Metabolism Part 2 - Understanding Your Metabolism - Part 2!

This are three remaining facts of Understanding Your Metabolism!

4. Do not fear Fat

A lot of people are afraid of eating fats because they associate them with instant weight gain. Eating only carbohydrates a no sufficient amount of meat and fats can set off an insulin release, causing blood sugar to dip. You can not avoid fats and stay healthy, because fat is an energy source, your body needs a certain amount to function efficiently.

Your body cannot make essential fatty acids, which are omega-6 and omega-3. A deficiency of essential fatty acids will produce symptoms such as dry and scaly skin, dermatitis, and hair loss.

The type of fats that you eat is the most important factor in weight loss and good health.

You should at least eat 40 percent low-glycemic carbohydrates, 30 percent protein, and 30 percent fats.

5. Controlling your insulin is important for weight loss

The most efficient way to reduce body fat and promote metabolic effectiveness is to normalize your body’s ability to manage insulin. Effectively managing insulin is based on four factors:

1. The complexity and the amount of time it takes to digest the food

2. The efficiency of your metabolism

3. Your fat/muscle ratio

4. The amount and type of physical activity and exercise you engage in

Since muscle tissue is metabolically active and fat just basically sits there, the fatter you are, the less metabolically active your body will be. There are two major situations in which a person develops a high fat/muscle ratio: the first can occur at any age and is related to high levels of stress, poor eating habits, and low levels of exercise or no exercise. The second is a natural but reversible process called sarcopenia that develops with age. Sarcopenia is basically the wasting of muscle and the gain in body fat that result from lack of exercise.

Insulin is the hormone involved in storing energy from the foods that we eat. When there is an excess of energy-giving foods in a meal, especially carbohydrates, the body will secrete insulin in great quantities. Any nutrients that cannot be used at that time will be stored. Insulin affects excess proteins by promoting amino acid uptake by cells. Insulin causes excess carbohydrates to be stored as glycogen in the liver, muscles, and circulatory system until they are needed between meals when glucose levels drop. All of the excess carbohydrates that cannot be stored as glycogen are converted into fat and stored in the fat tissues.

Since the fat cells of an overweight individual are more receptive to insulin than the muscle cells, this is where much of the remaining glucose eventually gets deposited. A vicious cycle is created, causing even more fat gain, that is, the more overweight a person becomes, and the more excess carbohydrates will be converted into fat storage.

Glycemic index

The glycemic index rates foods according to the speed at which they are digested and converted to energy or stored. Foods with a low glycemic index are more complex and require burning more calories to digest them. Foods with a high glycemic index digest quickly; therefore, if they are not burned during daily activities, they are usually stored as fat.

6. Be physically active

If you are not physically active, you will begin to gain weight. It’s that simple.

A lot of people think that metabolism slows as you get older. It is not your metabolic processes that are slowing down, however; it is your lifestyle and level of activity.

A certain amount of inactivity is directly related to the fact that more than 50 percent of all Americans are now living in urban environments where being active outdoors is not necessarily a part of daily life.

To create metabolic efficiency, you need to engage in at least twenty to thirty minutes of exercise at least three times per week.

Posted in: Mens Health,Nutrition,Weight Loss,Womens Health