What foods get one's metabolism moving the fastest?

What do you mean ”...metabolism moving the fastest?”

Red peppers, hot peppers, broccoli, yogurt, oatmeal, green tea and grapefruit.
Yes seriously.

@Rarebear I mean: what foods can get your metabolism moving faster than other foods?

The way one’s metabolism mechanism works would be differ from one person to another. And yes,the more you eat and exercise your body the faster it will work. It also depends on the time of the day while our metabolism will go slower as we’re resting/sleeping,or using some sort of medication. What food? Everything rich in sugar and fiber(also remember the fact about sugar) and of course drink lots of water.

@boots I know what you said, but what does the phrase “metabolism moving faster” mean?

@Rarebear Well, the metabolism is how fast one uses the food that’s just been eaten, correct? I’ve always heard the terms used for the metabolism as fast or slow, to speed up, ect. I have a slow metabolism right now, and I want the food that I eat to be used faster, as a component of weight loss.

what @chels said and fresh ginger

@boots Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. You’re interested in weight loss, correct? That’s the crux of the matter?

If so, there are no foods that “increase the metabolism” as you want. Your best bet is to get regular exercise, limit caloric-dense foods, increase fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean meats, and limit processed foods.

I’ll go with @Rarebear who sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, but I’ve found that when I eat fruit in the morning I get unbelievably famished around lunch time. I have no idea the actual mechanism, but I always assumed fruit increased my “metabolism”, getting my system revved up for more. But by reading the above, I guess not.

To lose weight simply count calories.

There was a study done recently in which a control group had 500 daily calories in their diet replaced with peanuts. A second group was given 500 extra calories per day in peanuts. At the end of six months, both groups had statistically identical weight gain/loss. Three hypothesis were proposed for this:

1) Something in the peanuts speeds up the metabolism.
2) Since fat is what triggers the “full” feeling, people eating peanuts voluntarily and unconsciously ate fewer calories.
3) People don’t chew peanuts properly and much of the calories passed through undigested.

Regardless, it sounds as if an extra handful of peanuts a day can’t harm and might help.

@Rarebear Your naive materialism results in a reductionist philosophy which creates error. It’s not as simple as you’d like to think. For example, identical numbers of calories in complex carbohydrates with lots of soluble fibre will produce quite a different effect than a fibreless diet of simple carbohydrates. Calories are treated differently depending on when and how quickly they are absorbed, and the amount of insulin produced. As Mencken observed, “There is always a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.”

@SmashTheState First, I don’t think you meant to address that to @Rarebear, but if so, be advised that he’s been a physician for a lot longer than you been spewing your rage on anything within bullhorn distance.

Perhaps you meant to address me, as I said, simply “Count calories.” You can make it as complicated as you want, but the fact is, it works. I’m proof and my sister is proof. I not only counted calories when I was dieting (many years ago) I completely changed my eating habits, focusing on low calorie and lower fat foods, and have never had a weight problem since. When you make something too complicated people can feel overwhelmed and they give up.
Count calories, change your eating habits, end of story.

@Val123 I most certainly did intend to address @Rarebear. Since when did having a piece of vellum with one’s name on it immunize a person against criticique? I’ve witnessed him advocating for naive materialism several times now, and it is a philosophical position which is always associated with reductionist fallacies in those who profess it. Here, we can see how his reductionist tendencies produce an unhelpful answer. Answers to most questions have simple answers which are not useful. Useful answers are nearly always more complex than naive materialists would care to admit.

I just can not, for the life of me, imagine why anyone would hurl insults, of the variety that you’ve mentioned elsewhere, at such a learned, intelligent, polite, and gentlemanly person as yourself.
Sometimes complex is just that—complex. When simple can work just as well. Oftentimes, better.

@boots Most weight loss professionals have discounted the concept that there is such a thing as speeding up your metabolism. For most people the only way to lose weight is to spend more energy than you take in. Energy is usually expressed in calories, but you don’t need to actually count them to lose weight.

Eat more fruits and vegetables, less meat and snacks – avoid soda and juice. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water every day. Walk at least one mile every day or the equivalent in exercise (one hour a day). Get as much sleep as your body requires.

You can eat just about anything you want, but only in very small portions. If you must have meat, keep the portions under three ounces, twice a day. If you must eat fatty snacks, only eat one or two bites. The best snack is fruit, yogurt, carrot or celery sticks.

Quite a few foods, as listed above. However, it also depends on how “heavy” the type of food is. For example, meats (steak etc) have a lot of fat which takes the metabolism a longer amount of time to digest the food.

@YARNLADY said ”For most people the only way to lose weight is to spend more energy than you take in. or reduce your intake so that you only take in what you spend out. Eat less, and don’t change your lifestyle.

@Rarebear I knew you’d say that….butt….you know!”

@mollypop51797 Exactly. Which is why red meat is one of the first things I cut out (for the most part) when I changed my eating habits.

I agree with everything @YARNLADY said except the 6–8 glasses of water a day. That’s been discounted as a necessity. I do say, though, that you should drink water instead of sugar sweetened beverages or juices.

When I was young my mom said she learned that you should drink one gulp of water for however old you are. To this day I drink 10 gulps of water every night….

