How To Boost Metabolism After 40

Our metabolism starts to slow down as we get older, making it important to learn how to increase metabolism after 40. Weight gain, decreased energy, and difficulties in preserving muscle mass can result from aging. But if you know how, you can speed up your metabolism and keep the weight off while keeping your energy up. Below, we cover how to speed up your metabolism after 40 that have been supported by science.

Evidence-Based Strategies for How To Boost Metabolism After 40: 

Gaining a Chemical Reactions

The chemical reactions that take place in your body to sustain life are known as metabolism. Anabolism, meaning "building up," and catabolism, meaning "breaking down," are the two primary steps in the process of transforming food and drink into energy. Calorie expenditure while at rest, or basal metabolic rate (BMR), is the primary metabolic process that determines how many calories your body uses for energy.

Muscle atrophy and hormonal shifts, especially in postmenopausal women, cause a natural fall in basal metabolic rate (BMR) with advancing age. This indicates that your calorie expenditure may decrease compared to your twenties and thirties even if you maintain your current eating habits and activity routine.

1. Strength Training

Strength training is one of the best strategies to fight against a sluggish metabolism. Gaining and keeping muscle mass increases resting metabolic rate because muscle tissue consumes more calories than fat tissue.

Two or three times a week, make time to work on your strength. Squats, deadlifts, and bench presses are examples of activities that work numerous muscle groups at once.

To make your workouts more interesting and challenging, try using resistance bands, free weights, or just your body weight.

Supporting Scientific Findings: A 26-week resistance training program was associated with an increase in participants' resting metabolic rate (RMR), according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

2. Get Enough Protein

We all know the importance of protein. You can't build or repair muscles or keep your metabolic rate up without it. The amount of energy your body expends when breaking down food into its parts is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). You expend more energy metabolizing protein than lipids or carbs because protein has a greater thermogenesis factor (TEF). 

The recommended amount of protein to eat with each meal is 20 to 30 grams. Eat more plant protein for optimal health, including lentils, chickpeas, quinoa, tofu, tempeh, edamame, chia seeds, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast and black beans.

If you find it difficult to obtain enough protein from diet alone, you may want to think about taking a protein supplement. There are many choices!

The scientific community agrees that a higher-protein diet increases the TEF, aids in muscle maintenance during weight loss, and promotes a faster metabolism, according to studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

3. Give Extra Time To Sleep

Weak insulin resistance, decreased metabolism, and increased body fat have all been associated with little sleep. Overeating and weight gain can occur when your body's hormone balance is upset due to a lack of sleep, especially the hormones that regulate appetite (ghrelin) and satiety (leptin).

Action Items: Strive for seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep nightly.

Improve the quality of your sleep by sticking to a regular sleep schedule and developing a soothing ritual for before bed. 

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted a study for how to boost metabolism after 40 that showed sleep deprivation significantly lowers the resting metabolic rate.

4. Incorporate High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).

This entails short bursts of powerful activity separated by shorter intervals of rest or reduced exertion. If you want to learn how to increase metabolism after 40, HIIT is the way to go, not steady-state cardio.

Do high-intensity interval training (HIIT) at least twice and preferably three times weekly. To do this, you can use bodyweight workouts such as burpees, mountain climbers, and jumping jacks, or you can just alternate between 30 seconds of sprinting and 1 minute of walking.

To prevent overtraining, make sure you get enough downtime in between high-intensity interval training sessions.

Medical and Scientific Support: After HIIT, participants' metabolic rates were higher than after steady-state cardio, according to a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

5. Rehydrate Regularly

Metabolism is one of the numerous biological processes that need water. Because the body requires water to digest calories properly, dehydration can cause a slowdown in metabolic rate.

Do your best to stay hydrated by drinking 8 to 10 cups of water every day, or even more if you work out regularly.

A glass of water before each meal can aid digestion and burn calories.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism reported a study where participants drank 500 milliliters of water, which resulted in a 30% rise in metabolic rate within 10 minutes and a 30% increase throughout an hour.

