How to Have Metabolic Flexibility

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://health-of-it.com/2020/04/24/how-to-have-metabolic-flexibility/ What is Metabolic Flexibility? Metabolic flexibility refers to how efficiently your body can switch between using carbs or fats for fuel. Simply put, are you a fat burner or a sugar burner? Being metabolically flexible has been shown to improve overall health and wellness by boosting insulin sensitivity, reducing the risk of disease, and training your body to adapt to the different metabolic demands you put on it every meal. Metabolic inflexibility is the limited ability to switch from one fuel source to the other. If you are metabolically inflexible generally you feel pretty poor: fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, poor sleep, low mood or depression, poor cognitive function, and shortness of breath. Over 90 million people are pre-diabetic. Do you find it hard to finish the tasks at hand? Do you take frequent coffee breaks for caffeine-induced energy? Do you get frustrated easily? Do you have trouble sleeping? Are you always hungry? Do you have a lot of cravings? If so then you may have an inflexible metabolism. Fasted Cardio, Intermittent Fasting, and eating to keep insulin levels low. All food you eat regardless can spark the release of insulin. Insulin is a factor in deciding which fuel source your body uses. When insulin levels are low, your body likes to burn fat. When insulin levels are high, your body likes to burn carbs and store fat. I follow the M.A.D.E. diet. The MADE diet is a lifestyle plan that incorporates moderate protein, adequate fat, and decreased carbs. Fasted Cardio means cardiovascular exercise with little to no glycogen stored. Meaning doing cardio when you have not had calories for at least 10-12 hours. Intermittent Fasting is simply don’t eat first thing in the morning and stopping eating 3 hours before you go to bed. So the longer the fasting period, the more your body has to tap into its fat reserves. Start with 12/12 Eat 12 hours fast 12 hours. Do that for one week then go to 14/10 for one week and then 16/8.