Metabolic Flexibility is your body’s internal mechanism to know when to use fats and carbs efficiently.
Flexibility is critical to health and success. You make stretching a part of your workout routine so that your muscles maintain flexibility as you age.
If a project starts going wrong at work, you have the flexibility that’s needed to take the project in a new direction.
However, there is another type of flexibility with which few people are familiar. It’s called metabolic flexibility, and it may be the secret to teaching your body to burn fat as easily as it burns carbohydrates.
People lead busy lives, and this frequently means that they seek out quick, convenient meals and snacks.
Unfortunately, this type of eating tends to be pretty unhealthy, with fast food and processed foods making up too big a part of people’s dietary habits.
It wasn’t always this way. People used to prepare more of their own meals at home, eating a wider variety of whole foods.
When people ate this way, they enjoyed better metabolic flexibility. Because people’s bodies were more flexible in a metabolic sense, they were less impacted when going for long periods without a meal.
However, today’s ready access to processed, calorie-dense foods, when combined with largely sedentary lifestyles, means that people’s bodies are no longer metabolically flexible.
If you truly want to feel and look your best, then it’s wise to work toward being metabolically flexible
What does that mean? What kind of benefits will be experienced through being more metabolically flexible?
Defining Metabolic Flexibility
An analogy may be the quickest and easiest way to explain exactly what this type of flexibility is.
Think about an ordinary car that has just one possible fuel source: Gasoline. This is the equivalent of an individual who is inflexible in a metabolic sense.
A person who only runs on one food source usually eats lots of high-carbohydrate, overly processed foods.
This makes their body carb-dependent. In fact, their body is so used to burning carbohydrates as fuel that it pretty much forgets how to burn fat for fuel.
Now, consider a hybrid car. It can run on gasoline, but it runs on electricity too.
There are times when it runs solely thanks to the gas engine, and there are other times where it uses only the electric motor. At other times, the hybrid vehicle might use both fuel sources.
The car switches between fuel sources so that it can operate as efficiently as possible. This is akin to being metabolically flexible, but when it is applied to the human body, the two fuel sources are glucose and carbohydrates.
A person who is metabolically flexible switches easily between these fuel sources in order to maximize their energy.
People who have better metabolic flexibility have bodies that adapt to burn whatever is consumed.
As an example, if you eat a meal with carbohydrates, then your body will burn carbohydrates first. If you consume a meal with fat, then the fat will be burned first.
Suppose that you need to go for a relatively long period without consuming food. If this were the case, then your body would keep burning through its fat stores, and you probably wouldn’t feel the need to rely on a snack to get by.
Benefits of Metabolic Flexibility
Thanks to being metabolically flexible, your body can switch easily between breaking down carbohydrates or fats.
When your body is flexible in a metabolic sense, then you may experience benefits such as:
- Improved chances of losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight;
- Better energy levels;
- Enhanced overall health;
- Fewer chances of developing a metabolic disorder or disease;
- Healthier glucose levels;
- Deeper, more beneficial sleep; and
- Improved performance during athletic endeavors.
Separating Metabolic Flexibility from Metabolic Health and Metabolism
Most people are reasonably well aware that they have a metabolism. They may have even heard the term “metabolic health.” What role do these concepts play in metabolic flexibility?
First, let’s talk about metabolism. This term refers to the chemical processes that occur within the body to transform what you eat and drink into fuel.
In general, these chemical processes are categorized under two umbrellas: Anabolism and catabolism.
Anabolism refers to the body’s building and storing processes. For example, your body may take some of the food that you eat and use it to build bone, muscle or organ tissue.
Through anabolism, small molecules are used to build larger molecules such as proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
It is these larger molecules that are needed to store energy, grow new cells or maintain existing body tissue.
On the other hand, catabolism refers to the opposite process. This means that catabolic processes break down tissues and stored energy.
Your metabolism works for you on a 24/7 basis as it is required for your body to survive. However, this doesn’t mean that your metabolism is as efficient or as functional as it could be.
Factors That Affect Your BMR
You may hear doctors, personal trainers and nutritionists refer to something called the basal metabolic rate, or BMR. Essentially, this refers to how many calories your body consumes when you are resting.
The factors that may affect your BMR include:
- Body composition;
- Age;
- Gender;
- Body weight;
- Hydration level;
- Stress;
- Sleep pattern;
- Diet;
- Activity levels;
- Medication; and
- Illness.
The more efficient your metabolism is, the greater the flexibility of your metabolism. In fact, you will probably feel healthier overall when your metabolism is more efficient.
You can improve the performance of your metabolism by exercising regularly, eating a healthier diet, learning new ways to cope with stress and sticking to a sleep schedule.
If you make better choices on a consistent basis, then your metabolism becomes more efficient, and your body begins to learn how to be metabolically flexible.
What About Metabolic Health?
When an individual does not have any metabolic syndromes, then their doctor may declare that they have good metabolic health.
Unfortunately, about one-third of people in the U.S. have a metabolic syndrome. What conditions can cause a metabolic syndrome? Usually, it is one or more of:
- High triglyceride levels;
- Abnormal cholesterol;
- Obesity;
- High blood sugar; and
- High blood pressure.
In fact, doctors usually diagnose a patient with a metabolic syndrome when the patient has three or more of these conditions.
