5 After 50: Ways to boost your metabolism

One good way

I, for one, admit to having whipped out my calculator from time to time on spotting one of those in a magazine. It’s cumbersome. You multiply your height in centimeters by a specific number, then multiply your weight in kilograms by another number, then add them together, toss in your age somewhere, then dadadada…

One BIG problem with using these formulas to figure out how many calories you can eat in a day is that they fail to take into consideration the issues that affect you NOW, after age 50.

According to Dr. Eric Braverman, author of Younger (Thinner) You Diet, your metabolic rate should take into consideration:

• the state of your hormones (such as, but not limited to, growth hormone, estrogen and testosterone)
• the strength of your bones and the strength of your muscles
• the state of your brain chemistry (your active neurons)
• and the number of diseases you currently have (Are you prediabetic? On the path to developing cancer or heart disease?)  

So, what do you do?

1. Find out about your hormone levels. You’ll need to work with a doctor who will authorize tests that will give you some insight into the state of your hormones. If you’re older than age 50, you’re likely to be low in levels of various hormones, unless you’re on some sort of hormone therapy. (I take bioidentical forms of estrogen, testosterone and progesterone, along with natural thyroid and, for now, natural hydrocortisone.) I also take supplemental DHEA and prenenolone.

Yes, a lot of pills and creams–but if it boosts my health and vitality, I’m all for it. After a year, my hormonal status has slowly improved–and with it, my energy and ability to concentrate and THINK.

2. Get hip about your brain chemicals. Dr. Braverman offers info and quizzes you can take in his book, The Edge Effect, and provides great advice in both Younger (Thinner)You Diet as well as Younger You. (Obviously, I am a fan.) 

For one, you’ll want to boost your dopamine, the brain chemical that keeps your energy up and helps keep you trim. Certain foods–like white flour products, candy and sweets–will deplete your dopamine. Other foods, like eggs, yogurt and chicken, will provide the amino acids necessary to build up levels of dopamine.

3. Strength train to boost the size and strength of your bones AND muscles!

4. Get tested to determine your health risks. Tell your doctor you want to know about your risks for disease. Once you get the lab results, do a little research on your own.

Why? Your doctor may not be concerned about numbers that just push you into the pre-diabetic or prehypertensive categories, for example. But those numbers should tell YOU to be wary and to make efforts NOW, before they worsen.

5. Perform aerobic exercise–but don’t overdo it.  Aerobic exercise can help you dump stress, challenge your heart (in a way that strengthens it), unwind and relax your mind AND body.

Actually, dump stress deserves its own bullet point. As does, eat properly. That is, eat a diet consisting primarily of whole (unrefined, unprocessed) foods.

But you knew that. And it’s also obvious–all these recommendations affect one another.

For example, if you weight train, you boost beneficial hormones and brain chemicals, build muscle and bone, ”work” your heart muscle, dump stress, increase your stamina, decrease inflammation in your body, and lower your levels of fat-storing hormones (such as insulin).

But don’t think you can’t get started until you see a doctor!

There’s a tremendous amount of good you can do on your own–simply through eating and exercising properly for YOUR current health status.

If you wait to take action, you’re only going to increase your stress. AND have a harder starting point from which to “rebuild.”

Flickr photo, Abby Lanes