Metabolism vs. Gut Health

Matthew Gates 4m 996 #guthealth

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

For most of my life, I have had the unpleasure of being overweight for as long as I can remember. I am sure before I was 8 or 9 years old, I was probably a cute somewhat skinny kid, but after 10, I had known and felt I was overweight. I didn’t really understand it then, but it did make me unhappy. If I was a happy kid, the children at school often let me know that I should be otherwise. Fortunately for me, and keeping in touch with many of them through Facebook, they’ve all gained some weight, likely due to the many challenge I spent my entire life battling, whereas this may be all new to them, or they may not even care.

It is quite a challenge when you live in the modern world, which was still developing in the fast food area when I was a kid. However, a parent grabbing fast food on their way home or even stopping on the way was more than just a treat: it was dinner. Not to mention the other delicious foods that most kids have no business eating at all, but their parents willingly feed them, because they are usually not educated about the dangers of this type of processed food, either.

Throughout my life, I’ve tried a multitude of official and unofficial diets, including Weight Watchers, South Beach, starving myself, throwing up, eating vegetables only, eating fruits only, Maple Syrup only, and the list goes on and on. Nothing ever worked. In high school, I was never under 200 pounds and by college, I managed to get down from 230 pounds down to 215 pounds for a time. At my heaviest, I was around 265 pounds. The struggle is always real when it comes to the relationship with food.

Food is literally our entire culture, no matter what culture you are from, no matter what part of the world you are from, no matter what god you worship, no matter who you answer to, food is what is central to the human being and could be attributed to greed and more deaths than any other single cause in human history. To this day, many people die because of eating too much food and due the lack of food. Food is helpful for communication, gathering, learning, teaching, and even building relationships.

When it comes to our personal lives though, both skinny and overweight people tend to have some type of love and hate relationship with food. In diagnosing ourselves to lose weight, we often come to some conclusion that it is our metabolism, which the thyroid gland is said to be responsible for managing. For a few, going to the doctor, and being diagnosed with a thyroid issue and thyroid medication is often only part of the problem and the solution. Many people think they are unable to lose weight because of their thyroid. Most people who think they cannot lose weight often blame their own metabolism, usually due to age, or just that it is naturally slow.

There is no doubt that science has proven that the thyroid gland is responsible for the speed and process of the thyroid gland, responsible for managing and controlling weight and weight loss. For some people, this may affect weight or metabolism, but in most people, it helps control weight and may only have some effects because of genetics or hereditary. Some people do use the thyroid gland as a common excuse but for me, my results came back that it is of normal function.

Figuring out how to say no to friends and family who are not so health-conscious is also part of unforseen circumstances that can also lead to weight gain. Eating is a very social event and going out with friends or family everyday without burning the necessary calories for weight loss can add up very quickly and the pounds and overeating can occur so casually. Once you’ve eliminated all of your potential sources of what could be the cause of weight gain, you can narrow it down to whats more important: metabolism or gut health.

Metabolism is the process of your body operations running that require energy. From waking up, to going outside, and facing the day, talking to people, or even lifting a hammer requires some kind of energy. When you eat, you are consuming this energy, but in order to maintain or lose weight, this energy needs to be balanced. This energy is converted to be used by your body or stored by your body. As you age, the metabolism process may slow down slightly, especially once you reach your 40s, in which slows down by at least 1% every year. The reasons for this include muscle loss, aging, and lesser high engagement in activities.

Giving your body a break from eating often and eating high-calorie foods will aid in weight loss. Even a 24-hour to a 3-day fast can help your body and your gut rebalance itself. Clearing everything out of your body and understanding what it needs will allow for better weight management and weight loss. After you have cleared out your body, usually by fasting for 48-72 hours, you may slowly reintroduce certain types of food back into your body to understand what is causing the weight gain and what you can eat without much effect.

While metabolism is important and partially responsible for weight management and weight gain, you will find more success in your journey by focusing gut health and what you are feeding it. If you supply it with a multivitamin and probiotics, prebiotics, and enzymes, you may find that weight loss will be easier and you will feel better. Increasing your water intake will also improve your gut health and help speed up your metabolism, as water is naturally part of our chemistry and biology, and something our body understands how to process. You can only blame metabolism for so long before you must look at what you are feeding your gut.

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