10 Eating Tricks That Speed Up Your Metabolism

(This article previously appeared on Grandparents.com.)

If your body is the car and food is the gas, then your metabolism is the rate at which you use up the gas in your tank. Your metabolic rate reflects the speed at which your body burns calories and ultimately affects your body's ability to gain or lose weight.

Some factors influencing your metabolic rate can't be changed, such as your gender, age and genetic makeup. The good news is that there are plenty of things that you can do to maximize your metabolism.

Exercise is one of the best ways, but did you also know that you can fire up your inner flame with good nutrition and a metabolism-raising eating pattern?

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Here are 10 eating tricks that can speed up your metabolism:

1. Eat breakfast.

Your metabolism naturally slows down during sleep. The best way to start the day and rev up your metabolism is to "break the fast" by eating a healthy breakfast. Your best bet is a wholesome meal that includes a fiber-rich whole grain, lean protein and fruit.

As for timing, whatever works with your morning schedule is fine.

2. Eat more, burn more.

This does not mean eat more calories, but instead eat small meals, more often.

Evolutionary hardwiring has enabled our bodies to adapt to “feast or famine” situations by conserving calories (lowering metabolic rate) when faced with a shortage of food.