METABOLIC RISK

People often use “metabolism” to describe how they can eat anything and not gain weight; or struggle to keep the pounds off no matter how strict their diet and how much they exercise. However, metabolism has specific meaning when it comes to our health. 

Metabolism means how efficiently our bodies convert food we eat into the energy we need. From keeping our hearts beating, to running a marathon, our bodies need energy.

Our bodies turn food we eat into a molecule called glucose (or sugar). Through a complex process, the amount of sugar in our blood signals our pancreas to produce “insulin”. Insulin helps sugar in our bloodstream get into our cells where it converts to the energy we need for our daily lives. We eat, our body produces insulin, and glucose moves into our cells. However, our metabolism can be impacted by many factors; types of food, environment, mental stress, fat and muscle composition, or simply age.

 

When our metabolism gets less efficient, glucose does not effectively move into our cells, and we can be exposed to Metabolic Risk.

Our body then reacts by producing more insulin. However, our cells can eventually become increasingly resistant to the influence of insulin, known as “insulin resistance.”

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Insulin resistance, if not addressed, can lead to many chronic illnesses, like diabetes, atherosclerosis, heart disease, and even dementia and Alzheimer’s. 

Metabolic Risk begins years before we notice symptoms because our body compensates, working even harder to deliver the energy we need. We don’t realize our Metabolic Risk until an illness is diagnosed. In fact, 8 out of every 10 people live with Metabolic Risk and do not know it!