Five Surprising Foods to Boost Your Metabolism

Speed up your weight loss with metabolism-boosting foods.

As you know, I always say that the best way to lose weight is to adjust your eating and fitness habits, to create long-lasting lifestyle changes. When it comes to dieting alone, it is true that what you eat directly correlates with how much weight your gain or lose, but eating alone isn’t enough. If you have ever watched an episode of Naked and Afraid, you know that starving yourself for 21 days will help you shed a lot of weight, but you won’t be truly healthy at the end of that particular journey. So adjusting your eating habits to create a healthier long-term diet overall is a much better way to go about reaching your goals.

That being said, your metabolism also has a lot to do with how much weight you lose, and how fast you lose it. There are some foods that help give your metabolism a boost, turning food into fuel, in a much more effective way. If you add them to your diet over the long term, it should keep everything running smoothly and help your digestive system overall.

READ MORE: Five Ways to Speed Up Your Metabolism

Lentil soup. Lentils work so well because they are packed with fiber, so they move food through your body at a more rapid pace, and can help keep you regular.

Seaweed. Seaweed is rich in iodine, which is also present in many kinds of seafood. Iodine helps keep your thyroid gland functioning normally, and if you have ever met anyone with a thyroid disorder, you know what a huge role it plays with weight loss and metabolism. So feel free to order that seaweed salad for lunch; Ariel was super thin.

Sauerkraut juice. I know this sounds terrible, but sauerkraut juice helps keep your digestive system moving forward, and can eliminate toxins from recirculating in your body.

Spicy Foods. Chili peppers and other spicy foods contain a compound called capsaicin, which has been shown to burn fat and increase metabolism.

Kimchi. Kimchi contains probiotic bacteria that contributes to the ‘good bacteria’ in your gut and helps with digestion.