Slow Metabolism Quotes

You think man can destroy the planet? What intoxicating vanity. Let me tell you about our planet. Earth is four-and-a-half-billion-years-old. There's been life on it for nearly that long, 3.8 billion years. Bacteria first; later the first multicellular life, then the first complex creatures in the sea, on the land. Then finally the great sweeping ages of animals, the amphibians, the dinosaurs, at last the mammals, each one enduring millions on millions of years, great dynasties of creatures rising, flourishing, dying away -- all this against a background of continuous and violent upheaval. Mountain ranges thrust up, eroded away, cometary impacts, volcano eruptions, oceans rising and falling, whole continents moving, an endless, constant, violent change, colliding, buckling to make mountains over millions of years. Earth has survived everything in its time. It will certainly survive us. If all the nuclear weapons in the world went off at once and all the plants, all the animals died and the earth was sizzling hot for a hundred thousand years, life would survive, somewhere: under the soil, frozen in Arctic ice. Sooner or later, when the planet was no longer inhospitable, life would spread again. The evolutionary process would begin again. It might take a few billion years for life to regain its present variety. Of course, it would be very different from what it is now, but the earth would survive our folly, only we would not. If the ozone layer gets thinner, ultraviolet radiation sears the earth, so what? Ultraviolet radiation is good for life. It's powerful energy. It promotes mutation, change. Many forms of life will thrive with more UV radiation. Many others will die out. Do you think this is the first time that's happened? Think about oxygen. Necessary for life now, but oxygen is actually a metabolic poison, a corrosive glass, like fluorine. When oxygen was first produced as a waste product by certain plant cells some three billion years ago, it created a crisis for all other life on earth. Those plants were polluting the environment, exhaling a lethal gas. Earth eventually had an atmosphere incompatible with life. Nevertheless, life on earth took care of itself. In the thinking of the human being a hundred years is a long time. A hundred years ago we didn't have cars, airplanes, computers or vaccines. It was a whole different world, but to the earth, a hundred years is nothing. A million years is nothing. This planet lives and breathes on a much vaster scale. We can't imagine its slow and powerful rhythms, and we haven't got the humility to try. We've been residents here for the blink of an eye. If we're gone tomorrow, the earth will not miss us.

Metabolism slows down 90 percent after 30 minutes of sitting.

Whenever I see fat people, they're eating," I ruminated safely out of the diner's earshot. "Don't give me this it's glands or genes or a slow metabolism rubbish. It's food. They're fat because they eat the wrong food, too much of it, and all the time.

We all behave like Maxwell’s demon. Organisms organize. In everyday experience lies the reason sober physicists across two centuries kept this cartoon fantasy alive. We sort the mail, build sand castles, solve jigsaw puzzles, separate wheat from chaff, rearrange chess pieces, collect stamps, alphabetize books, create symmetry, compose sonnets and sonatas, and put our rooms in order, and all this we do requires no great energy, as long as we can apply intelligence. We propagate structure (not just we humans but we who are alive). We disturb the tendency toward equilibrium. It would be absurd to attempt a thermodynamic accounting for such processes, but it is not absurd to say we are reducing entropy, piece by piece. Bit by bit. The original demon, discerning one molecules at a time, distinguishing fast from slow, and operating his little gateway, is sometimes described as “superintelligent,” but compared to a real organism it is an idiot savant. Not only do living things lessen the disorder in their environments; they are in themselves, their skeletons and their flesh, vesicles and membranes, shells and carapaces, leaves and blossoms, circulatory systems and metabolic pathways - miracles of pattern and structure. It sometimes seems as if curbing entropy is our quixotic purpose in the universe.

You think this is the first time such a thing has happened? Don’t you know about oxygen?” “I know it’s necessary for life.” “It is now,” Malcolm said. “But oxygen is actually a metabolic poison. It’s a corrosive gas, like fluorine, which is used to etch glass. And when oxygen was first produced as a waste product by certain plant cells—say, around three billion years ago—it created a crisis for all other life on our planet. Those plant cells were polluting the environment with a deadly poison. They were exhaling a lethal gas, and building up its concentration. A planet like Venus has less than one percent oxygen. On earth, the concentration of oxygen was going up rapidly—five, ten, eventually twenty-one percent! Earth had an atmosphere of pure poison! Incompatible with life!” Hammond looked irritated. “So what is your point? That modern pollutants will be incorporated, too?” “No,” Malcolm said. “My point is that life on earth can take care of itself. In the thinking of a human being, a hundred years is a long time. A hundred years ago, we didn’t have cars and airplanes and computers and vaccines.… It was a whole different world. But to the earth, a hundred years is nothing. A million years is nothing. This planet lives and breathes on a much vaster scale. We can’t imagine its slow and powerful rhythms, and we haven’t got the humility to try. We have been residents here for the blink of an eye. If we are gone tomorrow, the earth will not miss us.

