Why Certain Foods Speed Up Your Metabolism

Whether you feel as though your body isn’t burning as much fat as it should be, or you’re aiming to lose weight and can’t seem to keep it off no matter how hard you try, you may start to believe that your metabolism is simply against you. While there is some truth to fast and slow metabolism affecting weight, having an ill-functioning metabolism can affect more than just your weight.

In fact, every single thing you do (from thinking to breathing to sleeping) relies on a properly functioning metabolism. But what is your metabolism, exactly? How does it work? And are particular foods better for boosting metabolism than others? Read on to learn all you need to know, including why certain foods speed up your metabolism.

What is your metabolism?

Metabolism is a bodily process that converts the food you eat into energy that can be sent throughout the body. For example, when you eat an apple, its components are broken down and divvied out through the metabolism process. Metabolism combines the food’s calories with oxygen, which aids in the release of energy.

While some people may believe that you only need energy when you’re engaging in an activity, that’s not true. Your body requires a certain level of energy to perform even its most basic functions, such as breathing, growing and repairing cells, and circulating blood.

When we talk about speeding up the metabolism, the conversation is usually more geared toward to weight loss or maintenance.

spoons with spices
Image by Calum Lewis on Unsplash: What ingredients speed up your metabolism?

What is the metabolic rate?

As mentioned above, when the body is at rest, it still needs energy. This means you could be doing nothing but lying down and breathing and you’ll still be burning calories. Your metabolic rate, also referred to as your basal metabolic rate, is how many calories you need for those basic functions. Not to be confused with your basal metabolic rate, your resting metabolic rate is how many calories your body burns while at rest.

When you’re thinking about speeding up the metabolism with food, you’re looking to increase your metabolic rate so that your body burns more calories when you’re not working out or moving around.

How does food affect your metabolism?

Every time you eat, digest, or store food, your metabolism increases because of the thermic effect of food. The thermic effect is a boost in metabolic rate after you eat due to the energy it takes the body to chew, swallow, and digest food. This means that regardless of what you eat, you’re still boosting your metabolism at every meal.

Different foods will offer a different type of boost, because each food comes with its own thermic effect and therefore boosts the metabolism in different ways. For example, eating a large steak will have a much more powerful boosting effect than eating a few small pieces of fruit.

Other factors that affect metabolic rate

While food plays a role in your metabolism, there are other factors to be taken into consideration when figuring out how to boost your metabolism. Your age, for example, is a key factor, because as you age, your metabolism begins to slow down naturally. This is due to a variety of reasons, including less physical activity, a decrease in muscle mass, and simply the natural aging process of the internal components that make up the metabolism.

Your hormones, overall weight, muscle mass, and body composition also play a vital role in metabolism.

What foods make your metabolism faster?

While all foods will provide a brief boost in metabolism because of the thermic effect of food, some are better for this purpose than others. The best metabolism-boosting foods include:

Protein-rich foods

Foods rich in protein such as lean meats, eggs, dairy products, nuts, seeds, and legumes have been shown to help boost the metabolism because of they have the highest thermic effect of food. Plant-based protein sources such as beans also have the same effect and can aid in boosting metabolism.

Mineral-rich foods

Foods that contain high levels of iron and selenium are important for metabolism boosting because of the way they affect the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland helps to regulate metabolism, so when it is running as it should, it helps speed metabolism up. Foods that are rich in minerals include nuts and seeds, shellfish, cruciferous vegetables, and organ meats.

people holding coffees

Image by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash: What foods make your metabolism faster?

Chili peppers

Chili peppers can help to boost metabolism because of capsaicin, a chemical they have in abundance. Research has found that eating chili peppers or using supplements can help to boost the metabolism so much that it burns an extra 50 calories per day.

Coffee and tea

Caffeine has been shown to help the body burn more fat for energy as well as boost the metabolism so much so that the body burns up to an extra 100 calories per day. It does this by stimulating the body’s system to burn more calories.

Tea can also boost the metabolism because it contains catechins, which are compounds that promote overall health. Tea, especially green and oolong, increase the body’s ability to burn more calories and use fat stores for energy.

Water

While many people may not think of water as a metabolism-boosting food, it has been shown to increase the speed of metabolism because the body needs to use more energy to heat the water up to room temperature – a process known as induced thermogenesis.

While all foods have an effect on metabolism after you consume them, some are more effective than others at boosting the metabolic rate. So why not include some of the above metabolism-boosting foods in your next meal?

Featured image by Thomas M. Evans on Unsplash

How To Boost Your Metabolism Before The Holidays

Now that the holiday season has returned, many people are gearing up for some pretty substantial indulgence! From large family meals to drinks with friends, the festive season revolves largely around social food and drink. But while all this decadence can feel good in the moment, it’s not that great for your health or waistline.

That being said, there are ways you can mitigate the potential negatives of the holiday season when it comes to eating and drinking too much. One such way is working on speeding up your metabolism – the bodily process that converts food and drink into energy. But how do you speed up your metabolism fast? Read on to learn all you need to know about how to boost your metabolism before the holidays.

How can I quickly speed up my metabolism?

Metabolism and personal metabolic rate are terms that are often used interchangeably; however, the reality is that they’re two different things – and to boost your metabolism, you will have to increase your metabolic rate, which is how many calories you burn. There are various ways you can do this.

Eat protein with every meal

The simple act of eating can actually boost your metabolism for a few hours because of the thermal effect of food. This is the term used to describe how many calories your body burns by consuming, digesting, absorbing, and processing all the nutrients in your meal.

Eating protein with every meal causes the largest increase in thermal effect, which leads to an increased calorie burn. In fact, your metabolic rate can increase by as much as 30% by adding protein to every meal. Eating protein also helps keep you fuller longer, which leads to lower overall food consumption.

glass of cold water
Image by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash: How can I increase my metabolism ASAP? Drink more cold water!

Hydrate with cold water

The often sugar-filled drinks that are staples of holiday fare are hard to stay away from, but if you’re going to indulge, make sure you’re also staying hydrated with cold water as much as possible. Drinking water can lead to an increase of metabolism by up to 30% for an hour after you take the last sip.

Temperature can play a role here too. Drinking cold water has actually been shown to increase that metabolism boost even further because the body has to use more calories to heat the water up to body temperature. Drinking water 30 minutes before a meal can also reduce how much you eat, so you can still indulge without going overboard.

Move more often

If you spend most of your time sitting, you’re doing your metabolism a disservice. While it can be difficult to move around if you work a desk job (or are relaxing at home with your loved ones during holiday get-togethers), standing up and moving around more often burns more calories than sitting does. This can help to keep weight gain over the holidays at bay.

Add green or oolong tea to your diet

Both green and oolong tea have been shown to help boost metabolism. Drinking a serving of each can lead to a modest increase in calorie burn (roughly 4–5%).

Drinking more green and oolong tea can also help to convert fat stored in your body into free fatty acids, which in turn helps to increase your fat burning rate by an additional 10–17%.

Eat more spicy food

Not everyone can handle spicy food, but if you’re one of the lucky ones who isn’t too bothered by that extra kick, adding spicy food to your diet can boost your calorie-burning abilities. This is because spicy peppers such as chili or jalapeno peppers contain a substance known as capsaicin, which has been shown to help boost metabolism.

While the effects of spicy food on metabolism boosting are modest, when combined with other tips on this list, it can make a real difference in how many calories you’re burning this holiday season.

Can I exercise to increase metabolism?

Not everything you do to boost your metabolism has to revolve around food. While getting moving during the busy shuffle of the holiday season may be the last thing on your mind, it’s crucial to boost your metabolism so all that overindulgence doesn’t catch up to you in the new year.

