Every day, your body works hard to maintain the internal biological and chemical processes that keep you alive and healthy. These internal processes are collectively called metabolism, and they never stop, not even while you’re asleep. Your metabolism is at work even as you’re reading this article.
So, are you wondering how metabolism works? Or what about how to reboot your metabolism? Don’t worry: we have the answers for you.
First off, metabolism converts your food to energy and supplies your body with the nutrients for critical biological functions like hormone regulation, cognition, growth, and others.
Seeing how vital metabolism is, you wouldn’t want your metabolic rate to drop because that would have adverse health consequences. You cannot make it through the day without healthy metabolism.
In this article, we’ll teach you how to reboot your metabolism and achieve a metabolic increase so you never have to worry about a drop in your metabolic rate.
Why is a Healthy Metabolism Important?
The most fundamental importance of healthy metabolism is that it keeps you alive. According to one scientific study, “metabolism consists of a series of reactions that occur within cells of living organisms to sustain life.”
When you eat, metabolism breaks down the food into nutrients your body needs to function. Without a healthy metabolism, your body cannot convert food into energy and run other crucial metabolic functions.
With a healthy metabolism, your body can burn calories more efficiently and maintain healthy blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. Also, healthy metabolism can improve our overall health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.
Now that you know why metabolism is essential, the next is understanding how to reboot your metabolism, which brings us to questions such as, “How do I reset my metabolism?”
But before that, let’s discuss what affects your metabolism.
Causes of Low Metabolism
Low metabolism can be down to many factors, as there’s no single cause. Whatever the reason, you can take steps to boost your metabolism; we’ll discuss how to restart your metabolism later on. For now, let’s talk about the causes of low metabolism.
Any of the following can cause low metabolism:
- Dehydration: Water is vital to everything your body does, including metabolism. Without water to aid the metabolic process, you can suffer low metabolism, amongst other adverse health effects.
- Genes: You can’t decide the genes you’re born with, and some people are bones with genes that predispose them to low metabolism.
- Medication: Certain prescribed medications can slow your metabolism. These medications include antidepressants and antipsychotics, so it’s essential to speak with a qualified doctor before taking any medication.
- Poor Nutrition: As the saying goes, you are what you eat; your diet can fuel a healthy metabolism or slow it down. Foods high in fat can lead to insulin resistance and slow your metabolism.
- Poor Sleep: A lack of sleep can disrupt your body’s processes, make it harder for your body to convert food to energy, and make you more likely to suffer diseases like diabetes and obesity.
- Restrictive Diets: Dieting has benefits when you do it right, but if it’s too restrictive, your body will switch to slow metabolism to conserve energy because you are not consuming enough calories and essential nutrients.
- Stress: Your body responds to stress by producing cortisol, a hormone that gives you the quick boost of energy needed to cope with stressful situations. But if you’re continuously stressed out, your body will keep producing cortisol, and high cortisol levels make it difficult for your body to use insulin. The result is that you have a low metabolism and increased weight gain.
Effects of Low Metabolism
Low metabolism is also known as hypo metabolism, and just like a healthy metabolism has benefits, low metabolism has adverse health effects. When you understand the harm low metabolism can do to your health, you’ll be eager to know how to restart your metabolism.
If you suffer from low or inadequate metabolism, you’re at risk of health problems like the following:
Difficult Weight Management
Diet and exercise are two of the most crucial factors in weight management, but low metabolism can play a huge role too.
When your metabolism is down, you burn fewer calories, and this causes your body to store fat. If you can’t manage your weight, you risk becoming obese, which the CDC describes as a “serious and costly chronic disease.”
Low metabolism can make it harder to lose weight even when you implement dietary changes and exercise properly. So, you see, you need a healthy metabolism and appropriate diet and exercise to achieve your weight management goals.
Finding an answer to the question, “How do I reset my metabolism?” can aid in efficient weight management.
Low Energy
As we’ve mentioned, metabolism converts food into energy your body needs to function daily. If your metabolic process is low, you likely won’t get enough energy, leading to low energy.
Low energy will make you sleepy, dizzy, and quickly tired, making it difficult to accomplish daily tasks and exerting a heavy toll on productivity.
You don’t want to be in a state where you’re unable to accomplish basic activities; you certainly don’t want to experience the frustration of being unable to achieve your daily goals.
Cognitive Impairment
Another crippling effect of low metabolism is the inability to concentrate. If you don’t have a healthy metabolism, you’ll experience short-term lapses in memory or become easily forgetful.
This cognitive impairment makes it challenging to focus on essential tasks and activities because your body is not getting the nutrients it needs to sustain cognitive processes.
Mood Swings
The effects of low metabolism are far-reaching and go as far as affecting your mood. People with low metabolism will likely develop emotional disturbances such as depression and mood swings.
Also, people with depression will likely have unhealthy lifestyles leading to low metabolism.
