Episode 25:Boost Your Metabolism: Tips for Better Health:Expert Insights from Tammy & Lyssie Lakatos
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Hello world, and welcome to Choices, Books and Gifts, where You Always Have Choices. We had these ladies on before. They're a big hit, and I will tell you a little about them. My name is Lyssie, and I will read you a little bio on these lovely, lovely, special ladies.
So Tammy Lakatos and Lacey Lyssie Lakatos make up the aspiration nutrition Duo here to help you transform your thoughts about food. These twin sisters are nationally recognized registered dietitians, nutritionists, and personal trainers. So you know you are definitely in the right hands. With 15 years of experience, Tammy and Lyssie helped thousands of clients boost their energy naturally, achieve their health goals, become happier and reach tip-top shape. Tip-top was voted among the top 20 nutritional experts to follow on Twitter by The Huntington Post, and they're named a top influencer on Pinterest, with over 4 million followers. That's quite, that's quite the report.
That's wonderful. Thank you. You guys are top-notch, and we are so glad we get to have you on our show. Thank you for having us. Excited to be here. We yeah. I'm so excited you're here with us, too. So, if you don't mind, I will ask questions, and you guys will answer how you want to. Okay Perfect. Number one,
Can you explain the concept of metabolism and why it's crucial for weight management and overall health? Of course. I will start by saying that our first book, Fire Up Yourtabolism, was about metabolism many years ago. But the thing about it is that the definition of metabolism is a little bit tricky. So, I make it really as simplified as possible. And it's kind of the way that your body uses your food to make energy. So very simplified. Right. So when we're using food to make energy, different things to different things come most of us, the majority of our energy, is something that goes into keeping our ort the food that we eat, those calories that we eat, it goes to keeping our heart beating and keeping those organs just working. And then there's a component of our metabolism that we can't control. And that will be our genetic age, whether we're male or that wind of things. Yeah. o those things we can't change. But the great news is, while many people mistakenly think that we're doomed by our, like, many people's metabolism, you know, and then we feel like, why is that?
Well, then, it's because you feel like you're eating your food. It's just used to make energies are being used to store fat. Instead, the truth is that we have a lot of control over our metabolism. I am excited to share those things with you today because it's inspiring to know that we can do a lot with our metabolism to boost it, and that's what we do with our clients. And I must tell you, we used to do booster selves because we also do genetic testing in our practice. And we have to say to you that we have every obesity gene. We have if they show it in a picture and that genetic pathways of your metabolism and they have a picture of us pushing how hard it will be for us to maintain our weight.
We're probably 40, and we're pushing like a boulder that's bigger than us up a hill. So does that mean metabolism is a little off, or it's off because of the... it's all very genetically. It's very, it's all sluggish. So, if genetically, it wants to conserve everything we eat and not create energy, it wants to conserve it as fat.
So it takes a while. Why does the body do that? I mean, the goes back. I mean, if you look at our research, we don't talk about this a lot. Still, if you go back to generation after generation, we probably had some family members who had to eat. Then they couldn't get food because their bodies learned how to slow the metabolism down our nation. Like a hibernation
I mean, many of us have that, but some have muscle. Come from different areas. However, our genes turned out to not fit our genes, and we didn't feel like it was as protected in our mind, were this way because it was our advantage. So it was like our survival of the fittest. We have the survival of the fattest.
It's fitness. Teen. I like your thinking because I don't think of it so positively. She's always so down about our darn metabolism. Let me ask you this. So, for me, I think it's later in life I have a slow metabolism. So, a doctor put me on a medication. Is that something you suggest, or should I do it with just diet and exercise? What are your thoughts?
That's a great question. I don't know what medication puts you on. There's a lot out there right now. Still, it really depends because a lot of times, we come from the school of thought that we always want to try to get our body to do what it can first and then get the help of medication because usually, with medications, there are side effects. If you're talking about, like, we'll go over here or pet it, you know, right now, there's a lot of really positive things, but there's also a lot to learn. So that's, and it works very well for some people. But we have suspicions about things to watch out for in the long run.
