Imagine your metabolism allowed you to eat what you could when you were 15?
According to holistic nutrition coach and author Kate Deering (http://katedeering.com/), you can get your youthful metabolism back—or at least you can speed it up despite your age. In fact, she wrote a book about it called: “How to heal your metabolism: Stop blaming aging for your slowing metabolism.” (http://katedeering.com/book/)
In her book, she explains how to eat the right foods to increase your metabolism, how to eat more and still lose weight, as well as why your current fitness regimen might actually be decreasing your metabolism.
I would have been immediately suspicious of her book’s claims when I read the review had it not been recommended to me by a very trusted source. And when I dug a little deeper, it became obvious that this woman has science to back her claims. Specifically, much of her philosophies stem from various doctors who study health-related topics, from hormones to disease, to diet and nutrition—including Dr. Ray Peat, Dr. Broda Barnes, Dr. Constance Martin, Dr. Han Selye, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov, Josh Rubin and Danny Roddy.
What Deering basically does it take the long-winded and difficult-to-decipher research done by the experts and writes in a way that’s digestible and relatable to the average reader.
Here are some of the important points she makes:
As we age, we start to accept the fact that our metabolism is slowing. Along with this, our energy levels drop, our skin wrinkles, we gain fat and lose muscle, and our sex drive diminishes (among other things).
The thing about metabolism, though, is that a high metabolism is linked to so much more than just age. It’s linked to a lack of disease, good quality sleep, a healthy sex drive, good digestion, a lean body, healthy skin, as well as emotional measurements like happiness and well-being.
So while it’s impossible to slow time down to keep us young, Deering explains that we can heal our metabolism by focusing on things related to metabolism that we can control. Namely:
Workout intelligently (This doesn’t mean workout more. In fact, working out too much, she said, especially cardiovascular training, can actually slow your metabolism because it puts too much stress on your body)
- Eat in a way that supports our bodies positively (see below for some of her nutrition tips)
- Reduce stress (If you look into Dr. Ray Peat’s research, you will discover stress plays perhaps the biggest role in determining how healthy we are)
- Get good sleep
Here are some highlights from Deering’s nutritional philosophies:
- Sugar is misunderstood:
Contrary to the big ‘sugar is evil’ campaign that is sweeping our world today, Deering said this: “People have to understand that sugar is the body’s best source of energy,” she said on this podcast (http://www.barenakedhealthpodcast.com/how-to-heal-your-metabolism-with-kate-deering/).
The problem is, current studies are based on overconsumption of sugar, Deering said. But over-consuming anything, even water or oxygen, can cause us problems, she added. So it comes down to knowing how and when to eat sugar in a way it helps your body generate energy. For her, this means consuming sugar with nutrition (usually this means eating it with fat and protein).
- Be careful with any deprivation diet:
Be it low-carb, low-fat, or low-calorie, people go on them because they produce fast results, Deering explained. But often the quick results come from the fact that they also reduce the highly-processed foods they use to eat. In the long term, though, Deering said these deprivation diets can be counterproductive to our health.
Her rule is this:
If you’re feeling deprived of something, or are experiencing cravings, it’s probably not the right diet for you.
- Organ meats over muscle meats
Deering is a proponent of all thing’s seafood, as well as organ meats. That’s right—liver is better than a chicken leg, she said.
The problem with too much muscle meat is the composition of amino acids in muscle meats have inflammatory characteristics, she explained. That being said, Deering added that she has discovered healthier people can generally eat more muscle meat. It also helps to stick to grass-fed meat.
- Reduce the stress in your life
Stress if highly linked to thyroid function. In other words, stress slows thyroid function, and when this happens, hormonal function decreases, muscle mass decreases, digestion function decreases, metabolism decreases—the list goes on. The key to improving all of this, she said, is to take the stress out of your life.
For more, check out Deering’s website here (http://katedeering.com/).
