https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-ways-to-boost-metabolism

10 Easy Ways to Boost Your Metabolism (Backed by Science)

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Metabolism is a term that describes all the chemical reactions in your body.

These chemical reactions keep your body alive and functioning.

However, the word metabolism is often used interchangeably with metabolic rate, or the number of calories you burn.

The higher it is, the more calories you burn and the easier it is to lose weight and keep it off.

Having a high metabolism can also give you energy and make you feel better.

Here are 10 easy ways to increase your metabolism.

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1. Eat Plenty of Protein at Every Meal

Eating food can increase your metabolism for a few hours.

This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF). It's caused by the extra calories required to digest, absorb and process the nutrients in your meal.

Protein causes the largest rise in TEF. It increases your metabolic rate by 15–30%, compared to 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fats (1Trusted Source).

Eating protein has also been shown to help you feel more full and prevent you from overeating (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source).

One small study found that people were likely to eat around 441 fewer calories per day when protein made up 30% of their diet (9Trusted Source).

Eating more protein can also reduce the drop in metabolism often associated with losing fat. This is because it reduces muscle loss, which is a common side effect of dieting (10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source, 12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source, 14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source).

Summary

Eating more protein can boost your metabolism so that you burn more calories. It can also help you eat less.

2. Drink More Cold Water

People who drink water instead of sugary drinks are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off (16Trusted Source, 17Trusted Source, 18Trusted Source, 19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source).

This is because sugary drinks contain calories, so replacing them with water automatically reduces your calorie intake.

However, drinking water may also temporarily speed up your metabolism (18Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source).

Studies have shown that drinking 17 ounces (0.5 liters) of water increases resting metabolism by 10–30% for about an hour (22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source).

This calorie-burning effect may be even greater if you drink cold water, as your body uses energy to heat it up to body temperature (21Trusted Source, 24Trusted Source).

Water can also help fill you up. Studies show that drinking water a half an hour before you eat can help you eat less (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source, 27Trusted Source).

One study of overweight adults found that those who drank half a liter of water before their meals lost 44% more weight than those who didn't (19Trusted Source).

Summary

Water can help you lose weight and keep it off. It increases your metabolism and helps fill you up before meals.

3. Do a High-Intensity Workout

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves quick and very intense bursts of activity.

It can help you burn more fat by increasing your metabolic rate, even after your workout has finished (28Trusted Source, 29Trusted Source, 30Trusted Source, 31Trusted Source).

This effect is believed to be greater for HIIT than for other types of exercise. What's more, HIIT has also been shown to help you burn fat (32Trusted Source, 33Trusted Source, 34Trusted Source).

One study in overweight young men found that 12 weeks of high-intensity exercise reduced fat mass by 4.4 pounds (2 kg) and belly fat by 17% (35Trusted Source).

Summary

Mixing up your exercise routine, and adding in a few high-intensity workouts, can boost your metabolism and help you burn fat.

4. Lift Heavy Things

Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, and building muscle can help increase your metabolism (36Trusted Source, 37Trusted Source, 38Trusted Source, 39Trusted Source).

This means you will burn more calories each day, even at rest (40Trusted Source).

Lifting weights will also help you retain muscle and combat the drop in metabolism that can occur during weight loss (41Trusted Source, 42Trusted Source, 43Trusted Source, 44Trusted Source).

In one study, 48 overweight women were placed on a diet of 800 calories per day, along with either no exercise, aerobic exercise or resistance training (45Trusted Source).

After the diet, the women who did the resistance training maintained their muscle mass, metabolism and strength. The others lost weight, but also lost muscle mass and experienced a decrease in metabolism (45Trusted Source).

You can find weights to incorporate into your workout online.

Summary

Lifting weights is important for building and retaining muscle. Higher amounts of muscle will result in a higher metabolism.

5. Stand up More

Sitting too much is bad for your health (46Trusted Source).

Some health commentators have even dubbed it "the new smoking." This is partly because long periods of sitting burn fewer calories and can lead to weight gain (47Trusted Source).

In fact, compared to sitting, an afternoon of standing up at work can burn an extra 174 calories (48Trusted Source).

If you have a desk job, try standing up for short periods to break up the length of time you spend sitting down. You can also invest in a standing desk (49Trusted Source, 50Trusted Source, 51Trusted Source, 52Trusted Source).

You can find standing desk kits and setups online.

Summary

Sitting for a long time burns few calories and is bad for your health. Try to stand up regularly or invest in a standing desk.

