5 seemingly healthy habits that actually slow down your metabolism

Our body’s metabolism rate dictates how quickly we can burn calories. It also, inevitably, decides how much weight we put on overtime.

While we’re always looking for methods to boost our metabolism, it’s just as necessary to see which day-to-day habits actually slow it down. We’re all guilty of doing these things once in a while.

But it’s not too late to make the lifestyle changes. Here are five seemingly healthy habits that can actually do more harm than good.

You eat a high sugar breakfast 

Okay, we’ll admit that eating healthy during the workweek can be tough. After all, who has time to prepare avocado toasts when they’re rushing? But eating sugary cereals and high GI foods in the morning can really cause your body to up its blood sugar levels and leave you feeling sluggish by the time lunchtime comes around.

All in all, your body (and your moods) will be affected.

You sleep 5 to 6 hours

If you’re not getting enough rest and waking up feeling groggy every morning, chances are, you’re not getting enough rest. In order for your body to metabolize the food you eat, it’s going to need enough sleep to function. Whenever your body senses that it’s going through some hard time or feeling stress, it has a smart way of going into a defensive mode and holding onto its resources.

In this case, it’s the food you’re eating. Your body sees the food you’re eating as resources and when stressed, your body tends to put lesser work on its biochemical functions to burn and metabolise the food you’re eating.

You eat whole grain everything 

We’re not saying that gluten-free is the way of life (although this is the case for some people), but some people might not be able to digest and metabolise certain types of grains.

This is also part of the reason why some people experience flatulence after eating wholemeal bread and other types of grains.

You only do cardio exercises

While we definitely think cardio is great for keeping your metabolism up and your heart rate running, it needs to be complemented with some weights to help burn calories more effectively.

You're always drinking fruit juice

We don’t blame you if you think fruit juices are healthy — they are, to a certain degree — but they’re also high in sugar. 

That because, whenever you’re extracting a juice from a fruit, you’re leaving out the essential fibre required. Instead, here’s what you should do: add some vegetables into it. Juice your vegetables, eat your fruits!

This article was first published in The Singapore Women's Weekly.