If your diet is heavy in fat and sugar and you're feeling sluggish, try a few foods that are natural metabolism boosters. Many high-iron and high-protein natural foods also have the B vitamins needed for cellular respiration. The nutrients in these foods cultivate the red blood cells that transport the oxygen and nutrients that fuel a healthy metabolism. As you target foods for protein, iron and B vitamin content, you'll automatically hit on a variety of foods that provide other essential nutrients for a good diet, such as dietary fiber, calcium, potassium and magnesium.
Iron Foods
Natural foods with rich iron content include clams, oysters and organ meats such as beef liver, chicken and turkey giblets and pork liver sausage. These foods deliver as much as 130 percent of your total daily iron needs and also offer significant protein and B vitamins, especially B12. While shellfish don't contain much cholesterol, organ meats do, and you should limit their portions in a good diet, according to the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Whole grains such as wheat, oats and rye are nutritious metabolism boosters that lend their iron content to baked goods such as bagels and bread. Many wheat-flour products and breakfast cereals have even greater enriched iron and vitamin B content, as per the nutrition facts on package labels.
Protein Foods
The USDA Dietary Guidelines suggest keeping your fat intake low as you choose natural foods for protein. Most fish, such as haddock and flounder, have less fat content than meats and about 40 percent of the 50 g daily value, or DV, of protein recommended by the FDA.
Most meat cuts also contain about 40 percent DV and, like fish, large amounts of vitamin B12. For meats to remain low enough in fat to include in a good diet, you must remove poultry skin and trim visible fat stripes from beef and pork. Lamb's higher fat content detracts from its protein-food role as a metabolism booster.
Vitamin B Foods
Plant-based natural foods for vitamin B also add lots of fiber to a good diet. Any type of cooked dry beans and peas provide several B vitamins, especially B6. Lentils, split peas, soybeans and kidney, black, navy and lima beans also provide significant iron, protein and calcium, magnesium and potassium.
Cooked spinach has similar benefits, plus about 50 percent DV of vitamin B9, or folate, and vitamin A, according to the USDA Nutrient Database. Other metabolism boosters that share these properties include cooked collards, kale and turnip greens.
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