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Since the beginning of my career as a Health & Fitness Professional, I have encountered an increasing amount of clients and patients presenting with symptoms of poor metabolic health.  Using my experience as an Osteopath, Naturopath & Personal Trainer, I felt compelled to find a solution to help people address the root cause of the symptoms I was trying to treat.

Metabolic diseases are among the fastest growing health problems in the world and now touch the majority of our lives, either directly or indirectly. Staggeringly, it is estimated that over 20% of the adult population worldwide have metabolic syndrome, which is defined as a collection of the following risk factors:

• Increased body fat around the waist (men>40 inches/women>35 inches)
• High triglycerides (>150mg/dl)
• Low HDL cholesterol (men<40mg/dl/women<50mg/dl)
• High blood pressure (>130/85)
• High fasting blood glucose (>110mg/dl)

What is Metabolic Health?

Metabolism can be described as the chemical processes inside our cells that transform the food   we eat into the chemical energy needed to power just about every function in the body.

Metabolic Health is a term used to describe how well we can process and generate this energy, which is needed for every aspect of survival, including growth, movement, reproduction, and cognitive function. The 2 broad types of chemical reactions that make up our metabolism are:

Catabolism: The breakdown of large complex molecules within the body such as protein and fat to produce simpler molecules such as amino acids and fatty acids. Digestion of the food we eat and fat loss are 2 good examples of catabolic processes.

Anabolism: This is the opposite to catabolism. This is the construction of more complex molecules and tissues from simpler units to aid growth, repair and functionality of the body. Good examples include building new muscle, healing wounds, and gluconeogenesis (the creation of glucose from non-carbohydrate sources, such as stored fat).

Both processes require good sources of energy from the food we eat, and for our metabolism to function well, we must have good regulation of this energy (glucose and fat). Glucose is a primary precursor for energy within the body. In order to maintain healthy blood glucose levels, we must avoid lifestyle factors that create excess blood glucose and cause large glucose spikes, such as eating ultra-processed foods, poor sleep, a lack of physical activity and persistent stress. Unfortunately, our modern lifestyles are replete with all the things that perturb our blood glucose levels such as poor quality food, sedentariness, chronic stress, and disrupted circadian health. 

The Evolutionary Metabolic Mismatches

Our modern lifestyles are a mismatch for our hunter-gatherer physiology. The way we are eating, moving, recovering, and interacting with our environment is now the root cause of most disease, disability and death.

 Spiralling rates of metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic syndrome are a clear reflection of the mismatch between how we have naturally evolved to live over thousands of years,  and how we are currently living. We are struggling to cope with numerous evolutionary mismatches that have occurred as a result of rapid advancements such as the industrial and technological revolutions.

The unintended consequences of our rapidly changing lifestyles have resulted in increases in lifespan, yet more years spent with chronic diseases. To put things into some kind of context- our lifestyles have changed significantly more in the last 60 years, than our biology has in over 10.000 years!

Because these mismatches are destroying our health slowly, we seem to be adapting to living with the consequences rather than resolving them! We have normalised symptoms such as obesity, hypertension digestive issues, joint pain, fatigue, low mood etc. It is surprising how many people believe that some of the most easily reversible symptoms are a normal part of life!

The amount of pharmaceutical drugs we now consume is a reflection of how common chronic sickness has become. In the UK, almost half of people over 60 are taking 5 or more drugs per day, and less than 10% are taking none at all!  More than 80% of adults over 57 in the US take at least one prescription medication on a daily basis

The slow, progressive burden of metabolic disease is catching many people off guard because:

• Early signs and symptoms can be subtle, so people often put up with symptoms or take medications for long periods of time, while the disease process continues to worsen.
• Many people are simply not aware of how their day to day lifestyles are harming their metabolic health.
• Many people are just not prepared to make the necessary lifestyle changes to reverse the disease process.
• Modern society has normalised many of the symptoms of poor metabolic health, such as fat accumulation around the stomach, elevated blood pressure, tiredness, joint pain etc.

