Our lives
have become so modern and convenient that sometimes it's hard to imagine what
it was like when food was not fast, easy, and readily available. But our
ancestors had a very different experience, often going for long periods without
eating. As such, their bodies had to be prepared and evolved to be able to
withstand harsh conditions and long periods of time without food.
They did
this through metabolic flexibility. And to be clear, metabolic flexibility is
the body's ability to shift back and forth between using glucose (from
carbohydrates) and fatty acids (from fat) for fuel.
This is how your body fuels itself.
The human
metabolism is a complex system, but here's what you need to know to understand
how our bodies use food to produce energy: When we eat (especially
carbohydrate-loaded foods) our insulin levels rise, which stimulates our cells
to take in glucose. Then, the cell's mitochondria will use the glucose to make
ATP, or energy. Any glucose that is excessive of what the body needs will then
get stored as glycogen, and any fat that isn't utilized gets stored as well
(via a process called lipogenesis). During periods of fasting or starvation,
the body calls upon this stored energy. And the longer the fasting period, the
more the body will eventually revert to lipolysis, or the breakdown of fat to
fatty acids to use for fuel.
You can
train your metabolism to keep you healthy and fit.
If you can't
go for long periods without eating, feel like you need to take a big snooze
after a meal, feel lethargic more often than not, or you have a hard time
losing weight despite dieting—you may be experiencing metabolic inflexibility.
The good news is that even for those individuals who are genetically
predisposed to metabolic inflexibility, changing lifestyle behaviors and
feeding times can actually help to reset the body. Here are four ways to take
charge of your metabolism and regain metabolic flexibility:
Author: Dr. Eva Selhub
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