How To Boost Your Broken Metabolism

Transcript:

TERESA: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. You know, this morning on the way to the studio, I felt a little Christmas in the air signaling that fall is starting. So for our local listeners, you know what I'm saying, because it is a beautiful fall morning. For those of you that live in other parts of the country, though, it might not quite be as cool for you, but we definitely know that fall is here because the kids are back in school. It's after Labor Day. The fairs are over and now many businesses are asking employees to come back to the office for at least three days of the week. So it's time to get out of our sweats and get those work clothes back on. Many of my recent clients made appointments with me because well, through the pandemic, they did some stress eating, maybe some stress drinking and gained some weight.

So they turned to Nutritional Weight and Wellness to get back on track. A common comment that they have made to me is, especially recently, they say things like, I think my metabolism has slowed down in the last two years because I just have to look at a brownie or a glass of wine and I gain two or three pounds. And we've heard this many times, Jolene, right, where people feel like they aren't even eating the foods and they're gaining weight.

JOLENE: Absolutely.

TERESA: Before we get into our topic, “How to Boost a Broken Metabolism”, I want to introduce myself. I am Teresa Wagner and I have been a registered and licensed dietitian for about 14 years, seven of which I have spent working for Nutritional Weight and Wellness, a company whose mission I can fully get behind: helping each and every person experience better health through eating real food.

That simple, but powerful message is key: real health through real food when the goal is to boost a slowed metabolism. If you feel as though you have a broken metabolism, which I think a lot of people feel that way, we want to give you some ways to speed up your metabolism. We also want to give you some reasons that possibly have caused a slowed metabolism, and I can empathize with some of the challenges that you may have because I am an all or nothing person. And if I start eating hyper palatable foods, you know, things high in sugar and starch and maybe fat and salt, those types of things, brownies, cookies, I don't want to stop with one. You know, and sometimes I feel like I can't stop with one. You know, some people say after they have something sweet like that, they're like, oh, that hit the spot.

And I think to myself, I'm like, what spot? Right? It just makes, for me, it just makes that spot grow larger. And I know I'm not the only one that might feel that way. And maybe you're nodding your head in agreement with me because about 80% of us are all or nothing people. And sugar kicks off that desire to eat not one, but maybe a whole sleeve of cookies, chips, or French fries. I like to call that salty sugar. Those also can have that effect. Remember in the late 1990s, when they, there was a Lay’s potato chip commercial that said, “Bet you can't eat just one”. Yep. You're right. Well, joining me today as my cohost is Jolene Carlson. She has a master's degree in nutrition and is a licensed nutritionist. Jolene, you have had quite the journey when it comes to your metabolism. I'd love to hear what you have found has worked to heal and boost your metabolism.

Licensed nutritionist, Jolene’s story: how she boosted her metabolism

JOLENE: Good morning, Teresa. Good morning listeners. It's great to be back here in the studio. It's been a while for me. So happy fall to all of you. I know it's not the, you know, meteorology fall yet, but for those of us who have kids, right, if we just, it changes. Our schedules change. The temperature changes and the weather just kind emphasizes that for us. And I think this is such a great timing for the topic of metabolism, because I feel like our bodies are also designed to change when fall comes, you know?

TERESA: Oh yeah.

JOLENE: If you think about it as humans, you know, fall time, winter time, our bodies are kind of designed to be like, oh, it's fat storage time in case you don't have enough food because throughout history that's primarily been, you know, how we've kind of survived. And so that makes it an extra hard thing not to put on those extra few pounds as the seasons change.

TERESA: Yeah, definitely working against our natural…

JOLENE: Yeah. Right, exactly. So, so yeah, I mean, I think fall is a good time to, because things do change, it's a good time to kind of reset your health goals. And so a possible health goal that we can address today is how do you boost that metabolism? And as you said, Teresa, like, yeah, me and metabolism, you know, we are always working together, against each other. We have good times. We have bad times. But yeah, just because I had to start early or for me, my, my struggles started really early as a young kid being overweight, as an adolescent, being overweight. And as a young adult being extremely obese and overweight. When I started my weight loss journey by then at 24 years old, my metabolism was already broken. And so learning how to feed my body in a way where my body could actually use food was a process.

