BayouHealth: HOW TO RAMP UP YOUR METABOLISM THIS SUMMER

Part One: Optimizing Sleep

Summer’s here, which means that diet season is, too! There seems to be no diet too severe for desperate beachgoers hoping to shed some weight and feel more confident in their bathing suits. But if diets just don’t work for you, you aren’t alone. Maybe they helped with fat loss at one time, but if you’ve been a yo-yo dieter for years, it probably seems like nothing you do anymore can cause that weight to budge. All that dieting has probably created a rebound of excess weight gain and an inability to drop it, despite calorie deprivation and hours of exercise. This is because dieting really only serves to slow down your metabolism in the long run, while providing short term results, if any. They key to finally finding and maintaining your healthiest weight doesn’t lie in another calorie deprivation diet, but in building up the efficiency of your metabolism.

If you’re looking for a program that will provide fast results, this isn’t it. Actually, the steps I’m going to outline for you here will help to undo the damage those programs have done on your weary body. Rather than dieting hard this summer, I challenge you to follow along with me and use your summer months to build up your metabolism, so that when back to school season hits again, you’ll be able to effortlessly reach and maintain a healthy weight. Better yet, you’ll have more energy!

This is part one in a three part series in which I’ll walk you through three key steps needed to reboot your metabolism. You’re going to learn how to shut off the emergency switch that has triggered your body to store excess fat and conserve energy, making you feel tired, cranky and overweight. Each part of this series will walk you through one lifestyle element to work on for the month, and by the time the next issue of BayouLife Magazine lands in your driveway, you should have created a new habit surrounding that aspect of your lifestyle and moved closer to rediscovering the metabolism you had once long ago.

Metabolism refers to chemical reactions that happen within every cell of your body to provide energy. The mitochondria are the powerhouses within your cells that combine the nutrients you eat with the oxygen you breathe to create usable energy for your body to burn. The food you eat isn’t usable as fuel just because you ate it! It has to be transformed by these mitochondria into fuel. If your metabolism is sluggish, it means that your mitochondria aren’t doing a great job of converting nutrients into fuel, and more of these nutrients will have to be stored as fat. Your energy levels will suffer and you’ll have a hard time losing weight.

The rate at which your metabolism converts food into fuel isn’t set in stone; it’s variable. It constantly fluctuates and responds to the inputs you give it. If you’ve been on a low calorie diet for a period of time, your metabolism will respond by down regulating. It’s receiving the signal that there isn’t ample food available, so in order to survive, it’s going to store as much as possible to prevent you from becoming malnourished. Rather than creating energy to burn from the limited amount of food you’re getting, your metabolism opts to store that energy as fat.

Imagine that you suddenly lost your job and you only had your spouse’s income to live on, rather than the double income you’re accustomed to. Instead of buying the steak and lobster you’re used to, you’d probably load up on those cheap packs of ramen noodles. You’d start pinching pennies and socking away what you could to be sure you had enough money to cover your bills. Your metabolism reacts the same way to a calorie deficit that you would in a financial deficit; it stops spending energy frivolously, instead socking more away into fat storage to be sure there is enough to cover your survival functions.

Another factor that determines your rate of metabolism is the health of your mitochondria- those powerhouses that turn food into fuel. If they aren’t receiving the nutrients they need in order to function efficiently, they’ll struggle to perform their best. All the nutrients that can’t be converted into fuel by the struggling mitochondria wind up being stored as fat.

To “speed up your metabolism” simply means that you’re making your mitochondria better at converting food into fuel. You do this by giving your body the signal that there’s plenty of energy available to burn and no need to sock any away for emergencies. It’s also important to give your mitochondria the tools they need to be able to efficiently convert nutrients into fuel. The first tool we’re adding to your toolbox this month is sleep.

Sleep is a vital part of your circadian rhythm, which regulates your hormones and neurotransmitters. When in balance, these help your body to function smoothly. When you’re deprived of quality sleep, or aren’t sleeping on a regular schedule, your hormones get out of whack, inflammation builds up in your body, and you can’t convert nutrients into fuel as efficiently.

A sleep schedule that works with your circadian rhythm to promote healthy hormone levels and neurotransmitters follows the cues of the sun. When it gets dark outside, you should begin to feel sleepy and get ready for bed. Lights out should happen no later than 10:30pm in order to prevent that “second wind” that will keep you up into the wee hours of the morning. When the sun rises, you should also begin to stir and wake naturally, feeling well rested and ready to start your day. Does this kind of sleep pattern sound like a wonderful, but distant, memory? Then keep reading! I’m going to give you some important nutritional tips that will encourage your body to achieve quality sleep again.

1. GET ADEQUATE PROTEIN

Dietary protein contains the amino acids required for building the neurotransmitters needed to help your nervous system relax and encourage sleep. For example, tryptophan (along with adequate B vitamins) is required for making serotonin, a neurotransmitter required for normal sleep patterns. Food sources of tryptophan are poultry, salmon, tuna, shellfish, and red meat, along with soybeans, brown rice, cottage cheese, peanuts and sesame seeds.

