metabolism

Cayenne pepper is known for its pungent flavor and, in the health world, healing powers. A staple of Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, the spice boosts your body's metabolism by kicking up your body's temperature. It also helps you get happy! Capsaicin, the compound in chilies that give them their kick, helps your brain release endorphins. If you're not a big fan of spicy foods, you know how cayenne can bring the heat on heavy. However, a little goes a long way in each of these three unexpected places.

Mix into dressing: A one-note dressing can get a huge healthy kick with some help from cayenne pepper. Just 1/8 of a teaspoon brings a vibrant flavor to the creamy Greek yogurt dressing in this detox salad. If you're pressed for prep time, topping your greens off with a squeeze of lemon and sprinkle of cayenne is an easy and tasty combination.

Toss with juice: A fresh-pressed green juice is delicious on its own, but bringing cayenne to the mix complements the fruit and veggie flavors perfectly. I first tasted the duo at a local farmers market and I've been hooked every since. Since the juice really cuts the heat of the spice, it's a great option for someone who isn't the biggest fan of hot foods but wants to reap all of cayenne's healthy benefits.

Keep reading for one more place to put cayenne.

If you find it hard to lose weight with your busy schedule, the news keeps getting better. First, just 20 minutes of exercise was proven to help increase your metabolism. Now, a recent study has found that working out intensely for just 2.5 minutes can spur calorie burn throughout the day — an extra 200 calories' worth.

In the latest study, five healthy men performed sprint interval training on a stationary bicycle (five 30-second intense intervals with four minutes of easy cycling in between). Although the men were sedentary the rest of the day, they ended up burning 200 more calories during the days they did the short bout of exercise than the days they didn't exercise at all.

Even though this was a small study, the encouraging results are reason enough to add intense intervals into your workout routine. It's also good news for those of you who can never seem to fit a full workout into your day. Read on for ideas on intense exercises you can do anywhere for 2.5 minutes so you too can reap the afterburn benefits.

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Health here on FitSugar.

By Julia Savacool

You'd like to do something—anything—to speed up your metabolism, but it's out of your control. Right? Not quite. Although genetics and your age both play a role, recent studies suggest you have plenty of say over how well your metabolism—which involves your body's ability to break down food into usable energy—functions.

In fact, you can all but negate the metabolic slowdown that happens after 40 by tweaking your diet, exercise, and sleep habits. "Think of your body as an engine—your metabolism is the rate at which your engine runs," explains Scott Isaacs, M.D., an endocrinologist in Atlanta and author of Hormonal Balance: How to Lose Weight By Understanding Your Hormones and Metabolism. "By making adjustments to these three elements, you can actually make your engine rev higher."

The eating and exercise tips outlined below are designed to keep your metabolism humming to the tune of up to 10 pounds off in 21 days. Read on for the keys to not only losing, but losing for good.

Health.com: Little Ways to Lose Big Pounds

Key 1: Eat early

Your basal metabolic rate—the number of calories your body burns at rest—is based on things like age, height, and body type, so there isn't much you can do to alter it. But there is a lot you can do to change the number of calories you burn above that, beginning with your diet. Specifically: Eat breakfast.

We already know the reasons you may not want to (you don't have the time/energy/stomach for it), but leaving for work on an empty stomach is like hitting the pause button on your metabolism. Here's why: When your brain senses your stomach is empty, it sends a message to your cells to conserve energy in case another meal doesn't arrive. In other words, your body holds onto the fat stored in your cells instead of helping you burn it off.

Keep reading for more ways to speed up your metabolism.

So you splurged a little too much over the weekend and skipped hitting your usual workouts. Don't let two days of bad choices turn into a weeklong of bad habits. Get back on track this Monday and incorporate these metabolism boosters.

Whole grains for your timely breakfast: Skipping breakfast to make up for the extra calories consumed during a decadent Sunday brunch can actually slow your metabolism down, so be sure to eat a healthy meal first thing Monday morning. Eat it within an hour or so of waking to really get your metabolism going, and go for whole grains and citrus fruits. Sip on a cup of caffeinated coffee or green tea for an added boost.

Get snacky: Eating often throughout the day can keep your metabolism going so don't skip that morning snack to save room for an enormous lunch. Eat five or six smaller snacks or meals (every three to four hours) in place of the typical three meals a day.

Get spicy: Choose a lunch with a little extra kick to rev your metabolism. Foods containing hot peppers, garlic, turmeric, cloves, vinegar, and even cinnamon can help you burn extra calories. Try these spicy recipes.

Hour-long muscle-building workout: Recent research shows that an hour of exercise can change your DNA to make you stronger and boost your metabolism. You'll want to go for heart-pumping exercise because it can rev up your metabolism keep it up hours after your workout is over. Strength training workouts are also key since having more pounds of muscle also burns more calories. Put them all together and choose a 60-minute high-intensity workout that strengthens your muscles, such as walking up hills, running with speed intervals, or taking a cardio-strength training class. Be sure to drink lots of water since dehydration can interfere with your body's ability to burn calories. Aside from a soaring metabolism, an awesome Monday workout will also get you back to your regular exercise schedule for the rest of the week.

Giving your metabolism a little jump-start is not a difficult task — or even a big commitment! Take for instance, adding any of these six foods to your day. It's such a simple way to get the body going.