6. Drink Green Tea or Oolong Tea

Green tea and oolong tea have been shown to increase metabolism by 4–5% (53Trusted Source, 54Trusted Source, 55Trusted Source).

These teas help convert some of the fat stored in your body into free fatty acids, which may increase fat burning by 10–17% (56Trusted Source).

As they are low in calories, drinking these teas may be good for both weight loss and weight maintenance (57Trusted Source, 58Trusted Source, 59Trusted Source).

It's thought their metabolism-boosting properties may help prevent the dreaded weight loss plateau that occurs due to a decrease in metabolism.

However, some studies find that these teas do not affect metabolism. Therefore, their effect may be small or only apply to some people (60Trusted Source, 61Trusted Source).

You can find green tea and oolong tea online.

Summary

Drinking green tea or oolong tea may increase your metabolism. These teas may also help you lose weight and keep it off.

7. Eat Spicy Foods

Peppers contain capsaicin, a substance that can boost your metabolism (62Trusted Source, 63Trusted Source, 64Trusted Source).

However, many people can't tolerate these spices at the doses required to have a significant effect (65Trusted Source).

One study of capsaicin, at acceptable doses, predicted that eating peppers would burn around 10 additional calories per meal. Over 6.5 years, this could account for 1 pound (0.5 kg) of weight loss for an average-weight male (66Trusted Source).

Alone, the effects of adding spices to your food may be quite small. However, it may lead to a slight advantage when combined with other metabolism-boosting strategies (67Trusted Source).

Summary

Eating spicy food could be beneficial for boosting your metabolism and help you maintain a healthy weight.

8. Get a Good Night's Sleep

Lack of sleep is linked to a major increase in the risk of obesity (68Trusted Source, 69Trusted Source).

This may partly be caused by the negative effects of sleep deprivation on metabolism (70Trusted Source).

Lack of sleep has also been linked to increased blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, which are both linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (70Trusted Source, 71Trusted Source, 72Trusted Source, 73Trusted Source).

It's also been shown to boost the hunger hormone ghrelin and decrease the fullness hormone leptin (74Trusted Source, 75Trusted Source, 76Trusted Source).

This could explain why many people who are sleep-deprived feel hungry and struggle to lose weight.

Summary

Lack of sleep can decrease the number of calories you burn, change the way you process sugar and disrupt your appetite-regulating hormones.

9. Drink Coffee

Studies have shown that the caffeine in coffee can boost metabolism by 3–11%. Like green tea, it also promotes fat burning (77Trusted Source, 78Trusted Source, 79Trusted Source).

However, this seems to affect lean people more. In one study, coffee increased fat burning by 29% for lean women, but only 10% for obese women (80Trusted Source).

Coffee's effects on metabolism and fat burning may also contribute to successful weight loss and maintenance (77Trusted Source, 81Trusted Source).

Summary

Drinking coffee can significantly increase your metabolism and help you lose weight.

10. Replace Cooking Fats With Coconut Oil

Unlike other saturated fats, coconut oil is relatively high in medium-chain fats.

Medium-chain fats can increase your metabolism more than the long-chain fats found in foods like butter (82Trusted Source, 83Trusted Source, 84Trusted Source, 85Trusted Source, 86Trusted Source).

In one study, researchers found that medium-chain fats increased metabolism by 12% compared to long-chain fats, which raised it by just 4% (87Trusted Source).

Due to the unique fatty acid profile of coconut oil, replacing some of your other cooking fats with it may have modest benefits for weight loss (88Trusted Source, 89Trusted Source).

You can find coconut oil online.

Summary

Replacing other cooking fats with coconut oil may help boost your metabolism slightly.

The Bottom Line

Making small lifestyle changes and incorporating these tips into your routine can increase your metabolism.

Having a higher metabolism can help you lose weight and keep it off, while also giving you more energy.

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https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/5-natural-fat-burners#TOC_TITLE_HDR_6

5 Natural Fat Burners That Work

Fat burners are some of the most controversial supplements on the market.

They're described as nutrition supplements that can increase your metabolism, reduce fat absorption or help your body burn more fat for fuel (1Trusted Source).

Manufacturers often promote them as miracle solutions that can solve your weight problems. However, fat burners are often ineffective and may even be harmful (2Trusted Source).

That's because they're not regulated by food regulatory authorities (3Trusted Source).

That said, several natural supplements have been proven to help you burn more fat.

This article provides a list of the 5 best supplements to help you burn fat.