The trick is knowing what types of exercises are best to do when it comes to boosting your metabolism. All exercise is good, but some types are better than others at increasing calorie burn.

person lifting weights
Image by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash: How can I increase my metabolism in the winter? Swap your cardio for weightlifting.

Lift weights

Muscle burns more calories than fat when the body is at rest. Lifting weights can be a great way to build more muscle on your body, thus increasing the amount of calories your body burns this holiday season. This means that even when you’re sitting around a fire enjoying holiday snacks, your body will be burning more calories than it did when you had less muscle mass.

Do high-intensity interval training

High-intensity interval training, or HIIT for short, is a type of exercise that involves short and intense bursts of activity cycled by short periods of rest. When you participate in regular HIIT exercises, your metabolic rate increases because it can help you burn more fat. What’s more, HIIT exercise can actually lead to higher fat burn even when you’re finished working out.

The holiday season is meant to be enjoyed, so don’t be hard on yourself if you do happen to overindulge in the delicious aspects of this festive time! All you have to do is add in a few metabolism-boosting activities and you can help your body burn more calories and avoid that holiday weight gain.

Featured image by Nicole Michalou on Pexels

How Does Your Metabolism Change As You Age?

The metabolism is a system of chemical reactions within the body that processes food into nutrients and energy. The energy conversion that takes place is used by the most basic functions of the body, such as breathing, circulation, and digestion. The energy that is left over from the food you eat is then utilized to help you get through the day, exercise, and live your life. But as you age, the speed of your metabolism begins to slow down. There are a few reasons behind those changes, so today let’s answer the question: how does your metabolism change as you age?

Metabolism and aging

As you get older, the metabolism doesn’t always work in the same way it did when you were a child or young adult. If you’ve ever reflected that you “can’t eat the same way you did when you were younger”, you’re aware of these changes!

The slowing of the metabolism comes down to a few different factors. They include:

  • The resting metabolic rate (RMR). Your RMR is the number of calories that your body needs to keep you alive. It is the energy needed to perform the most basic bodily functions.
  • Thermic effect of food (TEF). This is how much energy or calories are burned away through digestion or absorption of the food you eat. Even the process of fueling your body requires energy to put the food to good use.
  • Exercise. Exercise is one activity that everybody uses to burn calories, but the amount a person gets also effects their metabolism.
  • Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). This is how many calories it takes to perform basic tasks such as standing, washing dishes, or other chores.

Of course, there are other factors that affect how a person’s metabolism functions, including height, hormones, age, and the amount of muscle a person has on their body.

older man and woman in flower field
Image by Jaddy Liu on Unsplash: Older adults tend to exercise less, and that plays a role in a slowing metabolism.

Why does your metabolism slow down as you age?

There are a few reasons why the metabolism will slow down with age. Some of those factors are lifestyle-related, whereas others are biologically driven. Although lifestyle factors can be changed, biological aging cannot be stopped.

Exercise and diet

One specific driver related to metabolism slowing with age is exercise. As people get older, their ability or drive to exercise becomes lower. Activity levels have such a big impact on metabolism that research has shown that exercise and non-exercise activity or movement can account for up to 30% of your daily calorie expenditure.

Although the connection between less activity and aging isn’t entirely clear, research has also found that people aged 50 and older don’t typically exercise outside of work at all. Older people also tend to eat less, which can affect the metabolism’s speed as well.

Muscle mass

A key lifestyle and biological factor that comes into play with a slowed metabolism is muscle mass. Since people are not exercising as much as they used to past a certain age, they are bound to lose some muscle. Combine that with the natural aging process and the average muscle loss that simply occurs as a result (also known as sarcopenia), and it shows exactly why the metabolism slows as a person gets older.

After a person turns 30, the average decline in muscle is anywhere from 3–8%. The reason this affects your metabolism is because muscle plays a large role in how many calories the body burns at rest (RMR). 

Hormones

Hormones have also been shown to play a role in metabolism. As the body ages, the production of certain hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, and growth hormone begins to decrease. This deduction in hormone levels also slows the metabolism.

