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Hi Reader!

Are you metabolically healthy? Chances are, you don't know for sure. You would know you are not healthy if you've been diagnosed with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc. However, the transition from metabolic health to disease is long. It can take years, and you might be unaware that you are gradually losing your metabolic health.

It is also difficult to know because metabolic health is complex. Unlike the straightforward nature of a cold or a broken leg, understanding metabolic health requires a deeper dive. Is it a localized issue or a systemic concern? What do your muscles, fat cells, pancreas, and liver have to do with it?

Modern science and medicine take a reductionist approach to the human body and disease. There is a strong trend toward finding a precise solution to a unique problem and offering a pill for each ill. When it comes to metabolic disease, this approach is ineffective in most cases.

I want to explore metabolic health to help you appreciate its role in your overall health, what's at stake when you lose it, and how to keep it throughout your life.

Today's email explores metabolic flexibility during fasting, caloric restriction, overeating, and exercise. In the later articles, we'll examine metabolic regulation, metabolic inflexibility, its assessments, and how to improve it.

What Is Metabolism and Metabolic Flexibility?

Metabolism is the sum of chemical reactions that provide the body with energy. Energy production happens inside trillions of cells and is coordinated throughout the body. Our metabolism is in constant flux and must adapt to nutrient availability and energy requirements.

This adaptability keeps our energy levels stable and is called metabolic flexibility. For example, your body switches between energy sources several times a day depending on whether you just ate or haven't eaten for several hours.

• After a meal, your body prefers to burn glucose for energy.
• During fasting or prolonged exercise, it shifts to burning stored fat for fuel.

In addition, your body has a fantastic way of adapting to a wide variety of situations that your life might impose on you or that you might choose for yourself. For example, during fasting for long periods, undereating or cutting calories, or overeating, your body uses a mix of clever mechanisms to keep you going. Here are some examples of your metabolism flexibility.

Long-term fasting

We evolved, having to go through periods of fasting. Without food, we use alternative fuel sources to keep our organs running. Some cells are perfectly happy burning fat, like muscle and heart, but others aren't, like the red blood cells and the brain. Typically, the brain uses glucose for energy but switches to ketone bodies during fasting. These are energy molecules made in your liver from fat. The liver also produces glucose to always keep blood glucose (blood sugar) within a range.

Calorie Restriction

Calorie restriction, another common situation in the past, means eating less than you need. When you restrict calories for a long time, your body makes many metabolic adjustments. Your metabolic rate slows down. The body starts recycling its own materials, a process called autophagy. You can think of autophagy as a 'clean-up' process in which the body breaks down and recycles damaged or unnecessary cellular components to stay efficient. It may explain why caloric restriction can improve health and prolong life.

Overeating

Any excess of nutrients is turned into fat and stored for later use. As long as you use it, you will not be in trouble. However, if you keep on adding to the stores more than you use, over time, this can lead to problems like fat buildup in tissues where it doesn't belong, insulin resistance, and cell damage.

Continuous overeating overwhelms the body's metabolic processes, and the mitochondria cannot efficiently generate energy, leading to excessive oxidative stress.

Physical activity

Physical activity contributes to an increase in energy demands. Different types of muscle fibers in your body prefer different fuels. For example:

• During low-intensity prolonged exercise, your muscles mostly burn fat.
• During intense exercise, they prefer using glucose.

Regular exercise is a powerful tool to improve your body's ability to switch between fuel sources, thereby maintaining metabolic flexibility. It helps burn fuel more efficiently and boosts insulin sensitivity, mitochondrial function, and energy production.

In Summary

Your metabolism adapts to changes in diet, activity, and environment, but these systems work best when they're balanced:

• Fasting and calorie restriction can trigger repair and maintenance processes.
• Overeating overwhelms your cells and can lead to long-term health problems.
• Exercise improves your body's energy efficiency and flexibility.

I'll be in touch in two weeks with an article on metabolic regulation.

Take care!

Olga

P.S. Winter Reset Sugar Detox is a step toward improving metabolic flexibility!