So if we can, regardless of that, we really want to boost our body's own metabolism. Right. And one thing I want to add here is that so many people say, oh, my metabolism slowed as I got older, which is very accurate. It's very related to muscle lean muscle tissue. But the thing that people don't realize is, say, the thing that it affects metabolism. No one ever thinks of things like inflammation, stress, or what causes inflammation. Insulin toxins, right. Blood sugar swings; if you can keep your blood sugar, your metabolism will stay up. Yeah, we'll share that. I feel you have many questions. It's amazing because you mentioned those things, and I see the questions coming up that will handle those answers. I love our first question. Took so long because it was so informational.
So, I'm going to go to question two. Thank you, ladies. Okay, What are some overlooked causes of a slow metabolism? Is it a lack of eating right and lack of exercise, or do you tell me? Oh well, there are many things, but the overlooked one is that I think people realize more. There are certain things they can do with their eating or their muscle tissue.
Right? The things that are really overlooked are things that people don't realize. Well, there are many. And if we even just name a few, one being nutrients, if we don't have certain nutrients, nutrients are needed to fuel our metabolic processes. So if we either have a genetic, and we all metabolize vitamins through our genes, if we all have something that makes it a little bit harder for us to metabolize B vitamins, which are energy, or if we eat in a way when we're rushed, and we don't release the enzymes that break down the food to cleave the nutrients that we need, then I mean, that's a huge issue.
That is a huge issue, and we should spend the second there. Because if you don't break, we assume we're eating all this healthy food. Well, we must be getting all of the nutrients we need to fuel our metabolism. Not so fast. If you eat like Tammy when I tell her, get over here on time. She had a class.
I'm like, I swallowed that whole. Yeah, you're eating your food whole. You're. You're not telling your body you're not breaking down the food. You're not leaving the nutrients. You're not telling your body that it needs to release enzymes. And that's assuming that your enzymes work well. So these are all sorts. As we get older, after the age of 40, everyone's digestive enzymes just start to take a dive, especially in hydrochloric.
Is it essential to chew our food well and not swallow it afterwards? It is also what takes our body out of what? So is the fight or flight mode. And we cannot digest our food if we're in that fight or flight mode. We must be in a parasympathetic, relaxed state for rest and digestion to absorb those nutrients. Otherwise, we're not even getting that.
You might be eating all of the healthy foods. Before I ran over here, I ate a very nutritious meal. I don't think I absorb that much of it because I see it here. I'm like, it might have been veggies, but it doesn't matter. Probably, it's going to ferment in our stomachs. And that's the other thing.
If your digestion is off, say your microbiome is off due to a stressful diet or alcohol toxins in the environment. That makes our microbiome a little bit leaky. And that means we won't be absorbing our nutrients so well. And that also changes the gut so that your gut favours metabolic weight gain, favours weight fat gain. These are things we look at. We look to see if our clients are digesting their food okay. Because then, of course, if they're not, we're not, they're not. We already know their metabolism is optimized. If their gut microbiome is off and it's got the bacteria favouring weight gain, then those are throwing it off. And then you have things like inflammation. And we all know about inflammation. If we have an injury, it comes in and tries to heal us quickly. But it's the chronic inflammation that we hear about that leads to all diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart disease and that inflammation. It changes our metabolism. It makes our metabolism favour fat-gain inflammation, while chronic inflammation makes it harder to lose weight and more accessible for gaining weight.
And again, the things that cause inflammation aren't things you necessarily think about. Short stress. Yes, it's a poor diet, but it's also exposure to toxins in our environment, the air we breathe if we're not breathing clean air, the water we drink, heavy metal exposure from, say, we're doing all the right things. We think we're having that organic protein powder.