Cellular changes

As the body ages, cellular components and chemical reactions within it begin to change. Two specific cellular components that play a role in chemical reactions that affect the metabolism are sodium-potassium pumps and mitochondria. While mitochondria is tasked with creating energy for cells, sodium-potassium pumps help with the contractions of muscle and the heart as well nerve impulses. These two components begin to lose their ability to effectively perform as the body gets older.

Although these two things contribute to the slowing of the metabolism, they account for a small part of the slowing process when compared to activity levels and the amount of muscle a person has on their body.

older woman
Image by Anthony Metcalfe on Unsplash: How much does metabolism change with age?

At what age does metabolism peak?

Although the exact age of peak metabolic function varies from person to person, research has shown that the early 20s are the age that shows the most efficient metabolism. At this age, the number of calories burned by the body while at rest are the highest. This could be due to a lot of reasons, but like all ages and metabolism, it can most likely be attributed to exercise levels and muscle mass.

Is there anything you can do to stop metabolism changing?

Although there is nothing you can do to stop the cellular process of aging, there are ways around a slowing metabolism. Keeping up with regular exercise can be a great metabolism boost. Strength training, for example, is a great way to help build and maintain muscle mass and provides the overall benefits of exercise. Studies have shown that when older people do strength training, they can increase their RMR by close to 8%.

High-intensity interval training is also a great way to help the body burn calories. This is because it has been shown to cause the body to continue burning calories for as long as 14 hours following the end of the exercise session. 

Diet can also play a role in speeding up the metabolism. By eating a diet that has a lot of protein, you can increase metabolism. This is because protein-rich foods need more energy to be digested. And it’s not always what you eat that helps metabolism, but also how much you eat. Eating too little can cause the metabolism to slow down, because by eating too little calories, the body begins to reserve energy, leading to a decreased metabolic rate.

Fighting the passage of time is always going to be a losing battle, and aging is just a natural part of life. That doesn’t mean you have to give up on a healthy and speedy metabolism. By keeping up with exercise and muscle mass, you can help to combat the natural process of metabolic slowdown.

Featured image by Abigail Keenan on Unsplash

What Is Metabolic Rate & What Is Its Role In Fat Loss/Retention?

The human body requires a specific amount of energy to get through each day. This energy comes from food in the form of calories. Even if you were to lie in bed all day doing nothing, your body would still need a set amount of calories to perform basic vital functions such as breathing and blood circulation. This set number of calories is what is referred to as metabolic rate.

There are two different types of metabolic rate: the basal metabolic rate (BMR) and the resting metabolic rate (RMR). Although these two terms are often used interchangeably, they are slightly different. The BMR is used to measure how many calories a person needs to perform the most basic of tasks. The RMR is used to measure how many calories the body burns while it is at rest.

To calculate a truly accurate BMR, a person must be in a lab setting and under very restrictive conditions whereas they can be measured in the morning before eating or exercising. There are, however, calculators you can use to measure your BMR if you plan to use it to help you reach your weight loss goals.

Why is metabolic rate important?

Knowing your BMR can be a great tool on the road to healthy weight management. This is because it allows you to see just how many calories your body is burning while at rest and how much energy your body needs daily to function. The BMR will be different for anyone, so sometimes, counting calories based on an average isn’t always enough to determine if you’re getting the right amount of energy per day.

For example, if your BMR is 1600 calories per day, that means that you will need to consume 1600 calories just to sustain yourself. This doesn’t account for activity levels. If you are more active, you will need to consume more to help balance the energy in versus energy out levels.

woman after fat loss
Image by Mojzagrebinfo on Pixabay: What is meant by your metabolic rate and why is it important for fat loss? 