And I want to say that it still is a process. You know, I don't want to tell people it's like a one and done thing or it's just easy because yeah, I figured out what worked in my twenties and then my thirties hit, and I had to find out what worked in my thirties. Then you have kids and you got to find out what works when you have kids. And then, you know, you hit your forties and it changes again.

So it's really just trying to figure out what works for you. And for me, because my biggest issue was blood sugar from eating all the processed foods, growing up in a processed foods diet, which caused weight gain. It was really about insulin resistant resistance at a very young age. So because I ate so many sugars and carbohydrates, and like you Teresa, I was like, there's no such thing as one and done. I don't even know what that means. It's like bag of cookies: yes, please. You know, bag of chips: yes, please. It's not a chip or a handful or a cookie. And I just didn't have a stop button, you know, and then of course over time, my body was, you know, just saying, my metabolism was saying, I can't keep up with this. And I became insulin resistance resistant, and that's what I needed to work on.

And so for me, what changed me, what busted my poor metabolism was fixing my blood sugar and my carbohydrates. And so once I knew what I could tolerate and what supported my metabolism and eat it and ate that way, then I was able to get a metabolism that actually supported energy, mood and eventually weight loss. And then, like I said, it's an ongoing process. So if you too suffer from blood sugar problems, insulin resistance, that is probably one of the first things or first places to start with. And we'll kind of talk about that right, Teresa, of how to, you know, prevent that insulin resistance, so you can have a healthy metabolism and have your metabolism do for you what it needs to do. But it is, does take time. It is a journey and it's something that you know, we always kind of just have to address and we address.

What is insulin resistance?

TERESA: Yes. And you know, you've mentioned insulin resistance. We should maybe go into, well, what is insulin resistance? Do you want to cover what insulin resistance is? Or would you like me to talk about that?

JOLENE: You sound great, Teresa. You go for it.

TERESA: Well, so generally insulin resistance happens, it's not something that happens overnight. It's something that happens over time; over time of eating too many carbohydrates, typically high sugar carbohydrates. And so when your body is eating carbohydrates and sugar containing foods, our blood sugars go up and then it's the job of our pancreas to release insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps to take the sugar from the bloodstream and push it into the cells. And so when you have insulin resistance, what happens is that we have lots of sugar in our bloodstream all the time. So lots of insulin is released all the time. And the cells, it's almost like they can't use that insulin as well anymore. There's too much.

It's kind of like I explain it sometimes to clients where, you know how you walk into a restaurant and you notice that the, the noise is really loud. There's lots of talking and maybe there's music in the background. You sit down at your table and then all of a sudden, you know, you're able to talk to your friends and family okay; that the noise kind of goes into the background a little bit more. It's almost like you're hearing, you don't hear that as much anymore.

Well, that's kind of how your cells are working, where the cells aren't hearing the insulin say, go into the cell. So then what happens is the sugar stays in the blood and then that's high blood sugar. So we have insulin resistance on, in the cells, and then we have high, high blood sugars. And then we do have cells that will accept that sugar more readily. And those typically are fat cells and they're there to store that sugar for later. So that's sort of that insulin resistance.

JOLENE: Yeah, no, that's really, that's really well said. And yeah, I, I, I kind of explain it a similar way where it's just like, we have a bucket and we all have an insulin bucket. And at some point you that bucket overflows and that's when you get into the insulin resistance or diabetes.

TERESA: Yes. Well, I think that's a good place to take a break, Jolene. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. I think you will like this show because we are talking about how to boost a broken metabolism. 75% of adults are currently overweight or obese. It would appear something has happened to most people's metabolisms. Stay tuned to hear as Jolene describes her weight gain and weight loss journey.

BREAK

JOLENE: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. It is so important to keep my blood sugar balanced. So I like to start my day with a nutrient dense lower carbohydrate breakfast. I have the opportunity to live on my own hobby farm. So I always use our eggs. I like to have two or three, and I like to sauté them with some spinach, maybe some peppers, onions, mushrooms, or whatever vegetable’s in season. And then I sauté them in coconut oil or butter, but before I have breakfast or when I'm making it, I always drink a glass of water to make sure I start my day with water and then have my coffee with cream and a scoop of Key Collagen powder. It gives me lots of energy. It keeps my blood sugar level and it keeps me level for the rest of the day.

