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Many of us will be familiar with the fact that, as we age, we can’t eat like our younger selves. This is because, over time, our metabolism – the rate at which our body burns energy – naturally slows down. Generally, this makes it easier to gain weight and more difficult to lose it.
However, it’s possible to boost your metabolism by making a few positive lifestyle changes.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at what metabolism is, how it changes with age, and what you can do to boost yours.
What is metabolism?
In simple terms, metabolism refers to all of the chemical reactions that occur in your body to keep you alive and functioning.
These processes include breathing, heartbeat, and breaking down nutrients from food. Your metabolism determines how quickly your body burns energy to complete these functions.
Ultimately, the faster your metabolism, the more calories you burn, the easier it is to lose weight, and the more energetic you’re likely to feel.
Four main factors influence your metabolic rate…
Resting metabolic rate (RMR) – the number of calories you burn while resting. Your RMR is essentially the minimum number of calories needed to stay alive and functioning.
Thermic effect of food (TEF) – how many calories you burn through digesting and absorbing food. TEF usually accounts for 10% of daily calories burned.
Exercise – the number of calories you burn through exercise.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) – how many calories you burn doing non-exercise activities, such as standing, moving around, hoovering, and other household chores.
Other factors that influence metabolism include age, gender, height, muscle mass, and hormonal factors. Metabolism naturally slows down with age for various reasons, including reduced activity levels, muscle loss, and ageing of internal body processes.
But while some factors that affect metabolism, like gender and height, are out of our control, others, such as activity levels, often aren’t. Therefore, making certain lifestyle changes can boost your metabolism.
9 ways to boost your metabolism over 50
Overall, research has shown that healthy eating habits, exercise, and sleep have the greatest effects on your metabolism.
For this reason, becoming more active and building muscle are among the most beneficial ways to boost your metabolism.
However, there are plenty of other things that can help. We’ll cover these below…
1. Consider strength training
Over time, we lose muscle mass as a result of a process called sarcopenia. A reduction in muscle mass can slow your metabolism because muscle uses more energy at rest than fat.
Sarcopenia usually begins around age 50. After this, it’s estimated that a person’s muscle mass decreases by around 15% each decade, and muscle strength at a rate of 12-15%. Research shows that by the age of 80, people have around 30% less muscle than when they were 20.
Strength training offers the usual benefits of exercise, including improved cardiovascular health, but brings a bonus of building and preserving muscle mass. Research has shown that, over time, this can boost metabolism and increase the number of calories you burn throughout the day.
For example, this study of 15 people aged 61-77 found that strength training three times a week for six months increased resting metabolic rate (RMR) by 6.8%. This research also highlights a potential increase in resting metabolic rate by 7% after 10 weeks of strength training.
Another plus is that strength training can help retain muscle and metabolism speed during weight loss (where metabolism usually drops). This study, which followed overweight women on a weight-loss programme, found that those who did strength training throughout retained their muscle mass, metabolism speed, and strength alongside losing weight. Meanwhile, others lost muscle mass and experienced a drop in metabolism.
For more information on the importance of strength training, you might like our article: The importance of building strength and balance in your 50s and 60s.
2. Increase your daily activity levels
Daily activity significantly impacts metabolism. Research shows that, together, exercise and non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) make up roughly 10-30% of daily calories burned. For very active people, this number can stretch as high as 50%.
According to Age UK, 29% of people aged 65 to 74 are physically inactive. This number jumps to 47% for people aged 75 to 84, and 70% for those over 85.
Incorporating more exercise into your daily routine can make a significant difference in helping prevent a drop in your metabolism. For example, this study of healthy young adults (21-35) and mature adults (50-72) showed that regular endurance exercise helped prevent metabolic rate from slowing with age. This research also suggests that age-related metabolic changes can be prevented by maintaining activity levels.
If you haven’t yet found a form of exercise that you love, why not head over to our fitness and exercise section? Here, you’ll find guides on everything from running and cycling to walking football and yoga.
You might also like to check out the classes available on Rest Less Events, such as dance, Pilates, and disco aerobics.
3. Eat a high-protein diet
Eating temporarily increases metabolism because the body requires energy to digest food and absorb nutrients. This is known as the thermic effect of food (TEF).
Protein causes the largest rise in TEF – and increases metabolic rate by 15-30%, compared with 5-10% for carbohydrates, and 0-3% for fats. Interestingly, studies have found that consuming 25-30% of your calories from protein can help you burn an extra 80-100 calories per day. This review of several clinical trials supports the evidence that consuming more protein can reduce body weight while preserving fat-free mass.
Research has also shown that eating protein can help keep you feeling full and prevent overeating. For example, this study found that people were likely to eat around 441 calories less per day when their diet was made up of 30% protein.
Eating more protein can also help reduce the drop in metabolism and fat-free mass linked with weight loss, and is essential in fighting sarcopenia because it plays an important role in preserving muscle.