A popular equation used to calculate BMR is the Harris-Benedict BMR. It calculates for men and women separately. The equations are:

  • BMR for men: 88.362 + (13.397 x your weight in kg) + (4.799 x your height in cm) – (5.677 x your age in years)
  • BMR for women: 447.593 + (9.247 x your weight in kg) + (3.098 x your height in cm) – (4.330 x your age in years)

These equations are able to tell you exactly what your BMR is, which will give you the information you need to determine how many calories you need to consume or burn for weight loss or gain. Be aware that this equation does not take into account your activity level; however, there are Harris-Benedict BMR calculators online that can incorporate that factor for a more accurate measurement.

Does resting metabolic rate decrease with weight loss?

When someone loses weight, they may require less energy to get them through the day. This is because with less body weight, the body doesn’t have to work as hard to perform basic functions and thus less energy is expended throughout the day.

On the opposite side of things, when a person gains weight, their RMR is likely to increase. It also depends on the kind of weight a person gains. For example, muscle gain is more likely to increase RMR to a greater extent than fat gain would. This is because the energy used by fat is lower than the energy used by muscle.

Factors that can affect the RMR include:

  • Age. As a person ages, they RMR decreases. This is because of typical age-related changes in weight and body composition caused by hormone changes, the body’s decreased ability to synthesize protein, and cell death.
  • Eating less. When a person partakes in caloric restriction, their body lowers the RMR in an effort to conserve the energy it has reserved.
  • Medications. Both antidepressants and stimulants can have an effect on RMR. Antidepressants tend to increase it because they are typically associated with weight gain, and stimulants tend to lower it because they are associated with weight loss.

Other than those factors, a person’s RMR is typically unchangeable because it is determined largely by their unique way of expending energy for basic life-sustaining functions. 

spicy red chillis
Image by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash: Spicy food can help to speed up metabolism.

How do I speed up my metabolism for fat loss?

Although it can be difficult to manipulate your resting metabolic rate, there are things you can do to slightly speed up your metabolism and increase fat loss after you’ve calculated just how many calories your body needs.

One such thing is utilizing the thermic effect of food. Research has shown that the thermic effect helps to increase metabolism for a few hours after eating. The nutrient that offers the highest thermic effect is protein. By eating more protein, you can help to rev up your calorie burning after every meal.

You can also incorporate more exercise, since exercise is proven to help boost the calorie-burning powers of the metabolism. High-intensity workouts, specifically, are great for helping to boost the metabolism. Other ways you can help speed up your metabolism and thus speed up weight loss include drinking more cold water, drinking green or oolong tea, and eating spicy foods.

While you’re pretty much set with your RMR and BMR, you can use it to help you lose fat and get to a healthy overall weight.

Featured image by Bill Oxford on Unsplash

8 Foods That Can Help Boost Your Metabolism

The metabolism is a very important bodily process. It is tasked with turning the calories a person takes in from food and beverages into energy. It does this by converting sustenance into specific nutrients that are then used in different ways. The calories that are consumed are combined with oxygen and released as energy into the body. That energy is required for every other process – which is what makes the metabolism so vital.

Even when the body is doing nothing at all, it needs energy. Everything from breathing and blood circulation to hormone levels and cell growth and repair all rely heavily on how much energy is within the body. The basic functioning carried out while the body is completely at rest is called the basal metabolic rate.

When a person is active, the level of required energy changes. This is why those who move more often require more calories to function. There are varying degrees of metabolic function, too; those with a higher-level metabolism burn more calories at rest than those with a low metabolism. But can you boost your metabolism yourself? And if so, what foods can you eat to do this?

Can you boost your metabolism naturally?

The rate of your metabolism is genetic, so what you’re born with is generally what you’re stuck with. Of course, there are some caveats, such as age. As people get older, their metabolism tends to slow down. This can be attributed to some factors such as less activity, muscle loss, and certain cellular processes that lose efficiency as you age, thus slowing down your metabolism.

However, there are certain ways the metabolism can be manipulated into switching into a higher gear. Metabolism is greatly affected by exercise levels, so by moving more, you can increase your metabolic rate. Research has shown that exercises such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can be a great metabolism booster. You can also use the food you eat for energy as a way to boost your metabolism.  