1. Hot peppers: The compound capsaicin that gives chili peppers their kick has long been connected with boosting metabolism and curbing cravings.
2. Whole grains: Whole grains offer loads of dietary fiber and complex carbs that help speed up your metabolism. Just make sure to reach for real whole grains; don't be blinded by pretty multigrain packages.
3. Coffee: Caffeine "naturally" stimulates your central nervous system; your daily cup of coffee can boost metabolism by five to eight percent.

Keep reading for three more foods to help boost your metabolism.

Shaping and toning your body requires dedication to a regular workout routine, but that doesn't mean the physical effects of exercise aren't immediate. A new study published in Cell Metabolism has found that just an hour of exercise changes your DNA to make you stronger and boost metabolism.

The lab study looked at muscle cells from sedentary men before and after they exercised for an hour on a stationary bike. The postworkout cells went through a chemical change called demethylation, which researchers believe helps the cells make more fat-burning protein.

The fact that you can alter your DNA to increase your muscles' capabilities after a short workout was surprising to the researchers, since they didn't realize the metabolism-boosting, muscle-building effects of exercise could happen so fast. More research needs to be done to see the true meaning of these chemical changes, but in the meantime, this new finding is just one more reason to hit the gym — you'll know that every minute counts when it comes to changing your body for the better.

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

By Paige Greenfield

It's true: certain foods have a very high thermogenic effect, so you literally scorch calories as you chew. Other eats contain nutrients and compounds that stoke your metabolic fire. Feed your metabolism with these.

Whole Grains
Your body burns twice as many calories breaking down whole foods (especially those rich in fiber such as oatmeal and brown rice) than processed foods.

Health.com: Best Superfoods For Weight Loss

Lean Meats
Protein has a high thermogenic effect: you burn about 30 percent of the calories the food contains during digestion (so a 300-calorie chicken breast requires about 90 calories to break it down).

Low-Fat Dairy Products
Rich in calcium and vitamin D, these help preserve and build muscle mass — essential for maintaining a robust metabolism.

Health.com: Ditch Five Pounds Without Trying

Green Tea
Drinking four cups of green tea a day helped people shed more than six pounds in eight weeks, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports. Credit EGCG, a compound in the brew that temporarily speeds metabolism after sipping it. To up your intake, keep a jug of iced tea in the fridge.

Keep reading to see other foods that burn fat!

We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health.com here on our site.

Does your metabolism grind to a halt after 35? Can certain foods rev it up? Answers ahead — and they're good.
By Paige Greenfield

Here's something to feel good about: your body is a calorie-burning machine. You'll even torch a few while reading this article. The point is, every single thing you do — from breathing to eating to sleeping — uses energy. The number of calories it would take just to lie in bed all day is called your resting metabolic rate. And just like your curly hair or warm personality, yours is unique.

"There are so many factors that determine your metabolic rate," says Janet Rankin, PhD, professor of human nutrition, foods, and exercise at Virginia Tech. Among them: your height and weight (bigger people burn more calories), your gender (women have slower metabolisms than men), your age (your metabolic rate declines as you get older), how much muscle or fat you have (muscle burns more calories than fat does), and your DNA.

Health.com: Little Ways to Lose Big Pounds

Although you can't rewire your double helix or switch back the clock, there's still plenty you can do to be a fast burner, Rankin says. All you need to do is remember these four research-backed truths.

Cardio Revs Your Metabolism For Hours Afterward
Resistance training often hogs the metab-boosting spotlight. It's no wonder, since a pound of muscle at rest fries three times as many calories as a pound of fat. However, cardio is every bit as crucial for keeping your metabolism humming.

New research explains why: In a study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, people pedaled a stationary bike as hard as they could for 47 minutes.
The finding: They slashed 190 calories above their resting metabolic rate for 14 hours after their workout. Add that to the 519 calories, on average, the cyclists scorched from the workout itself, and that's one heck of a sweat session.

"If you do just two to three vigorous bouts of exercise per week for 45 minutes, you could lose a pound of fat every two weeks from the combination of calories expended during exercise plus what you burn afterward," says study author David Nieman, PhD, a professor of exercise science at Appalachian State University.

So how can you tell if you're pushing hard enough? Any sweat-inducing activity you can sustain for 45 minutes will do the trick.

More useful tips after the break.

When it comes to meals, breakfast is the champ. Instead of grabbing a muffin at the coffee shop to fuel your day, give the mealtime the attention it deserves. Here are four don'ts for the most important meal of the day.

Don't skip it: Eating breakfast helps jump-start your metabolism after it slows down during your sleep. Not only that, but eating breakfast is an important tool in maintaining weight loss. So don't wait until lunch to nosh; eat a filling, healthy meal early in the day to keep your energy up, brain on, and weight loss goals in check.

Don't delay: The best time to eat breakfast is within an hour of waking up, so don't delay! Unless, of course, you are working out first, in which case you should make sure you fuel up with a pre-workout snack before you go (read our tips for choosing a pre-workout snack here). Afterward, be sure to eat a protein- and carbohydrate-filled breakfast 30 minutes to two hours after a workout in order to fuel your body the right way.

Read on for more breakfast don'ts.