Each of us has the ability to burn fat and sugar for energy–we need each capacity. When we were infants, we burned fat very efficiently–this helped develop our brains, muscles, organs, skeletal, and nervous systems. According to the educational series “The Metabolic Factor” by Jonny Boden, PhD many of us have become extremely out of balance in our bodies’ abilities to burn fat. Instead we turn to using sugar as our primary energy source. As a result, we end up storing fat on our bodies and wreaking havoc on our digestive, endocrine, and healing systems.
In his highly readable book, the author explains that there are 5 major reasons why our metabolisms change from burning fat to burning sugar and storing fat. These causes are:
1) diet: a diet high in sugar/processed carbs stimulates a metabolic cascade
2) mental stress: stress increases the hormone cortisol that inhibits the body’s ability to recognize other beneficial hormonal influences while at the same time causing us to store fat
3) movement: too much of the wrong type of exercise coupled with too little daytime movement can be harmful
4) sleep: inadequate and/or poor quality sleep negatively affects the thyroid and other hormones associated with health
5) toxins–toxins in the environment and our foods affect our cells’ abilities to recognize cellular messaging
Good health consists of many factors. When a person is healthy, they look and feel good, are motivated and able to do the things that support their health. Nonetheless, we get mixed messages when it comes to how we should live our lives regarding food, exercise, stress, appearance, etc. Sometimes we think there is a quick diet or easy life change we can make that will fix our health, our appearance, or our mental state. Most times we are disappointed.
By paying attention to the five categories listed above, you can start to make great improvements in your health and well-being. A few things you could try would be a low glycemic diet, a relaxation method such as meditation, walk a bit more throughout the day, get 8 hours of restful sleep a night, and try an epsom salt bath soak. You might just lose weight, improve your health and look and feel better with this approach.
If you have any questions, contact our office. Thanks!