VitalRX - avocado
Image by Estudio Bloom on Unsplash: What fruits help boost metabolism? Avocado is a great choice.

Metabolism-boosting foods

Not all calories are created equally; some can help to keep your metabolism burning at a higher rate. If you’re wondering what foods can speed up your metabolism, you have to look at the key nutrients and vitamins in each type of food. These play a vital role in all bodily processes, and can help to determine the difference between a slow or fast metabolic process.

1. Protein-rich foods

Foods that are high in protein are a great addition to the diet if you’re looking to boost your metabolism. Foods such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, and nuts and seeds are all great sources of protein. The reason protein is so important for metabolism is because it uses more of the body’s energy to digest. This is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). Studies have found that when the body digests protein and uses that additional energy, it can raise the metabolic rate by 15–30%.

2. Iron, zinc, and selenium-rich foods

These essential minerals play vital roles in many processes, but they are particularly great aids in speeding up the metabolism. This is because they all contribute to the proper functioning of the thyroid gland. Since the thyroid gland regulates metabolism, foods such as meat, seafood, legumes, and nuts and seeds can all aid in boosting metabolic function.

3. Capsaicin-rich foods

Capsaicin is a chemical compound found in chili peppers. Research has found that the compound can lead to an increased metabolism by increasing the amount of calories the body burns per day.

4. Caffeine

Caffeine can be found in many beverages, such as tea and coffee, as well as chocolate. Research has shown that consuming 270 mg or more of caffeine per day can lead to an extra 100 calories burned. When it comes to tea, the best kinds to choose from for metabolism-boosting effects are oolong and green tea. Research has shown that both of those teas can lead to a 4–10% increase in metabolism.

5. Spices

Ginger is a spice that is well-known for its effects in soothing nausea, but it can also help to boost metabolism. Other spices that have been shown to help boost metabolism include grains of paradise and cayenne pepper.

VitalRX - oysters
Image by Charles Koh on Unsplash: What vitamins help metabolism? Zinc is one, so be sure to include zinc-rich foods like seafood in your diet.

6. Coconut oil

Coconut oil has been used widely in recent years because of the many health claims surrounding it. It can be used topically (i.e. on the skin) or with food. When consumed, it can help to speed up the metabolism because of its high level of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs). Research has shown that MCTs increase metabolic rate.

7. Water

Water may not seem like a metabolism-boosting food, but research has found that staying hydrated with H20 can actually increase metabolic rates by 24–30%. This is likely due to the fact that the body needs to use energy to heat the water to body temperature. However, the effects of water on the metabolism are typically temporary.  

8. Avocado

Avocado is considered a “superfruit” because of its many health benefits. It can also help to boost metabolism because of its high content of healthy fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These healthy fats are burned at a higher rate than other types of fats, thus speeding up the metabolism.

Boosting the metabolism isn’t always easy, especially considering the complex nature of the process. However, consuming certain foods can be a helpful aid in increasing the rate at which the body burns calories, particularly when combined with other lifestyle factors such as exercising.

Featured image by Mark DeYoung on Unsplash

How NAD+ Affects The Energy Metabolism

The body relies on a symbiotic set of processes for optimal health. When all systems are working together, the body runs smoothly. When they do not, chronic health issues can arise, such as fatigue and inflammation.

The metabolism is the system that converts nutrients from food into energy, and it relies heavily on NAD+ to help it function properly. NAD+ helps by activating sirtuins, which are proteins that contribute to the regulation of cellular health. It also assists with metabolic function by encouraging mitochondrial fitness and essentially rewiring the metabolism to function as it should. But what is NAD+, exactly? Let’s find out more about this compound and how NAD+ affects the energy metabolism.

Vital RX - lab
Image by Jaron Nix on Unsplash: NAD+ is a coenzyme molecule that is required for many processes within the body.

What is NAD+?

