Far from just a measure of how your clothes fit or how you look, your metabolism affects nearly every organ and function in your body. It determines how much energy you have, how well your food nourishes you, how you are aging, how robust your immune defenses are, and how clearly you think. GLP-1 prescriptions are promoted as the weight-loss/metabolic ‘magic bullet,’ but they come with side effects and limitations, including their cost and the need to stay on them indefinitely to maintain their benefits. Contrary to their hype and the promises of other “metabolic hacks,” there is no one thing that can help you reach and maintain a certain weight. What you weigh actually matters less than if you are metabolically healthy (good blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipid levels), so instead of focusing on numbers on a scale, we'd like to explore tools to help you maintain metabolic health over your lifetime.
Stress And Metabolism
Chronic stress activates your sympathetic nervous system, which increases cortisol production, negatively affecting your metabolic function. It keeps your body in survival mode, telling it to store fat, rather than burning it for energy. This fat is usually stored in the belly around the organs, where it operates like its own endocrine organ, releasing hormones and chemicals that increase inflammation. This can trigger a negative cycle which can lead to insulin resistance (When the cells in your body don't respond to insulin as they should).
SCFAs, Your Metabolic Superheroes
Science validates what healing traditions like Ayurveda have known for millenia: health begins in the gut, and what you eat makes all the difference. High (saturated) fat diets increase bad gut bacteria, which leads to a decreased production of short-chain fatty acids, or SCFAs. Produced by your body’s fermentation of fiber and essential to metabolic health, they include butyrate, propionate and acetate. SCFAs help regulate hormones like ghrelin, leptin, and GLP-1, which affect appetite control and the feeling of fullness after eating. Butyrate has the unique ability to normalize colonic cells’ function by repairing damaged DNA, helping to keep your gut lining strong. When SCFAs production is low and the gut lining is damaged, it increases absorption of lipopolysaccharides (LPS, a toxic byproduct from bacterial breakdown in the gut), setting off a cascade of inflammatory processes leading to weight gain, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome (a combination of high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and high blood sugar, which increases risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease). Research continues to show the potential of SCFAs to heal the gut and switch on healthy metabolic gene expression: let’s look at how to increase them.
Soluble Fiber/Polysaccharides
Soluble fiber (as opposed to an insoluble fiber like bran) is key to SCFAs production, and includes complex carbohydrates like polysaccharides. Polysaccharides feed good gut bacteria, prompt your immune system to heal damaged tissues and help increase antioxidant production. They include the prebiotic FOS (fructooligosaccharides). from foods like garlic and asparagus; GOS (galactooligosaccharides) from beans; inulin from chicory root and sunchokes; resistant starch from cooked and cooled pasta and rice; and pectins from fruits like apples. Mushrooms and seaweeds are also polysaccharide-rich. One study found that the beta glucans from reishi mushroom (Ganoderma) enriched SCFAs-producing bacteria, improving intestinal barrier health and glucose metabolism. Another study found that those who ate inulin-rich foods were more likely to choose lower-calorie foods over higher-calorie ones, suggesting that eating prebiotic foods might help people make healthier food choices.
Polyphenols
Polyphenols are plant micronutrients known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. Abundant in many herbs, they also make the colors in the ‘food rainbow,’ and include flavonoids in citrus fruit, tannins from tea and wine, and the lignans in flaxseed. Regular consumption of polyphenol-rich foods can decrease glucose absorption in the intestine and slow digestion, which can reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes and keep your blood sugar stable. Polyphenols increase good gut bacteria such as Bifidobacterium, Akkermansia, and Roseburia. Akkermansia has been correlated with the ability to increase GLP-1 and decrease belly fat accumulation. Polyphenol-rich herbs were shown to increase Akkermansia in the gut, the thickness of its mucus layer, and decrease the absorption of LPS. Roseburia is the main producer of butyrate, helping to lower inflammation and keep blood sugar stable. Along with fiber, a broad-spectrum probiotic that contains L. plantarum, B. longum, and B. bifidum can help Roseburia to thrive.