TERESA: That's that sounds like a great breakfast, Jolene. All of a sudden I have a catch in my throat. I don't know. Yeah, it, that sounds like a great way to start your day and a great way to support your metabolism. And before break, Jolene, you were telling us about just kind of your struggles with your metabolism and how you grew up and some of the foods that you were eating and things along that line. And I'm sure many people can identify with what you have said. And it also just helps us understand why you are so passionate about helping people figure out what may have caused their slow metabolism and helping them boost it back up to functioning really well. So we can, I mean, I think we can all identify with what you've said and then also understand just how it's so important to you.

What does metabolism mean?

Today we're going to discuss some ways to boost a broken metabolism. When we think about our metabolism, it's a somewhat simple word, right? At least we're all familiar with the word metabolism. Maybe we don't understand fully what that is, but we've got a good idea about what metabolism is. But it is really a very complex process, and the process of resetting your metabolism isn't simple. And it can take months to even years.

And that's really hard because I feel like we all have a little toddler still living inside us that it's like, I want what I want and I want it right now, right now. So it's really hard to think about months to years, but yeah, it is, because it took months to years to, to you know, break that metabolism or slow that down. And it can involve many changes that we'd have to make in our lives, from how much we sleep to the amount of stress we have in our, in our lives. And of course, boosting a broken metabolism needs a nutritional approach. For many, it starts with reducing insulin resistance. And Jolene, you have personal experience with this. So how did you go about reducing the insulin resistance that you had?

JOLENE: Yeah, I like that you kind of define metabolism because it's, you know, it's one word, but it's so much more than that. Right? And it's really hard to define it. And I don't know if you could pick a one word, but if I could, I would say it's like your body's energy system, right?

TERESA: Yeah.

JOLENE: But you know, it's like feeding everything else in your body to make things work well. But that's kind of the point of why insulin resistance is so destructive because if your metabolism isn't functioning optimally, right, because of insulin resistance and many other things, but insulin resistance seems to be the most common, at least for most people that we see, then it can't be, you know, optimal or fully functional. And then if your body can't, you know, have a good metabolism, everything else kind of is affected down the road.

TERESA: Yeah. And just, I just want to interject there, because if you're thinking about metabolism, it is using the nutrients that we are eating to support our body and that energy and that there's an energy exchange there. Right? We're taking in energy and we're expending energy. And when we can't use glucose, which is energy, well, we can't burn it well either.

JOLENE: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Right. Great connections. So you put glucose in there and not using it the correct way. And you can just see how this has a very dangerous, you know, downward path of it affects everything else.

TERESA: Mm-Hmm.

JOLENE: Like the fat storage, weight gain, energy levels, just the ability to do everything that we want to do. So that's why, you know, we're really tying this into insulin resistance. I just want listeners to know that metabolism and, and more importantly, an optimal or healthy metabolism first starts with it has to be repaired and fully functional.

TERESA: Yes.

Stop eating processed foods to boost metabolism

JOLENE: So it can do what it needs to do. And so for me, of course, I had to stop the processed foods and that was like the number one step. Like I thought toast was like the only food group and cereal when I was younger. And, and so like in my twenties and thirties, that was really like basically, you know, weaning off of processed foods. And obviously I, you know, I wasn't perfect. I'm not perfect, but it, it was a process. It wasn't a year. It wasn't two. It wasn't even 10. It’s like an ongoing learning process, but it was interesting because I did damage my metabolism so young and with that insulin resistance, for my metabolism to stay repaired and stay healthy, like I have a very low carbohydrate tolerance and, and I think we all have a carbohydrate tolerance that's individual to us based on, you know, how healthy our metabolism is or is not. And so even good carbs, you know, like, you know, like the whole grains and, you know…

TERESA: Oatmeal.

