An optimally functioning metabolism supplies every cell in the body with everything it needs, removes toxins and waste products from the body and slowly but surely reduces excess weight . Metabolism can often be easily influenced. With certain foods or individual nutrients, but also with a specific behavior. We present you with numerous tips with which you can stimulate your metabolism.

How does it work?

Many people would like to stimulate their metabolism. However, very few people know what exactly they want to stimulate. Yes, very few people can explain what their metabolism actually is or does. But how can you stimulate something if you don’t even know it? So let’s start with some basic information on this topic:

Metabolism includes all processes in which substances are built up, broken down or recycled in our cells. The whole thing serves to keep our body in good shape. There are two main metabolic departments: building metabolism and energy metabolism.

Metabolism: Here, old and diseased cells are broken down, new ones are built, substances such as hormones, antibodies and enzymes are formed and waste is eliminated.

Energy metabolism (also called cellular respiration): This is where energy is produced in the cell for all actions and functions that take place in the body – including building metabolism, but also so that we can move, think and speak. This energy is created by the enzymatic breakdown of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), an energy-rich compound that is formed in the cell from glucose, oxygen and water.

This not only produces energy, but also heat – similar to a light bulb. It does not convert the electricity completely into light, but also gets warm, thus also producing heat.

Food provides material for metabolism

The material for all these metabolic processes naturally comes from our food. This is digested and then broken down into tiny particles – amino acids, fatty acids and sugar – from the intestine into the blood and from there into the cells.

The amount of energy that our body can obtain from food is expressed in kilocalories or kilojoules (1 kcal = 4.18 kJ). If we eat more than we need, our body stores energy reserves (in the form of fat). If this happens regularly, we gain weight and become overweight.

Conversely, you can lose weight by eating less. In this case, the food consumed is not enough to cover the energy needs, so the body breaks down fat reserves and uses them to obtain the remaining energy required.

What is energy needed for?

Every person needs energy for three areas of life:

1. Energy for the basic functions of the body that take place without our intervention, even when we are at rest – e.g. when we are sleeping or watching television – such as breathing, the heartbeat, detoxification by the kidneys, the activities of the liver, the production of heat, digestion, etc. The energy required for these processes is called the basal metabolic rate.
2. Energy for activities , when we move; this can be the movements of the fingers when typing on the keyboard, it can be swimming movements in the lake, but it can also be strenuous mental work. The energy required for these activities is called energy expenditure.
3. Energy for digestion: The energy required for digestion is generally counted as part of the basal metabolic rate. However, since the energy required for digestion can vary depending on the food, it can be consciously increased by making a targeted selection of foods. In other words, we can stimulate our metabolism by making targeted selections of foods – and that is precisely why we are presenting this point separately here.

Stimulate your metabolism – ideally without too much effort!

So if you want to boost your metabolism, that means you need to increase your energy consumption – and ideally in a way that doesn’t require you to contribute too much yourself, right? Because everyone knows that more exercise, walking, running, cycling, and fitness classes would drastically increase energy consumption.

Below we will present tips that are not too difficult to implement and will really boost your metabolism (energy consumption). Have fun!

How to Stimulate Your Metabolism – Our Tips

The following tips include important changes to your diet and lifestyle. They are easy to implement and can be easily integrated into your daily routine.

Metabolism tip no. 1: Proteins stimulate the metabolism

You can boost your metabolism by increasing the amount of protein in your diet. This is because the body needs more energy to digest proteins than to digest fats and carbohydrates (1)(2):

In concrete terms, this means that when proteins are processed, 20 to 30 percent of the calorie content of these proteins is immediately used up for digestive work (which generates heat, which is why we also speak of food-induced thermogenesis, i.e. the production of heat triggered by food). When carbohydrates are digested, however, only 5 to 10 percent and when fats are digested, only 0 to 3 percent of the calorie content is needed to process these nutrients.

Accordingly, a study showed that thermogenesis in a high-protein, low-fat diet is 2.5 times higher than thermogenesis in a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, which is why the former is said to be better for losing weight, at least in the short term (3)(4). This is often formulated as follows: The thermic effect of proteins is higher than that of carbohydrates and fats.

Healthy, environmentally and animal-friendly sources of protein include pulses, tofu, nuts and whole grains. For example, you could prepare a chickpea salad, or porridge with apple.

Metabolism tip no. 2: Convert white fat into brown fat

Thermogenesis also stimulates the conversion of white fat tissue into brown fat tissue. If brown fat tissue is already present in the body, it is activated and fat burning is promoted – the thermic effect of food is therefore higher in people who already have brown fat tissue ( 5 ) ( 6 ).