But if it's not a good brand, are there heavy metals in there that contribute to inflammation and that inflammation is something? These are all things we can measure and check. We have all of our clients. We have them, we check specific measures of inflammation, and we want to ensure it's low. And if we keep testing, we make changes, and we make sure it keeps working. So, we know the metabolism is getting better. And then, on top of the inflammation and the nutrients, there's also cortisol, the belly fat hormone. And how do we get that? Well, if we're stressed, that's when it comes out. If we live this fast-paced life and run around, we're always in a fight or flight mode.
So cortisol is called the belly fat hormone because it changes our metabolism so that we're favouring the fat game. We're storing fat. See, that's more interesting to me because it seems like you chew your food, and you, I mean, just swallow it and run out the door. And you, I've seen on the machines in the gym.
She's a maniac. And, well, you know, I've got to counterbalance. I would think that was. That would help the metabolism, help late weight loss, and help with calories. But it's not necessarily true.
If you're saying exercise, exercise will always have to burn calories. And it's also if you need to be doing that strength training, and I'm sure you'll be asking about that as well. But strength training is what keeps your lean muscle tissue. Lean muscle tissue is the most important thing in metabolism because the more lean muscle tissue you have, the faster your metabolic rate is. And that, like men. So it's better to lift than cardio, or you need a mixture of both. You need a mixture of both.
But many females, especially, will just say, oh, I don't feel like lifting weights. Still, it's so critical when it comes to metabolism, especially as we age. So, if you've seen people in the gym, they tend to look a lot better when they're older than people their same age. They don't go to the gym. They're maintaining that muscle mass, which is valuable real estate on the body because it's burning calories even when you're sleeping versus fat. No, it's really not active that that muscle tissue is active. And that's why men have a faster metabolism than women. They just have more muscle tissue, and they're genetically engineered to have more tissue, but they can pop up their metabolism.
Some women can significantly bump up their metabolism. It makes a difference as they get older when we've already started to lose a lot of muscle mass. Right? And actually, it's surprising. But most men start losing their muscle tissue if they don't do anything to preserve it. This means lifting weights by age 30 or 25 is the one thing women have on men. They start losing their muscle mass sooner than 25 men and women; they lose it quicker, more quickly than when women begin at 30 and start at age 30 using it. But 30, you start off with more. And also, if they're lifting weights, you can preserve that muscle tissue, right? This is why you see people in the gym who are 60 or 70.
You know, that looks fantastic. You look amazing. I don't know your age, and I talk about working out hard. You play pickleball for hours and hours, then you straight train. I do everything I can. I'm like you, Tammy. I don't know, Lyssie, how much you work out, but I work out like Tammy, trust me. We do the same. Remember, we're fighting those genetics, But it is possible. It's just that it will get more difficult as we get older. All right. So, question three, ladies. How can someone determine if their metabolism is working efficiently? Is it only by testing it, or what are your thoughts? First of all, if you know that you wake up tired all the time and you're exhausted, that's just a sign because you're not getting good energy.
Why are you not getting good energy? Then your mitochondria suffer, and you can pretty much assume, well, maybe you have insulin resistance, perhaps you have. We didn't even talk about that as a situation. But perhaps you have high cortisol. Maybe you aren't sleeping well, which can play with your metabolism. You may not break down your nutrients when you get them from your food.
So you can assume it's pretty easy to assume that if you don't feel like your eye is full of energy or that something is affecting your metabolism, then that's where it can be a little tricky to dig in. That's what we do with our clients. And they're not rocket science tests. We just make sure we test them. And one of the things that's super important is with something like insulin, which we didn't talk about.
But insulin is our fat-storage hormone, and we need it. And when we eat carbohydrates, we want to have very sensitive insulin. So, our insulin comes in, and carbohydrates seem like Pac-Man. It gobbles it and takes it to the cell. But over time. Given my lack of knowledge, is insulin something we produce in ourselves, or do we have to take it?