You don’t get fat because your metabolism slows; your metabolism slows because you’re getting fat.

One of the things that happens is that during sleep, your brain cleans itself of waste that has accumulated during the day. “During slow-wave sleep, your cerebral spinal fluid channels open up more and remove metabolic waste from your brain,” Roxanne explained to me. Every night, when you go to sleep, your brain is rinsed with a watery fluid. This cerebrospinal fluid washes through your brain, flushing out toxic proteins and carrying them down to your liver to get rid of them. “So when I’m talking to college students, I call this brain-cell poop. If you can’t focus well, it might be you have too much brain-cell poop circulating.” That can explain why, when you are tired, “you get a hung-over sort of feeling”—you are literally clogged up with toxins. This positive kind of brainwashing can only happen when you are asleep.

the odds are overwhelming that you will die as a result of one of the chronic diseases of aging that I call the Four Horsemen: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, or type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction. To achieve longevity—to live longer and live better for longer—we must understand and confront these causes of slow death.

According to Dr. Ray Peat, nutritional researcher and biologist, ideal heart rates for a healthy metabolism should range between 75 and 90 bpm. Despite

The biggest offenders are seeds like flax and sesame seeds, and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.

The problem with being an adult is absolutely everything. Bills. Work. The bone-crushing disappointment that comes from knowing the guy you want isn’t right for you. A slowed metabolism.

First, when you try to restrict calories and exercise more, your body is hardwired to perceive a starvation situation. That makes you tired (so you move less and conserve energy) and hungry (so you eat more), and it slows down your metabolism (so you don’t die!). This “eat less, exercise more” formula is not too successful for most people. It can work for a short time, certainly, but less than 10 percent of people lose weight and keep it off for a year;4 you will almost always rebound and gain back the weight. Second, when you eat carbs and sugar, insulin spikes and your blood sugar drops. The insulin drives most of the available fuel in your bloodstream into fat cells, especially the fat cells around your middle, otherwise known as belly fat. So your body is starved of fuel, and this stimulates your brain5 to make you eat more.6 You could have a year’s worth of stored energy in your fat tissue and yet feel like you are starving. The only thing that can stop this vicious cycle is eating a lot of fat and cutting out the refined carbs and sugar. A high-fat, low-carb diet leads to a faster metabolism and sustained weight loss.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that restricting calories by 30 percent significantly increased life span in monkeys.27 The experimental diet, while still providing adequate nourishment, slowed monkeys’ metabolism and reduced their body temperatures, changes similar to those in the long-lived thin mice. Decreased levels of triglycerides and increased HDL (the good) cholesterol were also observed. Studies over the years, on many different species of animals, have confirmed that those animals that were fed less lived longest. In fact, allowing an animal to eat as much food as it desires can reduce its life span by as much as one-half.

Yogasanas have often been thought of as a form of exercise. They are not exercises, but techniques which place the physical body in positions that cultivate awareness, relaxation, concentration and meditation. Part of this process is the development of good physical health by stretching, massaging and stimulating the pranic channels and internal organs. When yogasanas are performed, respiration and metabolic rates slow down, the consumption of oxygen and the body temperature drop. During exercise, however, the breath and metabolism speed up, oxygen consumption rises, and the body gets hot. In addition, asanas are designed to have specific effects on the glands and internal organs, and to alter electrochemical activity in the nervous system.

The metabolic rate of history is too fast for us to observe it. It's as if, attending to the day-long life cycle of a single mayfly, we lose sight of the species and its fate. At the same time, the metabolic rate of geology is too slow for us to perceive it, so that, from birth to death, it seems to us who are caught in the beat of our own individual human hearts that everything happening on this planet is what happens to us, personally, privately, secretly. We can stand at night on a high, cold plain and look out toward the scrabbled, snow-covered mountains in the west, the same in a suburb of Denver as outside a village in Baluchistan in Pakistan, and even though beneath our feet continent-sized chunks of earth grind inexorably against one another, go on driving one or the other continent down so as to rise up and over it, as if desiring to replace it on the map, we poke with our tongue for a piece of meat caught between two back teeth and think of sarcastic remarks we should have made to our brother-in-law at dinner.

Do people really drown and come to life again? Well, not really, but it can seem so. The mammalian dive reflex is triggered when a person is suddenly submerged, face and body, into very cold water. The body’s metabolism slows as the reflex redirects circulation away from the limbs and routes blood between the heart, brain, and lungs only. The heart can beat more slowly and oxygen is conserved for essential bodily processes, so as to maintain life for as long as possible. Once recovered from the water, the near-drowned person will appear dead. This physiological phenomenon was first written up in the medical journals in the middle of the twentieth century. The dive reflex is thought to occur in all mammals, both terrestrial and aquatic. It has been observed in adult humans but is believed to be most dramatic in small children.