During my time as an Osteopath I have treated thousands of patients, and found that the most common ‘upstream’ contributing factor to their complaints is poor metabolic health such as insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

It was only when I started to focus on the diet and lifestyle of my patients, did I really begin to see lasting resolution of persistent muscle and joint pain, headaches, fatigue and digestive issues. As manual therapists, I believe we are often treating the symptoms of poor metabolic health, as opposed to tackling the root cause.

Our Primal Instincts are Manipulated for Profit

One of the greatest evolutionary mismatches we are now struggling with is our evolutionary drive to eat energy-dense foods, and the constant exposure we now have to industrially made ultra-processed foods. More specifically, food-like substances that have very little nutritional benefit and are hyper-palatable and hyper-caloric.

As hunter-gatherers, energy-dense foods such as animal  meat, fats and honey would have been a priority to us because of food scarcity and unpredictability. We favoured the most energy and nutrient dense parts of animals, we foraged for starchy roots and tubers, and we would also risk the wrath of angry bees to gorge on their honey. In addition, the breast milk of our mothers, has hard-wired us to enjoy the combination of sugar and fat.

Our modern day food landscape is mostly controlled by huge multinational businesses that are primarily driven by profit. As a reflection of their power, and motivation for profit over health, these businesses  produce and aggressively market unhealthy foods laden with refined sugar, salt and unhealthy fats. These ‘food-like substances are often deceptively  labelled  with words like ‘healthy’ and ‘natural’.

These same businesses influence scientific research, government policy, and public health nutrition guidelines. They also engineer their ultra-processed foods to be hyper-palatable and  addictive! Terminology such as craveability, snackability, bliss point and mouth feel is common language used in the food industry, to describe the level of desirability their junk foods can induce. Bliss point describes the amount of salt, sugar and fat that optimizes the taste of a product, and ‘mouth feel’ describes things like the perfect crunch of a chip that will keep people eating!

Industrial food manufacturers know what we like, and are happy to manipulate our primal instincts for profit. As a consequence we are becoming fatter and sicker.

It’s easy to see why many people struggle to control their body weight and overall metabolic health, when we are being constantly bombarded with temptation to eat energy-dense foods that we have been evolutionarily conditioned to desire.

Since 1980 the rate of adult obesity has doubled across 73 countries and risen in most others. What’s even more alarming is that the rise in childhood obesity has been even greater! Globalization, increased wealth, technological change and food industrialization are all contributing to us eating more ultra-processed food than we can cope with, and also moving less than we can cope with.

On the other side of this unhappy triad is a healthcare system that is ill equipped to cope with the rising burden of lifestyle and diet-driven chronic disease.  Doctors are given little to no nutrition education during their training, and very few feel confident giving nutritional guidance to their patients. More than half of patients now present to their doctors with multi-morbidity ( the co-existence of 2 or more chronic conditions),  which also accounts for more than 70% of prescriptions. This increasing trend is related to both an ageing population and poor lifestyle choices.

Many people are seeking medical help with combinations of symptoms caused by poor metabolic health. Doctors are medicating the symptoms of metabolic disease but not effectively addressing the root cause. We  cannot rely on a reactive model of allopathic medicine to protect or repair our metabolic health, and we must all take agency and responsibility.

This starts with establishing the self-awareness and discipline to create a healthy balance between eating for pleasure and eating for health. Unfortunately, a growing number of people are eating to medicate rather than nourish their bodies.  Our over consumption of refined sugar is hijacking the reward centres in our brain.  Junk food is being consumed as a hedonic recreational activity, and a form of self soothing. As an example, junk foods such as potato chips and pastries increase the release of serotonin, which helps improve mood, and can also affect sleep onset, pain sensitivity and blood pressure regulation.

Not only are we eating more highly processed and inappropriate foods than ever before, we are also eating at times that are inconsistent with our natural sleep/wake rhythms, living in a state of chronic stress,  and lacking quality sleep and physical activity. Together these evolutionary mismatches are slowly and stealthily destroying our quality of life and metabolic health.