Hot spices, for example chilli.

@mattbrowne How do hot spices get your metabolism going faster?

Hot spices have a proven anti-depressive effect, which can increase the amount of physical activity of which a person is capable. Someone call the Amazing Randi to debunk the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition!

@SmashTheState I’d debunk it myself, but your link is to a web based news article that has more ads than any real data, and the link to “clinical trials” actually goes to a “lower my bills” pop up ad.

Find for me the original article, or at least the citation, and I’ll be happy to go through the methodolology of the study with you.

Xu Y, Ku B, Cui L, Li X, Barish PA, Foster TC, Ogle WO. (August 2007). “Curcumin reverses impaired hippocampal neurogenesis and increases serotonin receptor 1A mRNA and brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in chronically stressed rats”. Brain Res 1162: 9. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2007.05.071. PMID 17617388

Akhondzadeh S, Tahmacebi-Pour N, Noorbala AA, et al. Crocus sativus L. in the treatment of mild to moderate depression: a double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial. Phytother Res. 2005;19:148–51.

Noorbala AA, Akhondzadeh S, Tahmacebi-Pour N, et al. Hydro-alcoholic extract of Crocus sativus L. versus fluoxetine in the treatment of mild to moderate depression: a double-blind, randomized pilot trial. J Ethnopharmacol. 2005;97:281–4.

Okay, I’ll get back to you, thanks. The first one I’ll discount because it’s in rats. But I’ll look at the second two.

Okay, I didn’t have access to the actual studies, just the abstracts. The studies do suggest a possible mild antidepressive effect. My criticism is that the studies were small (40 patients) and only done for 8 weeks. A larger study is needed before any conclusions are made.

@Rarebear – I read it in this book

http://www.amazon.de/dp/3927372269/

Unfortunately it’s not available in English. The effect isn’t huge according to the book. The exact reason wasn’t given. I’d need to check some online resources.

All good answers. Also try fiber, lots n lots of fiber ;)

@mattbrowne I’m still unsure what people mean by “metabolism moving faster.”

I kind of don’t understand either. Are they talking about heart rate or digestive rate or…what?

Knowing absolutely nothing about it, I think of it kind of like a resting heart rate value – but the opposite. Just your whole “burn rate” while just going about your day normally, all other things being equal.

My assumption is that if I have no breakfast, the body kind of shuts the motors down a bit (specifically cell replenishment). But if I eat certain things for breakfast (say fruit) the captain blows through the tube down to the engine room “cruising speed please”.

Hmmm. Thoughts on @ipso‘s thoughts?

@Val123 Well, he put a bunch of things in quotes and metaphors. None of those are true medical realities. Not sure where to begin, actually. I’ll just let it go. I stand by my original answer: “Your best bet is to get regular exercise, limit caloric-dense foods, increase fresh fruits, vegetables, and lean meats, and limit processed foods.”

@Rarebear Can I still have my sausage and cheese biscuit from Mickey D’s in the morning? That’s my only vice, really….

@Val123 Liar. You smoke too.

I meant food vice!!!

@Rarebear – To me a metabolism moving faster means more joules per second. A normal human being consumes about 100 joules of energy every second (resting state), the same as a 100 watt light bulb. The rate is influenced by body weight, in particular muscle mass. And it goes up when we walk or run. It even goes up a little when we think hard trying to answer complicated Fluther questions. Even more when we take an exam. Even more when women give birth.

So the question is what kind of food can increase the 100 joules of energy every second while remaining in a resting state?

@mattbrowne Okay, then, you said chili will make your metabolism go faster. How will chili make you burn more joules per second? Remember the OP is interested in losing weight.

@Rarebear – I found the book. On page 63 it mentions the small effect created by hot spicy food. Chili is just one example. It makes us sweat which requires additional energy. Another one is cayenne pepper because it also contains

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin#Medical

and I quote “According to animal and human studies, the oral intake of capsaicin may increase the production of heat by body for a short time. Due to the effect on the carbohydrates breakdown after a meal, cayenne may also be used to regulate blood sugar levels. Further research is required to see if capsaicin would be useful to treat obesity.”

See also http://www.diagnose-me.com/treat/T415941.html

“A British study found that hot peppers boost the metabolic rate, which in turn burns extra calories. Losing excess pounds is as good for your health as it is for your vanity, since it reduces the risk of adult onset diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, certain cancers and a host of other ailments.”

The LOGI book also mentions the effect of caffeine boosting our metabolism slightly. It also states that calcium can be seen as an energy booster because it causes certain gene expressions which stimulate the secretion of hormones slowing down the storage of body fat.

Dr. Worm also recommends walnuts, linseed, rapeseed oil and hempseed oil.

However a better strategy is to build up additional muscle mass, because the energy requirements of our rest state are increased. Eating good fats, protein and low-glycemic carbs (like lentils) while reducing high-gylcemic carbs such as white bread and potatoes. Worm does not recommend Atkins extreme low carb approach. LOGI is kind of a compromise.

As long as people don’t go eating chilis thinking they’ll lose weight.

From the description (if it’s correct) the conclusion is that if people go eating chilis they’ll lose a tiny tiny bit of weight. For better results other strategies are necessary.