7 Things You Do Daily That Destroy Your Metabolism

Sometimes your eating habits can have an impact on the way your body functions. Take your metabolism, for example. Your metabolism is basically all the chemical reactions in your body (like digestion and the transportation of substances from one cell to another). What's interesting about your metabolism is that it has this unique ability to determine if something is good for you or not. But sometimes your metabolism can get out of whack, which can mean a few things: Your food is not going where it should, you're gaining or losing weight at a quicker than normal rate, or what you eat seems to be having a negative impact rather than a positive one.

How do you know if what you're eating is affecting your metabolism? These seven eating habits are good starting points:

1. Poor hydration: Drinking enough water is vital for flushing toxins from your body. Otherwise, your body may struggle to lose weight because your metabolism is not getting the proper amount of hydration. The other problem from not drinking enough water is that sometimes your body will send a signal that you are hungry rather than thirsty, which means you will eat more rather than drink more.

2. Lack of sufficient vitamin D: Many women do not get the appropriate amount of vitamin D, which can impact your metabolism and your ability to lose weight. The hunger hormone, ghrelin, will also be higher leading to a constant feeling of hunger.

3. Severe caloric restriction: Eating very little calories is a definite metabolic disturber. If you are eating extremely low calories for an extended period of time, your system is surely confused. Your body goes into starvation mode and will hold onto the fat not knowing when it will be fed again. You will also lose muscle in the process.

4. Ditching the caffeine: Your morning coffee can do a lot more than wake you up for the day. The caffeine can actually boost your metabolic rate and get a sluggish metabolism to start working at its proper speed. Be careful, however, not to overdo it on the sweeteners.

5. Eating the wrong foods: If your diet consists mostly of sugary, processed, fried foods, there's no doubt that your body is going to have a bad reaction. When you eat too many refined carbs, your body develops a carb sensitivity and your insulin levels are raised. What happens next? Your body cannot metabolize glucose appropriately and your body stores the carbs as fat. Not exactly helpful if you are trying to lose weight.

6. Binge eating: Some people believe that going on a binge will kickstart their slow metabolism. Although there is much debate about whether this is true or not, the consensus seems to be that it doesn't quite work in the long term. Sure, you will burn a few extra calories to digest all that food, but it will never be enough to offset the high amount of calories you just ate. And too much binge eating leads to weight gain.

7. Skipping meals: If you think skipping meals is the fast track to weight loss, think again. Just like eating too few calories, your body will not know when its next meal is going to be so it goes into its starvation mode and decreases your metabolism in an effort to save energy.

The last thing you want to do is play around with your metabolism by not eating enough or eating too much of the wrong foods. If you stick to a consistently healthy diet and don't severely restrict your calories, your metabolism will hum along nicely and do what it's supposed to do—keep you happy and healthy.

>> Read more: Rev Your Metabolism With These 5 Foods