Oh right. Sorry. Okay. So insulin. Yes. We produce it ourselves. Our pancreas produces insulin, and it's a normal, healthy response. Not everyone produces much because that's not how we resist. And I make too much. So what happens is that we want to eat low-carbohydrate foods, and insulin is very sensitive. We just put out a little insulin. It takes it to the muscle for energy. But what happens for many of us is we eat a lot of carbohydrates and, in some, put them out and put them out, and then finally, insulin, like the body, becomes less efficient at using it. Hence, it starts pumping out more insulin and becomes more insulin resistant. So what this means is we're pumping out all this insulin, which is our fat storage hormone, but it's not taking it to the muscles in the cell. It's just creating more and more fat storage. And what we will tell you, what we see with our clients, is that a lot of doctors will check, and we'll say you're okay if your insulin level is up to 23, that's okay.
Right? But that's not optimal. We don't want anyone's above seven. So people like this go down. There are a lot of things thyroid like that, too. Many women's doctors are like, oh, I checked your thyroid. Check the one that really is the active thyroid, which some of them don't. Most of them don't even understand how to read it.
And that's why they don't even check for some of the things we have. We send these things to the doctor. There's a lot that they're overlooked, so you might get a clean bill of slate from your doctor. Oh, okay. Shoot. Nothing's going wrong with my metabolism. And like I said, if you wake up and don't feel full of energy, that's a good sign. And then you can dig into it where it might be. Is it your what's the root cause? That's how we do a lot of digging to find out what's. What are you exposed to a toxin? Is it inflammation?
To get that information, they would talk to either you guys or a doctor or something to figure out. Yeah, sure. Some doctors might not be aware, but Yeah. If you go to a functional practitioner, though, I think if they watch this show, they'll understand that it's something they must do. Like go to the doctor and say, listen, can you check my metabolism because I'm off. I got eight hours of sleep, yet I'm sluggish. It's like crazy.
Yeah. Right, I want to check you, right? They want to check their inflammatory markers, CRP, homocysteine, etc. That's cortisol levels. I think that's great because sometimes, if we educate the doctor, like listening to you guys, they can work. Yeah. So they can go to their doctor and direct the doctor what they need.
For example, we'll want to test these nutrients. I want to check for These inflammation marks. Markers. I want to check my insulin. Fasting insulin is a big one. They usually second on insulin. But you want to check your fasting, and you don't want you just want your CRP, which is an inflammation marker. You want your high sensitivity. So it's HSCRP.
And so there's a lot of things like that. And then there is the thyroid, a whole other can of worms. You could affect metabolism very directly. It's 100% effective. Many people fly under the radar because their doctors just check the state as if they had a Ferrari. You looked at the outside and said beautiful, but you didn't pick up the hood and make sure, or the gas checked the gas; there's no gas inside. And so that's the wrong side. They're fluid. They're not checking any of the active Ferrari. So it's all right. You think you're driving a Ferrari going inside. You're puttering along, and they don't check that. So it can be people switched forever. We would like to say that almost all of our female clients come to us.
We always have their doctors check for things, and sometimes the doctors say, well, I don't want to check for that because I don't know what it means. And well, I don't worry; we'll take care of it because you want to check. That's another thing. If the liver is sluggish, you won't be able to make active thyroid hormone.
So it turns into all of these things. And the liver can be sluggish with too many toxins and alcohol. Yeah. It's just that we're in a world where our lives can be taken, our health can take a number of hits, and we can also do a lot to keep the metabolism doing that. Great Great.
So that was number four. But you seem to have answered. So I'm going to go to number five. Can you share specific foods or dietary strategies that are particularly effective for enhancing metabolic function? Okay. Sure. Okay, we love green tea and matcha green tea because they contain something called EGCG, which can speed up the metabolic rate.
And there are not too many foods that can do that. Another exciting thing is that these potent antioxidants help mop up cell damage. And so, damage is what causes inflammation. So, I drink green tea and matcha green tea every morning. It helps to lower the inflammation and quiet it.
