METABOLISM HEALTH IS CURRENTLY AT A LOW IN THE UNITED STATES
Improving metabolism health is a vital step on the way to reclaiming our health & vitality. Our body is complex, amazing, and resilient. Our fuel partitioning or metabolic flexibility has been finely-tuned by evolution, allowing us to switch back and forth between glucose and fat to fuel our daily activities. This happens under the surface in a metabolically efficient individual, but the process can be disrupted by an unhealthy diet or poor lifestyle choices.
Glucose stores are somewhat limited, but even the fittest among us have abundant fat stores that we should be tapping into daily. In fact, our bodies run more efficiently when utilizing fat for energy. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors would sometimes have to go days without having a successful hunt. Luckily, evolution provided them with an efficient way to fuel (fat stores) their body when times were lean. Their bodies needed to keep functioning because they’d still have to go out the next day and find food on an empty stomach.
When we’re not ingesting carbohydrates, our liver can produce glucose as required. Constantly eating carbs or small meals throughout the day to keep blood sugar up is not necessary when you’re metabolically healthy. Unfortunately, a good portion of the general population has disrupted metabolisms.
METABOLISM PROBLEMS
Food surrounds us, especially the calorie-dense hyper-palatable fare. If we constantly feed the body throughout the day, there is no reason to burn stored body fat.
Once our body adapts to the steady stream of fast-burning carbs, we get irritable and insatiable cravings if we don’t eat them, and soon! Eventually, the mechanism for burning fat stops functioning, leading to metabolic syndrome, a catch-all for a host of ailments, and a reduction in lifespan.
We have abundant fat stores; even men with 5-6% body fat have 40,000 calories. Contrast this to the roughly 2,000-calorie storage capacity for glucose. Assuming the average male burns 2,500 calories per day, it’s clear that we could survive for weeks without ingesting calories.
RESET YOUR METABOLISM FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Think of a fuel tank with 42,000 calories. You wake up in the morning, and your body's energy needs increase. If you are a sugar burner, you burn mainly glucose or crave a quick energy hit and have a bagel and orange juice for breakfast. You replenish your glucose and might even ingest more than you’re burning. In this case, the excess calories get converted to fat. You snack and eat throughout the day, and even if you get in a hard workout, you never get to the point where you’re burning fat. It’s like refilling the gas tank every time you use a gallon of gas. Why are you working hard to carry around this fat if you never use it?
Contrast this to a metabolically healthy individual. His body is tuned to use fat for fuel. There is no need for a high-carb breakfast in the morning as hunger signals are muted. When hunger does occur, he replenishes with whole foods containing a good measure of healthy protein and fat. His carbs come mainly from vegetables and fruit. He sleeps better, is less irritable, has lower blood pressure, fewer aches and pains, and is happier overall. If he is running low on glucose, his liver pitches in and makes some. His insulin (pancreas) operates as it should and isn’t overworked dealing with a persistently high sugar load.
Some ultra-marathon athletes have switched to becoming fat-adapted with no performance decrease. They can tap into fat stores more readily without ingesting carbs. This results in a lower digestive load and better performance. [1]
That’s great for endurance athletes, but what does it mean for someone who is overweight or obese? If someone runs 50 miles without ingesting a bunch of carbs to keep going, then the average American doesn’t need to consume a lot of carbs to fuel his daily activities either.
Instead of constantly dipping into the 2,000 calories of stored glucose and refilling the tank, you can switch back and forth to fuel your body when you start using fat for fuel, your energy steadies, your blood sugar moderates, and your digestive load decreases.
Unfortunately, much of the population relies on fast-burning carbs for fuel. This is true for people who are overweight and those who look healthy. While it is true that someone who is obese has a greater propensity for Type 2 diabetes, anyone who relies on fast-burning carbs for fuel is at risk because they’re constantly pumping out insulin. When your metabolic health is sub-optimal, you have a higher chance of developing heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and cancer, regardless of your body weight.
METABOLISM OF GLUCOSE (bad carbs)
Ingesting these foods will break your metabolism and make you gain weight.
- Sugary drinks (Soda, fruit juice, sports drinks, sweetened coffee, tea, etc.)
- Cookies, cakes, donuts, etc.
- Bread (refined white bread is the worst, but all types increase your blood sugar)
- Crackers or any grain based snacks (i.e., pretzels)
- Refined grains
The list includes anything with sugar added or grains as the main ingredient-anything that has calories packed into a small package with little or no fiber included. When improving our metabolic health, the two most important factors are eating a whole foods diet and making necessary lifestyle changes (sleep and stress). If you maintain a healthy weight and feed your body with the required macro and micronutrients, you can improve your metabolism, lose weight, and improve your health.
SIMPLE TO CHANGES TO REPAIR YOUR METABOLISM
- Eat real food (if there’s a long ingredient list, take a pass)
- Eliminate added sugar
- Wean yourself off of grains
- Fast for 12 hours, not hard to do with breakfast at 8 am and no food after 8 pm
GET THIS METABOLIC SWITCH WORKING PROPERLY AND START BURNING FAT FOR FUEL. YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT EFFORTLESSLY AND LOWER YOUR RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASE.