If you are feeling heavy, dull, or sluggish after eating, are gaining weight despite eating healthy, or simply feeling tired and foggy-headed constantly, your metabolism may need a jumpstart. According to Ayurveda, a slow, sluggish metabolism is related to high Kapha dosha, which represents the water and earth elements of the body. When these heavy, stable elements come into excess, our bodies and minds tend to become excessively heavy and stable too.

A slow metabolism often goes hand in hand with a sluggish digestion (aka Manda Agni). When we are not processing our food properly, this undigested food turns into toxins (ama) and our vital channels become blocked. In time, even small amounts of healthy food cannot be digested and therefore create weight gain and heaviness. Unfortunately, if left untreated, these symptoms will increase over time and may eventually lead to metabolic issues such as heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity.

Since a slow metabolism generally involves excessive toxins, weak digestion, and lack of movement, it should not be surprising that some of the most effective ways to boost metabolism include detoxification, strengthening digestion, and getting moving! Whether you are dealing with hypothyroidism, menopause, or obesity, these three lines of action should help ignite your internal fire and improve your energy, health, and well-being. Of course, if there are other factors involved, such as an unhealthy, heavy diet, high stress, or poor sleep, these areas should also be addressed in order to see real, long-term results.

Common Symptoms of a Slow Metabolism

Easy to gain weight; hard to lose
Sleepiness after eating
Dull appetite
No appetite in the morning
Slow transit time
Gas, bloating, and constipation
Chronic fatigue and lethargy
Low motivation
Dull, foggy mind
Poor focus, concentration, and memory
General feelings of heaviness (physical and mental)
Cold sensitivity
Dry skin, hair, and nails
Heavily coated tongue

NOTE: You likely do not have all of these symptoms, but the more you have, the more likely your metabolism is underactive.

Common Causes of a Slow Metabolism

Increased Kapha dosha
Manda Agni (aka sluggish digestion)
Excessive toxins
Stress
Sedentary job
Sedentary lifestyle
Kapha-promoting diet (excessive fats, unhealthy oils, sweets, dairy, refined grains, red meat, pork, gluten)
Excessive intake of processed food and junk food
Grazing or excessive snacking
Incompatible food combinations
Starvation diets
Eating too late or too heavily at night
Lack of exercise
Hypothyroidism
Menopause
Hormonal imbalance
Poor sleep patterns (e.g. lack of sleep, staying up too late, sleeping too late)
Certain prescription medications

A slow metabolism can stem from many different factors. Depending on what your specific causes are, your treatment process may be slightly different, as the first line of treatment for any disorder is to remove the cause. However, there are plenty of universal remedies that you can administer while working to alleviate any potential causes.

Below you will find some of my most effective metabolism-boosting recommendations, but do not be overwhelmed or feel the need to do them all. This is never a sustainable path. Instead, skim through the list, and write down which ones seem to call to you the most. Then go back to these, read them in more detail, and begin making a personalized plan for yourself. Ideally, your goals should be well-rounded, covering a bit of diet, lifestyle, and herbal suggestions, as I truly believe each of these three pillars is essential for a sustainable and effective path toward healing.

So let’s get started!!

Ignite Your Metabolism with Ayurveda

1. Eat a Kapha-reducing diet.

To balance out the heavy, slow, sluggish, and cool qualities that an underactive metabolism (and high Kapha) brings, a light, warming, Kapha-reducing diet is essential.

Although there are many specific guidelines for a Kapha-reducing diet, here are some of the main principles to follow:

• Eat whole foods such as complex carbohydrates, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and home-cooked meals.
• Avoid processed foods such as chips, pretzels, crackers, cereal, deli meats, bars, canned foods, frozen foods, prepared foods, (most) packaged foods, and anything with artificial ingredients, preservatives, flavors, gums, stabilizers, and other additives.
• Limit eating out—even healthier restaurants can have hidden ingredients, low-quality processed oils, additives, and excessive salt..
• Avoid refined grains and stick to 100% whole grains.
• Avoid refined sugar and excessive sweets; the best sweetener for Kapha is raw honey.
• Avoid dairy products—homemade yogurt or kefir is alright in moderation.
• Avoid wheat and gluten.
• Avoid red meat and pork.
• Avoid saturated fat and unhealthy oils; use olive oil or avocado oil in moderation.
• Limit overall salt intake; avoid table salt and favor pink Himalayan salt in moderation.
• Spice up your meals with warming digestive spices such as Kapha Churna, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, cumin, black cumin, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and cayenne pepper.
• Avoid cold or iced beverages; favor warm to hot water and teas.

