Food Freedom Friday Edtion 307 - Metabolic Flexibility
Modern conveniences hugely impact the way you eat. Grocery stores stock up on processed foods promising meals in minutes and you can use your phone to order from a seemingly limitless number of food options.
In this new world of convenience, your natural ability to be metabolically flexible has changed. When food was not as readily available, metabolic flexibility allowed the body to limit the impact of going long periods without eating.
Easy access to high-calorie processed foods combined with physically inactive lifestyles has directly impacted the ability to be metabolically flexible. Flexibility in your metabolism is essential to feeling your best and avoiding many health problems.
What is Metabolic Flexibility?
Easy access to processed and high carbohydrate foods creates carb-dependent, metabolically inflexible people. Relying on carbohydrate as a single fuel source means the body loses its ability to easily use fat as fuel.
An example would be a hybrid vehicle which switches between gasoline and electricity for its fuel. Sometimes it gets all its power from the electric motor, sometimes the gas engine, and sometimes both. In each case, the car uses its fuel sources to run as efficiently as possible. This is metabolic flexibility. Instead of gasoline or electricity, the body uses glucose and carbohydrates as fuel.
When you are metabolically flexible, you can easily switch between fuel sources to maximize efficiency. If you have good metabolic flexibility, your body will quickly adapt to burn what it consumes: if you eat carbs, you will burn carbs for energy, if you eat fat, you will burn fat.
When you go long periods without food, your body will continue to burn its fat stores for energy, meaning there is no need to rely on snacks. Good metabolic flexibility allows your body to switch between breaking down carbs or fat easily.
· Achieving metabolic flexibility can help you achieve:
· Better weight maintenance
· Increased energy levels
· Better health
· Lower odds of developing a metabolic disease
· More consistent, healthy glucose levels
· Improved sleep
· Optimized workout performance
The Impacts of Metabolic Health & Metabolism
Both metabolism and metabolic health play a major part in understanding metabolic flexibility.
Metabolism
Metabolism describes all the chemical processes that happen in your body to turn food and drink into the fuel that keeps you alive. All the chemical reactions that occur in your body are part of your metabolism.
These chemical processes break down into two main categories:
Anabolism is the process of building and storing. An example of anabolism is when your body takes the food you eat and uses it to build organs, bone, or muscle. Anabolism uses small molecules to build larger molecules like carbs, fats, or proteins. The body uses these larger molecules to maintain body tissues, grow new cells, or store energy. It also needs energy for these anabolic processes to work.
Catabolism is the opposite, breaking down tissues and energy stores. Catabolic processes break down large carbohydrate or fat cells to release energy.
Your metabolism works in your body every minute of every day. It is the at the core of your survival mechanism and may not be working as efficiently as possible.
The basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns when at rest just to live.
Many factors can affect BMR, including:
· Gender
· Age
· Hormones
· Genetics
· Body size/weight
· Body composition (fat/muscle ratio)
· Diet
· Hydration
· Physical activity
· Medication
· Sleep patterns
· Stress
· Environment
· Illness
The efficiency of your metabolism affects your metabolic flexibility and health. Healthy lifestyle decisions in diet, sleep routine, stress management, and physical activity help metabolic processes work effectively. Being metabolically fit takes some work but with right choices, metabolism efficiency improves and the body learns to be more metabolically flexible.
Metabolic Health
There is no standard definition of metabolic health. Scientists generally describe it as the absence of metabolic syndrome which currently affects approximately one-third of adults in North America.
Having 3 or more of these risk factors leads to a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome:
1. High blood pressure
2. High blood sugar
3. Abdominal obesity
4. Abnormal cholesterol
5. High triglyceride levels
If all five are present, it greatly increases the chance of developing heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
The main factors that lead to metabolic syndrome (being metabolically unhealthy) include physical inactivity, being overweight, age, and genetics.
Metabolic flexibility drives metabolic health. When your body becomes metabolically inflexible, problems like high blood glucose begin affecting your metabolic health and wellness.
Importance of Metabolic Flexibility
Metabolic flexibility means more energy efficiency
You can't have optimal glucose values without being metabolically flexible. Metabolic flexibility allows you to properly utilize energy rather than inefficiently storing it. If you are metabolically inflexible, your glucose levels will likely go up higher than normal and stay higher for longer than they should.
The best example of compromised metabolic flexibility is insulin resistance. Being metabolically inflexible can lead to raised glucose levels. If you continue to have these high glucose levels long-term, your pancreas has to produce more insulin to manage the increase. The cells that make insulin in your pancreas then become overworked and dysfunctional. Over time, your cells start to ignore the persistent insulin signal and stop removing the excess glucose from your blood.
Not being able to use fat stores between meals leads to not feeling full. This is why metabolically inflexible people tend to snack often.
Other short term symptoms of metabolic inflexibility include:
· Feeling “hangry”
· Sleepiness after meals
· Midday energy crashes
· Constant caffeine intake to boost energy
· Being overweight
· Feelings of anxiety
Furthermore, insulin resistance can lead to long-term health problems.
There are several long-term health effects that result from metabolic inflexibility:
· Insulin resistance and long-term inflexibility increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
· The body's ability to use its fat stores becomes impaired, leading to weight gain and obesity.