I'm going to start drinking green tea, I promise you. After that endorsement, I'm going to do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just have to tell you, it's real. It's a real nuisance. I have to brush my teeth right afterwards, and my teeth literally look great. That's a lot of green tea. And they literally look green. So, I just have to brush right after. Just the trick. Trick of the green matcha. We all have such nice teeth. We have to work after our teeth. Thank you; you're great. Yours are very white. I will say that it's easy to know if you're a matcha drinker or a red wine drinker because either you will have green or red.
You know. Yeah, absolutely. But that's a good one. So, number ladies, how does exercise influence metabolism and what workouts are most beneficial for us?
Okay, we love it. Yeah. So, when it comes to exercise, you can never go wrong. Right? So, no matter what you've heard, it can't go wrong. It's not like what you only want is good. So, with something like cardio, you will burn many calories. So, you're increasing your metabolic rate as you do it. Now, there is a burn on for a continuous afterburn after.
Like, if you like, if you're like, throw an ember in the fire. It's kind of like that after-burn. So, you mean you continue to burn excess calories even after you stop exercising. Right. One of the best would be the high-intensity interval training hit exercise. So that's what I see you do in the gym. I do, I do.
So, I'm slightly limited based on what my cardiologist discusses. You do see me do some of it, but it's what you do: you go for a certain short amount of time at a faster pace, and then you cut back and faster at timed intervals, increasing it. It can be fast. I do that with rooting. I'll run really fast and walk a little. I'll run real fast and walk.
Awesome. You're doing that, and that's really good for metabolism. So that's one thing. And as I said earlier, weight training is the other thing that's amazing for the metabolism. Because that muscle is such a valuable resource in the body. Do you want that calorie-blasting part of your body? It's it. As we get older, it's our hottest commodity. For example, the more muscle we have, the better. And we now also know that it's linked to the increased muscle mass you have, the more muscle tissue you have. It helps increase your age and live longer.
Yeah. So, excellent. Thank you so much for that. All right. So, number seven, what are the fundamental lifestyle changes that can help increase metabolic rate and improve energy levels? Oh okay. So there's a lot of them. So again, the exercise is big. Stress management is huge because stress increases cortisol, the belly fat hormone. And so anytime we contain stress, that's really good because stress also opens up that gut lining, which is when things that are supposed to go out and out through waste come and enter our bloodstream and cause more inflammation. So the stress management, secondly, meditation that could be massaged, that could be taking a walk, exercise, deep breathing, you know, just a few minutes before a meal would take you out of that fight or flight so that you can be in the rest and digest mode. Then, you can digest your food and absorb more nutrients. So, it can be a major win because you're getting out of the fight or flight.
You're shutting down the cortisol. You're opening up your pathways to start being receptive to digesting your food. So it's a real win to be able to do that. Just take a few deep breaths before a meal. So yeah, sometimes it's amazing. It's the simplest thing that can help us so much. Yeah, yeah, it's so true.
That's all the information. And you're giving us that. So I appreciate you. Oh, thank you. And sorry, we made the inflammation a little bit complicated. No, it wasn't complicated. But the ways that you end the inflammation in the cortisol. But those are the important hidden things. But there are simple things that you can do, like deep breathing. So it's like drinking the green tea. Yeah. Like a good night's sleep.
I meditate every day for 20 minutes. I'll tell you this: I meditate every day for 20 minutes in the morning. I wake up, wash up, and meditate for 20 minutes. I've been doing it since I was a kid. Since you're a kid, that's amazing. My brother made me meditate since I was 16. How did you get into it? So young. That's incredible.
Well, I was a squirrely little kid, and I have a brother who is five years older than me. And we went. He said he was going to transcendental meditation and dragged me along. They wouldn't even let me meditate in the beginning for 20 minutes. I used to have to meditate for seven to eight. They made me build up to the 20 minutes because I was so young, and they didn't think I could sit, you know, calm for 20 minutes, and you did it.
