Metabolism Of Metabolism

The best approach to understanding how the human system is intended to work is actually to look at the metabolism of a hypothetically healthy adolescent from back in the day before the era of information technology, now known as the Internet Age.

Children would come home from school and eat a healthy snack, which in turn would regulate their blood sugar levels by gradually secreting small amounts of insulin to the pancreas. The excess sugar is then escorted to the muscle cells, and the body continues to function, which later will be used as energy when the child starts playing again. Then the blood sugar level of the child will start to drop to a normal range before the child even begins to get hungry, which by this stage would already be dinnertime. However, this is no longer the case.

Looking at today's habits, the functioning of our bodies indicates that everything is upside down. We start the day late, dress in a frenzy and fuel our bodies with a cup of sweetened coffee accompanied by a sugary snack to which our blood sugar counter starts to fail from skyrocketing levels. The blood sugar increase is still equal to insulin but now with our condition it's a truckload of insulin. Insulin's task is to escort the sugar in the blood to muscle cells, but since these cells have their own limits they do not want or need any more sugar than what is necessary. They actually become rude and resist taking that sugar from the blood. According to our biochemical pathway, the insulin now has no other choice than to take its sugar load to another location. It is an adventure story that doesn't bode well as it ends up in the fat cells. Our fat cells welcome the sugar, which is often under constant attack due to our high carbohydrate diets. Ev...

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...increase their testosterone levels.

7-Irisin

Harvard researchers recently discovered a hormone released by exercise that actually contributes directly to fat loss. This hormone, called irisin, is released by muscles during exercise and transforms white fat cells in the body into brown fat cells. In the studies, irisin also appeared to help in preventing or incapacitating insulin resistance (remember the insulin resistance story). White (yellowish) fat cells are important in storing fat. Brown fat cells that are located in certain areas of your body, in contrast, actually burn fat. They continue to burn "fat" even after you stop exercising - the so-called burning in resting state. Now we are talking about metabolism. This is a very important finding that actually strengthens the role of routine exercise in a weight-loss plan.

So, keep walking for a thinner you.