Why is Metflex Important?

Why is metabolic flexibility important? So people used to be metabolically flexible by necessity. And that's not necessarily the case nowadays. So let's talk about why.

So if we think about it from an ancestral or genetic standpoint, our DNA and our genetics haven't really changed in the last 10,000 years. So we know that research shows that our genetics and our DNA about 99% hasn't changed in a very long time. But our you know, reality has changed in the last, you know, 100 ish years, even a little bit more than that. So we went from, you know, hunter gatherers to now really relying on you know, farming and factory. And so our, if you think about it, practically, our ancestors were very metabolically flexible, by necessity, because they went through periods of fasting and feeding, they went through periods of not having, you know, carbohydrates available, and just having maybe animal foods available.

So that's really what you know, metabolic flexibility in itself is, is being able to go through periods of time where you might not necessarily have, you know, carbohydrates available or fat avail, but you're effectively able to shift between using those. So like I said, our ancestors have been metabolically flexible, by necessity. And nowadays, with food on every single corner, we have, you know, access to Starbucks and delivery dudes at our fingertips, we are just in an abundance, right?

We're in an abundance of foods, whether it's carbohydrates, fats, whatever it is, and we just have tons of food that we can eat whenever we want. So we have become very metabolically inflexible in the sense of, we have not been able to, you know, retrain our bodies to understand how to go through periods of time without food, or maybe through periods of time, where we are, you know, shifting our macronutrients between having, you know, more carbs or more fats, metabolic flexibility is important because you are able to shift between different fuel sources when they're warranted.

So if we are thinking about the different energies, energy systems that we use, the different energy availability that we have, we run on two primary fuel sources, we have fat in the form of fatty acids and ketones, and then we have carbohydrates in the form of glucose or sugar. And so we should be able to go back and forth between those fuel sources when it's warranted. So if you are, you know, walking outside, just having a leisurely walk, you should be using primarily fat and ketones for fuel versus if you were sprinting on a treadmill, or doing a high intensity exercise, you should be able to shift to use carbohydrates and sugar for fuel. But nowadays, a lot of us are more so in that realm of using and relying on carbohydrates and sugar for a lot of our fuel sources and not really able to tap into that fat and those ketones for fuel.

So being metabolically flexible, you're able to really go back and forth between the fuel to fuel sources when necessary and be able to do that in an efficient way. So if you want to learn more about the benefits of metabolic flexibility, and a little bit deeper into why it's important for your health and longevity and training and nutrition and all that jazz, check out my video on the benefits of metabolic flexibility.

Thanks so much for watching. If you want to learn more about nutrition and fitness or metabolic flexibility, you can check out our website metflexlife.com. There you can find our podcast and Netflix and chill our nutrition and exercise programs, our latest blog posts, free recipes and much more