That's impressive. Yeah, thank you. That's actually a habit you could ever have. I know I must try so hard every night to force myself. All right. It's a habit, and I enjoy it once I do it. But I'm like, I've got too much to do. So, do you practice transcendental meditation? So, I have a bit of a mantra you are supposed to. Yeah, I've done it.
Yeah, I have the mantra. Then, move on and try to quiet your mind as much as possible. And you know, we've been doing it for so many years; I'm good at it. As a matter of fact, say it is seven o'clock in the morning. I'll start, open my eyes, and I swear, 95% of the time, it's 7:20. My body is so used to doing it for 20 minutes. I'll start it, and it'll be 20 minutes later.
That's so cool. That's amazing. That's so cool. Great. Alright. That's one of the best things you can learn as a kid because it's instilled in you. Most of us have to be correct. Now, in the middle of my craziness when I have so much to do, all right, deep breath. That's me before my dinner. Like, okay. Don't talk to me. I need to do my deep breathing. I'm silencing everything.
There are many different ways of meditation. So sometimes, you have to try a few different ways. But for many people who like guided meditation, I do one on one of the podcasts. I do guided meditation. There's, that's great music. There are so many different ways to do it that, you know, the answer is to do it. And I found that the best advice I can give is if your body stays in the seat, don't get up. The mind will follow. Eventually, you know, that urge, that squirminess to get up. Yeah. Oh, stay there. And the mind does follow, and I love that. That's amazing advice. Yeah, I love it. All right.
So number eight, my lovely ladies, how does sleep affect metabolism, and what are recommendations for improving sleep quality? Now I can fluctuate between this, you know, sleeping well and not. So I'm really excited about hearing from you. Yeah. Sleep is a big factor when it comes to metabolism. First of all, we brought a lot of attention to our first book.
And when you don't sleep well, it favours weight gain for many reasons. First, it throws off the balance between Garland and left, which are your hunger and satiety hormones, making you less satisfied and hungrier. It also interferes with your body's lean muscle mass and building lean muscle mass. So remember, we said lean muscle mass keeps your metabolism speedy.
And when you're not sleeping well, you have a more challenging time getting lean muscle tissue. It also increases cortisol. And remember, cortisol is a belly fat hormone. So it's promoting; it's for a body telling our metabolism to store fat. So, it hits us in many ways. And blood sugar doesn't. And the blood sugar rises also. And it does not allow your body to be sensitive. It makes you more insulin resistant, which you can't keep up with. The insulin. And that is our fat-storage hormone. You're pumping out more and more insulin, but it is not working. So, staying in our blood and just constantly talking.
So I've heard that. So you know, I know, like what I've been taught over the years, the more you rest and the better sleep you get, the more your muscles heal and grow. So I guess that goes for the whole body, right? That's true, that's true. And not overdoing it. You don't want 10 hours, but somewhere between 7 and 9 is good. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. No, but that's very true. What you've heard. On top of that, I get 15 hours of sleep every night. No, I'm just. No, because some people think it's... Well, some people actually think like I; they're like, I get 10 hours every night. It's really good. And they don't realize that 10 hours is actually too much. I mean, who has time for 10 hours? Yeah, my body would be unable to sustain 10 hours of sleep. It just wakes up too quickly. Wakes up.
Their daily activities would be so low, though that would be counterproductive with metabolism.
Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. Question number nine. Can you discuss the impact of stress on metabolism and ways this is an important way to manage stress effectively? Yeah, that's good. So I think we already talked about that stress and what it does. It causes cortisol. It increases and is the same as a bad night's sleep. It's increasing the insulin. We also feel hungry and more stressed. You know, we're in that fight or flight. Get me quick fuel. The stress also opens up the lining of that gut microbiome. So, it allows toxins to enter the system, which also burdens the body. It causes metabolism inflammation, makes it harder to lose weight, and makes it easier to gain weight.
