What is a Metabolism?

Your God designed metabolism is just as unique as your finger print. Tuning into this truth will empower you to break free from getting stuck in an endless pursuit of trying to find the "perfect diet," and constantly falling prey to predatory marketing schemes promising a quick fix, miracle "pill" or "one size fits all approach."

Let's Explore Metabolic Health:

First of all, What does Metabolism even mean? According to the Oxford dictionary, it is: “The chemical processes in living things that change food, into energy and materials for growth." In the human body it consists of anabolism (the build up of substances) and catabolism (the breakdown of substances). Our God Designed body has basic metabolic laws that govern it when it comes to digestion, absorption, assimilation, using food as fuel, blood sugar regulation, and burning fat. But when it comes to metabolic health. that does not mean that we are all the same. There is a reason there are SO many dietary approaches out there. Each person has unique needs. How we eat can either help or harm this process.

What Type of Diet Should I Eat to Support My Metabolism?

This is a FAQ I constantly receive. The answer? It depends! In my opinion, one of the most intriguing books out there on this topic is the work of Dr. Gonzalez in the book Nutrition and the Autonomic Nervous System. He was a holistic oncologist, but also treated chronic fatigue + diabetes. This book consists of complied work of different professionals who found that that their patients required different dietary approaches depending on their nervous system dominance. And reaching optimal health involved helping the body reach autonomic balance. An example of this would be:

If a woman is sympathetic dominant and her body constantly receives a message of danger, she will typically suffer with poor digestion, food intolerances, ulcers, colitis, irritable bowel, chronic ingestion, and even hiatal hernias due to the fact that the when sympathetic nerves fire, the entire digestive system is impacted and slowed down because the body is prioritizing survival.

Her sympathetic system shifts her metabolism to equip the body to deal with a stressful event. As a result, heart output increases, to provide a quick flow of oxygen, energy, and nutrients where it is needed most: to the brain for quick thinking, and to the muscles for rapid physical response. Digestion is not crucial in a moment of stress, so the body does not prioritize it in order to conserve energy for more essential needs.

This is helpful in an emergency. But not helpful in every day life when a woman is trying to lose weight, have energy, + live optimally.

On the flip side, if a woman's God designed body is parasympathetic dominant, it can result in low adrenal and low thyroid function, due to weak sympathetic tone.

This can often lead to a diminished capacity to deal with acute stress, and as a result of low endocrine output, and easily lead to being overweight. On top of that, even minor stresses can feel exhausting. This is often a state of burn out.

A third group that was found in the work of Dr. Gonzalez were found to have a balanced system + equally strong and equally efficient sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves. The balanced group had a personality profile between the two extremes.

They dealt with stress efficiently but were not overly reactive; disciplined when needed, they could also be creative. Their digestive and endocrine systems were very efficient, neither overly strong nor weak. Of the three groups, balanced patients were the most resilient and generally healthiest. If stressed enough, they could suffer illnesses of either the sympathetic or the parasympathetic group but usually in a less severe form.

I share these examples to say, in my opinion, getting in tune with your nervous system and allowing it to be the foundation by which you build your nutrition, is the best approach. By identifying if you have been living in a sympathetic dominant state or a parasympathetic dominant state, you can equip yourself to make metabolic nutrition choices accordingly. This is not an exhaustive list, just an example:

Parasympathetic Dominant:

• Tend to be sensitive to a higher carb diet + struggle with insulin resistance + need a focus on a diet higher in animal protein, fat, + root veggies due to the amounts of b vitamins, choline, + b 12, selenium, + zinc. Sometimes sensitive to magnesium.

• Sympathetic Dominant:

  • Tend to tolerate carbs more efficiently but need to add in foods rich in magnesium + potassium. Tend to tolerate leafy greens + citrus fruit + raw foods, but often struggle with red meat.

Our body thrives when we build the capacity to stay physiologically balanced and avoid being take captive by sympathetic dominance. Dr Gonzalez for example, knew that our autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its branches, the sympathetic and parasympathetic, run our bodies and his work showed that depending on the food that we ingest and the lives we live, we can change our autonomic balance for better or for worse. The take away here is that cultivating that balance is unique to you.

"Should I Have Testing Done?"

It is true that HTMA, saliva, urine, + blood labs can help you dive deeper into your metabolic health. But it is also true that many women are spending thousands of money on labs + supplements without prioritizing foundational work like mindset, perception, spiritual health, + stress (all of which contribute to sympathetic or parasympathetic dominance) and also failing to tune into how THEIR unique body responds to food. This is often due to the over abundance of conflicting information on the internet. Before spending thousands of money on testing + fancy supplements, I would encourage you to tune into your daily rhythms + body's current messages via symptoms first. If you want a guided program on learning the language of your nervous system, check out my course Aligned + Renewed.

You can learn more about Dr. Gonzalez work by checking out his book Nutrition and the Autonomic Nervous System.