In this week’s Metabolic Minute we talk about two NEW hot topics around metabolism and health; “metaflammation” and “inflammaging.” 

Your metabolism is the sum total of all the metabolic reactions that are going on in your body at any given moment. This delicate biochemical balance can be affected by many different factors from the time you were born to now. Gut health, diet choices, stress response, sleep quality, and drug history are just a handful of the factors that need to be taken into consideration.

So what is “metaflammation?” This is when your body gets stuck in a state of low grade inflammation as a response to metabolic disruption from one or more sources. The inflammation can then set off a cascade of other affects throughout the body including tissue damage, which causes accelerated aging, or “inflammaging.”

Causes of metaflammation and possible symptoms:

1. Poor diet, high in sugar and refined flour, is the number one lifestyle factor that causes inflammation.  Blood sugar elevates and stay high for 2 hours or more after meals.  This drives fasting blood sugar up to high normal ranges, makes you gain belly fat and can cause you to feel very tired after you eat.
2. Fat tissue itself causes inflammation because our fat cells generate inflammatory substances.  If  you are overweight and have high body fat percentage, you know you are getting metaflammation from your body fat.
3. Physical inactivity which can lead to weight gain, muscle loss, impact your insulin balance and moods, and affect done density over time.
4. Medications which can deplete nutrients and impact the gut microbiome.
5. Nutrient deficits which can impact the body’s ability to control blood sugar, handle stress, make cellular energy, and much more.
6. Chronic stress can trigger inflammation in several ways.  If you feel anxious, have low moods, irritability or trouble sleeping, you know stress has been impacting you. Long term stress not only impacts our neurochemicals, it can put you into fat storage mode and make you lose muscle.
7. Cigarette smoking isa significant source of inflammation due to the chemicals in them, whether first or second hand.

How can you catch metaflammation and prevent inflammaging?

1. Get a Metabolic Code assessment and report done with a practitioner to know exactly where your metabolic systems are today, and where they’re headed. This report looks at different areas of metabolic function by combining results from a comprehensive questionnaire and blood labs. You will receive a detailed, personalized, report that evaluates your 5 Metabolic TRIADS, identifies the metabolic roadblocks you need to work on now, and creates a plan so that you can recapture your vitality, at any age!
2. Lifestyle choices are key! Diet and exercise are two keys to your vitality and are totally in your control. We have developed full Metabolic Code-approved anti-inflammatory diet programs to help you make better diet choices that will heal and support your body from the inside out. We also recommend you get some form of exercise daily; even as little as 20min per day can have a significant positive impact on your health. 
3. Manage your stress and get quality sleep. These factors are important as they can have an impact on your appetite and cravings as well as your metabolic efficiency. There are many stress management strategies like deep breathing techniques and yoga. Reducing your caffeine intake and managing your screen time at night can help improve your sleep quality.  Sometimes these measures aren’t enough and that’s where supplements can come in. 
4. Take a supplement to support you. Based on your personal results you will receive supplement recommendations in the report and from your practitioner. We pride ourselves on  providing people with quality research-backed ingredients and programs that can help steer your body toward healthier metabolic balance and results that you will see and feel.