BORN TO RUN In his book Racing the Antelope: What Animals Can Teach Us about Running and Life, biologist Bernd Heinrich describes the human species as an endurance predator. The genes that govern our bodies today evolved hundreds of thousands of years ago, when we were in constant motion, either foraging for food or chasing antelope for hours and days across the plains. Heinrich describes how, even though antelope are among the fastest mammals, our ancestors were able to hunt them down by driving them to exhaustion—keeping on their tails until they had no energy left to escape. Antelope are sprinters, but their metabolism doesn’t allow them to go and go and go. Ours does. And we have a fairly balanced distribution of fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers, so even after ranging miles over the landscape we retain the metabolic capacity to sprint in short bursts to make the kill.

According to Dr. Barnes, a healthy body temperature should be 97.8 degrees Farenheit (36.6 degrees Celsius) upon rising. Body temperature should steadily rise during the day and peak mid-day to about 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C). Anything below that could indicate a sign of a sluggish metabolism.

Obvious variations aside, there's only one human body. 206 bones, five major organs, 60,000 miles of blood vessels. All it takes is time. Days. Months. Years, spent memorizing the finite ways there are to hurt and break a man. Preparing for all of them. I've escaped from every conceivable deathtrap. Ten times. A dozen times. I can slow my breathing and metabolism to control panic and conserve air. Straitjacket's kindergarten. Locks, too. Benchpressing a pine coffin lid through 600 pounds of loose soil that's filling your mouth, crushing your lungs flat, and shredding your dehydrated muscles? That's harder. But far from impossible.

Methionine is also an essential amino acid needed for growth and development. However, when it comes to longevity in life, research has found that rats eating a methionine-restrictive diet lived 43-percent longer than those that consume a diet high in methionine. Methionine is known for its thyroid-suppressing properties like cysteine

So our food’s safe, right? But what if it acts more like a slow poison, like cigarettes—one won’t kill you, but ten thousand consumed over ten years might? Unlike Salmonella, you won’t be feeling the effects immediately. But eventually, you’ll feel it . . . everywhere. In your heart, muscles, bladder, brain, and especially your wallet.

overwhelming that you will die as a result of one of the chronic diseases of aging that I call the Four Horsemen: heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, or type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction. To achieve longevity—to live longer and live better for longer—we must understand and confront these causes of slow death.

Diets don’t work because they require us to live in a constant state of war with our bodies. “Whenever you restrict food intake, you’re going to run up against your own biology,” explains Dr. Sharma. “It doesn’t matter what program you follow. As soon as your body senses that there are fewer calories going in than going out, it harnesses a whole array of defense mechanisms to fight that.” When we’re dieting, our bodies try to conserve energy, so our metabolism slows down, the result being that you have to eat even less to keep losing weight. That becomes an increasingly difficult project because our bodies also produce more of the hormones, such as ghrelin, that trigger hunger. There is even some evidence that the bacteria in our guts respond when we eat fewer calories, shifting their populations in ways that will send more hunger signals to our brains.

We have witnessed hundreds of clients and patients damage their metabolic and hormonal health through low-carb diets. It is becoming increasingly apparent that there is an epidemic of metabolic and hormonal dysfunction emerging in the hordes of people who have been following low-carb diets. This is particularly impactful for women—and especially physically active women—who commonly suffer side effects from their low-carb diets, including: A stopped or irregular menstrual cycle (amenorrhea)418 419 420 421 422 Decreased fertility423 424 425 Hypoglycemic episodes and blood sugar swings426 Depression, anxiety, and irritability427 428 429 Poor libido430 431 432 Disrupted sleep/insomnia433 434 Dysfunctional relationship with food and fear about eating either fat or carbohydrate435 436 Cycles of restriction and binges437 438 Chronic fatigue 439 440 441 442 Poor thyroid function (and a slow metabolism)443 444 445 446 447 448

You start to realize exercise is no longer about vanity, but necessity. Your metabolism changes too, sadly starting to slow down. You start to realize you ‘should’ go easier on the cheese boards, but you won’t because brie is everything. Then there are the hangovers! Drinking two bottles of Prosecco doesn’t feel like having a beaker of lemonade any more – it fizzes and pops and aches in your head the next day; but fortunately you have more willpower now to ‘get on with it’.

Our body is like a machine. If we constantly run the machinery at high speed, it will wear out faster. Since animals with slower metabolic rates live longer, eating more calories, which drives up our metabolic rate, will cause us only to age faster. Contrary to what you may have heard and read in the past, our goal should be the opposite: to eat less, only as much as we need to maintain a slim and muscular weight, and no more, so as to keep our metabolic rate relatively slow.

