In between phone calls, meetings, meals, and appointments, you probably don’t stop everything and ask yourself, “Where’s my metabolism at right now?” In fact, maybe you don’t even know what your metabolism does and how it affects you during your busy day. According to the Mayo Clinic, your metabolism is the process that occurs when your body works to turn what you eat and drink into energy. As for the energy that’s produced, your body needs it to function — even to do simple tasks such as breathing and pumping blood. Pretty important stuff.
You may have heard people say something along the lines of, “I have a fast metabolism,” or “I can’t lose weight because I have a slow metabolism,” but what does that even mean? Khan Academy reports that your metabolic rate is how quickly your body breaks down the fuel that you give it. It’s important to note that since we are all unique, we all have unique metabolic rates that are affected by factors such as our sex, body size, body composition, and age. What you eat, how your body digests, and your exercise routine also play a role.
“As a mathematical rule, larger people burn more calories per day than smaller people. So a person who is 5’10” at 250 lbs and obese, who is eating and moving enough to maintain that weight, actually has a ‘faster’ metabolism than a 5’10” person who is lean and is moving and eating just enough to maintain weight. Why is that? Because a larger person must burn more calories per day to maintain weight,” strength and conditioning coach Kristian Flores tells us. And it’s not just humans who have metabolisms (we’re looking at you, furry friends).
If you’re currently working on your fitness and want to know how to improve your metabolic rate, you’re not alone. We reached out to experts to get the 4-1-1. Before we get into what we learned, it’s important to remember: all bodies are beautiful bodies. What matters is that you are healthy and happy.
Okay, here we go.
1. Add more protein to your diet.
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Nutritionist Jedha Dening tells So Yummy, “When you quit eating junk food and processed food, and focus on eating real food, it helps reset your metabolism so it naturally functions the way it should, efficiently.” Protein specifically helps with this, since according to registered nurse Rebecca Lee, protein takes longer to digest than fats and carbs — thus causing your body to burn more calories during digestion.
Beverly Hills Concierge Doctor Ehsan Ali mentioned cottage cheese as a prime example of a calorie-burning protein, stating, “It contains a protein called casein, which requires your body to burn a lot of calories to digest.” He adds that bodybuilders eat cottage cheese at night, since the body burns calories to digest the cheese while you’re sleeping.
2. Don’t skip breakfast.
Next time you plan to skip breakfast, you might want to think twice. Fitness and nutrition expert Scott Reid recommends that we “eat a breakfast that is high in protein and good fats.” This will help you maintain your energy throughout the day. Avoiding a high carb breakfast, however, is also important, since this meal can spike insulin levels and cause you to overeat once you begin experiencing low blood sugar levels and that midday slump.
Reid advises that we eat a breakfast consisting of bacon and eggs, or poached eggs and avocado.
3. Drink more water (seriously).
We know, you’ve heard it time and time again: You should be drinking more water. But did you know it has even more benefits than you thought? Water majorly helps with improving your metabolism.
Lee explains that water helps our metabolic rate through a process known as water-induced thermogenesis. They explain, “When you drink a glass of cold, or even room-temperature water, your system has to burn calories to heat it up to your body temperature.” Licensed nurse practitioner Maggie Berghoff takes this idea a step further, stating that chugging water (instead of sipping it) can help boost metabolism by stimulating the vagus nerve — which links the brain to the heart, lungs, and gut. According to Berghoff, stimulating this nerve can help boost digestive function and increase the metabolic rate.
4. Make sure you exercise.
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You’re probably thinking, “Duh,” right now, but give us a chance to explain. Dr. Jonathan Dugas says that moderate to vigorous activity has been shown to improve metabolism, since “while exercising, we might burn 5-10 calories per minute.” Registered dietitian Ginger Hultin echoes this recommendation, explaining that exercising builds the type of tissue you’d need to burn calories and improve metabolism.
Flores states that we should try to incorporate as much movement as possible into our lifestyles. Even walking instead of driving can make a difference, especially if you increase the intensity by power-walking, jogging, or running. This will allow you to burn more calories in less time.
5. Try strength training.
Narrowing down the types of exercise you can do to improve metabolism, strength training is, by far, what was suggested to us by experts.