So it's all a vicious cycle. Our whole bodies are connected. So, Jim, when you said we know it affects the muscles, not sleeping well, our whole body is connected. So we used to say, oh, with something that feels off in the head. I'll just see the head doctor. But many times, it's a whole-body connection. So it's something like that.
So, regarding stress and ways to manage stress, we talked about deep breathing. We talked about massage, meditation, and exercise, which is surprising. It's been shown even if you think, Oh my gosh, I'm stressed. I don't have time to exercise. That'll stress me out when thinking about it. It really, really releases endorphins that lower stress in the body.
Yeah. So, even just going for a walk outside your front door really helps. Being in nature and, you know, putting your feet in the grass—that's a good grounding. Just putting your feet in the grass or like you're at the beach like we are, then, you know, you just put your toe in the sand, love it, love it. That's fantastic. Great. Thank you for that. What role does hydration play in metabolic health, and how much water should one drink daily?
Yeah, this is such a good question. Most of us, you know, hear we should just drink more. I should drink more water, and we don't understand why. Still, water fuels every process in our body, even our metabolism, to blink our eyes. But metabolism is driven by fluid and hydration. That's what gets you never heard of ATP. Energy water is part of that reaction cycle and has to have water. So if you're even at, oh, 1% dehydrated, your metabolism is suffering, and 1% dehydration just happens overnight just due to even if you start off hydrating just because hydrated, just because you're exchanging oxygen as you breathe, just sweating anything, you lose water.
And so 1% dehydration. It's pretty easy to happen at night. So what would we drink on a date? What's our aim? What do we want? Yeah, a general recommendation is to half your body weight in ounces. And that's very general because if you eat a lot of protein. So okay, so let's say you're 150 pounds, then it'd be 75 ounces of water.
Wow. So, and then I'm talking about nine cups. Yeah. And the thing about that too is that if that's possible, but also if you're someone like us, we eat many fruits and vegetables. They're so full of water that if I'm drinking with my dinner, in which I get a ton of vegetables, I get way too much water, and I'm up the whole night having to use a bathroom.
So you have to be. It's a balance, so giving someone an exact amount is hard. You won't have as much water if your diet is high in meat and dairy. It's more about diets high in produce than fruits and vegetables. They're 90 % water. Well, let me ask you this. When I'm at the gym, I often won't drink Gatorade because it has, in my opinion, too much sugar, but I will drink Gatorade Zero. Is that along the same line, or is water and Gatorade?
Well, it's a great question. So it's a little bit tricky. So, in terms of meeting your fluid needs, yes, it would help you to meet your fluid needs in terms of being like water, which is water. One of the benefits of it is it flushes your kidney out, and your kidney is also then your kidney and liver work hand in hand. So we know as we get older, all of our livers get burned from everyday toxins. And that kind of thing. So, you know, just alcohol, poor food choices. So, our livers are burdened, and then we burden our kidneys more. And it just everything backs up. So, when flushing your kidneys, pure water is good.
But in terms of staying hydrated, the Gatorade Gator Zero works. Especially while exercising. Yeah, right. It might really encourage you to drink enough. Yeah. Okay. Cool. Cool. Can you provide insights into how metabolic health influences disease prevention and overall wellness? And we all don't want to get diseases and stay healthy. And the metabolism has a lot to do with that.
Absolutely. When you hear the words metabolic health, it's referring to, you know, sugar control for diabetes and cardiovascular control. Hypertension, that's all. Those are all metabolic processes. So metabolism is like what I said: metabolism is mainly used to fuel our organs. That's those metabolic processes. So we want to ensure from a health perspective, let alone a weight perspective, that our metabolic processes are functioning at their peak.
Okay. Cool. Cool. All right. So what are some common pitfalls or mistakes people make when boosting their metabolism, and how can they avoid them. Yes. Oh, this is such a good question. I will tell you the one that I always see, and it really is such a doozy for the waistline. It kills me when we want it.
