Supercharging Your Metabolism
In 2012, a Harvard University nutrition professor conducted a highly-controlled clinical study to find out the effects of popular diets on everything from inflammation to metabolism. The results might surprise you.
David Ludwig, a Boston physician and nutrition professor at Harvard, gathered up twenty-one subjects and had them spend time on three different diets with the same amount of calories per day on each:
High-carb, low-fat
Low-carb, high fat
Middle-of-the-road Mediterranean
How did it affect their metabolism?
Subjects burned ~300 more calories per day on the low-carb diet than they did on the low-fat diet. That’s equal to an hour of moderate exercise!
This is important because conventional wisdom is “calories in=calories out,” or the only thing that matters is how many calories you eat and burn, regardless of whether or not it’s from carbohydrate, fat, or protein. This study says otherwise.
There was a downside to the low-carb diet, though. While going low-carb, the subjects’ levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, was highest.
The question then becomes, “How can I supercharge my metabolism while limiting inflammation?”
I’d vote adding in copious amounts of vegetables and moderate amounts of fruits to lower inflammation while limiting refined grains that unquestionably lead to higher levels of inflammation.
Diet changes to help supercharge your metabolism
Don't come home from the grocery store with bread
Find an almond or coconut flour pancake recipe to use as bread
Limit chips, crackers, and other empty grains - metabolism killer!
Eat one avocado each day
Instead of low-fat yogurt or milk, opt for the full-fat verions
Snack on things like nuts, beef jerky, and dark chocolate
Quick Recap
Low-carb diets supercharge your metabolism, possibly helping you burn as much as 300 more calories per day
Low-carb diets lead to increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone
Experiment with limiting carbs to see if it works for you
Don’t be afraid of dietary fat
Eat lots of vegetables to limit inflammation
Make simple diet switches to help get more fat into your diet, like opting for full-fat dairy as opposed to low-fat
References
Ludwig, D. S. (2012). Effects of dietary composition on energy expenditure during weight-loss maintenance. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 307(24), 2627-2634. Retrieved from http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154