Dietician and personal trainer Tina Marinaccio tells us that strength training changes our metabolism by allowing us to increase our muscle mass, which in turn allows our metabolic rate to increase. That’s because it requires more energy to maintain muscle than it does to maintain fat (and this happens even while you’re sleeping). Registered dietitian Scott Keatleyreveals, “Every pound of muscle burns about 7-10 calories per day, just so it can maintain itself. This sounds small, but compound this effect over days, months, and years, and it can become huge.”
Personal trainer Robert S. Herbst states that lifting weights while performing multi-joint movements — deadlifts, squats, lunges — is especially useful, since it raises metabolism for 48 to 72 hours after exercising. This helps build additional muscle, since your system is anticipating that you’ll be lifting more in the future.
6. Drink green tea.
Health and wellness expert Caleb Backe tells So Yummy, “Weight loss through dieting, not surprisingly, leads to a decrease in metabolic rate as your body is not consuming as much and is therefore not digesting as much. However, studies have shown that, thanks to the active ingredient catechin, drinking green tea increases the metabolic rate by up to 4%.” The study they’re referring to is one published in the December 1999 edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, but more recent studies reflect this as well — such as this 2009 study conducted in the Netherlands. During the study, author Rick Hursel found that green tea does slightly increase metabolism.
“Green tea is a powerhouse when it comes to boosting your metabolism. It is also considered a thermogenic and heats up the body for better fat burning,” nutritionist Lindsey Mathews adds.
7. Eat something spicy.
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Speaking of thermogenic foods and drinks that help the body burn calories and fat, let’s talk about spicy foods. Backe specifically says, “Peppers contain capsaicin, a substance which has been shown to boost metabolism.The effects of spicy food, however, is variable in magnitude and duration. Nevertheless, it has been proven to burn as many as 10 extra calories per meal.”
A 2006 article published by The New York Times remarks that several studies have shown that a spicy dish can increase metabolism, for a brief time, by about 8% (when compared to the person’s normal rate).
8. Reduce stress (and inflammation).
Fighting chronic inflammation is the best all-natural remedy for boosting metabolism, according to health and wellness expert Katherine Greiner. “Interestingly, research has found strong links between excessive fat accumulation and chronic inflammation,” Greiner tells us. “Why? Inflammation happens due to certain adipokines (cell signaling proteins like leptin) produced by adipose tissue (bad fat), and it causes oxidative stress (a loss of balance between free radicals and the body’s ability to counter them). This then leads to health issues such as cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.” This syndrome is a group of conditions that can lead to an increased risk of a stroke, heart disease, and diabetes.
Lack of sleep and stress can contribute to inflammation and can thus prevent our metabolism from running at an optimal speed. Both Zeitlin and Greiner recommend a daily meditation practice, which should also help you sleep better at night.
9. Try magnesium.
A 2008 study published in Electrolyte Blood Press emphasized that magnesium plays an important role in energy metabolism. Dr. Carolyn Dean elaborates, explaining that magnesium helps with the creation of ATP, which is the body’s energy storage molecule. This is what helps us stay energized, and also allows us to grow our strength and build muscle.
Sadly, Dr. Dean mentions that current farming methods are depleting magnesium from the earth’s soil, which means that we must focus on incorporating magnesium into our diets. “It’s important to note that not all forms of magnesium are easily absorbed by the body. Magnesium citrate powder is a highly absorbable form that can be mixed with hot or cold water and sipped throughout the day,” the doctor adds.
10. Get more sleep.
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“Stress can slow your metabolism way down, so much so that studies have linked chronic stress with fat storage and weight gain, because your metabolism is more sluggish,” owner of BZ Nutrition, Brigitte Zeitlin, tells us. “Making sure you get enough sleep (we’re talking 7-8 hours a night) can help combat stress and allow your body to reset helping to prevent a slowed metabolism.”
Certified holistic integrative nutritionist Rebecca Cafiero adds that poor sleep habits can cause cravings for unhealthy foods. It can also affect our body’s regenerative abilities.
Though metabolism seems like a complex process we can’t control, it’s nice to know that we do have the power to improve this part of our lives. And even better — a lot of the hacks that help us do so aren’t costly or tedious. It’s all about living a healthier lifestyle, whether that involves getting more sleep, boosting your diet, or taking more time to relax. In the end, improving your metabolism can contribute to the improvement of the rest of your life — and who doesn’t want that?
