How to Ignite Your Metabolism
Summer is a time to enjoy our physical bodies, move with joy, and connect. This is also what our metabolism is all about: healthy, well-functioning metabolism expands our energy and helps us to use nourishment as fuel. Metabolism is involved in all our essential bodily functions from breathing to detoxification to libido. By choosing the right foods, we can literally start to change not only the cells in our body, but also our mental state and spirit.
Key Hormones Regulating Metabolism
When you have issues with your gut-brain connection, your hormones are often the first thing to get out of balance. Insulin is one of the key hormones regulating our metabolism. Foods that are high in sugar or carbohydrates - especially when they contain little or no fibre - are quickly converted into sugar in the bloodstream and insulin is released to take the sugar out of the blood and send it to our cells or the excess sugar is stored in the liver. If this happens too often, this can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes - a condition where your body has become tolerant to insulin. Studies have shown that those who are overweight and struggle with losing weight tend to have lower microbiome diversity, and fewer beneficial microbes and more harmful bacteria and fungi than their lean counterparts. This is something Dr. Tim Spector also discussed with Rich Roll recently, and noted the association between obesity and gut health is real: it's a cause-and-effect relationship, the mechanisms of which we don’t know yet.
Similarly, our gut microbiome is strongly connected to our thyroid health. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland located on the front of the neck and thyroid hormones have a role regulating our metabolism, mood, temperature, and many other aspects of our health. For instance, low thyroid function (which is relatively common among women), or hypothyroidism, can lead to weight gain, fatigue, and depression. Significant portion of our thyroid hormone conversion happens in the gut, and an imbalanced, unhealthy gut microbiome can inhibit this process. Low thyroid function often slows down digestion and leaves you with poor elimination. This means that your body cannot detoxify itself properly and therefore, metabolic by-products and toxins are getting stuck in the system. To make things even worse, low thyroid function compromises our body’s ability to absorb essential nutrients. For us this means less beauty and vitality.
The Damaging Effects of Chronic Stress
Then there is the interesting link between gut health and stress. I think chronic stress is probably the most awful thing for our metabolic health, detoxification, and beauty. Stress alone can damage the gut microbiome and create an increase in intestinal permeability leading to dysbiosis. Even if we eat all the healthiest foods on the planet, we can still end up being sick and sad, if we serve our bodies with stress and shame every day.
In stressful situations the body starts to release cortisol which causes our blood sugar levels to go up. This is due to our evolutionary adaptation: our body thinks it’s in a fight-or-flight situation and needs immediate sugar to fuel our muscles and cells to get out of a dangerous situation. Simultaneously, our body starts to slow down digestion and other less critical bodily processes, like detoxification, to deliver the energy to all the most critical organs: brain, heart, and muscles. Some short term stress is fine, but chronic, or prolonged, stress can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance, and all kinds of horrible diseases.
Stress-reducing mindfulness practices are good for the gut, and by reducing stress the gut microbiome increases the production of SCFAs (short-chain fatty acids) and anti-inflammatory metabolites. Another powerful way to reduce stress is to prioritise sleep. At least I can immediately see the effects of poor sleep in my skin and digestion: my skin looks dull and old, I feel constipated, and become irritated easily. As Dr. Will Cole explains in his book, Gut Feelings, melatonin and cortisol are two of the most important hormones in our bodies. These hormones regulate our sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm (the 24-hour internal clock), and much more than that. Each morning your cortisol levels spike, and give you the energy to get out of bed and start the day. Cortisol also regulates blood pressure, blood sugar, inflammation, and energy levels. Similarly, later in the day when it gets darker, cortisol levels start to fall and melatonin kicks in. Melatonin is also a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory hormone.
In our modern world where we are often on the constant go it’s very easy to underestimate the healing power of sleep. Despite the fact that we often think it is a passive activity, sleep is a very active time in your body and brain: this is the time to get rid of toxins, and repair cells. Without sleep we cannot get the benefits of autophagy - (from auto, “self” + phage, “eat” ) the body’s natural cleansing process - that is crucial for cancer prevention and longevity. It’s not only important to get enough sleep but to also anchor it to our circadian biology, ideally to the rise and fall of the sun. What I have found helpful is to get outside during daylight. Then there’s the winding down part in the evening: the best way is to stop using electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime. Try for a month, see what happens!
Reconnecting with Hunger Cues
We are all humans and thus, can feel hunger, and have the strangest cravings. In this interesting podcast episode, Dr. Tim Spector explains how our cravings are often driven by our gut microbiome. Likewise, Dr. Cole shares in his book, how our sugar craving microbes make us crave for sugar. This explains why quitting sugar cold turkey can cause us unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, such as headaches, mood swings, and anxiety. Our sugar loving microbes are starving and desperately screaming for more.
Dr. Will Bulsiewicz describes in his book, Fiber Fueled, how we can activate our satiety hormones naturally. Leptin, our satiety hormone, is made by fat cells and responsible for your hunger levels over the long term. Ghrelin is our hunger hormone and signals the brain that we need to eat. Both of these hormones are influenced by your gut and feelings. For instance, stress can increase ghrelin production and decrease leptin, leading a person to overeat. When we eat whole plant foods we get plenty of nutrients and fibre, and we can eat without restriction. Fibre and resistant starches produce SCFAs that trigger the release of satiety hormones. See, there is no need to count calories, macros, and do any crazy measuring things! Our bodies know exactly how to process natural foods and create the right signals when we are full. The problem is ultra-processed foods: they are often stripped of fibre, water, and vital nutrients. By choosing ultra-processed junk we become easily overfed but undernourished.