JOLENE: Oatmeal. Yeah. The things that, that, you know, I mean, I'm always a fan of, you know, real food and I would never say anything bad about it, but for me, I even have to watch the amounts of those; doesn't mean that I can't have them, but I really have to watch. So for me, it's really important to watch my balance. And what I learned for myself is most of my meals need to be vegetables because they just help with like feeding my metabolism the nutrients, the vitamins, the minerals that it needs.

And then I add that protein in, you know, to support my metabolism, support my repair. And then I add those good fats. And then I kind of think for me, I think of vegetables or I think of carbohydrates, even the really good ones as like, they're kind of like a spice in my food, like a sprinkle. And that seems to be enough. Now doesn't mean that's true for everybody, but I think it's important for all of us to maybe think about like, what is your carbohydrate tolerance, you know?

TERESA: Yeah. And when you're talking about that particular type of carbohydrate, you're not talking about leafy greens and broccoli. You're talking about more like a potato.

JOLENE: Exactly. Great point. Yeah. I think of vegetables as like my free carbohydrates. And then, you know, when I'm, I'm thinking more about like the starchy, you know, grains or even beans or legumes, which again have lots of nutrients It's, they, they can be in your, your diet. But what is it for you that's enough to keep your, your metabolism healthy? And if you're insulin resistant, it might be a lower threshold like it is for me.

So that's, that's what I've learned. And I'm still learning. Like I talked about before, sometimes I have to switch it up and add even more veggies or even less carbohydrates. And sometimes I can increase a little bit, but it's really about commitment. It's about getting to know your body and how you feel. And it's about understanding that a healthy metabolism is health for the rest of your body. You know? So it has to be healthy first, so it can do what it needs to do to take care of you.

TERESA: Well, I think that that's, that's a really good explanation as far as the carbohydrate tolerance. You know, everybody has a little bit different carbohydrate tolerance and for some people it's just much, much lower. And it's worth it to keep it lower when that's the case. And with weight loss, many times we focus on that number on this scale or how we look in the mirror, but truly losing weight the healthy way, like you've been describing, makes you feel so good, both physically and mentally.

You wake up with energy. So your metabolism is running, right? That's a part of our energy system. There's no afternoon slump. You move through your evening until bedtime feeling, you know, awake and productive, and you feel really good. So when we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about that. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. Are you asking yourself, what am I going to do about the extra weight I gained during the pandemic? Well, I have a solution. Sign up for the Nutrition for Weight Loss class series starting the week of September 19th. We are offering an in-person class at all of our locations. Plus, we are offering a Nutrition for Weight Loss Zoom class series. When we come back from break, Jolene will give you more details.

BREAK

JOLENE: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. I want to mention first our in-person Nutrition for Weight Loss class series, and it starts the week of September 19^th. It’s coming up quickly. Each class starts at 6:30 and ends at 7:30. It's a 12-week course. And we have classes in Eagan, Woodbury, St. Paul, North Oaks, Maple Grove and Wayzata. We also have a Zoom Nutrition for Weight Loss class starting September 20th at 6:30 to 7:30. More Zoom classes may be added. Those are the times and locations. You can check at our locations and prices on our website, weightandwellness.com.

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Breakfast: a good step toward reversing insulin resistance

TERESA: Well, before the break, we were talking about insulin resistance and changing habits, and today's topic is about boosting our broken metabolism or fixing our broken metabolism. A simple habit to change to get started with this is rather than skipping breakfast or to, you know, probably just save calories, right? A lot of times that's what we do: skip meals to save calories; or having a bowl of cereal for breakfast or stopping for a high sugar coffee, start your day like Jolene does with a couple of eggs, maybe some bacon or sausage, have a cup of green veggies. You know, a cup, if you look at your fist, it's about that size. So a cup of green veggies. You know, maybe it'd be a cup of green beans with a half of cup of sweet potato and a tablespoon of butter. Have a cup of coffee with it and add a little cream. And you're going to have a very yummy, satisfying and metabolism boosting breakfast.

An interesting saying to think about: “If you have the courage to start, you have the courage to succeed.” Breakfast is a great place to start. Turning around insulin resistance and prediabetes takes courage to start. It isn't easy to give up your favorite foods, even when you know that they're harming you, but if you have the courage to succeed, you will take classes, make appointments for support and put yourself first. Of course, it's great to lose the weight, but it is much more important to normalize your blood sugar numbers and improve your lipid profile: those cholesterol numbers. We all know that happens when we reduce or eliminate processed carbohydrates and refined oils.