Brown fat tissue burns fat for energy, while white fat tissue stores fat – for this reason, brown fat tissue is considered healthier than white fat (although of course every type of fat tissue has its place, but white fat tissue should not increase excessively).

Metabolism tip no. 3: These foods stimulate your metabolism

In a 2020 meta-analysis, Polish researchers examined some foods in more detail to find out how well they stimulate metabolism. The researchers found evidence of a thermic effect for the following foods (5):

Broccoli

The substance sulforaphane contained in broccoli has been shown to have a positive effect on fat metabolism in cell and animal studies by leading to the breakdown of fat cells and promoting thermogenesis. This in turn leads to an increased conversion of white fat tissue to brown fat tissue.

Chili

In human studies, chili was able to increase energy consumption and increase thermogenesis by 5 to 20 percent. Just one meal with 10 g of chili was found to be effective. The reason for this is the plant substances contained in chili (capsinoids and capsaicin) (7). Capsaicin is responsible for the spicy taste of chili. The hotter the chili tastes, the more capsaicin it contains. If you like spicy food, you can easily season your food with chili.

Capsinoids are structurally very similar to capsaicin, but are much less spicy. It was shown that the thermic effect of capsinoids is higher in people who already have brown fat tissue (see Metabolism Tip No. 2): After a single intake of 9 mg of capsinoids, energy consumption increased by 3.6 kcal per hour in people with brown fat tissue, but only by 0.2 kcal in people without brown fat tissue.

Capsinoids are also found in sweet peppers, which is an advantage for people who do not like spicy food. The capsinoid content in sweet peppers varies between 3 mg and 50 mg per 100 g depending on the variety (8), so even a simple pepper can stimulate the metabolism (best seasoned with chili/cayenne, of course).

Green tea and coffee

According to human studies, drinking three to four cups of green tea per day may boost metabolism. This effect is mainly due to the catechins in green tea, but also partly due to the caffeine it contains. If you don’t like drinking green tea, you could take green tea extract instead and benefit from the catechins that way too.

Although most studies were conducted with green tea, a similar effect could also be conceivable for black tea. It contains only about half as many catechins, but about two to three times more caffeine than green tea.

Coffee also stimulates the metabolism through the caffeine it contains. However, it has been shown that the effect is greater in people who consume only a small amount of caffeine. So, people who drink several cups of coffee a day may already have become accustomed to the caffeine dose and no longer experience any positive effects on their metabolism.

Cocoa

Cocoa contains numerous polyphenols and bitter substances that stimulate the metabolism. When subjects in several studies ate at least 30 g of dark chocolate daily for 4 to 8 weeks, their weight decreased by around 190 g, which is a very small but significant effect and surprising considering that chocolate is generally considered unhealthy (9).

However, the research is very inconsistent, which is probably due to the fact that dark chocolate can contain different levels of cocoa and correspondingly different amounts of sugar (the more sugar, the lower the cocoa content).

The cocoa content of dark chocolate should be as high as possible to have a positive effect on health. There are now chocolates with almost any cocoa content, e.g. 85 percent, 89 percent, 92 percent, 99 percent and even 100 percent.

Nuts

Nuts can have a positive effect on weight, body mass index and waist circumference. For example, a human study showed that thermogenesis increased by 28 percent after a meal rich in nuts. The subjects were instructed to consume 7 kcal per kg of body weight in the form of nuts (10).

For a body weight of 65 kg, this would correspond to around 70 g of walnuts, 77 g of almonds, 80 g of peanuts or 80 g of cashews. The researchers did not investigate which nuts had the greatest effect. However, the test subjects most frequently chose the nuts mentioned above (although peanuts are of course legumes and not really nuts).

Apple cider vinegar

Although the stimulating effect of apple cider vinegar on metabolism has only been investigated in cell and animal studies. Apple cider vinegar suppresses appetite, prevents cravings and ensures a better feeling of satiety (among other positive effects on health).

You can easily incorporate apple cider vinegar into your diet by adding it to your salad or by diluting it with water: drink a glass of still water 15 minutes before breakfast every day to which you add 1 to 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar.

Metabolism tip no. 4: Drink enough water

The body needs water to function optimally – and so does the metabolism. 40 milliliters of water per kilogram of body weight per day is recommended. For a person weighing 60 kg, this corresponds to 2.4 liters of water per day. Studies have also shown that drinking 1.5 liters of water or more can increase the basal metabolic rate (resting energy consumption) by 10 to 30 percent in many people (11).

Metabolism tip no. 5: Prefer fresh, nutrient-rich foods

Eat fresh, nutrient-rich and home-cooked foods such as legumes, quinoa, millet, seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, etc.), unroasted and unsalted nuts and whole meal bread and pasta.