People who have these conditions are more likely to develop conditions such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
This means that people generally are metabolically unhealthy when they are sedentary and overweight, and factors such as genetics and age also can play a huge role.
It’s critical to understand that metabolic flexibility is one of the most important factors to be metabolically healthy.
A metabolically inflexible body must deal with conditions like high blood sugar, which will affect the individual’s overall metabolic health.
Metabolic Flexibility and Glucose Levels
When your body is metabolically flexible, then it operates with more energy efficiency.
A person who is metabolically inflexible usually will have glucose levels that go up higher and stay in that higher range longer than a peer whose body is metabolically flexible.
In fact, weakened metabolic flexibility can make your body resistant to insulin. A body that experiences high glucose levels over the long term begins to have trouble functioning.
One major trouble spot is in the pancreas, which has to work harder to produce more insulin to manage the heightened glucose levels.
When the pancreatic cells that make insulin work too hard for too long, they become dysfunctional.
As the problem persists, those cells begin ignoring the non-stop signal to produce more insulin.
This means that they are no longer removing excess glucose from your blood stream.
Metabolic Inflexibility and Serious Health Problems
When your body is inflexible from a metabolic standpoint, then it develops insulin resistance.
This increases your risk of being diagnosed with conditions including type two diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
At the same time, your body loses its ability to efficiently use its fat stores. The result of this impaired ability is weight gain.
Being metabolically inflexible even changes the function, structure and mass of mitochondria in your body’s cells.
Mitochondria are kind of like your cells’ powerhouses. When they work harder, they produce an excess of free radicals.
When the body is subjected to too many free radicals, the result can be a range of diseases that include cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Even Short-Term Metabolic Inflexibility Is Bad News
Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to you?
- Energy crashes in the middle of the day
- Sleepiness hits after eating
- “Hangry” feelings
- Needing constant caffeine
- Feeling anxious
- Being overweight
Many of these symptoms are caused by metabolic inflexibility. Because your body is not able to use its fat stores between meals, you frequently don’t feel full. This may mean that you have to snack frequently.
How Can You Increase Your Metabolic Flexibility?
Are you intrigued by the idea of becoming more metabolically flexible? If so, then there are certain habits and behaviors that you can cultivate.
Keep track of your glucose
Unless you track your glucose levels, it’s virtually impossible to know what’s going on.
You may want to consider using a glucose monitor on a regular basis to see what happens to your blood sugar levels before and after a meal.
Additionally, it can be extremely helpful to see which foods cause a massive blood sugar spike so that you can plan to avoid such foods as much as possible.
Thanks to the statistical data provided by a blood glucose monitor, you can start to bring your blood sugar levels down to a more consistently healthy range.
Keep nutrition on your mind
Even if you exercise five or six days a week, you will never be able to overcome a poor diet that includes lots of fast food, processed food and unhealthy fats.
In America, people tend to intake an excessive amount of sodium, added sugars, processed vegetable oils and refined grains.
These poor dietary habits are huge contributors to the most common chronic diseases, which largely are preventable.
For instance, you might make an effort to lower your intake of carbohydrates.
Such an effort will improve your metabolic health and metabolism while putting less stress on your cells and reducing levels of both glucose and insulin.
It’s also wise to focus on portion size. When people overeat, even when they eat foods that are basically healthy, metabolic inflexibility is the result.
Extra calories become excess glucose, and this begins a cycle of insulin resistance and fat storage.
Accordingly, it makes sense to eat within your energy requirements.
Get moving
When it comes to metabolic inflexibility, leading a sedentary lifestyle is a major culprit. Physical exercise is critical to controlling glucose levels.
Moreover, working out boosts mitochondrial content, insulin sensitivity and glycemic control.
If you aren’t a fan of exercise, then make a resolution to try several different kinds of workouts.
Even walking around the block is a fantastic place to start. As you explore exercising, keep in mind that a combination of aerobic activity and weight or resistance training is recommended for optimal results.
Take charge of your sleep and stress
Do you have a regular bedtime? If you do not, then it may be time to establish one. Getting enough sleep is critical to your metabolic health.
Sleep deprivation is recognized as a factor in chronic health conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Additionally, it’s wise to consider how well you handle stress. Do you frequently feel anxious and overwhelmed?
If so, then you may want to explore coping mechanisms like meditation, journaling and counseling.
These methods and others can reduce your overall stress levels, which means that your body will release less cortisol, glucose and adrenaline, making you less susceptible to illnesses like diabetes.
Best Metabolism Trackers
| GK+ Keto-Mojo Meter | Lumen Metabolism Tracker | V2 KETOSCAN Mini Breath Ketone Meter |
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| We included the GK+ Keto-Mojo meter in our list because it has a dual test for both your glucose and your ketones, and the app that it comes with automatically calculates your Glucose Ketone Index, which helps you better manage your diet. | The Lumen Metabolism Tracker made our list because we feel it’s the best metabolism on the market hands down. Why? Because this metabolism tracker is the world’s first hand-held, portable device to accurately measure metabolism specifically. | We really like the V2 KETOSCAN Mini Breath Ketone Meter because it’s the perfect companion device for those on the Keto diet and helps calculate your fat burning rate with just your breath. |
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Final Thoughts
Did you recognize yourself in the above description of a metabolically inflexible person? If so, then it’s time to take action.
Get a blood glucose monitor, take more care with nutrition, start an exercise program and make certain that you have good ways to manage sleep and stress.
