Why a metabolism imbalance could be behind many of your health issues- The Little Things

Issues with your metabolism could be behind issues with your weight, hunger and energy levels. Photo / 123rf

If you can’t get through the day without snacking on sweet treats to try and build your energy up, you may be suffering from an issue with your metabolism.

Lara Briden is a Canadian-born naturopath with more than 25 years' experience in women’s health, who is now based in Christchurch.

She is also the author of The Metabolism Reset, looking at how women of any age can sort out their metabolism and work through any issues.

Speaking to Francesca Rudkin and Louise Ayrey on the NZ Herald’s lifestyle podcast The Little Things, Briden said metabolism is a very broad term and technically refers to any biochemical reaction in the body, of which there are hundreds of thousands.

“Most people talk about metabolism or metabolic health, they’re talking about the body’s ability to convert food into energy that we can use – and unfortunately, with some very common type of metabolic dysfunction that starts to sputter or not fire on all cylinders.”

Lara Briden is an expert in women's health and the negative impacts of metabolic health issues. Photo / Supplied

She said reduced energy, sugar cravings and drops in blood sugar are all signs that your metabolism is not functioning optimally.

“So if you’re feeling good, if you’re sleeping well, if you’ve got good energy, you kind of go, ‘okay, tick, I’m doing the right things here'.”

Briden said that this is different from hunger – when your body is clearly telling you to eat another meal – and more a feeling of never being satisfied, which she describes as “gnawing” or “crashing”.

One metabolism issue she wants more people to be aware of it insulin resistance, or metabolic inflexibility as she calls it.

“It is a hormonal state of having chronically elevated levels of insulin. It’s normal for insulin to rise and go up and down after a meal. So it’s not that insulin is bad at all, but chronically elevated levels of insulin do lock the body out of this birthright ability to just tap into body fat stores for as much energy as it needs.

“It traps the body into being more reliant on carbs. And that ... is just a very unpleasant place to be because it causes you to feel hungry all the time, craving carbohydrates.”

She said this can also lead to poor mental health conditions and some increased long-term risk of heart disease, dementia and some types of cancer.

Briden said many of her patients can feel shame about this condition, but studies have shown metabolic health issues have increased a lot in recent decades, likely as a result of changes in modern food supply.

“If I could wave a magic wand, I would go back 50, 70 years [and] put a stop to the ultra-processed food companies taking over and the environmental toxins that potentially are doing all this damage.”

For advice on how to get your metabolism under control, listen to the full episode of The Little Things.

The Little Things is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The series is hosted by broadcaster Francesca Rudkin and health researcher Louise Ayrey. New episodes are available every Saturday.