“It will pump blood out to extremities of your body, but it won’t suck it back up,” she said. “There is no muscle in fat. (Fat) can’t push blood back up to the heart like muscle can.”

In addition to lowering the risk of contracting one of many life-threatening health conditions such as cancer, diabetes, hypoglycemia and high cholesterol, a faster metabolism strengthens the immune systems and works to efficiently burn calories, Taylor said.

“If you put junk and crap foods into your body, you’re going to get those results back out,” she said.

“People wonder how I’m around so many people every day and I don’t get sick. It’s not only about the weight or the way the scale looks, it’s the health that comes with that.”

One way Taylor keeps her metabolism working is by eating small meals throughout the day. Since the average person’s body metabolizes every four to six hours, she said she tries to eat five to eight smaller meals or snacks a day to stimulate her metabolism.

“You should eat every two to three hours to catch your metabolism before it stops running,” she said. “You should fuel your metabolism before it stops so it doesn’t have a chance to slow down.”

However, without a challenging exercise regime, eating five to eight small meals a day is not enough to increase metabolism.

Swimming, biking and training with weights are helpful metabolic boosters, Torabi said.

“Any kind of resistance, caused by gravity or water, where the actual muscle fibers are tearing, is good for you,” he said. “Adding more muscle onto your body is how you boost your metabolism.”

Both Torabi and Taylor stress the importance of constantly changing the intensity and frequency of any workout regime. Torabi said because everyone has a different adaptation rate, it’s a good idea to change routines every six weeks to keep the body from getting too comfortable.

“You want to keep your body confused,” he said. “The best thing about our bodies is that they adapt. They’re very efficient machines. But that means if you do the same thing over and over, your body gets used to it and reaps less benefit because you’re doing it over and over.”

Make sure to switch it up, Torabi said.

“If the doctor gives you the same antibiotic for a year, your body becomes immune to it,” Taylor said. “It’s the same thing with exercise. If you do the same bicep curls for a year, your biceps will become immune and stop doing what you want them to do.”

In addition to exercising regularly, taking a multivitamin is a good idea — especially for women, Taylor said. All-natural vitamins help to metabolize certain foods.

Though the majority of Americans seem to be concerned with increasing their metabolism to avoid a weight problem followed by health risks, a portion of the population is concerned with the opposite, she said.

“There are certain people with extremely high metabolisms,” she said.

Taylor said the people most likely to try and slow down the metabolic process include males between the ages of 24 and 30 attempting to gain weight.

However, this can’t be accomplished by going out and eating a whole box of cookies, she said.

People need to consume energy-rich foods in the form of small portions of rice and oatmeal to help supply the body with enough energy, or fuel, for intense workouts, she said.

“Otherwise they’re burning into their muscle, which is backpedaling what they’re trying to do,” Taylor said.

Regardless of whether someone is attempting to increase or decrease their metabolism, eating the right foods and exercising are imperative to overall health, Taylor said.