Your "Fast" Metabolism

Food is information for the body. And the Standard American Diet (SAD) is full of inflammatory foods: dairy, grains, gluten, and soy. All of these trigger cytokines and inflammation. Cytokines released after receiving signals from our food intake turn off and on genes, a part of modifying gene expression. Mitochondria, a product of gene expression, are the organelles in our cells that set our metabolism. Good nutrition will allow them to function optimally. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a result of systemic inflammation, high blood sugar, an increase in insulin production, and leptin resistance. The SAD contributes to mitochondria that do not process fuel efficiently, and eventually we gain weight.
What to eat when our food sources seem deficient, and our bodies are confounded with misinformation?
We need to reset our liver metabolism and heal our tired mitochondria. There are a few basic tenants: stick to real food (organic when you can swing it), go 10-12 hours without eating, eat a plant-based diet, limit sugar, too much spice, and foods that cause inflammation. By repairing our mitochondria, they oxidize our food and produce ATP, the energetic currency in our bodies.

Time restricted eating allows your mitochondria to function at full capacity. During a window of fasting, the liver uses up glycogen stores and turns to fat stores for energy. In its essence, it mimics severe caloric restriction without you actually starving. In a fed state, the process of glycolysis stores glycogen in the liver, which can be converted to triglycerides. Elevated triglycerides and fatty liver disease are both evidence that this is occurring. The fasted state converts our metabolism to fat break down as an energy source (lipolysis). It also elevates human growth hormone and decreases insulin levels. Fasting a minimum of 10-12 hours at night is a great way to implement this. A few times a week, lengthen the duration of the fast to anywhere from 12 to 24 hours.

But if caloric restriction and increased exercise was the whole story, then the weight loss problem that so many people experience would not be so difficult. Environmental toxins can act as “obesegens”, or mimic hormones that impede weight loss and slow lipolysis and fat oxidation. Obesegens can also lead to the depression of leptin, the “satiety hormone”, encouraging fat cells to store fat and the brain to be unresponsive to signals of fullness. There are different degrees of sensitivity to these compounds, depending on how well our body processes hormones in our liver. For a partial list of common obesegens, see the footnotes.

The switch from fat storage to fat oxidation for energy happens in the liver. A liver that is overworked by environmental toxins, inflammation, or excessive carbohydrate intake will be sluggish in making this switch. A sure sign of a sluggish liver is caffeine sensitivity. If you have a coffee after lunch and you are still wired in the evening, you most likely have an inefficient liver. Herbs can help speed liver processing time and help make the switch from glycolysis to lipolysis. Removing toxins, obesegens, and inflammatory foods also speed the transition and lead to weight loss. Another herbal bonus: many herbs help repair mitochondria and increase oxidation rates, giving you more ATP and more energy.