Another neurotransmitter, called GABA, inhibits over-activity in the brain and decreases anxiety and stress. It has a calming effect on the nervous system, and insufficient levels make sleeping difficult. GABA production requires the amino acid taurine, which is only available in seafood, red meat and, eggs. Ensuring that you get daily servings of taurine containing foods in the diet can decrease anxiety and the production of stress hormones that may prevent you from being able to rest.

Eating protein at every meal from a variety of high quality animal sources will ensure you’re getting the amino acids needed to build these, and other, important neurotransmitters. Your body can’t use vegetarian sources of protein as efficiently as it can use animal sources, so if you’re a vegetarian, you’ll need to eat more total protein to get the same physiological effects. Include a wide variety of plant proteins, and if needed, explore supplementing with amino acids with your healthcare provider.

2. EAT CARBOHYDRATES WITH DINNER

If you have a hard time falling asleep, try adding a source of complex carbs into your evening meal, especially if you’re a low-carb dieter. Many people find that falling asleep at night can be a challenge as a side effect of low carb diets. This effect seems to be even more pronounced in women.

Dietary carbs activate a pathway in the brain, called the orexin pathway, that makes you feel sleepy. There are pharmaceutical sleep aids that work by directly targeting the orexin pathway. Just add in some sweet potato or whole grains to your evening meal and see if it helps you drift off more easily.

3. INCLUDE MAGNESIUM RICH FOODS

Magnesium is an essential nutrient, which means your body can’t create it and must get it from your diet. It’s required for the proper functioning of hundreds of enzymes, plays a role in the metabolism of food, and is necessary for muscle relaxation and calming the nervous system. If you’re under stress, eat sugar, drink alcohol, and/or exercise, your body is using a lot of magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is rampant in our culture and can lead to muscle spasms, constipation and insomnia, to name only a few possible symptoms.

Good food sources of magnesium include sunflower seeds, almonds, sesame seeds, spinach, cashews, black beans, black eyed peas, kidney beans and brown rice. It may also be helpful to supplement with magnesium, but read the label and look for forms that end in “-ate” because they’re better utilized by your body. For example, choose magnesium glycinate or magnesium citrate over magnesium oxide. It’s best to take the supplement in the evening, because it can have a relaxing effect, which is exactly what you’re after! As always, check with your healthcare provider before supplementing, because magnesium may interfere with other pharmaceuticals.

Certain forms of magnesium supplementation can lead to diarrhea if too high of a dose is used, especially with magnesium citrate. To be able to get enough magnesium in your system, it’s a great idea to also absorb it through your skin! Applying magnesium gels or creams is a way of bypassing your digestive system to get that magnesium directly into your tissue. Epsom salts are also high in magnesium, so adding them to your tub and soaking for twenty minutes is a great way to increase your levels.

4. GET ADEQUATE SUN EXPOSURE

The area of you brain responsible for sleep has a high concentration of vitamin D3 receptors. If these receptors aren’t filling up on the D3 they’re looking for, the sleep-wake cycle will be disrupted. The best way to fill up on this nutrient is with exposure to the sun. This is the most usable form of D3 for your body!

To obtain adequate amounts of D3, a general rule of thumb is to get outside and let the sun hit your skin for about 15 minutes several times per week. Taking a walk with your arms exposed, without sunscreen, should do the trick! If you have a dark complexion, you may require more sun exposure, while lighter complexions may require less. Just pay attention to your skin- getting a slight color change indicates that you’ve had enough exposure, but don’t expose your skin long enough to burn. In addition to getting the D3 you need, daily sun exposure will also help your body regulate it’s circadian rhythm, which helps you release your sleep/ wake hormones at the appropriate times.

Taking a D3 supplement is also an option, but it’s always a good idea to have your levels checked by your healthcare provider and let them guide you on the appropriate amount of supplementation. Research has shown that D3 levels below 50ng/ml will disrupt sleep, but so will levels that exceed 80ng/dl. It’s important to have your blood levels tested to ensure you remain within that sweet spot.

OTHER TIPS

Lastly, here are some other simple tips to ensure you get the best quality sleep you can.

• Avoid alcohol before bed. It may help you fall asleep quickly but disrupts your natural sleep patterns, leading to less restorative sleep.
• Finish your last meal 2-3 hours before bed and don’t eat anything else. Eating close to bedtime can lead to blood sugar crashes during the night that will disrupt sleep. In addition, it forces your body to divert energy away from the restorative processes that should be happening in order to work on digesting that food. Instead of snacking after dinner, try sipping on herbal tea that includes chamomile, lavender, and/or valerian; herbs that are known to help promote relaxation and sleep.
• Avoid screen time from your phone, computer or TV within two hours of bed. Studies have shown that exposure to this type of light delays the release of melatonin, a sleep hormone, making it difficult to fall asleep. Try taking a walk after dinner, soaking in the bath, or reading a book instead.
• Sleep in a cool, dark room. The ideal temperature for inducing sleep is between 60-67 degrees. Be sure there are no lights, even from digital devices, as they can disrupt your sleep hormones.

Taking the time to prioritize your sleep patterns is a very important step in maintaining hormonal balance and optimizing your metabolism. In fact, a healthy sleep pattern is often the first thing I look at with clients who are struggling to lose weight! Incorporate the tips outlined here to set the foundation for a more efficient metabolism, and next month, we’ll dive into the next step in the process!