I ran to Sailor’s hutch to see if he’d made it through alive. He was backed into the corner, shivering, and in the most wretched condition: he had become so malnourished that his fur had grown horribly long, his body’s attempt to compensate for his slow metabolism and low temperature. His claws were an inch long, and worse, his front teeth had curled over his lower lip so he could hardly open his mouth. Apparently, rabbits need to be chewing on hard things like carrots; otherwise their teeth will grow. Terrified, I opened the cage door to hug little Sailor, but, in a spastic fury, he started scratching my face and neck. I still have the scars. Without anyone attending to him, he had gone feral. That’s what’s happened to me, in Seattle. Come at me, even in love, and I’ll scratch the hell out of you. ’Tis a piteous fate to have befallen a MacArthur genius, wouldn’t you say? Poof. But I do love you, Bernadette TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14 From Paul Jellinek Bernadette, Are you done?

Each one visits a thousand flowers a day. They can dive at sixty miles an hour. They can fly backward. They can fly more than five hundred miles without pausing to rest. But when they rest they come close to death: on frigid nights, or when they are starving, they retreat into torpor, their metabolic rate slowing to a fifteenth of their normal sleep rate, their harts sludging nearly to a halt, barely beating, and if they are not soon warmed, if they do not soon find that which is sweet, their hearts grow cold and they cease to be.

The explanation may be that gene activity in our muscles changes when the muscles don’t contract for long periods of time. In one experiment, researchers at the University of Massachusetts asked a group of healthy young men to walk around using crutches such that the muscles in their left legs never contracted. After only two days of inactivity, the scientists biopsied muscles in both legs. In the left leg, the DNA repair mechanism had been disrupted, insulin response was dropping, oxidative stress was rising, and metabolic activity within individual muscle cells was slowing.

In 2007, Jeffrey Flier, dean of Harvard Medical School and his wife and colleague in obesity research, Terry Maratos-Flier, published an article in Scientific American called “What Fuels Fat.” In it, they described the intimate link between appetite and energy expenditure, making clear that they are not simply variables that an individual can consciously decide to change with the only effect being that his or her fat tissue will get smaller or larger to compensate. An animal whose food is suddenly restricted tends to reduce its energy expenditure both by being less active and by slowing energy use in cells, thereby limiting weight loss. It also experiences increased hunger so that once the restriction ends, it will eat more than its prior norm until the earlier weight is attained. What the Fliers accomplished in just two sentences is to explain why a hundred years of intuitively obvious dietary advice—eat less—doesn’t work in animals. If we restrict the amount of food an animal can eat (we can’t just tell it to eat less, we have to give it no choice), not only does it get hungry, but it actually expends less energy. Its metabolic rate slows down. Its cells burn less energy (because they have less energy to burn). And when it gets a chance to eat as much as it wants, it gains the weight right back. The

All time, Father once told her, is relative: because of the speed the Argos travels, the ship clock kept by Sybil runs faster than clocks back on Earth. The chronometers that run inside every human cell that tell us it’s time to get drowsy, to make a baby, to grow old—all these clocks, Father said, can be altered by speed, software, or circumstance. Some dormant seeds, he said, like the ones in the drawers in Farm 4, can stop time for centuries, slowing their metabolisms to almost zero, sleeping away the seasons, until the right combination of moisture and temperature appears, and the right wavelength of sunlight penetrates the soil. Then, as though you spoke the magic words: they open.

Place an ice pack on the back of the neck or upper trapezius area for 20–30 minutes, preferably in the evening, when insulin sensitivity is lowest. I place a towel on the couch while writing or watching a movie and simply lean back against the ice pack. 2. Consume, as Ray did, at least 500 milliliters of ice water on an empty stomach immediately upon waking. In at least two studies, this water consumption has been shown to increase resting metabolic rate 24–30%, peaking at 40–60 minutes post-consumption, though one study demonstrated a lower effect of 4.5%. Eat breakfast 20–30 minutes later à la the Slow-Carb Diet detailed in earlier chapters. 3. Take 5–10-minute cold showers before breakfast and/or before bed. Use hot water for 1–2 minutes over the entire body, then step out of water range and apply

As I said, if I don’t do anything I tend to put on the pounds. My wife’s the opposite, since she can eat as much as she likes (she doesn’t eat a lot of them, but can never turn down anything sweet), never exercise, and still not put on any weight. She has no extra fat at all. Life just isn’t fair, is how it used to strike me. Some people can work their butts off and never get what they’re aiming for, while others can get it without any effort at all. But when I think about it, having the kind of body that easily puts on weight was perhaps a blessing in disguise. In other words, if I don’t want to gain weight I have to work out hard every day, watch what I eat, and cut down on indulgences. Life can be tough, but as long as you don’t stint on the effort, your metabolism will greatly improve with these habits, and you’ll end up much healthier, not to mention stronger. To a certain extent, you can even slow down the effects of aging. But people who naturally keep the weight off no matter what don’t need to exercise or watch their diet in order to stay trim. There can’t be many of them who would go out of their way to take these troublesome measures when they don’t need to. Which is why, in many cases, their physical strength deteriorates as they age. If you don’t exercise, your muscles will naturally weaken, as will your bones. Some of my readers may be the kind of people who easily gain weight, but the only way to understand what’s really fair is to take a long-range view of things. For the reasons I give above, I think this physical nuisance should be viewed in a positive way, as a blessing. We should consider ourselves lucky that the red light is so clearly visible.