Examples of high protein foods include eggs, yoghurt, seafood, soya, chicken, tofu, beans, and pulses. For cooking inspiration, why not check out our article: 12 high-protein meal ideas?
4. Fix your sleep schedule
Research shows that a lack of sleep can slow down your metabolism, but a good night’s sleep can reverse this effect.
Sleep is needed for various hormonal and metabolic processes, and sleep deprivation has been shown to cause abnormalities in the metabolic process. For example, this study found that the metabolisms of people who got just four hours of sleep were 2.6% slower than those who got 10 hours of sleep. Fortunately, getting a long night’s sleep (12 hours) helped to restore metabolism.
Poor sleep can also lead to muscle loss, which slows your resting metabolic rate (RMR).
While further research is needed, mounting evidence suggests that sleep and misaligned circadian rhythms contribute to the development of metabolic disorders, heart disease, and cancer.
Getting a good night’s sleep can also help prevent overeating. This is because a lack of sleep not only impacts energy levels but research suggests it also increases levels of the hunger hormone, ghrelin, while decreasing the fullness hormone, leptin.
If you have trouble falling or staying asleep, you’ll find tips on how to fix your sleeping patterns in our sleep and fatigue section.
5. Make an effort to drink more cold water
Research has suggested that drinking water can temporarily speed up your metabolism.
For example, this study found that drinking 0.5 litres of water increased resting metabolic rate by around 10-30% for up to an hour. For best results, it’s recommended that you drink cold water. This is because the body uses extra energy to heat the water to body temperature.
Another benefit of drinking water is that it helps fill you. Various studies have shown that drinking water half an hour before eating can help prevent overeating.
For example, this study of overweight adults found that those who drank half a litre of water before eating lost 1.3 kg of weight over 12 weeks.
For tips, check out our article: 10 tips for staying hydrated and why it’s important.
6. Try drinking more green tea or oolong tea
If you often enjoy a warm cup of tea, you’ll be pleased to know that your habit could help to speed up your metabolism.
Green tea and oolong tea (traditional Chinese tea) have been shown to increase metabolism speed by around 4-5%.
These teas help to convert some of the fat stored in our bodies into free fatty acids, which can increase fat burning by around 10-17%. Plus, since green and oolong tea are so low in calories, they can also be handy for weight loss and maintenance.
Green tea and oolong tea are both available to buy on Amazon. And you can learn more about the benefits in our article: The health benefits of 9 different types of tea.
7. Introduce more spicy foods into your diet
Peppers contain capsaicin, which is a substance known to boost metabolism. However, due to its strong taste, most people can’t tolerate eating it at the dose required for it to have a significant effect.
But this study of capsaicin (eaten at normal doses) suggests that eating peppers would still burn around 10 additional calories per meal. Over 6.5 years, this would account for about one pound of weight loss for a man of average weight.
While the effect of adding spices to your food may be quite small, incorporating more over time can lead to small advantages when combined with other metabolism-boosting strategies.
8. Stand instead of sitting
As previously mentioned, non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) refers to the number of calories burned through activities other than exercise – for example, standing and completing household chores.
Research has shown that older adults burn roughly 29% fewer calories through NEAT than younger adults due to reduced activity levels.
Aside from incorporating exercise into your daily routine, there are other small, beneficial lifestyle changes you can make. For example, you could start making a conscious effort to spend more of your day standing up.
While small changes like these may not seem significant, research suggests that an afternoon of standing at work can burn an extra 174 calories, compared to sitting.
If you have a desk job, you could consider buying a standing desk. Equally, if you commute to work by train, why not stand up for some of the journey?
9. Start your day with a coffee
Various studies have shown that caffeine in coffee can boost metabolism 5-20% for at least three hours. Caffeine’s effect on metabolism may also contribute to successful weight, BMI, and body fat reduction.
However, the effect of coffee on metabolism seems greater in lean people. For example, in this study, coffee increased fat burning by 29% in lean women, but 10% in obese women.
According to experts, up to 400mg of caffeine (around four to five cups) a day appears to be a safe amount for most healthy adults. However, to avoid disrupted sleep, it’s recommended not to drink coffee within six hours before bedtime.
If you’re looking to experiment with how you drink your coffee, check out our article: 10 ways to upgrade your morning coffee routine.
Final thoughts…
While it’s natural for metabolism to slow down with age, there are ways to help counteract this.
And more positive news is that the benefits of making simple lifestyle changes, like taking up strength training, becoming more active, and improving your sleeping habits can not only boost your metabolism but also help in other areas of your life.
For more guidance, tips, and advice, you might like our fitness and exercise, and diet and nutrition sections.
What steps have you taken to boost your metabolism? What do you find to be most effective? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
* Links with an * by them are affiliate links which help Rest Less stay free to use as they can result in a payment or benefit to us. You can read more on how we make money here.
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