JOLENE: That's great, Teresa. I like that you said that, you know, the losing the weight thing and I, and we always tell clients this, and we know how hard it is. Cause like you said, we're a toddler and we want things; sometimes we're toddlers, right? We want things to happen right away. And, and trust me as a person who had to lose a lot of weight, I know how that feels. But you, but just to know that you have to heal that metabolism first, you know, so heal the insulin resistance. Like you said, starting with breakfast is an easy place to do that. And then the rest will come when your body heals. Now we talked a lot about insulin resistance and we know that that's one key to boost your metabolism. But a slow metabolism isn't always connected to insulin resistance.

Stress and anxiety is another factor that can lead to insulin resistance

TERESA: You're right. It could be connected to too much stress and anxiety. If you have recently had a divorce or death in your life, you may have gained weight from that stress. So we'd have to practice stress-lowering techniques, lifestyle techniques.

JOLENE: Yeah. And it's, what happens in our body, so when we feel like we're, we're stressed out, our body releases the hormone, cortisol, and that in turn slows your metabolism. So if you do have ongoing stress, you know, things like eating on a schedule to not stress your body out about food. So if you already have a lot of external stressors about life, it's not, it's really hard on our metabolism to also add the food stress on top of that. So one thing you could control, if you can't control the life factors as well is to control the food stressors. Feed your body. Feed it often. Feed it regularly. Feed it nutrition, and it will, it will feel better.

TERESA: Right. And you know, as far as stress is concerned, caregivers are often under a lot of stress and they can sometimes gain weight. Researchers have found that people who experience a stressful event burn 104 fewer calories over a 24-hour period of time compared to those who did not experience that same amount of stress. In one year, you know, 104 calories doesn't sound very much, but in one year that can add up to 11 extra pounds.

When we experience that ongoing stress, our bodies release that hormone, cortisol, like Jolene was talking about, which in turn slows our metabolism. If you are experiencing ongoing stress, it is important to eat on a schedule, because the low blood sugar from skipping meals can be one of the most stressful events in your life. And I know it doesn't sound like, oh, it's not as stressful as a death in the family or a divorce or, or those types of things. But physiologically low blood sugar is a very stressful thing for your body to deal with. So many women skip meals, thinking that by taking in fewer calories, they will lose weight. And it actually backfires and they gain weight because cortisol floods the body creating more insulin and then more insulin resistance.

JOLENE: Yeah. I mean, if you think about it in the way that stress is stress is stress. Your body doesn't know if you’re stressed out because you didn't sleep enough or because something happened in your life or because you skipped a meal. It just realizes that stress is danger and that it needs to protect itself. And it slows down the metabolism. So the more that you can control those stressful things in your lives, the better, and one way to do that is to not skip meals.

And we know working with clients that women that, you know, especially women it seems, you know, we've been brought up in this diet culture to think that restriction is the answer. So if you just eat less, skip meals, don't eat as many calories, that whole thing you're going to be fine.

TERESA: Yeah, for sure.

JOLENE: And what we know is that that has a huge negative effect on the metabolism. So when we don't consume enough food, again, our bodies think that they're depleted, deprived and, and it becomes a stress signal. And that stress, stress signal reduces our metabolic rate. And again, if your metabolism is slow and your body's stressed, it can't think about losing weight because it thinks it needs to hang onto it. So really aim for eating enough of the right foods.

Eat real food in balance to support metabolism

Nutrient dense foods feed your metabolism. So that's going to be enough protein, you know, go for like good quality; if you can grass fed, wild caught; at least three to four ounces, three times a day. Lots of veggies, you know, we say a cup and a half, but more is great too if you can have more. It's also good to add those beneficial fats in balance with those veggies and proteins. And those three things in combination are going to tell your metabolism, it's fed, it's happy, it's comfortable. And then your body will take off that extra weight.

