How’s your metabolic fitness? It’s worth knowing because getting to grips with metabolic fitness can be crucial to your overall health and wellbeing.

Our metabolism is the mechanism by which our body releases energy locked up in our food to power the cells in our body. When these pathways run smoothly, we tend to feel healthier, more alert and every aspect of our body functions better. There are also added bonuses, in that we find it easier to sleep, have better memory recall and can feel calmer and happier. With good metabolic fitness we burn fat more effectively, which can help when trying to lose weight.

However, when our metabolism is out of kilter, we can feel sluggish, sleepy and it can even affect our mood. We can feel more stressed, more anxious and experience issues such as brain fog.

The trouble is, the metabolic health of most people in the developed world is pretty poor. Most people exhibit one form of metabolic dysfunction at one time or another. Our diet is poor and our lifestyle is sedentary. That’s a serious issue at the best of times, but in 2021 even more so. Studies show that poor metabolic health can be a major indicator for COVID-19 morbidity.

The good news is that, just as you can improve your physical fitness by doing exercise, you can also improve your metabolic fitness. Doing so will lead to a host of benefits including clearer skin, better endurance in exercise, lower levels of anxiety, a reduced risk of depression and a better functioning immune system.

Improve your metabolic fitness and you’ll feel full of energy throughout the day, have a sharper mind and better memory and feel generally better in yourself. In addition, a better metabolic health will be linked to a lower risk of conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, stroke and many others.

In other words, those who have a superior metabolic health will feel better within themselves and have a better chance of a longer, and healthier life.

How can you improve your metabolic health?

Improving your metabolic health is all about making choices such as what to eat, when to eat and pairing certain foods. Physical activity, better sleep and stress management can also help to improve our system. You might not see the results on the outside but on the inside the microscopic systems in the body will be working way more efficiently and effectively.

An effective plan might include:

• Eating high protein food
• High-intensity exercise
• Drinking plenty of cold water
• Ensuring you have a good night’s sleep.

You can track your metabolic fitness with a continuous glucose monitor which can show you how your food and exercise affects glucose levels in the blood stream. Too much glucose for too long can reduce the processing of energy and lead to conditions such as diabetes and obesity. Using these monitors, you can get a clearer idea of everything that is happening in your body which will, in turn, leave you better positioned to control it.

Metabolic fitness is something that can have a massive impact on our overall physical and mental health. However, it’s something most of us aren’t doing well. By making relatively simple adjustments to your lifestyle you can get things back on the right track.

Image credits: Sarnia / Shutterstock,  Doğukan Şahin / Unsplash, Giorgio Trovato / Unsplash

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