The most general formula on which every religion and morality is founded is: "Do this and that, refrain from this and that — and then you will be happy! And if you don't..." Every morality, every religion, is based on this imperative; I call it the original sin of reason, the immortal unreason. In my mouth, this formula is changed into its opposite — the first example of my "revaluation of all values." An admirable human being, a "happy one," instinctively must perform certain actions and avoid other actions; he carries these impulses in his body, and they determine his relations with the world and other human beings. In a formula: his virtue is the effect of his happiness. A long life, many descendants — these are not the rewards of virtue: instead, virtue itself is that slowing down of the metabolism which leads, among other things, to a long life, many descendants — in short, to Cornaro's virtue.

Metabolism is oxygen. And oxygen comes from breathing.

Part One—The Lipid Panel. Used to evaluate heart health, this panel comprises of four biological markers representing the four types of fat found in the blood—triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Two additional measures of cardiovascular health, homocysteine and c-reactive protein (CRP), may also be measured as part of a more comprehensive profile. These two labs are discussed in Part Six, “Optional Tests” (see page 8). •  Part Two—The Basic Metabolic Panel. The labs used to evaluate metabolism measure blood sugar regulation, electrolyte and fluid balance, and kidney function. Biomarkers included in this panel are glucose, calcium, sodium, potassium, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and creatinine. •  Part Three—The Hepatic Function Panel. This panel determines how well your liver is functioning by measuring levels of different proteins produced and processed by the liver, like albumin and globulin, as well as liver enzymes. •  Part Four—The Complete Blood Count (CBC) Panel. The lab values measured in the complete blood count (CBC) panel include red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and hemoglobin. Maintaining healthy levels of these biomarkers affect your vitality and energy, immune system, and cardiovascular health. •  Part Five—Hormones. Although they are not always included in a routine blood test, hormones should be periodically tested, especially in aging adults. Hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, DHEA, and prostate specific antigen (PSA) play an integral role in reproductive wellness and affect other aspects of health. Maintaining balanced levels can slow down the aging process, for instance. Hormones involved in metabolism, like the thyroid hormones and the stress hormone cortisol, are also discussed in this section. •  Part Six—Optional Tests. This final part of the book highlights four tests—homocysteine, c-reactive protein (CRP), vitamin D, and magnesium—that are not typically measured unless requested, or if a standard blood test shows an abnormality that requires a more in-depth analysis. These tests can provide a more complete picture of heart health, immunity, calcium absorption, blood sugar regulation, and a number of other vital processes.

Removing all estrogenic food (soy, PUFA, alcohol) from your diet. 2. Stopping the use of xenoestrogens (man-made estrogenic substances), plastics, lotions, makeup, and many soaps that contain phytoestrogens.

I think it’s safe to say that 20–30 percent of your diet should contain fat. Some people may need a little more and some a little less; it all depends on you, your health, and your goals.

Are you consuming chia seeds, nuts, seeds, flax oil, fish oil, etc.? If so, then you may want to keep reading to find out why these very toxic fats are doing you far more harm than good.

The ratio of T3/RT3 is good indicator of how much active thyroid your body is actually using.

The soybean has one of the highest phytate contents of any of the grains or legumes. Therefore, despite the fact that calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc are present in these plant-based diets, the high phytate levels prevent their absorption.

Calcitonin: The thyroid also produces the hormone calcitonin, which is in charge of calcium regulation along with parathyroid hormone (PTH).

Signs of a High Metabolic Rate: • Body temperature with a thermometer: 97.8 F (36.6 C) upon waking 98.6 F (37 C) mid-day • Pulse 75–90 bpm • Warm feet, hands, and nose all day. • 1–3 bowel movements/day • Urinating 4–5 times/day, not 10–12 times/day • Good hormone function: healthy sex drive, no PMS, fertile • Shiny hair, smooth and healthy skin, strong nails • 7–9 hours deep, uninterrupted sleep • Feel happy and content • Have good energy all day • Maintain your weight without dieting and excessive exercise

We already know that low thyroid = low HCL = increased gut pH = less protection from bacteria, viruses, and fungus.

The thymus produces T-cells, which protect the body from foreign bacteria and viruses. A damaged thymus leads to lower immunity.

I recommend using 8 ounces bone broth, salt, and ½ cup fruit or 6 ounces orange juice, a dash of salt, and 1 tablespoon hydrolyzed gelatin (powdered gelatin) as a natural sleep aid.