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1. Caffeine

Caffeine is a substance commonly found in coffee, green tea and cocoa beans. It's also a popular ingredient in commercial fat-burning supplements — and for good reason.

Caffeine can help boost your metabolism and help your body burn more fat (4Trusted Source, 5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source).

Research shows that caffeine can temporarily boost your metabolism by up to 16% over one to two hours (5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source).

In addition, several studies have shown that caffeine can help your body burn more fat as fuel. However, this effect appears to be stronger in lean people than obese people (8, 9Trusted Source, 10).

Unfortunately, consuming caffeine too often could make your body more tolerant to its effects (11Trusted Source).

To reap the benefits of caffeine, you don't need to take a supplement.

Simply try drinking a few cups of strong coffee, which is an excellent source of caffeine with many health benefits.

Summary: Caffeine
can help you burn fat by boosting your metabolism and helping you burn more fat
as fuel. You can get caffeine from natural sources like coffee and green tea.

2. Green Tea Extract

Green tea extract is simply a concentrated form of green tea.

It provides all the benefits of green tea in a convenient powder or capsule form.

Green tea extract is also rich in caffeine and the polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), both of which are compounds that can help you burn fat (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).

In addition, these two compounds complement each other and can help you burn fat through a process called thermogenesis. In simple terms, thermogenesis is a process in which your body burns calories to produce heat (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source, 16Trusted Source).

For instance, an analysis of six studies found that taking a combination of green tea extract and caffeine helped people burn 16% more fat than a placebo (17Trusted Source).

In another study, scientists compared the effects of a placebo, caffeine and a combination of green tea extract and caffeine on burning fat.

They discovered that the combination of green tea and caffeine burned roughly 65 more calories per day than caffeine alone and 80 more calories than the placebo (18Trusted Source).

If you would like to reap the benefits of green tea extract, try taking 250–500 mg per day. This will provide the same benefits as drinking 3–5 cups of green tea per day.

Summary: Green
tea extract is simply concentrated green tea. It contains epigallocatechin
gallate (EGCG) and caffeine, which can help you burn fat through thermogenesis.

3. Protein Powder

Protein is incredibly important for burning fat.

A high protein intake can help you burn fat by boosting your metabolism and curbing your appetite. It also helps your body preserve muscle mass (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source, 21Trusted Source).

For instance, a study in 60 overweight and obese participants found that a high-protein diet was almost twice as effective as a moderate-protein diet at burning fat (22Trusted Source).

Protein can also curb your appetite by increasing the levels of fullness hormones like GLP-1, CCK and PYY, while reducing levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin (19Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source).

While you can get all the protein you need from protein-rich foods, many people still struggle to eat enough protein daily.

Protein powder supplements are a convenient way to increase your protein intake.

Options include whey, casein, soy, egg and hemp protein powders. However, it's important to choose a protein supplement that's low in sugar and additives, especially if you want to lose weight.

Keep in mind that calories are still important. Protein supplements should simply replace snacks or part of a meal, rather than be added on top of your diet.

If you struggle to eat enough protein, try taking 1–2 scoops (25–50 grams) of protein powder per day.

Summary: Protein
supplements are a convenient way to increase your protein intake. A high
protein intake can help you burn fat by boosting your metabolism and curbing
your appetite.

4. Soluble Fiber

There are two different types of fiber — soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fiber absorbs water in your digestive tract and forms a viscous gel-like substance (24Trusted Source).

Interestingly, studies have shown that soluble fiber can help you burn fat by curbing your appetite (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source, 27).

That's because soluble fiber can help increase the levels of fullness hormones like PYY and GLP-1. It can also help reduce levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin (25Trusted Source, 26Trusted Source, 28Trusted Source).

In addition, soluble fiber helps slow down the delivery of nutrients to the gut. When this happens, your body takes more time to digest and absorb nutrients, which can leave you feeling full for longer (27).

What's more, soluble fiber may also help you burn fat by reducing how many calories you absorb from food.

In one study, 17 people consumed diets with varying amounts of fiber and fat. It found that people who ate the most fiber absorbed less fat and fewer calories from their diet (29Trusted Source).

While you can get all the soluble fiber you need from food, many people find this challenging. If that's the case for you, try taking a soluble fiber supplement such as glucomannan or psyllium husk.

Summary: Soluble
fiber supplements can help you burn fat by curbing your appetite and may reduce
how many calories you absorb from food. Some great soluble fiber supplements
include glucomannan and psyllium husk.