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a chemical compound within the body that works to support the health of cells. It is classified as a dinucleotide because it consists of two nucleotides joined through phosphate groups, with one containing an adenine base while the other contains nicotinamide.

Vitamin B3 is considered to be a precursor to NAD+. When the vitamin is converted into NAD+ it contributes to the process of converting food into energy, repairing DNA, strengthening cell defense, and regulating circadian rhythm. It is not difficult to get enough vitamin B3 for NAD+ biosynthesis, and it’s been found that less than 20 mg of niacin per day is enough to keep up with the body’s demand.

In people with deficiencies of vitamin B3, NAD+ levels can suffer. However, there are a few other substrates for NAD+ pathways that can help stimulate synthesis, including the amino acid tryptophan, nicotinamide riboside, and nicotinamide mononucleotide.

While the body ages, levels of NAD+ decline, thus making a person more susceptible to age-related conditions and other health issues that can arise when the metabolism isn’t at its best. Some conditions that have been linked to declining levels of NAD+ in the body include heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Why is NAD+ so important?

Cells need both hydrogen and electrons to produce and store energy. NAD+ is the molecule that carries electrons and hydrogen to the cells so that the process of creating energy can continue through its reduced form known as NADH. NADH is the molecule that takes electrons from NAD+ and then gives them to other cells so that they can perform cellular processes. Without NAD+ and other electron carriers within the body, the cells would not be able to produce and store the energy, leading to fatigue on a cellular level.

In terms of other cellular processes such as DNA damage repair, NAD+ is needed to help restore healthy levels of DNA. If the body becomes depleted of NAD+, as it does with age, DNA cannot be repaired as it should be. It can also become depleted in cases of obesity or if the body is not receiving the required nutrients it needs. Metabolic disorders such as fatty liver disease and diabetes have been closely linked with depleted levels of NAD+. The good news is that if a person receives precursors of NAD+, optimal levels can be restored, which could help prevent metabolic diseases.

What is the role of NAD+ in metabolism?

NAD+ plays a vital role in oxidation reactions that contribute to metabolism. It is a contributing part of several different metabolism pathways, such as breaking down glucose for energy, oxidizing nutrients for optimal energy release, and the breakdown of fatty acids to produce energy. The energy metabolism is greatly affected by these processes, as it needs them to occur to help distribute energy throughout the entire body.

How do you raise your NAD+ levels?

The best way to ensure that you have optimal levels of NAD+ is by ingesting one of the precursors to aid in synthetization. Perhaps one of the most common nutritional supplements to take to help encourage NAD+ production is vitamin B3.

Human trials have found that increasing intake of vitamin B3 led to increased levels of NAD+ in muscles by three times the amount prior to taking the vitamin. Getting B3 through diet is the best way to utilize it as a NAD+ precursor; it can be found in high amounts in fish, peanuts, and avocados.

Some research has also shown that getting more exercise can increase levels of NAD+. This is because when the body uses more energy, it needs to create more. However, it should be noted that if there is not enough of a NAD+ precursor in the body to aid in the production of the molecule, exercising may not help to increase levels.

Vital RX - avocado
Image by Estudio Bloom on Unsplash: Avocados contain high levels of vitamin B3, which is needed to help synthesize NAD+, so eating more could help boost energy levels.

Does NAD+ give you energy?

Since NAD+ is a vital component to energy levels, it can be said that it helps the body create energy. The molecule itself doesn’t necessarily give you energy, though. It is needed for cellular processes that encourage the metabolism to function as it should, thus dispersing energy throughout the body.

Synapsins are proteins that help maintain healthy levels of NAD+, and thus are important for overall energy production. Vital RX’s Fitness and Energy Subscription boxes contain synapsin so that stores of NAD+ are kept at their most optimal, leading to an overall healthy level of energy and metabolic function. NAD+ is a key player in energy production, and keeping levels up can be as easy as adding a few things to your diet and supplementing with the right products.

Featured image by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash