Speed up metabolism naturally
Metabolism is perhaps one of the most discussed topics when it comes to and . Anyone who wants to lose weight (and keep it off) wants to increase their metabolism. As we age, that becomes more difficult.
Is it even possible to increase your metabolism? Or is it something each person is just born with and they have to accept?
Here is how metabolism works, the various contributing factors, and how you can speed up your metabolism naturally.
What is Metabolism?
Although it’s often referred to in isolation, metabolism is actually a series of complex processes by which the body converts food and drink (calories) into energy in order to sustain itself. Not only does metabolism physically power the body, but it is the mechanism that provides our bodies with energy to live our daily lives.
Every individual body has it own basal or resting metabolism that is determined by four factors:
- Resting/Basal Metabolic Rate – This refers to the number of calories a body needs to sustain itself on its own, with no additional physical activity. Essentially, the basal metabolic rate is what you would burn if you sat on the couch all day long. Quite literally, the body is burning calories all day long in order to power major organs. The basal metabolic rate accounts for about half to three-quarters of a person’s total metabolic burn during the course of any given day.
Major factors impacting the basal metabolic rate are age, sex, and body composition. We’ll get into the age factor a bit later, but men often have a higher resting metabolic rate because of the body composition factor — they typically have more muscle mass.
- Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) – This refers to a bump in metabolism as the body digests food. It’s literally the calories required to process the food consumed. According to a , “TEF is increased by larger meal sizes (as opposed to frequent small meals), intake of carbohydrate and protein (as opposed to dietary fat), and low-fat plant-based diets.”
- Exercise/Physical Activity – The amount of physical activity you get on a regular day is a major factor of your overall metabolic rate. This includes any and all deliberate physical movement, from walking the dog to running to weight lifting. The more you move, the more calories you burn.
- Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) – This type of activity is general movement required for daily activities, but is not enough to get your heart rate up. For example, walking from room to room in your home, doing laundry, and even fidgeting. Generally speaking, this doesn’t account for much of the day’s caloric burn, unless you’re someone who rarely sits down.
How Metabolism Fluctuates with Age
It’s a common misconception that metabolism naturally slows as people age. While there’s some truth to that, it’s not just age that plays a role. The major factors in this equation are basal metabolism, physical activity, and a decrease in the NEAT rate because people tend to be less active as they get older. Basic bodily functions, such as digestion, also slow down with age, which plays a role in the resting metabolic rate.
Furthermore, muscle mass decreases with age. Starting at age 30, we lose a little bit each year. It’s gradual, but the effects add up over time. Muscle contributes significantly to metabolism. Our bodies require more energy (calories) to maintain muscle mass, which means we need to consume more calories with increased muscle mass.
Think of Olympic athletes and bodybuilders — they have strict diets and eat thousands of calories every day. All of that effort is so they can maintain their healthy muscle. If they don’t follow that strict regimen, they risk losing hard-earned progress.
How to Increase Metabolism Naturally
Eat Plenty of Protein
Those looking to increase their metabolism naturally should be sure to eat protein at every meal. When we eat, our metabolism gets a natural (although temporary) boost while the body digests whatever we consumed — this is the thermal effect of food. However, TEF increases the most while digesting protein.
While the bump TEF provides to metabolism is temporary, it can add up when done every day, at every meal. recommends “focusing on protein being 25-30% of your calories per day,” in addition to making sure you get enough food during the course of each day.
Eat Enough
One mistake people make when they’re trying to lose weight or increase their metabolism is that they don’t eat enough, or they starve themselves most of the day to “save up” their calories. “Skipping meals as a way to lose weight actually slows down your metabolism,” says Dr. Giuseppe Aragona, MD from . “In fact, eating too few calories can cause a person’s metabolism to slow down so the body can conserve energy. Furthermore, holding back on food can cause people to eat more later which overcompensates for the meal they missed, which can negatively impact metabolism.”
Aragona brings up another strategy that can have adverse effects. “Eating meals that are not filling can have the same effect.” If a person isn’t satiated at the conclusion of a meal, they’re more likely to keep eating, or snack later on.
In order to maintain an efficient metabolism, it’s important to eat enough calories for the body to sustain itself, and it’s optimal to space these caloric intakes relatively evenly throughout the day.
Eat at the Same Time Everyday
Metabolism isn’t just about getting enough food — it’s also about when you’re eating. “Eat at a regular time every day. This helps your body and metabolism establish a rhythm,” recommends Amanda A. Kostro Miller, RD, LDN, advisory board member at . “Try to eat something within one hour of waking in the morning to give your body some energy to work with.”
For the rest of the day, try to eat meals at the same times — perhaps you eat lunch at noon, a snack around 3:00 pm and dinner around 6:00 pm. Your body will understand that it will get more food soon enough. This is the case even for people who practice . Even though their body will go without food as many as 16 hours of the day, their body will grow accustomed to when their eating window opens again.
Drink Plenty of Water
As if there weren’t already enough reasons to drink the prescribed 64 ounces of water per day, increasing your metabolism is certainly another one. “All metabolic processes require water,” says . “Drinking plenty of water will ensure that dehydration never limits your metabolism.”