While it may seem paradoxical, hunger also plays a key role in the development of obesity. “I often hear things like, ‘Those people can’t be hungry—they’re fat!’” says Janet Poppendieck, Ph.D., the author of Free for All: Fixing School Food in America. “But the least healthy, most obesity-inducing calories in our society are often the cheapest.” A study from the University of Washington found that junk food can cost an average of $ 1.76 per 1,000 calories, while more nutritious foods add up to $ 18.16 for the same amount. Food-insecure families may also be more prone to obesity because their bodies are essentially always in crash-diet mode, which ultimately slows down metabolism.

also began removing many other foods that are currently considered “healthy” by many, including all polyunsaturated fats, beans, and grains. I also cut out most nuts and some vegetables.

Ghee is very rich in vitamins A and K2. Vitamins A and K2 are fat-soluble vitamins that are very important to bone health.

Seventy percent of your immune system is located in your gut.

Cardiologist Dr. Broda Barnes believed health was synonymous with a high metabolic rate. In his book Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness, Barnes links a healthy metabolism to a warm body (97.8–98.6 degrees F/36.6–37 degrees C), good digestion and daily bowel movements, healthy skin, shiny hair, strong nails, bones, and teeth, the ability to procreate and desire sex, void of PMS and hormonal issues, a healthy heart, clear mind, infrequent urination, deep restful sleep, good energy all day long, a lean muscular body, lack of disease, and a feeling of content and happiness.

According to Dr. Lee, a healthy ratio would be somewhere between 50 and 100 times more progesterone to estrogen.

Essentially, there are far better foods to consume if you are looking for anti-oxidant properties. Fruits, OJ, root vegetables, eggs, dark chocolate, coconut oil, liver, shellfish, and coffee are all great choices.

T1, T2, T3, and T4. Each thyroid hormone is made up of the protein tyrosine and iodine.

Calcitonin is released when blood calcium levels are too high. PTH is released when blood calcium levels are too low.

We used it every winter, and in every time of drought or famine. We survived by getting depressed. Not clinically depressed, or Prozac depressed, but survival depressed, as in let’s slow down the metabolism, build up the fat stores, withdraw, turn inward, hibernate, cut everything back to bare minimum. Shut down and survive by letting all but the most critical systems atrophy and decay. In fact, all chronic stress works the same way.

Oxalic acid is a natural occurring chemical found in leafy green plants, nuts, grains, and legumes. Oxalic acid causes problems because it binds to calcium (CA) in the body, forming oxalates.

Lignans are phytoestrogens found in plants. They have estrogenic-like properties and can cause hormonal disturbances.

The Importance of the Raw Carrot The raw carrot, which grows below ground and is root vegetable, contains many powerful fungicides and bacteriostats. For the carrot to protect itself from bacteria in the soil it produces its own fungicides and bacteriostats.

The raw carrot is a key player in lowering estrogen levels and bringing back proper hormonal balance.

Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, and pumpkin are actually fruits. By definition these fruit-vegetables are considered fruits, since the meat of the plant surrounds the seeds. The fruit-vegetables contain both fructose and glucose so they absorb into the blood system slower than a vegetable of pure glucose. The fruit-vegetables are low in starch and cellulose, and have a low PUFA content.

None of these foods should ever be consumed alone. You should always eat all vegetables and fruits with a protein and fat to slow the blood sugar response. Even root vegetables, fruits, and fruit-vegetables eaten individually can throw your blood sugar out of whack.

These are the nine essential amino acids: leucine**, isoleucine**, valine**, lysine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, phenylalanine, and histidine.

Fruits, fruit juices, and milk are void of the anti-nutrients: phytates and trypsin inhibitors, which are found in grains, seeds, and legumes. Phytates will inhibit

The real definition of good health comes down to optimal cellular function (warm body, good sleep, energized, healthy sex drive, healthy skin, hair, and nails, happy, good digestion and detox, and a lean body).

High Phosphorous-to-Calcium Ratio Grains, like meat, contain a high amount of phosphorus with very little calcium. The ratio of phosphorus to calcium in the body is important in maintaining bone and teeth health.

Foods high in phosphorus and low in calcium are muscle meats, seeds, Brazil nuts, grains, soy, and colas.

Phytates, also found in our good friends soy, seeds, and nuts, are antioxidant compounds found in whole grains.

If you have good overall health (free of disease, pain, and illness), a warm body (average 98.6 degrees Farenheit), a normal pulse (75–90 BPM), good digestion, and restful sleep; can maintain good muscle tone; have a healthy sex drive, feel happy; maintain normal blood pressure (around 120/80); and have healthy bones, teeth, hair, skin, and nails, then I would say you are eating the right amount of protein for you.

What are these super proteins? They include milk, eggs, liver, shellfish/white fish, potato-protein, and bone broth/gelatin.

Using protein as energy produces many waste products, is costly, and creates a stress response by the body.

Dr. Weston Price discusses how diets with a high phosphorus-to-calcium ratio are linked to many degenerative diseases,

A 12-week study in Bio Factors Journal found the correct balance of calcium to phosphorus was estimated at 2:1. Diets

Like these other foods, legumes are high in anti-nutrients, lectins, phytates, protease (trypsin) inhibitors, oxalates, and polyunsaturated fats.