5. Yohimbine

Yohimbine is a substance found in the bark of Pausinystalia yohimbe, a tree found in Central and Western Africa.

It's commonly used as an aphrodisiac, but it also has properties that may help you burn fat.

Yohimbine works by blocking receptors called alpha-2 adrenergic receptors.

These receptors normally bind adrenaline to suppress its effects, one of which is encouraging the body to burn fat for fuel. Since yohimbine blocks these receptors, it can prolong adrenaline's effects and promote the breakdown of fat for fuel (30Trusted Source, 31Trusted Source, 32Trusted Source, 33Trusted Source).

A study in 20 elite soccer players found that taking 10 mg of yohimbine twice daily helped them shed 2.2% of their body fat, on average, in only three weeks.

Keep in mind these athletes were already quite lean, so a 2.2% reduction in body fat is significant (34Trusted Source).

Also, animal studies have shown that yohimbine may help curb appetite (35Trusted Source).

Nonetheless, more information is needed on yohimbine before it can be recommended as a go-to fat-burning supplement.

Furthermore, because yohimbine keeps your adrenaline levels elevated, it may cause side effects like nausea, anxiety, panic attacks and high blood pressure (36Trusted Source).

It also can interact with common medications for blood pressure and depression. If you take medications for these conditions or have anxiety, you might want to avoid yohimbine (37Trusted Source).

Summary: Yohimbine
may help you burn fat by keeping adrenaline levels high and blocking receptors
that normally suppress fat-burning. However, it can cause unpleasant side
effects in some people.

Other Supplements That May Help You Burn Fat

Several other supplements may help you lose weight.

However, they either have side effects or lack evidence to support their claims.

These include:

• 5-HTP: 5-HTP is an amino acid and precursor to
  the hormone serotonin. It may help you burn fat by curbing your appetite and
  carb cravings. However, it may also interact with medications for depression (38Trusted Source, 39Trusted Source).
• Synephrine: Synephrine is a substance that is
  especially abundant in bitter oranges. Some evidence shows it can help you burn
  fat, but only a handful of studies support its effects (40Trusted Source, 41Trusted Source).
• Green
  coffee bean extract: Research shows
  green coffee bean extract may help you burn fat. However, studies on green
  coffee bean extract are sponsored by its manufacturers, which may cause a
  conflict of interest (42Trusted Source, 43).
• CLA
  (conjugated linoleic acid): CLA
  is a group of omega-6 fatty acids that may help you burn fat. However, its
  overall effects appear weak, and the evidence is mixed (44, 45Trusted Source).
• L-carnitine: L-carnitine is
  a naturally occurring amino acid. Some studies show that it can help you burn
  fat, but the evidence behind it is mixed (46Trusted Source, 47Trusted Source).

Summary: There
are other supplements that may help you burn fat, including 5-HTP, synephrine,
green coffee bean extract, CLA and L-carnitine. However, they each have
limitations.

Dangers and Limitations of Fat-Burning Supplements

Commercial fat-burning supplements are widely available and very easy to access.

However, they often don't live up to their hefty claims and may even harm your health (2Trusted Source).

That's because fat-burning supplements don't need to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration before they reach the market.

Instead, it's the manufacturer's responsibility to make sure that their supplements are tested for safety and effectiveness (3Trusted Source).

Unfortunately, there have been many cases of fat-burning supplements being pulled off the market because they were tainted with harmful ingredients (48Trusted Source).

Additionally, there have been many cases in which contaminated supplements caused dangerous side effects like high blood pressure, strokes, seizures and even death (49Trusted Source).

On a brighter note, the natural supplements listed above can help you burn fat when added to a healthy routine.

Keep in mind that a supplement cannot replace a healthy diet and regular exercise. They simply help you get the most out of a healthy exercise and eating routine.

Summary: In
some cases, commercial fat burners can be dangerous, as they are not regulated
by the FDA. There have been cases of dangerous side effects and contamination
with harmful ingredients.

The Bottom Line

At the end of the day, there is no single "magic pill" to solve your weight problems.

However, plenty of natural solutions can help you burn more fat when combined with a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

These include caffeine, green-tea extract, protein supplements, soluble fiber supplements and yohimbine.

Among these, caffeine, green tea extract and protein supplements are likely to be the most effective at helping you burn fat.

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Noom helps you adopt healthy habits so you can lose weight and keep it off. Your program is customized to your goals and fitness needs. Just take a quick assessment and get started today.

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