Can You Actually Boost Your Metabolism Through Diet?

No.

The End.

All right, I’m not about to write the shortest article in history. Let’s understand a few things first.

It is so confusing to navigate today’s wellness and nutrition world. You see headlines from major news outlets — respected ones even — offering you the top 5 foods to “boost” your metabolism. Endless supplements promise the same in all shapes and forms, advertised everywhere, sponsored by your favorite celebrity or most-trusted health guru on TV, social media, podcasts, etc.

Are they really all bullshit? I mean, short answer? Yes…they are.

What does it really mean to boost your metabolism anyway? And can you even do that?

In previous posts, I’ve written about metabolism and how it works. Let’s remember that between the ages of 20 and 60, our metabolism doesn’t change much. It remains pretty stable. What tends to happen is that we become less active as we take on all those fun adult responsibilities. We also begin to lose muscle mass, decade by decade, which ultimately can indeed lower our capacity to utilize energy and make us store it instead. The best way to counter that is to engage in resistance training and decent protein consumption in our diet. That, in a way, can be thought of as a “metabolism booster,” but I would say it’s more of a metabolism protector since it doesn’t, for instance, bring our metabolism back to infant or adolescent levels. It doesn’t significantly increase our energy needs; it just holds back the natural decline we would otherwise experience eventually.

What about things like leafy greens, fiber, antioxidants, and all that healthy stuff that sounds very “boosting"? Those are all great things. Eat that rainbow, but do it with the understanding that it will simply keep things running smoothly in your body, not give you some superpower that then allows you to eat the entire charcuterie board every weekend without that extra energy being stored somewhere.

We seem to be obsessed with hacking and optimizing everything in our bodies. There is nothing wrong with wanting to feel good. The problem is we give too much attention to things that, at best, will have a marginal effect, rather than focusing on the heavier variables that have a real impact on our health. Immunity faces a similar issue, for example. So many supplements, diets, or protocols, promise to “boost” our immunity. Ginger shots, vitamin C, lemon juice, vinegar, even cold plunges. None of these things have ever been demonstrated to give an edge to our immune system or our metabolism.

What does an immunologist think about this? Dr. Andrea Love, PhD, a Biomedical Scientist, Immunologist, and Microbiologist, explains this extensively on her social media channels. The one way to literally boost the immune system is through vaccination. Vaccines take your immune cells to the gym and train them to fight foreign microorganisms. It doesn’t get more boosting than that.

Eating a variety of foods that include all essential micronutrients and focusing on fiber—and protein-rich meals are definitely things that have a high chance of protecting you against disease and the passing of time. Getting your vaccines, staying active, maintaining healthy muscle, and building community are the most simple things you can do to optimize your health.

It is a shame that this has become an unpopular opinion. Maybe we need a hack to boost critical thinking in society and integrity in health professionals. I can get behind that.