50 simple ways to boost your metabolism

What’s tastier than a hamburger with an ice-cold root beer? Lots of people love ordering a sweet drink along with their dinner, but a recent study shows that drinking a soda while eating a high-protein meal causes the body to store more of the meal as fat and slows down your metabolism.

To keep your engine burning hot, swap the soda for water or sparkling water.

You don’t have to eat every two hours to keep your metabolism humming – yes, another myth – but for some people, eating a small, healthy snack a couple hours before a meal can help banish cravings and enable them to make wiser food choices because they’re not starving when they finally sit down to eat.

Note: The serving shouldn’t be major – it can be as small as a cup of soup.

Making your workout shorter can help you increase your metabolism for up to 24 hours afterward – as long as you’re also making it harder, says Terry Dubrow, MD, coauthor of The Dubrow Diet: Interval Eating To Lose Weight & Feel Ageless.

Short bursts of interval training sprinkled throughout your week are a proven way to increase your caloric burn by increasing excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, he explains.

And it doesn’t take much; one study found that as little as four minutes a day can make a difference.

Getting a little movement in before a meal – say, a walk around the block or some gentle yoga – fires up your metabolism, giving you more energy and encouraging your body to burn more calories throughout the day, says Dr. Dubrow.

You probably already know that pumpkin is delicious, but the healthy squash is also a secret weapon when it comes to boosting metabolism, Lohre says.

The trick is in the hefty dose of fibre it provides.

“Research shows that fibre can rev your fat burn by as much as 30 percent,” she says.

“Aim for at least 25 grams a day – the amount in about three servings each of fruits and vegetables.”

Jumpstart your metabolism as soon as you wake up by drinking a large glass of water.

Founder of US-based Hispanic Food Communications, Sylvia Melendez-Klinger, MS, RD, suggests placing a glass by your beside before you go to bed and drinking it first thing every morning.

If you don’t like water, most other liquids count as well, according to the latest recommendations, as do fruits and veggies with a high water content such as mandarin, watermelon, and cucumber.

Eat breakfast within an hour of waking up to jump-start your metabolism.

“Make sure to get enough protein at breakfast, at least 20 grams or the equivalent of 3 ounces, which is approximately the size of a deck of cards,” advises medical nutrition therapist Lauren Harris-Pincus.

“Breakfast is the time we often miss out on the opportunity to protect our muscles because we can only use about 25 to 35 grams of protein at a time for muscle growth and repair. Doubling up at dinner doesn’t help if you skipped protein at breakfast.”

If you can’t face meat or eggs in the morning, remember that milk, dairy, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and veggies also contain protein – and are therefore foods that increase metabolism too.

Learning how to boost your metabolism involves changing not just what you eat, but how and when you eat.

Consuming several smaller meals instead of three large, heavy meals will help keep your metabolism and energy levels consistent throughout the day, advises dietitian Abby Sauer, registered dietitian at Abbott.

Foods containing specific nutrients have been shown to play a role in metabolism.

Because your body needs help to convert carbs, protein, and fats from food into energy, eating foods high in B vitamins can help facilitate this process,” Sauer says.

Try beans, lentils, whole grains, and most deeply coloured vegetables such as kale or spinach.

Muscles aren’t just there to make your body look good – they play a key role in your metabolism.

“Making it a habit to get up and get moving throughout the day or engaging in a weekly workout routine with forms of aerobic exercise such as walking, swimming, or cycling, can also decrease your body fat and increase lean muscle mass, which revs up your metabolism,” says Sauer.