Make Your Metabolism Work For You: Scientific Discoveries and Nutritional Supplements

Your base metabolic rate has an enormous effect on your weight loss efforts. In fact, raising your base metabolic rate can help you burn the same number of calories as you would by jogging around the block several times a day -- but without actually doing anything! It's scientifically proven -- so how do you do that? We look at what science and the organic whole food supplement industry have to say about boosting your metabolism.

Three minute high intensity bursts

We've been told a multitude of things about the intensity and amount of exercise time needed for health benefits. From being told that 20 minutes four times a week of moderate exercise is sufficient, to saying that an hour of vigorous exercise five times a week is needed … it's all a bit confusing! However, now scientists at the University of Edinburgh have research to suggest that doing just three minutes of very high intensity exercise a few times a week dramatically improved metabolism, glucose clearance and the action of insulin.

Cut down on fructose

Fructose, a fruit sugar, could stimulate our brains to crave higher food intake and stimulate obesity, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found. Your whole food supplements designed to cut down on your appetite could be negated by consuming large amounts of fructose - which is found in more foods than you might think. Spring onions, for example, have high levels. Soft drinks, processed foods with corn syrup, and table sweeteners all have high fructose levels.

Check your prolactin

Excess prolactin (the hormone that stimulates breast milk production) in both men and women can be produced by stress, some brain tumors and some medicines can also cause raised levels. Doctors are now finding it can also interfere with insulin action and disturb metabolism. So before you begin a course of whole food supplements designed to boost your metabolism, make sure your body isn’t silently working against you.

Look for fucoxanthin

There have been enormously promising studies in trials on rodents showing that up to a quarter of body weight can be lost in four weeks, with the greatest fat loss from the belly, using a substance found in brown seaweed known as fucoxanthin. There are quite a few Garden of Life products with fucoxanthin included -- these whole food supplements can come in the form of an energy bar, in an omega 3 tablet or in a specific metabolic boosting formula. Look for organic whole food supplements like Fuco THIN, Oceans 3, and FucoProtein bars.