When it comes to the reduction of weight, metabolism plays a major role in it. Metabolism is the process by which our body breaks down what we eat for producing energy. Now as our body uses up the stored carbohydrates and fats for the production of energy so it aids us to get slim and also helps us in staying active for longer hours.
If your metabolism rate is fast, then it will help you reduce weight faster, but if your metabolism rate is slow, then it makes you fat. As people grow old, their metabolism rate decreases, we need to improve our metabolism rate, which will allow us to cut off the extra fat.
Here comes the need for vitamins that will assist our metabolism rate to go faster and help in weight reduction. But not all vitamins will boost your metabolism rate. In that case, no need to worry in this context we will discuss such vitamins which will help in weight reduction by aiding your metabolism rate.
Let us look at the vitamins that will help you in reducing your weight.
- B vitamin – when we are talking about B vitamin that means it includes niacin(B-3), riboflavin(B-2), pyridoxine (B-6), biotin(B-7), folate(B-9), and pantothenic acid (B-5). The above vitamins are specially responsible for metabolism. One of the major functions of vitamin B is to boost the metabolism rate and use up the stored carbohydrate, fats, and proteins for producing energy. Metabolism becomes hard when any of these mentioned vitamin levels get low.
Foods that will help you in getting these vitamins are beans, milk, eggs, lentils, potatoes, bananas, whole grains, lean meat, fortified plant-based milk, and marmite. You can also get these vitamins from supplements which are known as B-complex vitamins. B-complex vitamins are available in any medical shop.
- Vitamin D – recent studies have shown that people with excess weight have lost more weight with vitamin D in their system than others. One of the easiest and cheapest sources of getting this vitamin is sunlight.
The rays of sunlight contain vitamin D in it, but nowadays people mostly spend their maximum time indoors. Lacking vitamin D in your body will reduce the rate of metabolism, as a result, you gain weight. Getting vitamin D from food is difficult because very few foods contain it. So it is recommended to get it either from the natural source which is the sunlight or from supplements.
Many researchers have observed that vitamin D also helps in preventing depression and a good mood also helps in metabolism. The exact role of vitamin D in weight reduction is unknown, but it has been seen that people who are obese suffer from low vitamin D. Some foods which contain vitamin D are tuna, cheese, egg yolks, cod liver oil, some specific types of mushrooms, and milk.
- Iron – iron plays a major role in creating energy from nutrients. It mainly carries oxygen to the cells and muscles of your body which in turn helps in the burning of fats. Decreasing the iron level in your body can lead to anemia. Fatigue, weakness, and very low energy levels are the symptoms of low iron levels in your body. Other than these women who face heavy menstrual periods and people who donate blood frequently are more subjected to iron deficiency.
But you can increase the level of iron by adding some specific foods to your diet. Some of these foods are shellfish, spinach, beans, and lean meats. Our body mainly absorbs iron from meat more appropriately than from plants. So if you are a non-meat eater, then keep in mind to replace meat with some iron-rich vegetables like spinach. Vitamin C also helps in absorbing iron, foods like strawberries, and tomatoes are rich in vitamin C.
- Vitamin C – another most efficient vitamin for losing fat is vitamin C. Researches have shown that people with more vitamin C level in their system reduces more fat than those who have lower vitamin C level in their system. You can easily get it from fruits and vegetables like blackcurrant, tomatoes, oranges, lime, all kinds of berries, broccoli, capsicums of all colors, pineapples, papaya, kiwi, grapes, and sprouts. Other than these food items, you can also take supplements for increasing the vitamin C level of your body.
- Vitamin B-12 – Vitamin B-12 is also known as cobalamin. This vitamin is very important for our body as it maintains and produces red blood cells, nerve cells, and DNA. It also helps our body in processing and regulating different nutrients. Now if this vitamin level gets low, then our body stores fat by converting nutrients into adipose tissues. So it is very important to keep an adequate amount of vitamin B-12 level in your body to stay fit and lean. You can get vitamin B-12 from animal products only. Foods like milk, sardines, beef, fish are rich in vitamin B-12. Apart from these foods, you can also take supplements from vitamin B-12, which becomes a great option for vegans and vegetarians.
- Magnesium – magnesium is of the vital minerals of our body. It has a lot of purposes in the body like it controls blood glucose levels, regulates blood pressure, improves proper functioning of the nervous system, and also helps in keeping our bones strong. You can have a handful of nuts while you are on a diet. This will help in keeping you full for a long period and also provide your energy for work. But remember not to have too many nuts because they are high in calories. Other magnesium-rich foods are seeds like pumpkin seeds, legumes, and leafy vegetables like spinach. You can also get magnesium from supplements, but an overdose of such supplements can cause diarrhea.
- Green tea – green tea is neither a vitamin or a mineral, but it works great when you want to lose fat. What does green tea do to your body? It reduces the production and absorption of fat in your body. It also provides you a lot of energy for work. Green tea contains catechins, which is a powerful flavonoid antioxidant agent. Many clinical types of research have shown that catechins with caffeine increase energy expenditure compared to placebo.
Normally green tea is suggested to people when they are on a diet, as it significantly helps in reducing the fats of your body. According to the scientist, a test was performed where few obese people were divided into two groups. Among the two groups, green tea was given to one of the groups along with the diet and the other group was only on a diet. After one month they have seen that the group with green tea consumption has lost 30% more fat than the group with the only diet.
It is suggested to take green tea twice or once per day for better results.
- Vitamin B-1 – Vitamin B-1 is also known as thiamine. It is a part of the vitamin B complex and related to vitamin B-12. This vitamin helps in reducing fat by regulating the appetite. Having a lower level of Vitamin B-1 in your body will increase the appetite, which in result can make you fat. So it becomes very important to maintain the proper level of vitamin B-1 in your body for reducing fat. Another great function of vitamin B-1 is that it helps in breaking down carbohydrates into energy. This means that a lower level of vitamin B-1 can also be responsible for the slow metabolism rate of your body. A slower metabolism rate means storing carbohydrates and fat in your body instead of using up them, which will make up fat. Here are some foods which are rich in vitamin B-1 – milk, eggs, grains, oranges, pork, nuts, pasta, rice, and bread. You can also get vitamin B-1 from supplements that are readily available as vitamin B complex in medical shops.
- Bitter orange – it is a special fruit found in Africa and tropical Asia. Bitter orange contains synephrine, which increases the rate of calories burned. But it is normally suggested to avoid this fruit for weight loss as it has many side effects like increasing the chances of heart attack, high blood pressure, and many more.
Conclusion
The above vitamins and minerals will help you in reducing weight, but not much. The crucial factor that you should keep in mind for reducing weight is calorie intake. Reduce the calorie intake and do workouts for reducing weight. Another thing is that try to be stress-free because bad moods and too much stress can affect the metabolic rate of your body.
Get enough sleep at night because good sleep helps in regulating hormones, which also helps in the metabolism’s regulation of your body. Try to be more active and follow a healthy diet for better results. If you are taking supplements, then read the label for knowing the ingredients and correct dose. Keep in mind that taking extra doses of supplements will not help you rather it can put some negative effects on your body.