Nourish Your Gut and Brain
I think it’s important to relearn to eat foods that are healthy and love you back. When you nourish yourself with whole foods you will start to naturally crowd out the highly-processed stuff: your taste buds will change over time and you will feel so much better in your new, nourished body and glowing skin that you just don’t want to consume junk food on a regular basis. You know that you are not going to feel at your best afterwards.
As Dr. Cole writes well in his book, choosing not to eat foods that don’t love you back is not restriction - it’s self-respect. The truth of the matter is that certain foods do cause inflammation and can be toxic for some and hurt their digestion, and make them feel anxious and sad. The ultimate body positivity is about finding what your body loves and needs for wellness and vitality. Food should bring us joy! It should never be about deprivation. Food is medicine, and just in a few weeks you can change your gut health and prevent diseases like cancer.
Protein
Protein (and amino acids that make it up) makes us feel satisfied and builds our muscle, skin, cartilage, bones, and helps to repair our cells and tissues. Even our neurotransmitters are made of amino acids and running too low in protein can affect our brain function and mental health. The right amount of protein depends on your individual health and lifestyle, for instance physical activity and age can affect how much protein we need. The best sources are the ones that you like to eat and which make you thrive and feel satisfied. Personally, I prefer all kinds of plant-based sources: nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains. If you eat mainly or mostly plant-based it’s important to eat a variety of plant-based sources of protein to get all essential amino acids. There are altogether 20 amino acids, 11 of which your body produces naturally and 9 of which you can obtain from food sources. Certain plant foods are regarded as complete sources of protein containing all essential amino acids. These include: soybeans (edamame, tofu, tempeh), quinoa, buckwheat, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and spirulina.
Fats
Have you noticed how much more satisfied you feel after a meal that contains healthy fats? Even studies have shown how low fat diets are more likely to lead to depression and mental health issues. Fat is needed for hormones, healthy inflammation levels, metabolism, and for our brain health.
Thank goodness the fat-free era is over but the quality of fats still matters. The healthiest types of fats are monounsaturated fats (MUFAs): examples include olive oil and avocado oil. Then there are polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs) which can be a bit confusing. The healthiness of PUFAs depends on how they are made. More natural PUFAs are found in fatty fish, nuts, and seeds, whereas processed PUFAs can be in things like canola, soybean, and other processed vegetable oils that are high in omega-6 fatty acids. Most of us consume too much omega-6 fats and get too little essential omega-3 fatty acids. It’s estimated that our omega-3 and omega-6 ratio used to be 1:1, but today in a western diet the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 can be 20:1 or higher in favour of omega-6!
Also saturated fats are a little bit controversial. Honestly, I don’t know what my opinion here is because I do not consume them that much. My main sources of saturated fats are coconut oil, coconut milk, and dark chocolate. Recently there has been more and more research showing that saturated fats from whole food sources aren’t as dangerous as we have been told.
The worst type of fats are trans fats that cause inflammation throughout the body. We should avoid these at all costs. They appear on food labels as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, and often hide in processed and packaged foods like cookies, cakes, and potato chips. And these are often used in fast food restaurants - another reason for starting to cook more at home!
For cooking I prefer using extra virgin olive oil (low in omega-6) as well as coconut oil. I always choose organic, and olive oil must be in a dark-coloured glass bottle to keep it fresh. Again, this cooking oil thing is something that you can hear all kinds of opinions about. But one thing is for sure, avoid cooking at high temperatures to limit carcinogens!
Carbohydrates
Carbs are not your enemy! The issue arises if we eat too much refined and highly processed carbs like added sugar, refined flour, and simple carbs. Focus on healthy, nutrient-rich carbohydrates. Eat a wide variety of organic vegetables and fruits to improve gut bacterial diversity. There are individual differences for sure, and I know that some people cannot tolerate massive amounts of fruit sugar. Typically these people can still eat berries that contain less fructose but deliver a good amount of fibre. Those with more sensitive guts can try more soft, cooked vegetables and avoid kale, beans, and anything too starchy and raw. Beans are tricky because they contain both protein and starch requiring different types of enzymes which makes them difficult to digest.
And avoid artificial sweeteners! Despite having no sugar, studies have shown that they can have sugar-like effects in the body! And some of them like aspartame could cause damage in the brain. Even the World Health Organization now says we should not use artificial sweeteners for weight control.
Movement Heals
As a yoga teacher and Pilates instructor I cannot write a post about metabolism and gut health without mentioning how powerful regular exercise is. Exercise helps mobilise and empty your stomach, which helps digestion. Something just as simple as a fifteen- to thirty-minute walk can bring these benefits and also stabilise blood sugar and reduce triglycerides. And your energy levels and mood are lifted up too. If you are not used to exercise, start walking and taking group classes at new studios. Don’t worry what others think - we have all been there. The best form of exercise is what you like to do consistently, and makes you feel strong and empowered. At the beginning things are often hard and uncomfortable, but after a month or two of regular exercise you will start to feel the difference!
Sending you so much love!
References
Books:
Podcasts:
Rich Roll Ep. 756: Optimize Your Gut to Fight Disease with Tim Spector