Remember that “water” can come in many forms — decaf tea, decaf coffee, flavored water, etc. However, like all other medical professionals, Poston says to avoid sugary drinks as a source of hydration.
Incorporate HIIT Workouts
HIIT stands for high-intensity interval training. HIIT workouts involve short bursts of maximum effort movement in between periods of rest. compared HIIT workouts to sprint interval training (SIT), and found that “subjects burned significantly more calories and reported lower perceived exertion than SIT.”
Furthermore, examined the effects of post-workout calorie burn in women. Researchers concluded that HIIT workouts resulted in a higher post-exercise resting energy expenditure (REE).
Increase Muscle Mass
“Physical activity can help build muscle and burn excess calories and fat,” says Dr. Cristina Agostinelli, MD of . As previously discussed, muscle requires more calories to maintain. Therefore, by increasing the amount of muscle on your body, you’re increasing the number of calories required to sustain itself. As a result, the basal metabolic rate should theoretically be higher than it was with less muscle mass.
Get Enough Sleep
is a factor in metabolism — something that Americans struggle with more so than other parts of the world, it would seem. “Quality sleep over a sufficient period of time is perhaps one of the most important things we can do to maintain or increase our metabolism,” says Dr. Shaun Kennedy, ND, Assistant Professor of Nutrition at . “Regularly getting poor sleep or sleeping for an insufficient amount of time over long periods of time can really wreak havoc on our endocrine system and thus our metabolism.”
examined the way restricted sleep impacted the way the body metabolizes fat. Subjects were put through a simulated 5-day work week, during which their sleep was restricted to no more than five hours of sleep per night. After four nights of sleep restriction, subjects were told to eat a high-fat, calorie-dense dinner that had been prepared for them.
Researchers took blood samples from each participant and upon analysis, “found that sleep restriction affected the postprandial lipid response, leading to faster clearance of lipids from the blood after a meal. That could predispose people to put on weight.”
On the simulated weekend, participants were allowed to sleep for 10 hours to “catch up” on missed sleep. After the first recovery night, they were given the same high-fat, calorie-dense dinner. Researchers concluded that the “participants’ metabolic handling of fat from food was slightly better after a night of recovery sleep,” but that it did not return to a healthy metabolic level.
Reduce Stress
While acute has been shown to have short-term benefits, the long-term effects of prolonged stress are typically negative. that long periods of “stress can lead to dietary over-consumption (especially palatable foods), increased visceral adiposity and weight gain.”
Experiencing prolonged periods of stress is unhealthy for many reasons, but it will certainly not help increase metabolism. Finding ways to reduce stress in your life (such as through yoga, meditation, exercise) can have positive effects all around, not just in this one area.
Get Plenty of B Vitamins
B vitamins play multiple roles in the body, but one of the main purposes is to help metabolize food. For example, B1 (thiamine) helps convert carbohydrates, fat and protein into energy. Furthermore, some B vitamins are reliant upon others to function properly. Vitamin B12 needs folate (B9) and B6 in order to metabolize fats and proteins.
B vitamins can be found in many healthy foods, but many B complex supplements are available.
Foods that Increase Metabolism
As previously mentioned, getting plenty of protein will help increase TEF in the short-term. Protein is found in many foods, so it isn’t difficult to incorporate this macronutrient at every meal or snack.
Here are some foods that temporarily speed up metabolism:
- Eggs
- Lean meat
- Tuna
- Fish
- Lentils
- Dark, leafy greens (kale, spinach, broccoli)
- Greek yogurt
- Cottage cheese
- Spicy foods (particularly chili peppers)
- Cold water
- Green tea
- Oolong tea
- Ginger
- Nuts
- Coffee
“Eggs are a metabolism boosting, low carbohydrate food that also provides lean protein in your diet,” says Lisa Richards, nutritionist and author of . “Eggs contain a nutrient called choline which works in the body to suppress leptin, the hunger hormone, while the yolks increase the body’s absorption of antioxidants.”
Richards also recommends adding fiber to a to boost metabolism, but offers a word of caution. “Fiber rich foods can boost metabolism and weight loss, but are often high in carbs,” says warns. “However, there are some excellent fiber-rich and low-carb ingredients that can be added to many recipes to help boost your metabolism. These include chia, flax, avocado, blackberry and pistachios.”
Putting it All Together: A Balanced Lifestyle
To an extent, increasing your metabolism naturally is possible. By following the tips outlined here, you may be able to increase your basal metabolic rate to a helpful degree. But remember that doing so is a matter of multiple contributing factors.
As Agostinelli warns, metabolism isn’t just exercise or nutrition. It’s both, always. “When we add a well-balanced diet to exercise, our body takes in a proper amount of nutrients, which can provide the energy required to stay physically healthy,” she says. “In turn, these ideal health choices can help regulate blood sugars, hormone levels and even blood pressure just to name a few.”
Are you interested in learning more about maintaining a healthy metabolism? Check out these articles with additional pro tips: