Your body’s metabolism can be quite tricky. It has ups and downs, but how fast it produces energy for you depends on the foods you fuel it with.
“Think of a fire—in order for it to start burning, you have to light it,” explains Amy Goodson, MS, RD, CSSD, LD, a registered dietitian who specializes in overall health, wellness, and sports nutrition. You’ll want to keep adding “small amounts of wood every couple of hours to keep [to] it blazing. The same is true with your metabolism,” she says.
Essentially, the process of metabolism is your body’s ability to take the food you eat during the day and break it down into energy. The faster your metabolism works, the more calories you burn at rest and the more energy you can have to keep going 24 hours a day, Harvard Health explains.
While everyone’s individual needs are going to vary, snacking can usually be kept to “One to two snacks daily [that are] under 200 calories each. Too many calories from snacks can ultimately lead to weight gain,” recommends Lisa R. Young, Ph.D., RDN, CDN, another registered dietitian and internationally recognized nutritionist with expertise in portion control.
Once you figure out how to fuel your body with the right stuff at the right time, you have a better chance of re-programing your metabolism to work at top speed. Read on to find out six of the best snacks to help jumpstart your metabolism.
On afternoons when your dinner plans haven’t been solidified, having a little snack in the meantime can help speed up your metabolism in an easy and delicious way. Cheese and crackers can be a great in-between-meals snack, as the cheese contains high protein content to help hold you over until dinner time.
“Everyone needs a snack between lunch and dinner to help keep energy levels up and keep you from being as hungry at dinner,” Goodson says. But more importantly, she explains, your metabolism will thrive better if you “power your snacks with protein.” Snacks that have a good source of protein have a longer digestion time, meaning “you get full faster and stay full longer.”
Sometimes you just need to grab a snack that’s easy and readily available. The combination of a hard-boiled egg and a whole grain granola bar is simple, but it packs a lot of fiber and protein, which “revs that calorie burning system up,” according to Goodson.
Like cheese, eggs serve as another strong source of protein to help you increase your energy levels. However, the dietary fiber in a whole grain granola bar will support a slower absorption of carbohydrates, which can force your metabolism to continue burning calories and pumping out energy to the body for a longer period of time.
When your body is running on fumes, your metabolism will slow down as an energy conservation tactic. This is why eating more snacks in between meals that are high in fiber is a great way to preserve the metabolism process so that it’s consistently working hard and as fast as it can.
Beef jerky doesn’t have to be reserved for a road trip or long car ride! In fact, Goodson recommends jerky as an “easy way to fuel your metabolism,” thanks to its high protein content. “In comparison to carbohydrates and fats, it takes the longest to break down,” she adds.
In addition to a few pieces of savory jerky, bananas can play a part in speeding up your body’s metabolism as well. The popular fruit is high in both potassium and fiber, which can easily influence the body’s metabolism functionality. Some research attributes a lower overall body weight to a high fiber intake, due to the fact that people who eat more fiber foods feel more satisfied and tend to consume fewer calories as the nutrient takes time to digest and metabolize.
On the other hand, potassium has been compared to an “electrolyte,” which functions much like a carbohydrate in metabolism. After eating a banana, your body’s metabolism will work to convert the potassium into stored energy for the future.
If you eat breakfast early in the morning, a refreshing mid-morning snack can tide you over until lunch rolls around. “Not eating for many hours can slow down your metabolism,” Young says. Grabbing a bowl of yogurt with some toppings like fruit and nuts can help ensure you’re getting the energy you need.