TERESA: Right. So, and then I like what you're saying there about, you know, we, we recommend a cup and a half, but more is better, right? We for cancer prevention and for good, good health we, five to nine servings. On the side of nine is, is better. So that's good. And then adding that fat to those veggies makes them much more delicious. So you're more likely to eat more.

JOLENE: Mm-Hmm.

TERESA: That fat helps you absorb those nutrients better. So that's a great way to do that. But when we're talking about fat, we like those natural fats, staying away from soybean oil or those refined oils, because those also slow our metabolism, because they're, they're not, our body has to process them and they don't process well. And so if it's more difficult for your body to process, it's just more energy. It needs to work on that.

JOLENE: Yeah. It's almost like your body doesn't recognize them as being real. And then it puts more demand on your liver, right, to get rid of them. And of course our liver is key for metabolism and again, it starts just that mess, right?

TERESA: Yes, absolutely. I mean, it goes right down even to the cellular structure.

JOLENE: Mm-Hmm.

TERESA: Our cells are basically wrapped in fat and that's what our cell receptors are on. And if we're eating a bunch of refined oils or, or oils that aren't those beneficial, natural oils, the fat that our cell structure is made out of is that sort of not as good healthy oil or fat. And so then that signaling can be disrupted too. So it just it's, yeah. So we want to eat the right amount of carbohydrates, those healthy fats. We want to do that to boost our slow metabolism. And we always recommend eating real food.

We suggest high quality protein, such as grass-fed beef and lamb, pasture raised pork and chicken, organic fruits and veggies, so that they are free of chemicals and pesticides, which can also slow our metabolism. We want to stay clear of food additives, such as MSG, sugar, those refined oils we just mentioned, and margarine too, as well. You know, we have butter instead. Keep, keep it real. And to keep it simple, if it comes in a bag or a box, it most likely contains chemicals and preservatives, which those things also, like we were saying, your body has to process those so that will slow down your metabolism because it's just an easier process to, to, to metabolize natural foods.

JOLENE: Yes. Your body recognizes them right? So it's like your body knows what to do with the energy we put into it if it's actually something it recognizes. And of course it isn't going to recognize something that's, you know, made in a laboratory or not come doesn't come from nature. So as close as you can stick to nature, or like as is it Mel that says like, it has to have a face or come from a stem or something, which is a great, simple way to think about it too.

But yeah, stay away from bags, boxes. Stay close to nature, and your body will know how to use those nutrients. Even if you're not insulin resistant, but you feel like you've gained weight, especially around your midsection. So gaining weight on different parts of your body, you know, it can tell us a lot about what's going on with your metabolism and how your body is using or not using nutrients the right way.

A clogged up liver can cause weight gain

And so midsection weight gain can sometimes be like the visceral or organ fat weight gain. And it could be a sign that your liver is not working as well as it should. And actually adding fat to your liver, which could lead to something like fatty liver. Because your liver is, you know, you always hear that phrase and, and it's so true: “love your liver”. Cause your liver does everything for you when it comes to keeping the good and using it and trying to get rid of the bad and losing it type of thing.

So you want your liver to detoxify the way it needs to. And if it's just getting so many toxins over and over and over again, which is already happening in a world where we have toxins everywhere, you know, and then you put it with food as well, you can imagine that your liver is just exhausted. And it's not able to detoxify the way that it should. And when it can’t do that, just like we, like Teresa said with blood sugar in your bloodstream, that it turns into fat. If your liver can't get rid of or detoxify what it needs to, that fat can be added to your liver, which causes metabolism problems as well. And it can also cause disease. So stay away from that excess sugar. You know, too much alcohol, alcohol requires a lot of detoxification.

TERESA: We all know that, right?

JOLENE: Yes. We know it.

JOLENE: I have to say it. I know it's hard. But it adds up quickly and it's a, it's a huge demand on your liver. So, so wine and other alcohols are a huge demand, excess sugar, any of those toxins that Teresa mentioned, the sodas, the pops, the classic Diet Coke, which seems to be, you know, like people's favorites when they end up drinking. And then those artificial sweeteners, those are all things that can really demand too much of your liver. And sometimes your medications might be demanding too much from your liver as well.