2. Drink this Kapha-Balancing Tonic each morning.

Drinking a glass of warm water each morning is considered universal medicine, but when it comes to stimulating metabolism, adding a few key ingredients (i.e. lemon, ACV, honey, etc) can be even more effective! This practice will awaken your digestion and metabolism, stimulate your vital organs, and support healthy morning elimination. Drink one 12-oz cup each morning on an empty stomach, and make sure to be consistent!

Get our Kapha-Balancing Tonic recipe here!

3. Take Kapha Honey Infusion before meals.

The Kapha Honey Infusion is a tasty and effective way to ignite the digestion and metabolism before eating. It contains heating herbs and spices that are specific for treating a sluggish metabolism, stimulating the digestive fire (Agni), and reducing symptoms of heaviness after food.

DIRECTIONS

Take 1 teaspoon of Kapha Honey 10 to 30 minutes before each meal. This can be taken straight-up and followed with warm water, or taken in warm water or a spicy, warming tea such as the AWAKEN Tea. Be consistent for best results.

Purchase our Kapha Honey Infusion here!

4. Eat a light, healthy dinner by 6 pm each night.

One of the biggest “metabolism killers” is eating too late and too heavily at nighttime. Our metabolism naturally slows down as the evening comes, and eating too much or too heavily at this time creates indigestion and toxicity. This further hampers digestion and metabolism, encourages weight gain, creates heaviness and lethargy in the morning, and harbors a dull, foggy mind.

To stop this debilitating cycle, make sure to eat a healthy and sustaining breakfast and lunch each day. Then finish with a light, healthy dinner by 6 pm each night. Avoid excessively heavy foods such as pasta, bread, refined grains, heavy meats, dairy, and sweets, and instead focus on vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and soupy, easy-to-digest meals.

5. Practice intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting is a great way to allow space for your system to digest, metabolize, detox, and rest each day. It has also been shown to support a healthy microbiome, weight loss, heart health, brain health, and overall cellular rejuvenation.

Intermittent fasting involves not eating for a 12 to 16-hour period. To avoid skipping breakfast (which is necessary to fuel, strengthen, and stabilize you each day), it is best to finish eating early in the evening and then commence eating again at an appropriate time each morning.

If you finish eating by 6 pm each day and eat breakfast at 8 am each morning, this already provides 14 hours of intermittent fasting without feeling like you are skipping meals or starving yourself. If a little something is needed in between these hours, warm water, herbal tea, veggie broth, or warm water with Kapha Honey can help you through!

6. Avoid snacking or grazing between meals.

Excessive snacking and (especially) grazing overtaxes your digestion and exhausts your metabolism, leading to weight gain, clogged channels, toxicity, and an even slower metabolism.

If you are already seeing signs of a slow metabolism, it is always best to give your metabolic fire (Agni) a rest between meals, ideally leaving about 4 to 6 hours for total digestion to occur before putting more food into your system. To avoid uncontrollable cravings and blood sugar crashes, make sure to eat healthy, well-rounded meals filled with plenty of fiber and lean protein, and avoid refined grains and processed foods.

7. Avoid lying down after eating—instead, take a walk post-meals!

If you have a slow metabolism, it is likely you may feel tired or sleepy after eating. However, it is crucial to avoid lying down or napping after a meal, as this will slow down your metabolism further, leading to indigestion, toxicity, weight gain, and a foggy mind.

An effective way to get past this post-meal crash is to eat healthy, light, easy-to-digest meals filled with plenty of fiber and lean protein. Avoid sweets, processed foods, and refined grains, which often cause energy crashes shortly after eating. And finally, instead of lying down, take a fresh air walk outside to stimulate digestion, spark your metabolism, and awaken your mind!

8. Detox your system.

If you have been dealing with a slow metabolism for a while, it is likely that there may be toxins accumulated in your system. Flushing these toxins will help to open the vital channels of your body and allow energy to flow more freely. This will support healthy digestion, a strong, robust metabolism, and optimal elimination. Clearing these pathways will also support a healthy, clear mind and better energy, focus, and concentration.

Depending on your needs and level of health, you can either choose a powerful detox program such as Panchakarma or a 7-day at-home Kitchari cleanse using herbal support. You may do better with a mini-cleanse, such as our 3-day Kitchari cleanse, or a weekly Kitchari fast (meaning one day each week, ongoing). Or, if you are busy and it is not the right time for a full-on cleanse, taking cleansing herbs such as our Daily Detox Formula can be a great start!

Purchase our Daily Detox Formula here.

Discover our 7-day Herbal Detox Kit here.

Find all of your Kitchari kits and necessities here!

