Top 5 foods that can help you burn more calories at rest and during sleep

Can you do anything while sleeping that would help you burn more calories? Not much, but your body does burn some calories while at rest. The number of calories burned depends on how many calories you need just to sustain your current weight and how much sleep you get each night.

An average person spends a third of their life sleeping. That’s 25 years of your life spent burning calories while you sleep!

During sleep, your body’s metabolism slows down, which means that it burns fewer calories than it would if you were awake. However, it’s not true that your body burns zero calories while you sleep.

How many calories are burned during sleep?

The number of calories burned by sleeping varies from person to person, but it’s typically around 50 calories per hour for most people. While this might not sound like much, it does add up over time and can help you with weight loss.

How do you burn calories while sleeping?

Your body still uses energy even when you’re asleep. It burns calories through a process called “metabolism.” This can be done through fidgeting or even breathing while you’re asleep. Your body will produce heat that causes it to burn more calories in order to regulate your temperature.

As you sleep, your body is working hard to maintain bodily functions and repair cells. Incorporating a consistent bedtime routine into your daily life can regulate your metabolism and help you reach healthy weight-loss goals.

What foods burn the most calories?

There are several so-called “fat-burning” foods that can help boost your metabolism and increase how many calories you burn during sleep. These include foods like oatmeal, almonds, white tea extract, lime juice, and many more.

It’s no secret that eating too many calories can lead to weight gain. But did you know that some foods can help you burn calories while you eat and others while you sleep?

#1 Oatmeal

It’s no secret that the more calories you burn, the easier it is to drop pounds. You can spend hours at the gym trying to up your calorie burn, or you can eat foods that help you burn more calories. Some foods are simple carbohydrates that provide energy quickly and easily, others are complex carbohydrates that require a lot of processing and work by your body to break down.

Muesli Oatmeal Breakfast Healthy  - congerdesign / Pixabay
congerdesign / Pixabay

Foods high in fiber are good for weight loss because it takes longer for your body to process them, making you feel full throughout the day.

Fiber is a great way to lose weight because it provides bulk and keeps hunger pangs at bay between meals. In addition, fiber prevents fat absorption and helps move food through your digestive tract more quickly.

Start your day off right with oatmeal. This type of soluble fiber slows digestion, which helps keep blood sugar levels stable and reduces cravings.

#2 White tea

We all love to eat, but we also love it when our food works for us. But if there was a way to eat foods that actually help you burn calories while you sleep, would you?

Young Woman Young Beautiful White  - nastya_gepp / Pixabay
nastya_gepp / Pixabay

This is no new discovery. In fact, drinking white tea extract may be an old trick for many people who want to lose weight. White tea has a compound called ECGC, which helps your metabolic rate and thus promotes weight loss.

It’s time to put down the chips and pick up foods that help you burn calories while you sleep.

#3 Almonds

Sleep is the time for your body to rest, repair, and allow your brain to process the day. It’s also when your metabolism slows down. But there are certain foods you can eat in the evening that aid digestion, keep you from feeling hungry, and even burn calories while you sleep.

Almonds Unshelled Almonds Nuts  - pictavio / Pixabay
pictavio / Pixabay

Almonds contain a number of ingredients that can help you get a good night’s sleep.

Almonds are high in calcium, fiber, and magnesium. Calcium helps to maintain bone health and strength, fiber aids in digestion, and magnesium helps the body to properly metabolize glucose and produce energy. A low level of magnesium can lead to an increase in cortisol (the stress hormone), which can cause insulin resistance and raise your blood sugar levels. Magnesium also increases the production of serotonin, the chemical in your brain that helps you to relax.

#4 Lemon juice

A cup of warm lemon water every morning will help you burn calories while you rest. It works best if you drink it right after you wake up in the morning.

Lemon has antioxidants that boost your immune system and helps in the process of detoxifying the body.

Most people don’t think about lemon water when they think of how to burn more calories. But lemon juice actually helps you burn calories while you sleep!

Lemon Drink Glass Fruit Lemonade  - Engin_Akyurt / Pixabay
Engin_Akyurt / Pixabay

The reason is that lemon juice contains a natural compound called D-limonene, which helps increase fat-burning enzymes in your stomach, which can help burn off belly fat.

Lemon juice is also packed with vitamin C and fiber, which are great for losing weight.

#5 Greek yoghurt

Many low-fat or fat-free foods are often high in sugar, but Greek yoghurt is an exception. It’s a good source of calcium, which appears to help speed up metabolism.

Yogurt Strawberries Food Fruit  - ponce_photography / Pixabay
ponce_photography / Pixabay

A high-protein meal is ideal before bed, as it can help you burn more calories while you sleep.

Greek yoghurt is a good source of protein, vitamins B6 and B12. It also contains calcium, which can help you burn fat faster during exercise.

The protein helps keep your energy levels up and also keeps you feeling full for longer; this in turn reduces the amount of food you’ll eat throughout the day.

Burning calories after a workout

Different exercises can trigger your metabolism to work harder during and after the exercise. When you are exercising, your body is burning calories at a higher rate.

People Man Bike Bicycle Water  - StockSnap / Pixabay
StockSnap / Pixabay

The more intense the exercise, the more calories you will burn. However, when you finish exercising, your body continues to burn calories at an increased rate for several hours after your workout is over. These additional calories burned are called “excess post-exercise oxygen consumption” or EPOC.

Best exercises to burn calories

The best exercises for burning extra calories are aerobic exercises such as running, cycling, and swimming. Vigorous weight training can also help you burn extra calories after your workout.

If you want to lose weight even faster, increase your intensity and your workout duration. If you want to lose weight, you’re going to need to spend more time exercising than you might wish.

During aerobic exercise, your heart rate increases and blood rushes through your veins at a faster rate than usual. Your body needs additional energy to keep up with the increased heart rate, so it burns more calories.

Running Woman Fitness Runner  - roxanawilliams1920 / Pixabay
roxanawilliams1920 / Pixabay

Weight training involves exercising specific muscles by lifting weights or using resistance machines. This helps you burn more calories both during and after your workout because your body has to work harder to repair damaged muscle cells.

Although weight training does not increase your heart rate as much as aerobic exercise does, it is still an effective way to burn extra calories. Weight training increases muscle mass over time. Increased muscle mass can burn more calories at rest and during sleep.

Do not eat very close to bedtime

You should also try not to eat at least two hours before bedtime because eating close to bedtime can cause acid reflux which causes you to wake up more frequently during the night and interrupts deep sleep cycles which burns fewer calories than if you’re sleeping soundly through the night.

What are metabolism and burning calories?

Metabolism is a chemical process in our body that converts food into energy for maintaining your body functions like breathing, digestion, etc., The speed of your metabolism depends on many factors such as age, sex, amount of muscle mass, and also the level of physical activity.

The speed of metabolism affects how fast we can lose weight. So if you want to lose weight then you should increase your metabolism rate i.e., burn more calories than you consume because then only less fat will be stored in your body.

Conclusion

Have you ever found that you’ve lost weight simply by making a few small changes to your diet? It’s not always a lot, but it’s enough to raise your hopes and make you feel a bit more positive about life. Every now and then, however, you encounter something that seems too good to be true; for example, the idea that there are foods that can help you burn fat while you sleep.

You might be surprised to learn, then, that certain foods really do have this effect – although they won’t help you get rid of a spare tire all on their own. If you’re looking for ways to lose weight while sleeping (and who isn’t?), try adding some of the following above to your diet.

About Author

Chaleepa Mallawa

Chaleepa is working as a doctor based in Sri Lanka. He has interest in content creation based on health, science, tech and motivation.