TERESA: Right. Cause they process through the liver. Well you are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. I just want to explain that you get more from the Nutrition for Weight Loss classes than just the classes when you sign up. Included in the price and the plan is a 90-minute nutrition consultation with either a licensed nutritionist like Jolene or a registered dietitian like me. Our goal is to help you determine why you are experiencing a slow metabolism and weight gain. From that consultation, you will know if your challenges are cravings, if it's your slow metabolism or maybe it's just habits that you need to change. Call us at (651) 699-3438 to get started.

BREAK

JOLENE: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. I encourage you to check out the times and locations of all our Nutrition for Weight Loss series and sign up today. Because of COVID, we are still limiting the number of classes and you'll want to save your space and get signed up for your 90-minute consultation. Check our website for times locations, and most importantly, what help these classes offer you. Call us at (651) 699-3438. A real live person answers our phones, which is always nice.

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TERESA: Yes, that is nice. Well, before break, we were talking about the liver and its role in detoxification and how that is helpful for metabolism. And I briefly mentioned, or maybe Jolene briefly mentioned that medications are one of those things that the, that the liver has to detoxify. And of course we can't just go off our medications just willy-nilly. We really need to talk with our doctor about going off medications, but it can be one of those things that can really affect our metabolism and slow it down because our, our liver does have to detoxify it.

And also sometimes medications do have the side effect of weight gain and slow metabolism just in and of themselves. So when you are switching to this real food diet, our bodies become healthier and we have less of a need for some of these medications. So maybe we can go off of our antidepressant or we could go off of our, our proton pump inhibitors or our acid blockers.

JOLENE: Or yeah: high blood pressure is a common one, right?

TERESA: Yeah. Statins for cholesterol.

JOLENE: Diabetes meds.

TERESA: Yep. Yep. All those things that our liver really does have to process and use, which is just another thing for it to do. And our liver, how wonderful it is, can handle lots of things, but the less outside things that it needs to handle, the, the better we will detoxify and our liver or our body will metabolize. Or I should say our metabolism will work.

JOLENE: Mm-Hmm.

TERESA: So that's kind of that connection with medications, but of course we always have to…

JOLENE: We work with like the doctors and our clients.

TERESA: Yes.

JOLENE: But I don't know about you, Teresa, but I do see and work with a lot of clients where that is their goal. So it's important to understand that there is a process. And when you work as a team with, you know, the doctor, the client, the nutrition, it is a process that we can work towards.

TERESA: Yes, absolutely. And there are many eating and drinking habits that you may need to change in order to be able to get off those medications or to reduce that insulin resistance or any of the other things we've been talking about today. Switching from drinking soda or alcohol to drinking water supports your liver and can help boost your metabolism. Avoiding fast food or take-out orders full of refined and damaged fats, and instead cooking grass fed meat, sautéing our veggies in natural fats, such as butter, olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil; that can take the stress off your liver, so you can boost your broken metabolism. It does take time, but we can, we are here to support you through that. And a lot of people really do need that support.

JOLENE: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Cause it's an ongoing process, which, you know, I talked about personally, you know, for 25 years I've been working on my metabolism, and it doesn't stop because things change as we age or as things happen in our lives or, you know, lots of things. Obviously, we know that perimenopause, menopause, those things change things. So just staying on top of it and working with your metabolism instead of against it is a really helpful thing.

And that's what we like to help people with. You did kind of mention switching from, you know, alcohol and soda to water, which I think we all know that; doesn't mean it's easy, but we all know that, but I just, you know, when we, if we're talking metabolism, it would be amiss to not talk about the importance of water.

Water is critical for metabolism

You know, since your metabolism is energy and it requires energy, the best source of that energy or substrate to make it work the way it needs to is to, for it to be hydrated, adequately hydrated. Right? And so we, we all work with our clients and you know, there's always a plan of ways to increase water into your, your daily routine. And, and we say as our kind of like our baseline goal is to aim for your ideal body weight divided by two or half of your ideal body weight in ounces per day. And of course like everything else it’s individual. You know, if you're really active, there's other things going on, you're taking medications, all these things, you might have to increase that.

TERESA: If you're exercising, sweating, if you do sauna.

JOLENE: If you didn't sleep well like, or something else is going on as a stressor, like of course you want to, you know, have more, but it's a good place to start with half your body weight in ounces.

