Are You a Sugar Burner or a Fat Burner? (and why metabolic flexibility matters)
While you are going about your daily life, is your body burning fat, or are you running on sugar? With metabolic flexibility, your body can be trained to do both! Here’s why metabolic flexibility is an important benefit of a keto diet.
What is metabolic flexibility?
In a standard American diet, a person consumes a large number of carbohydrates. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends Americans eat grains and fruit at a staggering 50% or more of their daily diet! For the average person, this means your body is constantly using carbohydrates as a primary form of energy.
Alternatively, those who limit carbohydrates and enter into ketosis for an extended period of time use fats as a primary energy source. This, of course, is quite beneficial for those who have weight loss goals!
Metabolic flexibility is the body's ability to use multiple sources of fuel and switch between each seamlessly.
The Benefits of Increased Metabolic Flexibility
So why is metabolic flexibility beneficial?
1 — MORE FAT-BURNING ABILITY
If you follow keto, you are primarily using fat as fuel for your body. But what happens when you decide you want to have a slice of birthday cake or a bowl of pineapple? Or fall off the wagon altogether? When you are metabolically flexible you won’t feel much different! Your body will switch from fat back to glucose as a fuel source, burn the glucose in your system, then switch back to burning fat. (If you have spent any considerable time in ketosis, your body is adept at switching back and forth).
2 — IT CAN SUSTAIN YOUR ENERGY
When you have achieved metabolic flexibility, your body can effortlessly swap between using glucose and fat as a fuel source to power cells and tissues. So no matter what you are doing, whether it's sitting at a desk job or lifting weights at the gym, your body is able to keep up with its energy needs.
In short...no more sugar crashes!
3 — FEWER CRAVINGS
How often do you get an intense longing for a particular food? While cravings are common, they aren't normal. In fact, a craving signals that your hormones are imbalanced, which is why women may experience this more during menstrual cycles or pregnancy.
When your body is metabolically flexible, cravings are considerably reduced.
How to Get Metabolic Flexibility
All of the above sounds great, right? So, how do we get there?
Thankfully, achieving metabolic flexibility is a lot more simple than you might think. The best way to retrain your body and heal your metabolism is to:
1 — Eat a ketogenic-friendly diet.
This will help your body move from glucose as a primary fuel source and begin using fat instead. Ketosis prepares your body for metabolic flexibility because it gives your body an alternative energy source that can be used to power cells and tissues.
2 — Start intermittent fasting.
Simply pick a period of the day to eat and drink nothing besides water. Then designate an eating window (typically 8 hrs or less) to consume all your food in. This is called intermittent fasting (IF) because you are taking in calories only intermittently, instead of every single hour of the day.
3 — It's important to note that everybody is different, and it's best to find a plan tailored to your specific situation and needs.
If you aren't sure where to begin or want help reaching metabolic flexibility, book a free 15 minute consult with me!