Like we're like, I'm going to boost my metabolism. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm not in any of the carbs. I'm not going to eat any of this. I will go on a solid diet, and they will lose about 10 pounds in about ten days. And then, 20 days later, they were 30 pounds heavier. I'm exaggerating, but this is the first 2 pounds of water weight anyway.
So some of it is. Some of it definitely is 50 pounds on the person. And if they were eating tons of food and horribly, it's just a calorie reduction, they're going to lose body fat and muscle when you lose it that quickly. And that's the problem. So, yo-yo dieting is a huge mistake because yo-yo dieting has been shown to severely affect metabolism and is not recoverable. So over time, the body just gets more and more like, oh, it's happening again. Let me conserve the way that we think our ancestors were. They gave us these genes, like, let me conserve very. Yeah. That's what the metabolism does when we do yo-yo. So I mean, who knows, maybe in a way our ancestors, even though they were at, were like going out for the catch, and in a way, they were yo-yo dieting.
They'd say, I'm gonna eat this huge amount of food. And I'm like, no, I. And then the body becomes weight loss. Resistance happens because then you, you, you're so many times, or your body's got used to starvation. So, it starts to conserve calories and slows down the metabolic rate after you've done it enough times.
And then your body no longer responds. And we have people who come to us all the time. They say, you know, I tried my old tricks, I used this, I used to eat this when I over, I want to lose weight and I would lose weight. And now it's not working, and they're panicked, and we don't blame them, you know?
But there are things, just so you know, there are things. It takes a little tweaking, but you can't use those same old tricks anymore because your body is too bright for that. Wants you not to. Alright, So I'm curious about two things. First of all, I hear a lot about fasting. Is that good or bad? The second part is about people. Sometimes, this is me; I get busy, I get crazy, I have coffee in the morning, and I eat one large meal daily. What do you think about those two things?
Well, when you say fasting, are you referring to intermittent fasting? Are you referring to some people? I hear a fast for three days, then eat, and then they'll fast again for two. And they say, oh, it cleans out my system.
It's exciting, and it can be beneficial. The thing is, a lot of times, it can be helpful for some people, but there's a very fine line because, again, some people who will fast say they hear about these and think you cannot maintain your lean muscle mass. They lose a lot of weight, and it's only muscle tissue. And it messes with them. So, we don't always promote that, or we understand that because there are benefits for brain health. But it's a trade-off because you lose that metabolic lean muscle tissue, which is metabolically active. The other thing is that females cannot have their bodies designed the same way that males are.
And it's a very delicate hormonal balance. And it gets completely thrown off if some females fast. So we don't suggest it for women. Yes, but it depends on the range and how much stress affects the body.
So, it's a very delicate hormonal balance for women. Some of us know that it's a real challenge. There's what happens is fasting is a stress on the body, and it's too much of a stress for many females. And just mess with that delicate hormonal balance.
Men can get away with a lot more than women. However, sometimes, it's too much stress on the body, and it causes extra inflammation when they are fast for that long. So it really depends. However, there have been benefits there. They're very, I guess you said they're led by experts and people really know what they're doing and, you know, doing a regular fast that's certain in specific ways is there's something called autophagy where we're, regenerating. We're like recycling the old cells, removing them and making new ones. And that can be very beneficial. But you really want to know what you're doing when you do that, and you want it to fast correctly. And for many people, it's just not appropriate for them. But for some people, it is.
So, I don't want to say fasting isn't good for everybody, but some stipulations are very individualized. There's not a, and it's not a one-size-fits-all. That's wild. That's wild. So I have to tell you, you guys are just amazing. You're both so beautiful. Thank you. You Answered all our questions wonderfully. I mean, these people will listen to this and learn.
They do really well. So, I want to thank you both. But let me ask you this before we go. Is there anything I didn't cover? I didn't ask what you'd like to add? If so, let me know. If not, those are some really good questions. Yeah, cool. Thank you so much. And I think that we'll leave both. Thank you.
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