5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Boost Your Metabolism

Add More Protein – replacing refined carbohydrates with protein can help reduce your stored belly fat. Protein puts on muscle. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association when you eat a high protein diet you add muscle and increase your resting metabolism and muscle mass. Muscle burns seven times as many calories as fat! Not all calories are the same. Carbohydrates contribute to stored fat, protein contributes to stored muscle. (1)
Get some caffeine in your diet – Yep, drinking coffee and caffeinated tea in moderation can increase your caloric burn. Your metabolic rate can increase significantly after the consumption of caffeine along with an increase in fat oxidation. (2) These studies were done with black coffee not a high sugar coffee drink from Starbucks!
Increase your Omega-3 consumption – Specifically DHA. DHA can alter gene signals positively that promote the storage of fat. If you have excess fat-storing gene signals, when you eat too much food you are up to 3 times more likely to store extra calories as fat. According to Byron Richards, CN our bodies associate Omega 3 intake with lack of starvation, thereby permitting metabolism to run faster and not store fat. (3) Remember when your Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio is out of whack (they should be equal and a lot of us are 20:1!) this causes inflammation which can also effect weight gain. We get too much seed oil from processed foods and not enough Omega 3 in our diets.
Improve Your Gut Health – According to Chris Kesser gut flora regulates metabolism. Dysregulated gut flora has been linked to diseases ranging from autism and depression to autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s, inflammatory bowel disease and type 1 diabetes. People with bad gut flora can eat the same amount of food as someone with healthy gut flora but extract more calories from it and gain more weight. Antibiotics, diets high in refined carbs, sugar and processed foods, specifically wheat and and industrial seed oils can contribute to an unhealthy or “leaky gut”. (4) Work on improving the environment of your gut to improve metabolism. Consider adding a high quality probiotic to your diet. Eating fermented foods and removing toxic foods like seed oils, processed grains and sugar.
Cook with Coconut Oil – Coconut oil is made of predominately MCT’s or Medium chain fatty acids. They are metabolized differently that longer chain fats. They go straight to the liver from the digestive track where they can be used for energy right away. Coconut oil is “thermogenic.” Eating it tends to increase fat burning mechanisms compared to the same calories form other fats. When you replace other fats with MCT fats studies show you will burn more calories. Added benefit? Coconut oil reduces your appetite, it increases the feeling of fullness so you eat less.