TRY OUR BEET BOOST INSTEAD OF WATER AND GET ENERGY TOO!

6. Take Charge of Your Stress Levels 

Yoga, meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness are all great ways to handle stress.

Always surround yourself with people who have your back, whether that's loved ones, a mental health expert, or friends and family.

Scientific Support: A slower metabolism and higher body fat percentage were associated with higher cortisol levels, according to research published in Obesity.

In intermittent fasting (IF), you alternate between eating and not eating for specific amounts of time. Studies have demonstrated that following this diet plan improves metabolism by boosting fat loss and maintaining muscular mass.

Steps to Take:

Try some of the more well-known intermittent fasting (IF) regimens, such the 16/8 technique or the 5:2 diet, which calls for a normal eating schedule for five days and very limited calories for two.

In order to maintain your general health, make sure that during your eating windows you're eating nutrient-dense foods like grains and legumes.

Research Support: A study published in Obesity Reviews indicated that intermittent fasting has the potential to enhance insulin sensitivity and metabolic health indicators including metabolic rate.

7. Maintain An Active Lifestyle All Day Long

Your metabolism can be greatly influenced by both structured exercise and maintaining an active lifestyle throughout the day. Daily tasks including walking, cleaning, and fidgeting can burn calories, a process known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).

The best course of action for how to boost metabolism after 40 is to get up and move around every so often throughout the day, even if your profession requires you to sit for long periods of time.

A standing desk, the stairs over the elevator, and parking farther away from your destination are all great ways to boost your daily step count.

Support from Science: Those who battle with age-related weight gain will find NEAT especially helpful in managing their weight, according to a research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

TRY OUR BEET BOOST TO STAY ENERGETIC AND ACTIVE ALL DAY!

How To Speed Up Your Metabolism After 40: A Summary

Learning how to increase metabolism after 40 is fairly simple. You can keep your metabolism in good shape far into your forties and beyond if you exercise regularly, eat a protein-rich diet, get enough sleep, deal with stress effectively, drink plenty of water, and keep moving. Consistency is crucial, and you may improve your metabolic health over the long haul by implementing these lifestyle adjustments.

References

Authors: G. R. Hunter, J. P. McCarthy, and M. M. Bamman (2004). Changes to resting energy expenditure following resistance exercise in adults aged 60 and up. Pages 66–71 of the Journal of Applied Physiology (97(1)).

This sentence was penned by Lejeune, Kovacs, and Westerterp-Plantenga in 2005. Humans are able to prevent weight gain following weight loss by increasing their protein consumption. Pages 538–546 of the 81st issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

This list of authors includes Knutson (2009), Van Cauter (2008), Rathouz (2009), Yan (2009), Hulley (2009), Liu (2009), and Lauderdale (D. S.). The CARDIA study found a correlation between sleep duration and metabolic risk variables. Article citation: 90(5), 1287-1293 from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Published by Boutcher in 2011. Lowering body fat through high-intensity interval training. Science and Medicine in Sports and Exercise, 43(9), 1642-1649.

In 2003, Boschmann, Steiniger, Hille, Tank, Adams, Sharma, and Jordan published a monograph. Thermogenesis in response to water. The article is published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, volume 88, issue 12, and spans pages 6015-1219.

Authors: Epel, E., Lapidus, R., McEwen, B., Brownell, K. (2001). An investigation into the relationship between stress-induced cortisol and food intake in women found that it made them feel hungry faster. Public Health, 9(2), 65-72.

This was published in 2010 by Varady, Bhutani, Church, and Klempel. A unique dietary approach for weight loss and cardioprotection in individuals with obesity: short-term modified alternate-day fasting. The citation is from the journal Obesity Reviews, volume 11, issue 6, pages 510-519.

Author: J. A. Levine (2007). Calorie expenditure during non-exercise activities (NEAT). Article published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, volume 82, issue 6, pages 719–726.