Metabolism: You Are What You Eat

Food is Fuel!

The old saying “You are what you eat” is not just a cliché. It is absolutely true! The best way to look at this metaphor is to view your calories as fuel and your body as the vehicle that needs something to run on.  Just like a car, if you fuel your body with premium fuel, you will get a body that lasts longer, runs more efficiently and gets more mileage out of smaller amounts of eaten calories. However, if you fuel your body with less than nourishing foods, you are in essence wearing it out, depriving it of it’s power and degrading your fuel lines (that in this case would be your circulatory system, digestive system and nervous system.)

Metabolism is the word that describes the process of our bodies breaking down food to obtain energy, which is necessary so that our bodies can create the essential chemicals it needs to function properly. It slows and you gain weight when it is not nourished properly.

Your metabolism basically performs two functions:

1.     Anabolism in which smaller molecules from food are transformed into larger molecules of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

2.     Catabolism in which large molecules are broken down to release energy for muscle function, body temperature regulation and more. Through the process of catabolism, our bodies create waste.

It is your pancreas that decides whether or not a process should be anabolic or catabolic depending on what you have eaten.

Your metabolism also enables thyroxin to be released by the thyroid, which in turns determines how speedy these processes will occur.

This is why good nutrition is so important. You need to consume foods that are rich in the nutrients that your body needs to function optimally such as nitrogen, sulphur, oxygen and hydrogen.

You also need to eat a diet that is balanced with the big four components that make up that quality fuel that your body needs to run on including:

1.     carbohydrates (starch sugar and fibre) that the body converts into glucose for energy

2.     proteins for supplying the amino acids that build the proteins that make up all of our tissues

3.     fats to help form cells, absorb nutrients and reduce inflammation

4.     vitamins and minerals to help body regulate the metabolism so that nutrients are produced so the body runs smoothly

When you revise your lifestyle, by taking part in a Healthy and Active Metabolism Program, you learn what fuels a.k.a. foods are best to fuel your body so that it just doesn’t run, it practically purrs with good health. To learn more about Healthy and Active visit the website.. www. healthy-active.com

M.R.