Three keys to optimizing metabolism: stress, sleep and diet

Metabolism is responsible not only for weight gain and loss, but also for immune system function, energy levels, mood and emotional health, hormonal balance, skin quality, shape of the body, the elimination… In fact, all the functions that you can imagine in the body, physiological or mental, can be related to some metabolic process. Therefore, conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart failure, chronic inflammation, depression, and even epilepsy can all (and many more!) be related to an underlying metabolic problem.

In truth, we metabolize much more than what we eat and drink. We metabolize our own hormones and the waste created as by-products of physiological processes (including metabolism itself). And of course we metabolize thoughts and emotions (some of which are often very toxic) the same way we metabolize food and drink.

At first glance, metabolism turns out to be at the center of our physical, mental, and emotional health. Therefore, to optimize health, we must optimize metabolism. Importantly, there are three equally important factors to consider to improve metabolism: stress, sleep, and diet.

Stress creates free radicals, that is, more waste to be metabolized. The other problem with stress is that it activates the fight and flight mechanism that leads to the shutdown of healthy metabolic pathways. As a result, blood sugar and insulin levels rise, causing us to store more fat (and fat cells, in turn, latch on to more physical and emotional toxins). Therefore, de-stressing practices such as meditation, physical exercise, and some form of therapy are crucial to maintaining optimal metabolic health.

Lack of sleep also raises blood sugar and insulin levels and prevents the parasympathetic nervous system from activating. So, instead of the parasympathetic sleep-digest-metabolize-repair mode, we stay in the fight and flight mode which, as already explained, leads to the storage of fats and toxins. To avoid that, make sure you are asleep no later than 11 pm and get at least 8 hours of sleep.

Last but not least, diet. Now, there’s a way to eat to increase metabolic heat, and there’s a way to eat to destroy it. If you want to help your metabolism, you need to stay away from: sugar (especially fructose, which is highly fattening and inflammatory), flour and starch, polyunsaturated fats (especially seed oils), alcohol, and cigarettes. You should also stay away from snacking: limiting your food intake to two or three meals a day will boost your metabolism and help you burn your own fat and toxins; constant grazing, on the other hand, will do the opposite. Lastly, don’t eat after 7pm because anything you put in your mouth after that time is stored as visceral fat around your organs (the worst fat of all).

In conclusion, eat well, love and pray, and sleep, and you will feel and look beautiful inside and out.