· Alterations in mass, structure, and function of the mitochondria in your cells begin to appear. Mitochondria then have to work harder, producing more by-products called free radicals. Too many free radicals in your body can trigger illnesses like cardiovascular disease or cancer.
Nutrient Management
The more metabolically flexible you are, the less you have to micromanage your macronutrients and calories. Metabolic flexibility allows your body to maintain healthy glucose values without worrying too much about being “perfect” 24/7.
If you occasionally eat a carb-laden meal that’s high in fat, your body will be able to cope with it. Your satiety signals will reset, meaning the need to consistently snack will not arise. Your energy levels will also naturally increase.
Metabolic flexibility and glucose are intrinsically connected. That’s why understanding your body’s relationship with glucose is key to achieving metabolic flexibility.
Becoming Metabolically Flexible
Focus On Your Diet
Diet always affects your metabolic flexibility. You cannot out-exercise or out-supplement a poor diet
Even with regular exercise, a bad diet puts stress on your body at a cellular level. Eating whole foods and avoiding processed foods is the best place to start.
Avoid the Standard American Diet
The standard American diet contains excess sodium, refined grains, processed vegetable oils, and added sugars. This contributes to the fact that approximately half of North America adults have one or more preventable chronic diseases.
To improve metabolic flexibility, focus on whole foods and minimize your added sugar and refined carbohydrate intake.
· Lowering your carbohydrate intake helps to:
· Reduce your glucose and insulin levels
· Put less stress on your cells
· Improve metabolism
· Improve metabolic health
Consider Cyclical Ketosis
A cyclical ketogenic diet involves eating a standard keto diet for most of the week but adding in periods of eating more carbs.
The standard keto diet is a low-carb diet. Adding in some carbohydrates to your standard keto diet brings your body in and out of ketosis. This process allows your body to use both glucose and fat as fuel to become more metabolically flexible.
The perfect cyclical keto diet is very personal. Some people thrive with one higher-carb meal per day in their routine. Others do better by adding in one full higher-carb day per week.
Eat within your energy requirements
Overeating and excess energy intake, regardless of the food, can lead to inflexibility. Extra calories lead to excess glucose, which leads to insulin resistance and fat storage.
Ensuring you eat within your energy requirements reduces this risk and improves metabolic flexibility.
Move Your Body
Physical inactivity is one of the leading causes of metabolic inflexibility. Exercise is key in fighting this because it helps control glucose levels.
Studies show that exercise increases mitochondrial content, improves glycemic control, and improves insulin sensitivity. Improving insulin sensitivity helps your body maintain healthy glucose levels.
Trying different types of workouts in your exercise routine can also assist your body to become more metabolically flexible.
Any type of exercise is beneficial. However, experts believe that incorporating a mix of aerobic cardio and strength training gives optimal results. Aerobic activity improves mitochondrial function while strength training promotes insulin sensitivity and glucose management.
Regardless of the type of exercise, regular muscle activation stands as a frequently recommended preventative measure against developing metabolic disease.
Fasting
Timing when you eat is important for your metabolic health.
Intermittent fasting (or not eating for a set period each day of 14-24 hours) helps combat insulin resistance and improve metabolic flexibility. Fasting helps to reduce insulin levels quickly, prompting your body to switch fuel sources to use ketones.
Research identifies that intermittent fasting has several other benefits, as it:
· Preserves lean muscle (as weight loss comes from fat stores, not muscle)
If you are looking to improve metabolic flexibility without affecting your lean muscle mass, then intermittent fasting is a well-researched place to start.
Track Your Glucose
It’s challenging to know what is happening to your glucose levels unless you actively track them. You can’t physically see what foods make your glucose levels spike and put a strain on your cells.
The only way to track your glucose in real-time is to use a continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It lets you actively see which lifestyle influences and foods directly impact your glucose levels.
Armed with this knowledge, you can make simple yet effective changes that improve your metabolic health. It also allows you to experiment with foods to ensure you find a nutrition plan personalized to your individual body reactions.
Tracking glucose gives you statistical data that directly shows you the impact of any lifestyle changes you make on your body.
Focus On Sleep & Stress
The connection between sleep, stress, and metabolic health is a popular topic in clinical research.
Sleep deprivation can result in chronic health problems such as diabetes or an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Both the quality and length of sleep are essential to metabolic health.
Even partial sleep deprivation can lead to insulin resistance in an otherwise healthy person.
In fact, poor sleep can:
· Affect hormone levels (lowering leptin increasing ghrelin)
· Increase inflammation in the body
· Promote insulin resistance
· Cause chronic health problems
· Cause weight gain
Good sleep hygiene is a key part of improving metabolic flexibility. This goes hand in hand with managing stress, which has a very similar impact on your metabolic health.
Stress causes your body to release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. When facing a “fight or flight” stress response, your body then releases glucose to provide the extra energy required to deal with the situation.
Chronic stress causes excess glucose to consistently build up in the body. That built up glucose can lead to long-term conditions like diabetes.
Taking steps to reduce stress and improve sleep reduces extra glucose levels, positively affecting metabolic flexibility.
Ultimately, an appropriate carbohydrate diet combined with adequate sleep and stress management are the most accessible methods of training your metabolism, creating metabolic flexibility and staving off the symptoms of metabolic syndrome.