Your metabolism is the rate at which your body uses and converts energy. It is affected by multiple factors and its rate differs between individuals.
A fast metabolism is linked to weight loss, but it can be difficult to maintain a healthy weight if it’s too fast. Conversely, if you want to gain weight or are underweight, a slow metabolism can be beneficial because it uses calories less efficiently, leading to weight gain.
The article discusses some effective and easy ways to slow down your metabolism.
Young
If you are not careful, this method can be dangerous. But eating less often can slow down your metabolism. Your metabolic rate begins to drop to save energy when you go without eating for a while or when you don’t consume enough calories.
However, that doesn’t mean starving yourself is a smart way to get a slower metabolism. Instead, focus on a brief period of fasting under medical supervision to keep your metabolism healthy and slow.
Eat larger and more frequent meals
If you don’t want to fast, you can try this method instead. Eating more food than usual and more often can help you gain weight over time because your digestive system takes longer to burn calories.
However, it also slows down your metabolism. If you can, try to eat a large meal late at night or make dinner your biggest meal to lower your metabolism. However, how it works varies from person to person, depending on age, gender, and your activity level.
Avoid coffee
Studies show that the caffeine in coffee can temporarily boost metabolism. Therefore, avoid coffee and other caffeinated beverages if you want to slow down your metabolism. Try to get enough sleep to avoid depending on caffeine to keep you awake.
A high fat diet
A high-fat diet with nutritious foods recommended by a nutritionist can help slow down a fast metabolism. Foods high in fat are difficult to digest and can slow metabolism.
Carbohydrate-rich foods like potatoes, whole curds, parathas, a plate of brown rice, and whole milk can also help slow down a fast metabolism.
A considerate sleep cycle
Sleeping for long hours can be one of the easiest ways to slow metabolic rate. This is because your body burns fewer calories while your body remains stable for long hours. Therefore, you will automatically be able to slow down the metabolic rate.
Medications
Some people depend on drugs like antidepressants, which have the side effect of reducing metabolism, which is harmful to health. Make a good choice and work on your diet if you want to slow down your metabolism.
Low intensity exercises
Doing a low-intensity workout for a shorter period of time can help slow down your metabolism and ensure you don’t become calorie deficient. Low-intensity exercise can help maintain your desired metabolism while increasing muscle mass. However, weight resistance training or high-intensity workouts can increase your metabolic rate.
Note from The Fitness Freak
There are a few things you can do to slow down your metabolism. Some potential options include following a high-fat diet, avoiding caffeine, doing low-intensity exercise, and fasting. However, remember that seeing results may take some time and patience. Also, talking to a doctor is essential to make sure there is no other health issue causing your fast metabolism.
Precautions and tips to keep in mind
You need to talk to a health care expert or doctor if you want to change your diet or lifestyle. Making big changes all at once can be hard on your body and lead to unwanted side effects.
Instead, making small, gradual changes and paying attention to how your body reacts is usually the best way. And sometimes you might have to try different things before you find something that works for you.
Here are some additional tips to follow:
- Try not to eat foods that can speed up metabolism.
- Engage in an irregular exercise routine so you don’t increase your metabolism.
- Add foods high in fat and calories like lawyers, dark chocolate, whole cheese and pasta to your diet. But it should be done in moderation.
- Occasionally have a snack before bedtime.
- Drink milk after your meal instead of water.
- Make sure you have fun because nothing can be more harmful than stress.
Conclusion
You may find it difficult to maintain or increase your weight if you have a fast metabolism. Underweight people with a fast metabolism are more likely to face infertility, low immunity, malnutrition, and an increased risk of complications from medical procedures.
If diet, exercise, and other changes don’t alter your metabolic rate, see a doctor to find underlying health conditions that are preventing you from slowing your metabolism.