Have a salty/sweet drink next to your bed just in case you wake up in the middle of the night. A sweet-salty drink, like orange juice and a pinch of salt, can help bring down adrenaline and cortisol spikes that occur during the night. Lowering the stress hormones will allow your body to go back to sleep faster.

Healing your metabolism is not a destination. It is a constant journey, since you will always encounter stressors that will affect your health and metabolism negatively. However, you will show improvements in energy, body temperature (98–99 degrees Farenheit), pulse rate (75–90 bpm), sleep quality (seven to nine uninterrupted hours), bowel movements (one to three per day), mood, hormones, digestion, and immune function along the way.

Raw nuts are filled with phytates, lectins, and trypsin inhibitors.

Today, with an increased ingestion of anti-thyroid foods (processed foods, soy, vegetable oils, grains, legumes, and nuts) and the avoidance of pro-thyroid foods (saturated fats, sugars, salt, and animal proteins), I believe that number could be far higher—although lab testing may tell us differently. (See the section titled “Current Thyroid Lab Testing” later in this chapter.)

Most doctors use thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) to test for thyroid function. TSH is the hormone secreted from your pituitary gland in response to low thyroid levels of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). If TSH is elevated above “normal” levels, you may be hypothyroid (sluggish metabolism).

Total T4/Total thyroxine = the amount of T4 bound to a carrier protein and the amount of unbound T4 in the blood. T4 is one-fifth to 1/10 as active as T3. T4 is converted into the more active T3 in the liver and kidneys. Total T3/Total triiodothyronine = the amount of T3 bound to a carrier protein and the amount of unbound T3 in the blood. FREE T3 = the amount of unbound T3 in blood. Low levels could mean an underactive thyroid. FREE T4 = the amount of unbound T4 in blood. Low levels could mean an underactive thyroid. Anti-TPO = anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO). TPO is an enzyme needed to produce thyroid hormone. High levels of this antibody are an indication of an autoimmune disorder like Hashimoto’s or Graves disease.

Thyroxine (T4): T4 is the primary thyroid hormone. T4 is the primary hormone because it is produced four times more than T3 in the thyroid. Yet, T4 is 1/10th less active than T3. 80 percent of T4 is converted to the more active T3 in the liver, kidneys, pituitary, and spleen.

Triiodothryonine (T3): T3 is the most active thyroid hormone. Yet, very little is produced in the thyroid: 10–20 percent of T3 is produced in the thyroid; the rest is converted from T4 in the liver, kidneys, spleen, and pituitary. T3 is the most active hormone because it is 10 times more active than T4.

In a study in Metabolism Journal, researchers found that a drop of 1 degree Celsius in body temperature would lower metabolic rate by 10–13 percent. Therefore, if you are consuming 2,000 calories (kcal) to maintain your weight and are running a cool 36 degrees C (97 degrees F) through the day, you have dropped your caloric expenditure by 10–13 percent, or 200–230 kcal/day.

Consume something sweet and salty an hour to 30 minutes before bed. Sugar and salt lower stress hormones. When blood sugar levels are maintained, stress hormones decrease and getting to sleep becomes easier. Examples of sleepy nighttime snacks:

the first day of fasting, the blood Sugar level drops below 70mg/dl. To restore the blood to the normal glucose level, liver glycogen is converted to glucose and released into the blood. This reserve is enough for a half day. The body then reduces the basal metabolic rate (BMR). The rate of internal chemical activity in resting tissue is lowered to conserve energy. The heart slows and blood pressure is reduced. Glycogen is pulled from the muscle causing some weakness. The first wave of cleansing is usually the worst.   Headaches,

our goal should be the opposite: to eat less, only as much as we need to maintain a slim and muscular weight, and no more, so as to keep our metabolic rate relatively slow.

Blue is the color of the sky and the sea. It is often associated with depth and stability and symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith and truth. It is believed that blue has a beneficial effect on the mind and body: it slows metabolism and has a calming effect.

AND SO WE have the vicious cycle of under-eating. We start by eating less and lose some weight. As a result, our metabolism slows and hunger increases. We start to regain weight. We double our efforts by eating even less. A bit more weight comes off, but again, total energy expenditure decreases and hunger increases. We start regaining weight. So we redouble our efforts by eating even less. This cycle continues until it is intolerable. We are cold, tired, hungry and obsessing about calories. Worst of all, the weight always comes back on. At some point, we go back to our old way of eating. Since metabolism has slowed so much, even resuming the old way of eating causes quick weight gain, up to and even a little past the original point. We are doing exactly what our hormones are influencing us to do.

for good health, avoid the scary and intense blood-sugar roller coaster (peaks followed by crashes) and stick to the cute and gentle blood-sugar caterpillar ride (slow and steady ups and downs). Having a high glucose response to your meals is a risk factor for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other metabolic disorders, and it’s also a predictor of higher overall mortality.

