A doctor says 'genetics aren't destiny' when it comes to fat loss and shares 3 simple ways to boost metabolism

• Dr. Adam Perlman, a functional medicine doctor, said genetics play a role in your metabolic health.
• Small lifestyle changes can help your body burn fat more effectively.
• He said strength training, improved gut health, and consistent sleep all make a difference.

How quickly your body burns fat can sometimes feel out of your control. For Dr. Adam Perlman, it's one of the biggest laments he's heard from patients.

"I can't tell you how many times I've had patients who have had so much trouble losing weight complain to me that their friends can eat whatever they want and never put weight on," Perlman, an integrative and functional medicine doctor and former chief medical officer for Mayo Clinic's integrative medicine program, told Business Insider.

It's also one of the biggest misconceptions he hears about metabolic health.

"Your genetics aren't your destiny," he said, even if they play a role. "You can counter a lot of those genetics with the right type of interventions, particularly around lifestyle."

Luckily, none of those involve eating less, the other big myth he hears around losing fat. "Sometimes, if you restrict your diet too much, it really backfires because you go into this sort of scarcity state," he added.

While he said it's important to speak to a doctor and rule out potential underlying issues of unexplained weight gain, like thyroid function, he said there are a few simple lifestyle changes everyone can make to boost their metabolic health and burn fat faster.

Focus on strength training

From his experience, Perlman has seen people lean on heavy exercise, particularly cardio workouts, to shed fat fast.

While aerobic exercise has other health benefits, he said that there isn't great evidence that movement alone will lead to drastic weight loss.

Strength training, however, has its own metabolic benefits. Because muscle is a more metabolically active tissue, having higher muscle mass helps you burn more calories at rest over time.

Perlman said he encourages strength training to his patients and performs a bioelectric scan to measure their body's composition of muscle and fat. He especially emphasizes it to older patients who may be going through hormonal changes, like during menopause, or experiencing a natural decrease in muscle mass.

"People begin to develop what they perceive as a slowing of metabolism, where part of the issue is that they're not maintaining their muscle mass the way they need to," he said. "Making sure they're getting strength training is particularly Important."

Zoom in on your gut health

Perlman is particularly fascinated by newer science that links a slower metabolism to issues with your gut microbiome.

Certain microbes, like the gut bacterium akkermansia muciniphila, thrive on fiber and polyphenols found in foods like raspberries and artichokes. Their byproducts can signal the body to release hormones that help regulate appetite and blood sugar.

Eating lots of ultra-processed foods can disrupt this cycle. But even if you follow the Mediterranean diet, you might still struggle with losing fat due to a lack of variety in your meals, he said.

"By and large, what you want is to make sure you eat the rainbow," he said. "So a mix of different types of plants, which is really a mix of different types of fibers that the body tends to feed on."

Cut down on 'sleep jet lag'

A lack of sleep disrupts your hormones, making it harder to lose fat.

What's more, even a consistent sleep schedule during the work week won't make up for late nights on the weekend.

"A lot of people have what's called 'social jet lag,'" Perlman said, where they go to bed at 10 p.m. on weekdays but 2 a.m. on Saturday nights. "That really wreaks havoc on your health, on your microbiome, on other aspects of your health as well."

For Perlman, getting better sleep has been the most recent change he's made to boost his own metabolic health.

"If you came to my home, you'd see that we have blackout shades, I use a new noise machine at night, I turn the temperature down before I go to bed," he said. "Sleep has been one that I've definitely been focused on."