What is Metabolic Health and Why Does It Matter? | Flora Nutrition (2024)

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What is metabolic health and why is it important? ›

In other words, to be metabolically healthy means that your body is able to respond to food in a beneficial way that reduces your risk of conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

The human diet is comprised of diverse components which include both nutrients, supplying the raw materials that drive multiple metabolic processes in every cell of the body, and non-nutrients. These components and their metabolites can also regulate gene expression and cellular function via a variety of mechanisms.

Your metabolism constantly provides your body with energy for essential body functions like breathing and digestion. Your body needs a minimum number of calories (the basal metabolic rate or BMR) to sustain these functions. Factors like age, sex, muscle mass and physical activity affect metabolism or BMR.

The cluster of metabolic factors include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, impaired fasting glucose, high triglyceride levels, and low HDL cholesterol levels.

Metabolism (pronounced: meh-TAB-uh-liz-um) is the chemical reactions in the body's cells that change food into energy. Our bodies need this energy to do everything from moving to thinking to growing. Specific proteins in the body control the chemical reactions of metabolism.

When our body can properly use the food we eat, we are metabolically healthy. The five criteria of metabolic health: waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose level, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and triglyceride level.

Nutrition is a critical part of health and development. Better nutrition is related to improved infant, child and maternal health, stronger immune systems, safer pregnancy and childbirth, lower risk of non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and longevity.

It provides energy for the metabolic processes in the body. It is necessary for the growth of new cells and repairing worn out cells. It is required to develop resistance against different diseases. It is used to produce energy which is utilized in the different life process for survival.

Metabolism refers to all the chemical processes going on continuously inside your body that allow life and normal functioning (maintaining normal functioning in the body is called homeostasis). These processes include those that break down nutrients from our food, and those that build and repair our body.

With the changing environments the reactions of metabolism must be finely regulated to maintain a constant set of conditions within cells, a condition called homeostasis. Control of metabolic pathways also allows organisms to respond to signals and interact actively with their environments.

What are the two main purposes of metabolism? ›

The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the elimination of metabolic wastes.

Certain drinks such as green tea, coffee and ginger tea may help boost metabolism, minimize hunger and increase satiety, all of which can facilitate weight loss. Additionally, these beverages contain beneficial nutrients like antioxidants and other powerful compounds that can benefit your health.

But that begs the question — where do you start to improve your metabolic health? And even more importantly, how do you build sustainable habits that you can stick to? This is where the Four Pillars come in. The Four Pillars are food (or nutrition), exercise, sleep, and stress.

Certain foods contain specific nutrients that increase metabolism, the rate at which the body burns calories, among other processes. Eggs, flaxseed, lentils, and chili peppers are some foods that may boost metabolism.

Overweight and obesity are the main risk factors for metabolic syndrome because they can raise “bad” LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, and blood pressure, and lower “good” HDL cholesterol.

A metabolically unhealthy status was defined as the presence of three or more of the following factors: (i) fasting plasma glucose level ≥ 100 mg/dL or current use of glucose-lowering agents under the ICD-10 codes for diabetes mellitus (E10–E14), (ii) blood pressure ≥ 130/85 mm Hg or use of antihypertensive agents ...

A comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) is a helpful and common test that measures several important aspects of your blood. Healthcare providers often use it as a routine test, and it can also help diagnose, screen for and monitor certain health conditions.