I get many questions about metabolism boosters and what people can do to boost their metabolism in a way that is good for their health.
Today, I want to discuss your metabolism, the Metabolism Reset Diet, and some big needle-movers that can help you.
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One of the first tricky things about metabolism is that it is often tied to appetite and body size.
The bigger somebody is, the higher their metabolism will be (simply because of the amount of flesh they are functioning with).
Many also think about metabolism going down with age. While it does, age is not the answer as to why. Most of us lose muscle mass as we age, primarily tied to our dietary protein intake (and secondarily tied to our activity level).
Critical Insight: As we lose muscle mass, our metabolism goes down. For this reason, age no longer matters. Those who are advanced in age and retain muscle mass do not suffer from these same metabolic issues.
The other big thing about metabolism is that dieting can wreck it. If you reduce your food intake by more than a third for more than six weeks, you can radically slow down your metabolism.
Your body begins to make less thyroid hormone- to be more precise, your liver stops converting T4 into T3. This change eventually slows down your metabolic rate, which is your body’s way of saving itself from starvation.
Bottom Line: Any time you reduce your food intake drastically, your metabolism can slow down. However, it is especially prevalent on ketogenic, low-carb, or low-protein diets. Because we go too far in suppressing our metabolism to the point that it slows down.
So, let’s talk about some of these aforementioned metabolism boosters out there. Do they work? Can they work for you? Let’s dive into each one to really make sense of them for you.
Caffeine might be the one we hear about the most. Caffeine has been studied and proven to be a metabolism booster, but that is not the end of the story. If you are talking about more than 270 mg per day, you can see short-term increases in metabolism (10 – 30 calories per day).
Critical Insight: Consider this – An ounce of almonds (about 30 almonds) is about 160 calories. Your metabolic “boost” from caffeine equates to about half an almond. And that’s going to require about three large cups of coffee!
This change is insignificant based on a hefty increase in caffeine. There’s another problem. What we do know about caffeine is that it can stimulate alpha receptors in the fat cells.
What does this mean? Even if you did amp yourself up enough on stimulants, you would never really see “waist loss.” Instead, you would see muscle wasting. Whatever comes into your body, in terms of fuel, goes to your fat first.
This problem even applies to green tea. Although the extent to which it raises metabolism is small, it diverts metabolism away from muscle and towards fat.
We also hear of things like carnitine as a metabolism booster. It is an amino acid, specifically a conditionally-specific amino acid, meaning we usually make all we need. It effectively helps shuttle fat into the mitochondria (where fat gets burned).
When you think about it for a moment, it might be easy to believe that it would be better to get more fat in there (so that more fat would get burned). Here’s the deal, though: Carnitine is a nutrient, so its presence is essential, but in abundance, it does not do much.
Critical Insight: Once you have enough carnitine in your cells, more will not make you burn more fat. In significant quantities, carnitine does not help your metabolism work better.
Chromium is necessary for the Glucose Tolerance Factor (GTF), which helps move glucose inside the cells (fat cells, muscle cells, etc.).
In the absence of chromium, GTF may not work as well. The truth is that getting more glucose into the cells does not help with weight loss.
Bottom Line: The same way as carnitine, more of it does not mean that your body is working any better. If it is gone, it is undoubtedly a problem, but more does not “hack the system” or make things work better. Short-term or long-term weight loss is a non-starter here.
Also known as NEAT, it is a fascinating concept. We burn most of our fuel just by keeping our bodies warm or fidgeting (which is more than what we burn when we exercise).
Fidgeting can burn a fair amount of fuel! Therefore, some have talked about how to raise your non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).
While you can deliberately fidget and move more, it might not be the game-changer some are making it out to be.
The tricky thing is that if you do work hard enough to increase it radically, you are going to be hungrier. In proportion, your appetite will increase. At this point, all you are doing is fighting against your appetite.
Ever heard of cold exposure? It can include things like:
Cold may increase metabolism by 50-100 calories per day, which, going back to my previous example, constitutes about a dozen almonds. What we do see here, though, are changes in appetite to compensate.
Spicy foods may boost your metabolism by 30-50 calories per day. If you like things spicy, this might be good for you but try not to eat too much, as this may irritate your esophagus.
In general, it is nice to have a wide variety of culinary spices in one’s diet. By themselves, though, they do not cause radical weight loss, so do not try to rely on them as your only strategy. Do feel free to include them in your diet.
So, what are the real needle movers for your metabolism? After going through the examples that have more insignificant results, I want to give you some tangible things that you can do to get your metabolism in order (and to help you lose weight). Here’s what you can do.
One of the biggest things that you can do to ensure your metabolism is in order is to ensure healthy thyroid function. If someone’s thyroid hormones are not ideal, that can slow their metabolism by 300-600 calories per day (or more).
