Metabolism is the process through which the food consumed by your gets converted into energy. Slow metabolism is the condition in which the food gets converted into calories at a slower rate and starts getting stored as fats. The problem is usually associated with age. However, what people do not know is that dieting, skipping meals and even lack of exercise can also contribute to a slow metabolic rate. Slow metabolism is not healthy and should be taken care of, as soon as possible. To know more on the causes of metabolism is and how to speed it up, read on.
Causes of Slow Metabolism
The major causes of a slow metabolism are:Age
- Lack of physical exercise
- Excessive dieting
- Extreme fasting
- Skipping meals
- Too much gap between meals
- Physical ailment
- Poor sleeping habits
- Eating too many foods that are loaded with sugar
How to Speed up Your Metabolism
The first and foremost thing to do is to stop the storage of new fats in the body. Fat accumulation in the body not only due to lack of exercise, but also because we provide body with calories in excess of what it actually needs, at any given point of time. The key to overcome this hurdle is to provide the body with just the amount of calories it needs and nothing extra. So, before thinking of burning stored fat, one should keep in mind that there should be a check on the storage of new fat. To achieve this, take small balanced meals every 2-3 hours, providing just the right amount of calories, depending upon your activity level.
The next step is to take care of the existing fat in the body. This can be achieved by balancing the blood sugar and energy levels with exercising. Your eating should be in accordance with your activity level. However, this does not mean that running on the treadmill for 30 minutes would be enough. The trick lies in the fact that the body should be given stress at regular intervals. The stress level should be more than the body is normally used to. Thus, apart from a balanced diet, a planned and regulated exercise routine helps you to increase your metabolic rate.