Metabolic Health
Getting your energy and vitality back
A pro-metabolic approach is about eating nutrient-dense, easily digested foods that help your metabolic rate run high, so that you have the energy to live a full life and to heal. It is living and eating in a way that supports your metabolic function.
A metabolic approach also looks at stress and its damaging effects on metabolism. How and when and what we eat and exercise can help to mitigate the stress in our life.
This way to approaching our health also looks at the types of exercise we do, and whether it helps or dampens our metabolic rate.
It is a wholistic approach based on solid science.
It is also really the only practical way to work with any weight issues, because finding the right amount of calories you need to eat to have energy, keep your metabolism running high AND lose some weight, if overweight, is a balancing act. The old way of starving ourselves does not work long term- this way is much kinder.
If you suspect your thyroid is slow, your adrenals are tired, your metabolic rate is sluggish….there is so much we can do about that.
Everyone can benefit from using a metabolic lense to view their health and vitality, not just those with metabolic syndrome. In particular, women who wish to get fitter and healthier, lose some weight, women going through menopause, or those who wish to thrive into a healthy old age, can all benefit from a metabolic approach.
Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of conditions that tend to occur together, which to some extent can be related to certain constitutional types, but for many can also be lifestyle and diet related. These conditions can tend to creep up on us as we get older, and can be associated with insulin resistance, being overweight, and possibly being too sedentary.
Risk factors include:
Age- risk increases with age
Ethnicity- certain ethnicities have higher rates of metabolic syndrome
Obesity- especially around the abdomen
Diabetes- if you have a family history or had gestational diabetes
Other disease- such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovary syndrome and sleep apnea increase the risk.
Complications include
Type 2 diabetes- insulin resistance can eventually lead to T2 diabetes if you don’t make lifestyle and diet changes
Heart disease- high cholesterol and high blood pressure can contribute to a build up of plaque in your arteries which leads to them becoming more narrow and hard. This can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Naturopathy has many effective approaches and modalities for helping with metabolic syndrome, and preventing its outcomes.