The Grain Debate
Excepting those with celiac disease or severe gluten intolerance, whole grains (other than mass-produced wheat and corn) can be an important ally for metabolic balance. Some diets ignore the food wisdom of millennia, in favor of a flawed idea of what “cavemen” ate. Archeology has proven that ancient humans subsisted far more on plant food than the occasional animal kill. Human bodies haven't changed much since then: you still need plants to supply the fiber and phytochemicals that help regulate your blood sugar and metabolism. Meat isn’t a good source of what your gut microbiome needs to thrive, and too much saturated fat from animal products can push your gut microbiota in an unhealthy direction (see LPS info above).
Metabolic Herbal Allies
Many herbs can offer strong support for metabolic health. Berberine is the plant alkaloid derived from herbs like Indian Barberry, Coptis, and Oregon Grape. It’s inaccurate to call it ‘Nature’s Ozempic’, but it’s been shown to inhibit LPS-driven inflammation and help to decrease insulin resistance. It helps regulate the gut–brain axis and increases SCFA-producing bacteria, promoting the increase of GLP-1 in intestinal cells.
Tulsi (Holy Basil) can help reduce stress and improve glycemic control. In several studies, Tulsi improved fasting and post-meal blood glucose, as well as HbA1c (the average measure of blood sugar over the past 2-3 months) levels, while other studies showed improvement in body weight and BMI.
Studies have shown Neem to significantly decrease systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, which protects cell integrity and immune resilience. In addition to its ability to contribute to a healthy gut microbiome, it can also reduce insulin resistance and HbA1c levels and improve vascular health.
Gymnema’s active compounds are similar to the glucose molecule’s structure, which enable them to fill the glucose receptors on your taste buds, blocking the taste for sweet.Gymnema has also been shown to help lower fasting and post-meal blood sugar levels, as well as promote the regeneration of pancreatic cells.
Necessary Nutrients
B vitamins play a key role in your energy production and metabolism. B-vitamin deficiency can contribute to insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and obesity, while higher intake has been associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome. B vitamins also help your body produce and metabolize lipids and lipoproteins (which help clear LPS from the blood). Magnesium is equally essential to healthy metabolism, helping improve insulin sensitivity, encouraging the growth of healthy bacteria, and reducing inflammation. It can decrease stress-induced belly fat gain by helping improve your sleep, promote calm and control cortisol production.Through its ability to balance blood sugar, magnesium can help reduce cravings for refined and sugary foods.
Multiple-Choice For Metabolic Balance
Let’s wrap it up with the many tools you can choose from:
- Manage Chronic Stress
Managing stress in a healthy way does your metabolism a big favor. Finding ways to unplug, take breaks, and get some quiet time (meditation or just closing your eyes and breathing deeply) will help regulate your nervous system and keep your cortisol in check.
- Get Plenty Of Magnesium and B Vitamins
B-Vitamins: Salmon, eggs, leafy greens, legumes, chicken, turkey, nutritional yeast.
Magnesium: Nuts and seeds, legumes, whole grains, leafy greens, avocados, potatoes, dark chocolate
Supplements: Pick a B-complex that features the bioactive forms (e.g. methylcobalamin and P-5-P) for best absorption. For magnesium, look for quality chelates like malate, orotate, and bisglycinate to maximize benefits and minimize GI upset.
- Lean On Plants For Balance
Polyphenols: Eat plenty of colorful fruits and veggies, use spices liberally in your meals, and drink nourishing teas from food-like herbs (tulsi, oatstraw, red raspberry leaves, nettles, rosehips) and/or take focused herbal supplements.
Fiber/Polysaccharides: Eat whole grains like brown rice, farro, oats, and quinoa, and starchy veggies like squash, beets, and potatoes. Other great sources of soluble fiber are beans, lentils, mushrooms, seaweed, and herbs like marshmallow and psyllium.
- Get Your Probiotics
Feed your gut microbiome by eating yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and pickled veggies. As a supplement, a spore-based multi-strain probiotic will give the most benefit (since your gut is unique, consulting your natural healthcare practitioner can help you determine which strains suit you best).
As you can see, there are many interlocking parts to metabolic balance: when you improve any one aspect, it helps every other part. Instead of focusing primarily on your weight, you can choose to improve many other aspects of your metabolism, with a whole world of plant allies that you can rely on to help you maintain healthy balance throughout your lifetime.