3 Ways to Control Metabolism with Food

The metabolism is a system managed by an entire infrastructure of hormones. Yet we all control at least three aspects of our metabolism because our body responds based on the foods we eat. 

If you take a vegetable, like broccoli, and compare that to another food, like ice cream, 230 calories of broccoli, isn't equivalent to 230 calories of ice cream. Your body knows the difference between these two foods because your body reacts to three different things in the food. 

More specifically, your metabolism and body weight all react to these three specific things in food: 

1. The value of the food. Seven cups of broccoli are 230 calories. 230 calories of ice cream are one-third cup. The general rule of thumb is that the higher the value of the food, the more nutrient dense it is, and the more nutritious, and ironically, it's also going to be lower in calories. This means you can essentially eat more volume of those types of great foods without getting an overdose of energy. 

2. The nutritional content. Your body is naturally programmed to respond to the nutritional value of the food. The ice cream, a third of a cup, isn't likely to satisfy you. In contrast, most people could not stomach eating seven cups of broccoli. That's because the nutrients in the food naturally drive satisfaction and fullness. And specifically, in the case of broccoli, it's a high-fiber veggie, which points to the value of functional nutrients like fiber. Our body needs essential nutrients like fiber, protein & healthy fat.

3. The glucose and insulin response: Your blood sugar level is determined by the amount of glucose in the blood. Glucose is energy in the form of simple sugars, which get absorbed into the bloodstream from the carbohydrates we eat or the sugar or the starchy carbs. Carbs (except fiber) leave the digestive system and travel into the bloodstream as glucose. Starchy & sugar carbs that don't include functional fiber can create excessive energy or a surge, sometimes as big as a tsunami of blood sugar. And when there's too much glucose or energy in the blood, the body responds by deploying insulin to help lower that blood sugar. The problem is while all this is going on, the body will not release any stored fat and instead switch into fat storage mode. So all that excess glucose is excess energy stored as fat.

Your body wants to maintain a steady weight with reliable metabolic function, but it can't if it doesn't get the right balance of energy and nutrients. Your body depends on you to provide nutritious foods to deliver optimal function & health, which is why OVVIA focuses on education. In the MEMBER'S Video Library, Emerson teaches you everything you need to know about the value of functional nutrition, along with which foods to limit or avoid.