Anyone who’s ever struggled with their weight knows whom to blame: their metabolism. But is our metabolism really the villain it’s made out to be? And what about all those super skinny people who can eat anything they want and never gain an ounce? They often attribute their good fortune to their metabolism. So, what is it: friend or foe? What are the myths and realities when it comes to our metabolism?

First of all, the biggest myth out there is that there are certain foods that can speed up your metabolism. Many a scam artist has promised if you eat their particular food or drink their special elixir you will magically burn more calories. It doesn’t work like that. For example, grapefruit and cabbage are often touted as “fat-burning” foods. While these are excellent high-fiber, nutrient dense foods but they won’t improve your ability to burn calories. The metabolism reality: there aren’t any magic foods you can eat that will improve your body’s ability to burn calories.

Another popular metabolism myth is that drinking water will speed up your metabolism. Drinking water is very important for many reasons, but it’s not going to rev your metabolism into high gear. Drinking plenty of water is important in weight loss because it will help you to feel full so you’ll eat less as well as help your kidneys break down fat and remove wastes. The metabolism reality: water will make you feel good but it won’t speed up your metabolism.


Many weight loss plans promise results if you eat only at certain times every day to burn extra calories. You’ve probably heard that you have to eat every three hours or not anything after 7pm or only fruit in the morning. Following a set schedule may help you stick to your diet, but it’s not going to help you burn calories. The metabolism reality: it’s all about calories in and calories out. It really doesn’t matter when you bring the calories in as long as you’re getting more out than in.

It’s not all doom and gloom when it comes to mastering your metabolism; there are a couple things you can do to help your metabolism be more efficient and burn more calories. First and foremost, eat breakfast. I know, I just said calories in and calories out no matter when, but eating breakfast is key. After not eating all night, breakfast helps jump-start your metabolism for the day. Also, tons of research has been done that shows people who do eat breakfast are less likely to binge later in the day, which of course promotes weight loss. The metabolism reality: breakfast will help your body get started the right way each day. And while it’s not necessarily bad to eat late in the day, it’s bad to eat a week’s worth of calories late in one day.

The best reality when it comes to your metabolism is this, lean muscle mass helps your burn extra calories. There are the calories your body burns when you exercise and there are a certain number of calories your body burns just to keep you alive. And the more muscle mass you have on your body the more calories your body burns during both of these. While not a tremendous amount more, lean muscle tissue does in fact burn more calories at rest and during activity than does fat. The metabolism reality: to improve your metabolism’s effectiveness exercise, do both cardio activities and weight training to build lean muscle mass.

There are a lot of mysteries surrounding how and why we gain weight. And even more around how we can lose weight and keep it off. Not everyone’s body works the same. Our genetic make up and how our metabolism works is individual. And while you can’t wave a magic wand and speed up your metabolism or swallow a pill that will do the trick, you can help your metabolism be the best it can be by eating lots of fruits and vegetables, high quality proteins, drinking plenty of water, being active and building lean muscle mass.