The body needs only half as much energy to digest foods such as ready meals and white bread with the same protein, carbohydrate and fat content. The reason for this is probably because these foods often contain less fiber (12).

Metabolism tip no. 6: Eat fiber-rich foods

Foods that are high in fiber stimulate thermogenesis because the body needs more energy to “sort through” the nutrients among all the fiber.

Foods rich in fiber also contain fewer calories for the same volume. They are usually chewed more thoroughly and therefore eaten more carefully. They fill the stomach, are digested more slowly, increase blood sugar levels more slowly, ensure longer-lasting satiety and thus stimulate the metabolism very effectively.

If you want to specifically increase the fiber content of your diet, you could use psyllium husk powder, konjac or even linseed. A few grams of these are generally sufficient (e.g. 3 g per dose), which are best taken with plenty of water before a meal.

Metabolism tip no. 7: Chew thoroughly and eat slowly

If you want to stimulate your metabolism, you should also eat slowly and shop carefully. Your body then has enough time to signal to you when you are full. On the other hand, those who eat quickly and “gorge” are more likely to eat too much (13).

However, thorough chewing and slow eating also increase thermogenesis, as studies show: when subjects chewed a meal (300 kcal) for as long and as thoroughly as possible, thermogenesis increased by 10 kcal. This may be a small number, but it also refers to just one meal. If you eat three meals a day, you could burn 900 kcal per month just by chewing thoroughly (14).

In addition, the effect is greater with higher-calorie meals: if a meal of 621 kcal was chewed for as long as possible, thermogenesis increased by 15 kcal. This would already be 1350 kcal in one month (15) and thus almost as much as one eats in an entire day.

Metabolism tip no. 8: Buy organic food

Some pesticides can have a negative effect on thermogenesis, as studies show: The pesticide chlorpyrifos inhibited thermogenesis in brown fat tissue in mice. Chlorpyrifos has been banned in the EU since 2020 because it is toxic to birds, fish and insects and is harmful to the soil (16).

Similar effects on thermogenesis are also found for other pesticides that have since been banned (for other reasons). However, since the poisons were in use for years beforehand, residues of them can still be found in food. It is also not known how (still) approved pesticides affect metabolism, since this has not yet been investigated (17) (18).

Choosing organic food ensures that you are not consuming any pesticides that could harm your metabolism.

Metabolism tip no. 9: Become more active

People who are always on the go and can’t sit still are usually slimmer. Do the same! The more active you are in your everyday life, the more calories you burn. So be active every day. It would be good if you did some sport (as often as possible), but you can also be active in other ways and use every opportunity to be on your feet, for example.

1. Do more in the garden (turn off the robotic lawnmower and mow the lawn yourself again; leave the leaf blower alone and sweep instead, etc.)
2. Extend your walk with your dog
3. Go over to your neighbor/colleague instead of sending him a message
4. Walking or cycling instead of driving
5. Take a course in the evening, for example at the adult education center; even if it is a language course, you still have to go to the course and then go home again, which means you are much more active than if you watch TV in the evening. The best thing to do is to choose a yoga or tai chi course. You don’t have to be athletic, but you are constantly moving and learning movements that you can do at home without any equipment.

A good way to get a metabolism-stimulating full-body workout with minimal effort, even if you have no desire to exercise, is to swing or jump on a handy indoor trampoline. It fits in even the smallest apartment, requires no sporting ambitions or previous experience and is just plain fun. The movement happens almost automatically and the effect is fantastic: metabolism stimulation at its finest.

Conclusion: Stimulate your metabolism with this delicious drink

All of these measures target several areas of daily energy consumption and, taken as a whole, are extremely effective in stimulating the metabolism. The first priority should therefore be a healthy and balanced diet combined with an active lifestyle.

In addition, you can regularly incorporate some of the foods presented into your diet. With the following recipe, you can combine several of the metabolism-stimulating foods into a delicious drink (ingredients for 2 servings):

1. 400 ml soy milk (unlike other plant-based drinks, it is high in protein and low in fat)
2. 1 pinch of chili powder
3. 2 pinches *vanilla powder (not vanilla sugar!) and/or cinnamon
4. 2 tsp *erythritol or *stevia
5. 2 tablespoons pure cocoa powder or 60 g dark chocolate

If you use cocoa powder, simply mix everything in a blender. Chocolate, on the other hand, is very suitable for a hot drink. To do this, heat the milk in a pan on the stove and let the chocolate melt in it. Add the spices and sweetener, mix everything well and serve.

Take control of your health with a personalized naturopathic consultation and, while you’re at it, boost your metabolism and detoxify naturally by booking a Holistic Colon Hydrotherapy session today!