Friday diet and health tips

Subject: Article from Fox News Health 2014 01 16

Here's welcome news: You may have inherited your mom's slow-mo metabolism, but you're not stuck with it. New research shows you can trick your body into burning calories more efficiently, especially if you hit the gym. By strength-training just a couple of times a week, for example, you'll reverse 50 percent of the seemingly inevitable metabolism slow-down that comes with age, said Gary Hunter, professor of human studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. So take control of your metabolism by making these boosters part of your routine-and (finally) stop sweating every cookie.Health.com: 16 Ways to Lose Weight Fast Kick it up a notch The next time you run, swim, or even walk, ramp up the intensity for 30-second intervals, returning to your normal speed afterward. Using this strategy will help you consume more oxygen and make your cell powerhouses, the mitochondria, work harder to burn energy, explains Mark Hyman, MD, an integrative and functional medicine specialist in private practice in Lenox, Massachusetts, and author of Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss . "You increase the number of mitochondria and how efficiently they burn throughout the day," he explains.This way, you can exercise for less time than it takes to plod along at the same pace and still get great results. Here's how to do it: Exercise for 5 minutes at 3.5 mph. Increase your speed to 4 mph for 60 seconds. Then go back down to 3.5 mph for 90 seconds. Repeat the entire sequence 5 times, twice a week. (To get a more challenging workout, increase the incline or your pace.) Make some muscle Not only does muscle weigh more than fat, but it uses more energy, too. The average woman in her 30s who strength-trains 30 to 40 minutes twice a week for four months will increase her resting metabolism by 100 calories a day. That means you're resetting your thermostat to keep running at that rate even on the days when you don't make it to the gym, Hunter explains. Health.com: 11 Exercises That Build Muscle Without Bulk Get your omega-3's Why does eating lots of fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, herring, and tuna) help amp up metabolism? Omega-3s balance blood sugar and reduce inflammation, helping to regulate metabolism. They may also reduce resistance to the hormone leptin, which researchers have linked to how fast fat is burned. A study in Obesity Research found rats that ingested large doses of fish oil while exercising lost weight. Take omega-3 fatty acid supplements; Hyman recommends 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams per day. Hate the fishy after-burp? Try flaxseed oil, walnuts, or eggs fortified with omega-3s. Or check out supplements (by brands such as Nordic Naturals) that have no fishy taste. Turn to (green) tea Green tea has long been heralded for its antioxidant polyphenols. But new evidence shows the active ingredient, catechin, may crank up metabolism. Researchers conducted a series of studies in dieters and found that those who went green lost more weight than those who didn't, suggesting that catechins may improve fat oxidation and thermogenesis, your body's production of energy, or heat, from digestion. But how much do you have to drink? According to one study, if you drink five eight-ounce 'cup's of green tea a day, you can increase your energy expenditure by 90 calories a day. Sounds like a lot of tea, but it's not hard to do if you also drink it iced. Don't slash those calories It's one of the most frustrating realities of dieting-if you cut out too many calories, your metabolism thinks times are lean and puts the breaks on fat-burning to conserve energy, Hunter explains. Here's the trick to keeping your metabolism revved up while dieting: Eat enough calories to at least match your resting metabolic rate (what you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day). That's about 1,330 calories for a 5-feet-4-inch, 150-pound, 40-year-old woman. Health.com: How to Drop 2 Pounds This Week Enjoy the afterburn Exercise is a gift to yourself that keeps on giving. In a phenomenon known as excess postexercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), your body can take hours to recover from a robust workout (one intense enough that you can't hold a conversation) and return to its previous resting metabolic rate. The windfall: Your body is actually burning more calories than it normally would-even after you've finished exercising. There's a catch, though. The better shape you're in, the less benefit you'll get, because your fit body replenishes its energy stores efficiently. You can improve your burn by increasing how often or how hard you work out (think intervals), suggests Walt Thompson, professor of kinesiology and health and nutrition at Georgia State University