As you might expect, the foods you eat can have a pretty big impact on how your body functions.

Some foods are easier to digest than others, others keep you feeling full longer, and others help build and repair muscle! And still others can cause rapid blood sugar swings that can affect how your body stores fat.

Well today I’ve got a list of power-packed foods that can help give you a healthy, all-natural boost for your metabolism.

Foods That Boost Your Metabolism:

Protein-rich foods: Eating foods high in protein (meat, eggs, fish, legumes, tofu, etc.) rev up your metabolism because it takes your body more energy to digest them.

This is called the thermic effect of food – different foods require more energy than others.

Fun fact: Protein can boost your metabolism by 15% to 30%, carbs can boost it 5% to 10%, and fats between 0% to 3%.

A bonus with protein is that if you’re losing weight, it helps you hold onto more of your muscle, which also can help you keep your metabolism humming along.

Legumes: On top of containing plenty of plant-based protein, legumes (lentils, black beans, kidney beans, etc.) also contain resistant starch. That’s a form of fiber your body can’t digest.

Resistant starch can help improve your metabolism because it helps stabilize blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity, both of which are key in fat storage.

Coffee and tea: The amount of caffeine in an average cup of coffee (around 100 mg) appears to boost your metabolism by up to 11% for up to 2 hours.

Also, studies suggest the antioxidants and catechins in green tea (especially green tea extract) appear to rev up your metabolism by 3% to 4% (and as much as 8%), over the course of a 24-hour period.

Ginger: One study found that adding a heaping teaspoon (2 grams) of ginger powder to hot water and drinking it after breakfast raised metabolism – people burned about 43 extra calories AND they didn’t feel as hungry for the next three hours.

Apple Cider Vinegar: In mice studies, apple cider vinegar was found to promote the production of an enzyme called AMPK, which lowers the rate of fat storage and boosts the rate of fat burning.

(Tip: try combining ginger and 1-2 tbsp of organic unfiltered apple cider vinegar in hot water for a refreshing morning drink.)

Water: Drinking 2 cups of cold water temporarily boosts your metabolism by as much 30% for up to 40 minutes after you drink it. Much of the increase has to do with how hard your body works to warm up the water.

Chili peppers: Add some red pepper to your dinner to fire up your metabolism! Many studies have investigated supplements containing capsaicinoids, which is the component that gives chili peppers their “heat.”

You can get some of the same benefits from food by adding the spicy peppers to your recipes. Yum! Throw them into some chili with black beans and ground turkey for a 1-2-3 metabolic punch.

It’s important to know that none of these foods will suddenly make your body burn hundreds of extra calories a day … but it’s pretty surprising how quickly layering in small, consistent changes can rev your daily burn!

I hope this list helps!

Committed to Your Success,

Rob is the owner and founder of Fitness Lifestyle Personal Training.

He has been training for over thirty-three years; seventeen of those years as a personal trainer helping others reach their goals.