Common signs of poor metabolic health include:

• Craving for carbohydrates and snack
• Feeling sleepy after meals
• High blood sugar.
• Lack of concentration or inability to focus.
• Fatigue.
• Increased hunger.
• Higher blood pressure.
• Depression.
• Struggling to lose weight
• Nausea, headache, and anxiety that disappear after taking a meal.
• A waistline of 53 inches or more.
• Increased appetite.
• Inability to diet.
• High triglyceride levels.
• Irregular menstrual cycle, specifically skipping months.
• A history of polycystic ovarian disease.
• Excessive sweating.
• A family history of obesity, diabetes, stroke, or heart disease.

We often gauge our level of health far too superficially, and in the case of metabolic health, we need to be far more diligent than just looking in the mirror. Insulin resistance, which is at the root of poor metabolic health can be present for years before we notice signs such as high blood sugar levels, high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. A common misconception is that if we are not overweight then we are metabolically healthy.

Unfortunately, many people with type 2 diabetes are not overweight and within a healthy weight range. Lean Metabolic Syndrome describes people who are not overweight but present with the collection of signs that reflect metabolic syndrome. These people appear to be slim but often have low levels of muscle mass and high levels of intra-abdominal ( visceral) fat around the organs, which is a risk factor for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Live Like Your Metabolism Depends On It!

Whether we regard ourselves as slim or overweight, I think it is prudent to adopt the lifestyle of someone who is trying to improve their metabolic health. This is because the ‘Gold Standard’ interventions for reversing metabolic disease are also the same interventions that will lay the foundations for a long and healthy life.

• A Diet free from Refined Carbohydrates, Seed Oils and Ultra-Processed Foods.
• Regular Exercise consisting of Strength Training and Low Intensity Aerobic Exercise.
• A Regular and Consistent Sleep Schedule.
• Building Stress Resilience.

Complex Health Challenges Need Integrated Health Solutions

 Unfortunately, there is no quick fix when it comes to mastering our metabolic health, however once we have established a few simple and sustainable habits, the results are easy to sustain.

The complex health challenges we are now experiencing as a result of our modern lifestyles, requires a multi-faceted approach. At every turn, we are being tempted to make poor decisions for our mind and body.

Our modern urban environments have now made it far easier and more convenient to make unhealthy choices than  healthy choices.

To protect and optimise our metabolic health, we need to make small investments into a few key areas of our health. We cannot simply ‘go hard’ in one area of our health such as exercise or diet,  and expect this to compensate for a lack of attention in another. For example, we can’t expect to achieve results by exercising heroically, and then having poor sleep, high stress levels and a poor diet. This just compounds the stress and imbalance that is already present.

Invest 2% in 5 areas, instead of 10% in one.

We simply need to find our own personal level of harmony across a few key dimensions of  our wellness-

• Sleep,
• Diet,
• Stress,
• Physical Activity,
• Mindset.

This is far easier than punishing ourselves with unsustainable diets and exercise regimes!

The Metabolic Health Reset

Over the last 20 years, I have had the honour of helping hundreds of people across the globe reverse metabolic health related conditions, and transform the way they feel, look and function.  In 2018 I combined my years of professional and personal experience to create the Metabolic Health Reset- An 8 Week Health Transformation Programme.

The Metabolic Health Reset is a flexible and personalised programme that allows you to achieve  your health goals, on your terms!

It’s not an 8 week Programme, Its a Blueprint for Lifelong Health

During this exciting journey I provide participants with the structure, strategy, accountability and support to make the small changes that make a big impact. I like to work by the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle:- 80% of the results come from 20% of the work. We don’t need heroic and unsustainable effort to feel at our best. we just need to become a little more tuned into what our body is asking for!

For more info about the Metabolic Health Reset, click HERE

Remember- When it comes to our metabolic health, it’s far better to be proactive than reactive, and the most effective healthcare starts way before any symptoms do!

Take Care,