Imagine consistently working out, tracking your meals, and consciously going to bed earlier. Then you step on the scale and realize you actually gained weight! How is that possible? After we turn 20, our metabolism slows down by 2-3 percent each decade. Understanding our metabolic health is essential to comprehending our overall health and well-being. Our metabolism covers every living cell in our body. A healthy metabolism ensures the body processes food without negatively affecting sugar levels, cholesterol, insulin, and inflammation. When your metabolism is balanced, it can optimize your mood, energy level, sleep quality, stress, and mental health. If your metabolism is out of whack, then problems can arise – like high cholesterol, body fat, high blood pressure, or worse.
As a holistic nutritionist, I love sharing ways to improve and maintain your metabolic health, especially when we are all surrounded by to-do lists, crash diets, rich foods, added sugar, and tempting drinks. These things can all have an impact. Here are my tips for maintaining an optimal metabolism:
- Don’t Forget the Fiber: Not only does fiber aid in elimination, it also feeds into a healthy metabolism. Fiber is essential for nutrient absorption, toxin removal, and overall wellness. I advise my clients to consume 35-40 grams of fiber daily. Most adults don’t get anywhere near this amount, so start slowly and work your way up. After they do this, my clients almost always notice a massive difference in how much they feel better. Easy ways to boost fiber intake are through foods, veggies, seeds, and supplements. Thorne has an amazing prebiotic fiber powder – FiberMend – that helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels, promotes regularity, and supports optimal digestive function.
- Be Prepared with a Digestive Enzyme: The indulgent meals that come with summer reunions can also throw our metabolism out of balance. If you’ve ever dealt with digestive problems, food intolerance, or otherwise, any social gathering can bring a fair amount of food anxiety. You are not alone! Something that helps me immensely is taking a good digestive enzyme with each meal. Digestive enzymes break down food and help eliminate excess fat. I recommend an excellent digestive enzyme supplement to all my clients. My favorite is Thorne’s Bio-Gest.
- Stay Active: By staying active and consciously making an effort to move your body, you can increase your metabolic rate. Building muscle is more metabolically beneficial than fat, which helps speed up your metabolism and maintain a healthy weight. To fully reap the benefits of staying active, eat nutrient-dense, whole foods and make sure you’re consuming enough protein. Thorne carries MediBolic, a multi-vitamin/mineral complex powder that contains 18 grams of protein and 10 grams of fiber. MediBolic helps enhance fat burning, supports normal blood sugar, builds lean muscle, and supports the liver.
- Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate: We currently suffer from an intracellular dehydration epidemic because we’re not consuming enough water. About 70-75 percent of U.S. adults don’t drink enough water daily. Proper hydration is crucial for many reasons: it helps regulate body temperature, prevents infections, delivers nutrients to the cells, speeds up your metabolism, and much more. Easy ways to stay hydrated are eating water-rich foods, trying healthy alternatives to plain water by infusing it with fruits, and being aware of dehydrating foods.
Another great way to jumpstart your journey to a healthy metabolism is to take Thorne’s Weight Management Test. This easy-to-take at-home blood and saliva test provides insights by measuring key biomarkers, such as reproductive hormones, adrenal hormones, blood sugar, vitamin D level, and the thyroid hormones associated with weight management.
I have dealt with multiple clients who suffer from poor metabolism. If you are concerned about your metabolic health, then know I am right there with you. Changing my metabolism truly changed my life, and the same can be true for you, too. You can find more of my favorite Thorne metabolic health supplements here.
