If you’ve ever struggled to lose weight despite regular exercise or feel like you gain weight just by looking at a piece of cake, you’ve likely blamed your metabolism. But it’s a bit of a misnomer to say your metabolism is damaged—it’s actually functioning exactly how it’s supposed to—protecting you from starvation.
Lifestyle factors like stress, poor sleep and overtaxing your body can cause changes to your metabolism that aren’t favorable for your health or your waistline. Getting your metabolism back on track takes some tweaks to your habits to support energy burn and a healthy weight balance.
What is metabolic damage?
You might have heard that if you diet too much or lose weight too quickly, you’ll damage your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight or keep it off in the future. This is largely a myth.
Even in extreme cases like starvation or severe dieting, your metabolism adapts to survive by slowing down to preserve energy, but it doesn’t get permanently damaged. Digesting food also burns calories, so when you eat less, fewer calories are burned during the day. When you start eating normally again, your metabolism will adjust. In other words, your metabolism can’t actually become damaged. But it can slow down. What’s more, it can cause hormonal signals that increase your hunger, which can feel a lot like your metabolism is conspiring against you.
How to improve metabolism
A healthy, well-functioning metabolism requires a good amount of muscle mass, an active lifestyle, and a balanced diet. But if you’ve been doing a lot of intense exercise, restricting calories or carbohydrates, and skimping on recovery, your body likely needs a break. Think of it as a metabolic reset.
Skip the high-intensity training
If you’ve been hitting the gym every day, packing in the high-intensity training, and adding more workouts to your routine in an attempt to get your metabolism in line but still struggle to lose weight, you are likely over-taxing your body.
HIIT workouts are very stressful for your body and don’t increase your calorie burn as much as previously thought, so it’s wise to put them on the back burner for a while if you’re concerned about a damaged metabolism.
Prioritize rest and recovery
Lots of high-intensity exercise and endless hours at the gym can add a lot of stress to your body, especially if you’ve been restricting calories, skipping rest days, or not getting enough sleep. If this is the case for you, it’s time to prioritize rest and recovery.
Stripping back to two to three workouts per week, focusing on slow and steady strength training (not heavy powerlifting or circuits) to support metabolism-boosting muscle mass and hormones, is a good idea, at least in the short term. Adding active recovery activities like walking, swimming, and light yoga can also help ease stress hormones while supporting your metabolism as it re-adjusts. Remember to re-fuel after workouts so your body has what it needs to repair.
Take a diet break
If you’ve been dieting non-stop for a while and are struggling to see results, it could be time to take a diet break. When you eat less, your metabolism adjusts to burn fewer calories to match, and you’ll likely feel hungrier due to changes in hunger hormones. You’ll likely hit a point where cravings, hunger, fatigue and lower calorie burn during exercise and rest combine to feel insurmountable.
Taking a break from cutting calories can help your metabolism reset and allow you a mental respite from restriction. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should go completely off the rails, but instead, add more whole foods to a balanced diet.
Focus on whole foods
Whole foods contain nutrients that support your metabolism, such as vitamin B12, which will help your metabolism process and use carbs, fats and proteins in your diet. Sticking primarily to whole foods like lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats is much better for your digestive system and energy balance.
Processed foods are already broken down and are more easily digestible than whole foods. When you eat processed foods, your digestive system can absorb more calories from them and burns fewer calories during digestion, which can add up.
Support your gut health
Digestion is a big part of your metabolism, and supporting your gut microbiome and digestive processes will help you access and use the nutrients from the foods you eat. Probiotics from food and supplements play several roles in supporting your gut health.
For instance, Akkermansia muciniphila is associated with supporting gut barrier function, carbohydrate metabolism and healthy inflammation levels. Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium beijerinckii bacteria produce a short-chain fatty acid called butyrate, which provides energy for gut cells and supports a strong gut lining. Butyrate also plays a role in supporting insulin sensitivity to help manage blood sugar and may contribute to appetite control by regulating hunger and fullness hormones.
Consider a metabolism-supporting supplement
One way to support gut and metabolic function is to take a metabolism-focused supplement, such as Codeage M-Burn Optimize. It’s a vegan formula with targeted ingredients to support your metabolic health, such as vitamin B12 and decaffeinated antioxidant-rich green tea extract standardized to 50% EGCG.
It also includes berberine HCl, a plant compound that may support healthy energy balance and blood sugar levels, and alpha-lipoic acid, an antioxidant naturally present in the body that promotes mitochondrial health. Plus, its blend of probiotics includes the aforementioned Akkermansia muciniphila, Clostridium butyricum and Clostridium beijerinckii to help support a healthy gut microbiome.
†These statements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease.
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