Digestive Discomfort
Your metabolic rate determines how your body processes the food you eat. If your metabolism is low, the rate of digestion will be slow, leading to digestive problems such as constipation, bloating, and abdominal discomfort.
Increased Risk of Disease
Low metabolism makes you more likely to suffer chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome.
Poor Sexual Health
Your sexual health is a significant part of your overall health, but if you have low metabolism, you’ll suffer inadequate sexual health. The feelings of fatigue, decreased energy levels, and reduced physical stamina accompanying low metabolism make it unable to maintain a healthy sex life because you are too tired to engage in sex.
Also, low metabolism can affect the production of sex hormones. According to one study, abdominal obesity is associated with low testosterone levels. You are more likely to suffer obesity if you don’t have a healthy metabolism. Low testosterone, in turn, can lead to a decrease in sexual desire or performance.
Obesity due to low metabolism can also cause physical limitations during sex and contribute to feelings of low self-esteem and decreased sexual confidence.
Symptoms of Low Metabolism
You need to recognize the symptoms of low metabolism so that you take measures to boost your metabolism. Before you ask for tips on “how to reboot my metabolism,” you must know when your metabolism needs a reset.
Symptoms of low metabolism include:
- Brittle nails
- Constipation
- Continuous headache
- Cravings for sugar and carbs
- Depression
- Dry skin
- Frequent cold feeling
- Low pulse rate
- Memory loss
- Persistent fatigue
- Thin hair
- Unexplained weight gain
How to Reboot Your Metabolism
If you experience any symptoms of low metabolism and you want to counter it, or you want to know how to restart your metabolism, you need to pay attention to this part.
Given that so many factors can cause low metabolism, it’s not unusual to experience it occasionally. But, you can counter its effects if you know how to reboot your metabolism.
So, to answer, “How do I reset my metabolism?” do the following:
Eat a Healthy Diet
We can’t answer the question, “How do I reset my metabolism” without talking about nutrition because your diet is crucial to metabolism. Avoid processed and sugary foods that can spike your blood sugar level and flatten your metabolism. Instead, eat nutrient-dense foods like whole grains, protein, fruits, and vegetables.
Prioritize protein consumption because it requires more energy to digest than carbohydrates. The more energy required for digestion, the higher your metabolism.
Also, don’t engage in restrictive dieting that cuts your calories drastically; you need an adequate number of calories daily to maintain a healthy metabolism. Instead of restrictive diets, eat small regular meals throughout the day, and don’t skip your meals.
Avoid crash diets and instead practice diets that aim for a gradual but sustainable calorie deficit. That way, you can meet your weight management goals without starving your body of nutrients.
Drink Enough Water
We cannot overstate the importance of water because water is literally life. Water is an indispensable tool in the “how to reboot my metabolism” toolbox because it is crucial to maintain many internal processes that keep you fit and healthy, including metabolism.
Exercise Regularly
Exercise has immense benefits for health, including metabolism. Regular physical exercise can boost your metabolism and burn calories. You should engage in aerobic exercise, which is good for your heart, and strength training which builds muscles.
You may ask, does increasing muscle mass increase metabolism? The answer is yes; muscle burns more calories than fat, and burning calories increases your metabolic rate. The amazing thing is that muscle burns calories even when you’re not exercising, so if you want to maintain a healthy metabolism, don’t skip weight training.
Aim for 150 minutes of exercise per week. It doesn’t have to be an all-out effort; brisk walking or light jogging is good enough. You can incorporate exercise into your daily routines by walking instead of taking a ride and ditching the elevators for the stairs. You don’t even have to leave the house before exercising; you can exercise indoors.
So you see, it’s not so difficult to adopt an active lifestyle if you’re looking for how to restart your metabolism.
Get Enough Sleep
Never underestimate the powers of sleep. If you type “how to reboot my metabolism” on the internet, sleep is one of the top options you’ll see. You need seven to eight hours of quality, undisturbed sleep every night to function properly.
Practice Stress Management
The pressures of modern living can leave you stressed out and burnt out, but with stress management, you can recharge your batteries and avoid burnout. You’ll inevitably encounter stressors, but you can choose to limit your exposure to them.
Stress is not just a temporary feeling of being overwhelmed that you can soldier through; it can harm your overall health, including your metabolism.
Prioritize your recovery periods and take some alone time to help you beat stress. If you’re serious about tips on “how to boost my metabolism,” don’t ignore stress management.
How to Reboot My Metabolism: Healthy Living With Craft Medical
Finding how to reboot your metabolism is important. However, it’s only one part of what you need to do to stay healthy. If you want sustained good health that guarantees a sound body and mind, you must make lifestyle changes that align with your health goals.
You need a trusted partner to help you make and maintain those lifestyle changes, and we can be that partner.
At Craft Medical, we aim to help men live healthier lives and be themselves again while maintaining privacy and confidentiality.
