soft drinks, therefore, warning labels that note the caffeine content and the health risks associated with drinking them are not displayed.

Health risks to ingesting these types of drinks include nervousness, anxiety, dizziness, numbness, insomnia, rapid heartbeat and tremors. High energy drinks may help you to exercise, but they also raise heart rates and blood pressure which can make them dangerous for people with cardiovascular disease or for those taking drugs to lower heart rate or blood pressure.

Regular exercise, drinking plenty of water, eating from all 5 food groups and controlling food portions are more likely to protect our hearts than the amount of caffeine we consume.