What does metabolic health mean?
Have you ever heard the term " metabolic health " and wondered what it actually means?
Since the concept of metabolic health is still quite new, there is no official definition yet.
But that does not mean that there is not also one’s own understanding of it.
So what do the experts say?
Definition of metabolic health
Experts define metabolic health as the absence of metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, elevated blood lipids and blood sugar levels.
Simply put, metabolic health means your body can digest and absorb nutrients from food without causing unhealthy spikes in blood sugar, blood lipids, inflammation, and insulin.
When we look at the opposite, "unhealthy metabolic function" or "metabolic unhealth," it becomes even clearer why we strive for healthy metabolism.
So, if a body is metabolically unfit, this can manifest itself in various reactions. Some people's bodies have more difficulty preventing blood sugar and insulin levels from spiking after eating, while others experience high blood lipid levels for extended periods after eating. Other people have problems with both blood sugar and blood lipid levels.
Why is it important to have a healthy metabolism?
Moderate fluctuations in blood sugar, insulin, and blood lipid levels after eating are normal and part of your body's way of digesting and responding to food.
An occasional spike in blood sugar or prolonged elevated blood lipid levels doesn't cause immediate harm. But over time, these events accumulate and cause an unhealthy metabolic response.
Over time, these unhealthy reactions to food can lead to chronic inflammation, atherosclerosis, problems with insulin production, and possibly weight gain.
If your metabolism is not healthy, you are likely to experience severe fluctuations in blood lipid, blood sugar, and insulin levels after eating, as well as diet-induced inflammation.
This is not good for your health and increases your risk of metabolic syndrome and metabolic diseases.
To help you achieve your metabolic health, we would like to explain a few more terms.
So let’s start with metabolism.
Metabolism (also called metabolism)
Metabolism is a chemical process in your body that allows you to live, such as breaking down food and drink into fuel for your body.
With a healthy metabolism, the body is able to change its fuel usage, switching from fats to carbohydrates and vice versa. This is very helpful and necessary to avoid running out of energy if you don't eat for a while. It also helps you exercise without having to eat a large portion of pasta every time.
This switching between energy resources gives rise to a new term.
Metabolic flexibility
Metabolic flexibility describes how well your body is able to switch between energy sources and depends heavily on the availability of carbohydrates in our bodies. In short, a healthy metabolism is able to switch the fuel source from fat to carbohydrates, maintaining a perfect balance between glucose and fat storage and utilization.
The first signs that metabolic flexibility is not ideal are mid-day energy drops, sleepiness after eating, and the urge to snack immediately after a meal.
How does our body choose its energy source?
This is a delicate and well-coordinated process. Most of the time (except during low to moderate physical activity), your cells prefer available carbohydrates (glucose) as their preferred fuel source. Between meals or at night, for example, your cells begin to use fat for fuel because they detect no glucose supply, and therefore switch energy sources. This is often referred to as fasting.
If you've ever used a continuous glucose monitor, you may have noticed that your blood sugar levels remain fairly stable overnight —even without eating. This is because your body switches its energy source to fat to avoid completely depleting glucose stores.
How can you improve your metabolic health and flexibility?
You may have already guessed, as with many things that boost your health: diet and exercise are key to improving your metabolic flexibility and metabolic health.
A healthy, balanced diet with few to no snacks between meals has been proven to have a positive effect on your metabolism. We also recommend choosing healthy carbohydrates instead of avoiding them. And alongside all that healthy eating, you should exercise daily. Ideally, this should be a combination of varying exercise intensities and strength training.
If you want to know how flexible your body's metabolism is, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) can help you look inside your body.
With Hello Inside, you can see how balanced your blood sugar is, even when you're not eating. You might be surprised by the spike in blood sugar after breakfast. We'll help you figure out which foods work best for you. This way, you'll get one step closer to metabolic health and avoid all the unpleasant side effects of an unbalanced metabolism, like midday slumps, weight gain, or cardiovascular disease. Ready?