In this more nuanced view, aging and the diseases that come with it are the result of multiple “hallmarks” of aging: • Genomic instability caused by DNA damage • Attrition of the protective chromosomal endcaps, the telomeres • Alterations to the epigenome that controls which genes are turned on and off • Loss of healthy protein maintenance, known as proteostasis • Deregulated nutrient sensing caused by metabolic changes • Mitochondrial dysfunction • Accumulation of senescent zombielike cells that inflame healthy cells • Exhaustion of stem cells • Altered intercellular communication and the production of inflammatory molecules Researchers began to cautiously agree: address these hallmarks, and you can slow down aging. Slow down aging, and you can forestall disease. Forestall disease, and you can push back death.

The exercise intensity of 50 percent of VO2 max is an extremely interesting intensity from the physiological point of view. That’s when the stroke volume of the heart (the volume of blood pumped per one heartbeat) is the largest, lipid metabolism is the highest, and the accumulation of catecholamine (an indicator of lactate and sympathetic nerves’ agitation) starts.

People often starve themselves in order to lose weight. That’s a no-go! The body is very resourceful, and it will slow down its metabolic rate in order to compensate for the lack of calories. It tries to hold onto every calorie you consume, since it is unsure when it will be fed again. Then, once you resume your normal caloric intake, your metabolic rate remains slowed down. This is why people who try restrictive diets usually gain their original weight back and often some more too. The good news is that if you want to lose weight, you should never be hungry. A well balanced diet consisting of small frequent meals (every 2.5 – 3.5 hours) is the key to long term success.

For one thing, as we see with the Hadza, daily energy expenditures are the same today in the industrialized world as they were in our hunter-gatherer past. Our bodies are incredibly adept at responding to changing activity levels to keep daily energy expenditures within a narrow window. But more crucially, blaming obesity on slow metabolism gets the cause and effect of weight change completely backward. Our metabolism doesn’t dictate energy balance, it responds to energy balance.

Starving yourself during the day and eating late at night slows down your metabolism, which leads to weight gain in many body types.

The list of oils with the highest concentration of PUFAs and that can be the most harmful are soybean oil, corn oil, safflower oil, grape seed oil, sesame seed, nut oils (peanut, walnut, almond, etc.), flaxseed, fish oil, cod liver oil, evening primrose, borage oils, and, yes, this even includes Omega-3 (EPA and DHA) and Omega-6, also known as the “essential fatty acids.

Another class of fats that warrant concern are polyunsaturated fatty acids, also known as PUFAs. Excessive intake of PUFAs, (found in industrial oils such as canola, corn, safflower, and soybean; margarine and buttery sprays and spreads; and assorted baked, frozen, packaged and processed foods) can also compromise health. These fats also oxidize easily and may contribute to systemic inflammation, as the immune system tries to deal with the oxidation. They may be a major factor in arterial oxidation and inflammation. Your endocrine system is especially sensitive to PUFA consumption, which can lead to symptoms such as a slowed metabolism, low energy levels, and sluggish thyroid function.

Measuring portions and trying to eat fewer calories, typically called “dieting,” almost never result in permanent weight loss and actually worsen the problem over time. Such “dieting” temporarily slows down your metabolic rate, so often more weight comes back than you lost. You wind up heavier than you were before you started dieting. This

Alcohol poses a major problem for women with estrogen dominance. It slows down metabolism by more than 70 percent (temporarily—for about one day, which adds up if you drink daily), congests the liver, raises bad estrogens and cortisol, disrupts sleep (which raises cortisol even further), and gives you the crazy idea that eating more of the wrong foods is somehow a good idea

Alcohol consumption raises estrogen levels and—the bad news—slows down fat burning because your liver is busy processing alcohol instead of fat. Studies in postmenopausal women show that estrogen levels increase dramatically with each serving of alcohol you drink each day.

The type of food you consume directly affects your metabolism and insulin response. Food is composed of three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrate, and fat, and each of these macronutrients affects your metabolism in a different way. One gram of protein or carbohydrate provides four calories, while one gram of fat contains nine calories. A calorie is the base unit of heat measurement related to metabolic rate. It measures how much energy a particular food provides to the body. Of course, if you do eat more calories than your body requires, it doesn’t matter whether those calories come from protein, carbohydrates, or fat—the extra fuel will be stored in the body as fat. Eating too few calories can be equally problematic. When you do not eat enough food, your body’s endocrine, immunological, and nervous systems begin to malfunction. The result is often hormonal imbalances, thyroid problems, and insulin resistance. When you are in a state of extreme caloric restriction, your body does everything possible to return to a state of homeostasis, or equilibrium—including slowing down your metabolic rate. A slow metabolism affects your energy levels, your digestive and hormonal health, and your ability to lose weight. In my case, severely restricting my calories increased my adrenal