Boost Your Metabolic Flexibility and Lose Fat

Only about 12% of the US population is metabolically flexible, which means that 88% of us are metabolically inflexible. What does that mean?

When you are metabolically inflexible, you are unable to switch from burning glucose (sugar) for energy to burning fat, so the fat you accumulate stays and most of your calories go straight to fat storage. This condition is most prevalent in people who are overweight or obese (99.5% of obese people) but even 50% of normal weight individuals are metabolically inflexible.

• How does it work? Mitochondria are the little organelles in all cells of body that convert the food we eat into energy currency (ATP) that we burn. Mitochondria either can take glucose sugar or fat to convert into ATP. It should be a seamless transition when sugar runs out to switch to burning fat but the vast majority of people cannot transition from sugar burning to fat burning.

• Let’s say you eat a normal dinner at 6 or 7pm and then do not eat until the next morning. After about 8-10 hours you will run out of glucose (sugar) and glycogen (stored sugar in your muscles and liver). Normally we would switch to fat burning until next meal arrives, but if you are unable to do this, your body and particularly your brain will be starving. That’s why sometimes when you eat late at night, you still wake up famished.

Insulin is released from our pancreas when we eat so that it can escort the glucose into the cells. When our cells are stuffed and cannot take up any more glucose, insulin will usher sugar and protein into fat cells instead to store for later use. Unfortunately, however, high insulin levels block energy being released from fat. Insulin is a fat storage hormone. That is why overweight or obese people can exercise and watch their diet but still are unable to drop the fat. It's not their fault; their body is working against them!!

• If you find it hard not to eat first thing in the morning, that is a warning sign that you could be metabolically inflexible. All cells in body can burn sugar or fat as fuel except for the brain which normally uses glucose only. When the brain is missing fuel, you will feel cranky and weak. However, the brain can use ketones as fuel as a stop gap until the next source of glucose.

Dr. Steven Grundy says that if he could pick one blood test to predict your future health, it would be your fasting insulin level. He says you want a low number, less than 10, ideally close to 1, to be optimally metabolically flexible. In general, the lower your fasting insulin level, the less insulin blocks fat coming out of fat cells.

So how do we become more metabolically flexible?

1) Intermittent Fasting or Time Restricted Eating. A proven way to condition your body to burn fat for fuel is to start lengthening your overnight fast and compressing your eating window to about 8 hours. Start slowly by pushing your breakfast one hour a week and commit not to eat anything after dinner. If you can start eating an earlier dinner that will also work to extend your overnight fast. The more slowly you adapt the body, the more your insulin levels will slowly go down and miraculously fat will be released from your fat stores.

2) Add MCT oil. A miraculous workaround to generate ketones to feed the brain is to consume MCTs (medium chain triglycerides), which are absorbed differently than any other fats you consume, going directly to the liver where they get converted to ketones to fuel to keep you from crashing until you eat again. Ketones are water soluble and can get through the blood brain barrier to feed the brain. Meanwhile the body will start to pull energy from your fat cells for your other energy needs. MCT oil works even if your insulin is high!

a. Start slow with MCT oil, adding one teaspoon to your morning coffee/tea/smoothie, working up to 3 Tablespoons a day. MCT oil can give some people a queasy stomach and diarrhea so definitely take it slow!

Slowly, slowly pushing off breakfast and adding in MCT oil are the 2 best ways to break through the logjam of insulin resistance per Dr. Grundy. Insulin resistance is a precursor to many of our chronic diseases, such as diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease.

**Content provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is derived from information from Dr. Steven Grundy’s podcast. It is not to be considered medical advice.**