I have seen it many times. Someone is on thyroid treatment where it is T4-only medication. Once they make the switch to a natural thyroid replacement, they free up metabolism to the point that they get it back in order. (Read: The complete thyroid medication guide)
As opposed to being stressed, crashed, or wired and tired, a stable cortisol slope can make all the difference.
When you have the right amounts at the right times, your body can do a much better job using visceral fat for fuel. Thus maintaining healthy muscle mass.
The truth is that Protein is one of the most essential factors in body composition. It is not just about getting a certain amount, though, because it is all relative to your diet.
Critical Insight: How much Protein do you have compared to the rest of your fuel intake? This point is vital to consider, as it will go so far in determining your body composition. Next to thyroid function, Protein is the most significant variable controlling your metabolic rate.
Having one quarter, or a third, of your diet come from Protein can change your metabolism by 300+ calories per day. It can also partition it to where your fuel goes more toward your muscle mass.
Did you know that having your muscles “activated” can be a huge needle mover regarding your metabolism?
Your muscles don’t have to be worn out but well-stimulated to the point that they can increase the amount of glut-4 receptors.
Critical Insight: Glut-4 receptors work against the alpha receptors I mentioned earlier. These receptors direct fuel into the muscles instead of the fat.
Muscle activation is exercise, but it does not mean you only have to do high-interval intensity training (HIIT).
Instead, it all comes down to a variety of cardiac activities. Options could include things like:
Bottom Line: Variety is essential, but if you want to focus your time on something, aerobics is the way to go. Adding some more aerobic exercises to your life, for about an hour twice a week, can have a substantial effect on your metabolism.
When it comes down to it, flexibility is the key to your metabolism. Think about it like this. When you were a child, you likely maintained a relatively healthy body weight, simply eating when you were hungry (and avoiding food when you were not).
You got enough food, you were growing, and you maintained a good, healthy body size. Now, these things can change. The amount of food you are eating and your exercise is decreasing.
It was not deliberate, but this is an example of changing metabolism. When you were younger, it was much more flexible. What you did not need in a day was typically stored in your liver (and used up when driven to do more activity).
Critical Insight: Metabolic flexibility is your body’s ability to maintain weight. When you lose it, you are constantly dancing on the edge of either weight gain or exhaustion, fatigue, and cravings. So, how do we get it back?
It is all about having a healthy liver. To regain metabolic flexibility, you need to focus on your liver’s health. Not only does it require a change in what you eat, but also in how your liver works and performs.
A metabolic reset diet can help you regain this sense of flexibility. That is why I have spent so much time crafting a metabolism-reset diet plan to help you get your health back in order with real food and actual results.
Bottom Line: Resetting your metabolism is like a short-term project. This is the basis of my book, Alan Christianson’s the Metabolism Reset Diet. All it takes is a few weeks, and you can change a bad metabolism into a good one. It’s true.
Interested in learning more about your thyroid health, your cortisol slope, and getting your metabolism in order? Take the Thyroid Quiz. Gain a comprehensive understanding of what is currently going on in your body.
From there, your next step can be learning more about the metabolism reset diet and even hearing from some who have completed it with metabolism reset diet reviews.
The early returns are fascinating and life-changing, and I could not be happier for those who have made the change.
P.S. Whenever you are ready, here is how I can help you now:
1. Schedule a Thyroid Second Opinion with me, Dr. C, Click Here for Details
2. Need a Personalized Supplement? Check out My Thyroid Specific Formulations
3. Download and use my Favorite Recipes Cookbook Here
4. Check out my podcast Medical Myths, Legends, and Fairytales Here
5. Metabolism Reset Diet Challenge Here
Dr. Alan Glen Christianson (Dr. C) is a Naturopathic Endocrinologist and the author of The NY Times bestselling Adrenal Reset Diet, The Metabolism Reset Diet and The Thyroid Reset Diet.
Dr. C’s gift for figuring out what really works has helped hundreds of thousands of people reverse thyroid disease, lose weight, diabetes, and regain energy. Learn more about the surprising story that started his quest.
Dr. Alan Christianson
Alan Christianson is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor (NMD) who is a board-certified Naturopathic Endocrinologist with a focus on thyroid disorders. He is the author of The Metabolism Reset Diet and the New York Times bestselling book The Adrenal Reset Diet.
He founded Integrative Health, a physician group dedicated to helping people with thyroid disease and weight-loss resistance regain their health.
He has been named a Top Doctor in Phoenix magazine and has appeared on national TV shows and in numerous print media.
Dr. Christianson resides in the woods by a lake in Northern Minnesota with his wife Kirin.