TERESA: And that's a lofty goal for a lot of people.

JOLENE: It's, it's hard if you aren't used to it. Right?

TERESA: Yeah, absolutely. And so, and for people, we, when we're working with them, if you're used to drinking only say 10 to 20 ounces of water a day, it's not as if we're going to say it well now you need to drink a hundred ounces. It's step by step by step. And because otherwise you'll spend the whole day in the bathroom.

JOLENE: Right.

TERESA: Cause your body's not used to it. It won't actually get into your cells where we actually hydrate. It'll just sort of filter through your kidneys and exit the body.

JOLENE: That is true. And we, we, you always have to kind of tell people that like at first you're going to feel like you're in the bathroom all the time, but your body does learn how to use it and it will stabilize.

TERESA: That's right.

JOLENE: But a couple quick things, you know, like, and I, I know that you probably have tips for your clients as well, but you know, just like starting and ending your day with water is like a quick way or having a glass of water before each meal, you know? Yes. You can drink it with meals too, but it's just things that you can do to kind of be like, okay, you know, intentionally, I'm going to get this habit or create this new habit of water, then food or wake up and water, you know, water after dinner or before I go to bed. You know, that type of thing. And then, yeah, like you said, Teresa, you just slowly increase, you create a new habit and before you know it it's part of your daily routine.

TERESA: Yeah. And I just heard Leah, one of the other dietitians that works at Nutritional Weight and Wellness say that she puts water in her coffee cup next to her coffee maker so that she can't put any coffee in her cup until she has drunk her water. And I think that's just such a great idea. I mean, I drink water right away in the morning, but putting it in your cup.

JOLENE: That was smart. No, that really resonated with me too, because I, I don't do it as like obvious as that. But I say before I have coffee, I have to have water. You know, so yeah. There's like if/thens, like you get this, if you do this first.

Protein is critical for metabolism

TERESA: Yeah. Mm-Hmm, another thing to consider too, is we always talk about the importance of protein. And with metabolism, how one of the ways it can relate is that we need protein in order to support our muscle mass on our body. Most of us know, or if you don't know, your muscle is very metabolically active and it burns calories while you are at rest. So while you are reading or watching TV or flipping through your phone, your muscles are burning more energy than other parts of your body.

So when we have adequate protein in our diets, we can support the muscle mass that we have. Of course, having movement to build those muscles is important as well. But after the age of, I, I think it's right around 35, we start to lose muscle unless we're doing something about it. And one of those things that we need to do is eat adequate protein to support our muscle mass. And then of course, exercise to maintain it as well.

JOLENE: Yeah. And then it's, and it's not easy to build muscle, especially as we age. So, you know, you want to just make sure that you're getting adequate protein and like everything that can change. Some people need more protein. Some people, you know, need less. I, I heard a, a phrase and I, I can't remember where it's from, but it was like people aren't overweight, they're just under muscled.

TERESA: Yeah. There you go.

JOLENE: But it just shows like how metabolically important muscle is, because if you want to have a faster metabolism build the muscle and that will support your metabolism.

TERESA: Right. And just another thought too is a lot of times, as we get older, we eat less protein.

JOLENE: Mm-hmm.

TERESA: And really we should be eating more protein. The protein requirement as we age actually goes up.

JOLENE: Right. Right. Exactly. And it is hard. It's already hard to get the minimum requirements of protein. And so we understand that it's harder to even increase that. And so really watching the protein, making sure you're allowing opportunities to build muscle where you can. Once you do those things, you're just boosting your metabolism even more and adding all those nutrient dense foods.

TERESA: Yeah. So to just kind of wrap it up, eat real food, get adequate amounts of protein.

JOLENE: Fix your metabolism, get rid of the insulin resistance.

TERESA: Yes, exactly. Drink more water. We didn't discuss sleep, but sleep is very important for our metabolism.

JOLENE: That's a stressor if you're not sleeping. Right?

TERESA: That's right. And if you have lots of stress in your life, practice those stress lowering techniques.

JOLENE: Absolutely.

TERESA: Our goal at Nutritional Weight and Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for joining us today.