Is Your Metabolism Out Of Balance?

Metabolism is the series of chemical reactions in your body that create and balance the energy necessary for your existence. Metabolism is the rate at which your body expends energy or burns calories.

Common causes of a low metabolic rate include:

• A high carbohydrate diet
• A lack of protein in the diet
• Inadequate amounts of good quality sleep
• A lack of strength training
• Muscle wasting
• Problems with the mitochondria
• High toxin load in the body
• A sedentary lifestyle
• Low thyroid condition
• Deficiency of iodine

For any given body weight, the more muscle on your body, and the less fat, the higher your metabolic rate will be. This is because muscle uses a lot more energy than fat while at rest.

If you want to increase your metabolic rate you can do the following:

• A muscle strength and muscle size building exercise program. Having more muscle mass helps you burn more calories throughout the day. One pound (0.45 kilograms) of muscle burns around 6 calories per day, whereas one pound of fat burns only 2 calories; over time this makes a big difference. Aerobic exercise uses up more calories in the moment, however strength-training exercise uses more calories throughout the day. After nine months of resistance training, one study found that test subjects had a 5% increase in their resting metabolic rate. (Reference Eur J Clin Nutrition. 2015 Jul;69(7):831-6.  doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2014.216. Epub 2014 Oct 8)
• Take the natural supplement Metabocel just before each meal to support a faster metabolism.
• The Dr Cabot 15-day Cleanse to eliminate toxins and heavy metals that could be damaging your mitochondria.

It is worthwhile to take your temperature in the mornings as it reflects your basal metabolic rate. Your basal body temperature reflects your thyroid function and your metabolic rate. The basal body temperature is the lowest temperature attained by the body during sleep.  It is measured  immediately after awakening and before any physical activity has occurred.

In people with an underactive thyroid gland, the body temperature falls below normal because of slower metabolism. Conversely an overactive thyroid elevates body temperature producing a low-grade fever.

The metabolism in your whole body is completely dependent on enzyme function. Importantly, enzyme function is highly dependent on body temperature. If your basal body temperature is below normal, then all the enzymes in every cell of your body will be working too slowly, which means your metabolism will be way too low.

Measuring your basal body temperature (BBT) can pinpoint a thyroid problem such as thyroid resistance, even if your blood tests for thyroid function are seemingly “normal”. Tracking basal body temperature over 14 mornings gives you a better average. Most digital basal thermometers on the market are not accurate  enough  for  this  type  of  thyroid   testing, where we are measuring your  BBT. A digital thermometer, and also an infrared thermometer, may under-read  a  person’s  body temperature. The most accurate thermometer is the old-fashioned mercury thermometer, around which this specific BBT test  was originally created and standardized. Mercury thermometers can still be found in many pharmacies. You can also ask for a mercury-based fertility thermometer. Modern digital-style thermometers are calibrated differently from  the  mercury  type,  hence  may  give   inaccurate   readings for the BBT test. Only  use  the  old-fashioned  mercury thermometer.

Technique to test the basal body temperature