5 Surefire Ways to Ignite Your Energy and Health

The metabolism is a complex system of hundreds of chemical processes that occur throughout the body to ensure normal functioning. It facilitates the conversion of food into energy that the body’s cells can use. In addition, it delves into the body’s energy stores when food is not available.

A healthy metabolism means that the body is responding effectively to food, using and storing it as needed. Good metabolic health is essential as it prevents illnesses and plays a crucial role in how we feel and function.

Metabolic health is associated with various risk factors such as metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and more. Good metabolic health involves markers of blood sugar regulation, triglycerides, blood pressure, and waist circumference.

Calorie restriction can slow down the metabolism as the body adapts to use less available energy. In contrast, the metabolism speeds up during times when the body needs lots of repair and energy, such as after a severe injury or intense physical exercise.

In general, metabolic responses become less efficient as we age. The menopause transition has an additional impact on metabolism, which causes women to struggle to maintain a healthy weight, despite eating the same foods.

Improving the efficiency of the metabolism is a multi-pronged affair that involves gut health, nutrition, stress management, muscle health, and other factors. It’s not so much about improving the metabolism as it is about learning to work with it by eating foods that don’t constantly challenge it, moving our body in a way that keeps it strong and flexible, and observing sleep and lifestyle patterns that don’t put it into high alert.