9. Drink spicy herbal teas between meals.

Drinking spicy, cleansing teas between meals each day is a simple, gentle, and accessible way to support a stronger metabolism. It can even be rather tasty and pleasant! The best herbal teas will be spicy or bitter since these tastes tend to reduce Kapha and support detoxification, digestion, and metabolism.

Some great options include our Detox Tea, Tulsi Synergy Spice Tea, or AWAKEN Tea. A DIY ginger tea, CCF Tea, or Tulsi, Turmeric, and Ginger Tea are also amazing! No matter your brew, make sure to avoid adding dairy or sugar and instead enjoy them plain or with a small amount of honey (or Kapha Honey).

10. Get moving—exercise daily!

Although exercising daily is essential for every-body, it is all the more important if you are experiencing a slow metabolism and all the heaviness and sluggishness that stems from it. Although it may not happen overnight, an ideal goal would be to get at least 30 minutes of exercise in daily, with 5 days a week of cardio (meaning it makes you sweat and your heart pump). The other two days can be light-weight training, slow-paced walks, active stretching, or gentle Yoga.

I could go on about this for a while, but instead, I really encourage you to read my full article on “12 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Your Exercise Routine”. This will help get you started on a slow and steady path while getting the most out of your time and efforts (not to mention, avoiding common mistakes!).

Discover 12 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Your Exercise Routine here!

11. Try body tapping!

This recommendation is not for everyone, but if you are open to it, it comes highly recommended! I personally LOVE doing this practice each morning and sometimes (when I find myself on the computer for many hours) again mid-day.

Body tapping is an amazing way to stimulate circulation, digestion, metabolism, and energy, while reducing stress, anxiety, and tension. When done regularly, it helps remove obstruction and congestion in the body and activates the vital organs. It removes lethargy, awakens the mind, and stimulates the intellect.

If you are new to body tapping, here is a video that you can follow as you begin. Once you get the routine down, you can lose the video and make this practice your own. This is nice, as it allows you to stay longer on areas that you may need more attention.

Get started with this lovely body tapping video!

12. Sweat therapy.

Sweating, known as svedana in Ayurveda, has been shown to stimulate detoxification, circulation, digestion, and metabolism. Generally, this therapy is done through passive measures such as taking an herbal steam, a ginger bath, or a sauna soak.

No matter your pleasure, these sweating therapies should be performed 3 to 5 days a week (15 to 30-minute sessions) while you are actively working on boosting your metabolism. To maintain consistency, choose a therapy that is accessible, affordable, and enjoyable to you.

Purchase our Ginger Bath Blend here.

Discover our DIY Ginger Detox Bath here.

13. Reduce stress.

Since stress is a main cause of a slow metabolism and weight gain, reducing stress in your daily life is a necessity! Luckily, some of these suggestions above will help reduce stress, specifically exercising daily, taking baths (or sauna soaks), and body tapping. Here are a few other effective ways to reduce stress in your daily life:

• Oil massage (use Kapha Massage Oil to further support metabolism)

• Deep breathing
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Reducing your workload
• Slowing down
• Making time for YOU and your health (what is more important than this?!)

14. Metabolism-stimulating herbs.

Can a slow metabolism be completely remedied by taking herbs alone? Probably not, at least not long-term. Can herbs help to accelerate and increase your results when making these diet and lifestyle changes—YES!!!

Since a slow metabolism stems from high Kapha dosha and involves a slow digestion (Manda Agni), there are quite a few Ayurvedic herbs that can help stimulate your metabolic fire (Agni) and therefore support healthy digestion, elimination, detoxification, weight loss, and mental clarity. Here are the most recommended:

• Trikatu Churna (the “three pungents”—ginger, black pepper, pippali)
• Triphala Churna (the “three fruits”—amalaki, bibhitaki, haritaki)
• Saraswati Churna (for awakening mental clarity, focus, memory, intellect)
• Kapha Churna (Ayurvedic spice blend for food)
• Punarnava
• Chitrak
• Guggulu
• Triphala Guggulu
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Black pepper
• Cinnamon
• Cumin
• Black cumin (Krishna Jirak)

Conclusion

A slow metabolism tends to involve high Kapha, sluggish digestion, toxins, and clogged channels. In order to ignite metabolism and maintain optimal health and balance, a healthcare regimen involving a healthy, light, and whole food diet, energizing and stress-reducing lifestyle practices, and warming, stimulating herbs is needed. By adopting a handful of these recommendations (ideally a couple from each category), and making them a consistent part of your daily life, you can restore your metabolism and bring a new sense of energy and lightness to your body and mind!

Try our Kapha Honey Infusion!