WEBVTT - Are you metabolically healthy?

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<v Speaker 1>Well, hello, they're healthy Ish listeners. I hope you are

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<v Speaker 1>feeling well metabolically healthy, and if not, you have come

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<v Speaker 1>to the right place. You of course have tuned into

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<v Speaker 1>the daily podcast and brod in Soul. I am Felicity Harley,

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<v Speaker 1>and my guest today is brilliant and she's going to

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<v Speaker 1>help you determine whether you are metabolically healthy or not.

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<v Speaker 1>She's a naturopathic doctor, women's health expert and author of

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<v Speaker 1>new book, The Metabolism researt Her name is Lara Brydon,

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<v Speaker 1>and she is going to help us make sense of

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<v Speaker 1>metabolic health. If you like what you hear from Lara,

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<v Speaker 1>and I know that you will make sure you're listening

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<v Speaker 1>to extra Healthy Ish, where we take a deep dive

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<v Speaker 1>into all things metabolism. You can search for that wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts. Lara, welcome to healthy Ish. Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for having me, and well done on your new book.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>It's how do I describe this? It's just packed with

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<v Speaker 1>so much good info and I feel like it's that

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<v Speaker 1>put down, pick up kind of book. And so I

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<v Speaker 1>guess that it took a long time to write.

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<v Speaker 2>It did about about a year and a half with

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<v Speaker 2>some input from various other experts for which I'm very grateful.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Well, there is one question that jumped down that

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to answer for me, and that was

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<v Speaker 1>from your husband, yerhaps expert, perhaps not, and he asked,

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<v Speaker 1>in what way is metabolic health different from just health?

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<v Speaker 2>I know, think of it this way. Metabolic health is

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<v Speaker 2>about yourselves having all the energy they need to do

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<v Speaker 2>whatever it is they need to do. So good. Underlying

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<v Speaker 2>metabolic health can support healthy immune system, healthy digestion, healthy

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<v Speaker 2>mental health. There's actually a big metabolic mental health movement

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<v Speaker 2>going on at the moment, and healthy female hormone health.

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<v Speaker 2>And so that's the bridge from my previous work because

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<v Speaker 2>my real passion is menstruation, perimenopause, female hormones. And from

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<v Speaker 2>twenty five years of working with patients, plus writing my

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<v Speaker 2>other two books, I was able to see quite clearly

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<v Speaker 2>that metabolic health can be a major factor in women's health.

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<v Speaker 1>How can you tell, I mean, in a nutshell, I

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<v Speaker 1>suppose if you're metabolically healthy or unhealthy Because we can't

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<v Speaker 1>look at ourselves, so what are some size exactly?

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<v Speaker 2>You can't actually zoom in and ask your mitochondria or

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<v Speaker 2>the parts of yourself. I mean that would be you

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<v Speaker 2>doing are getting enough energy today, but you can feel

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<v Speaker 2>whether you're getting enough energy. So one of the first

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<v Speaker 2>signs of something called metabolic inflexibility as opposed to metabolic flexibility,

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<v Speaker 2>is being less able to access your own body fat

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<v Speaker 2>stores for energy, and that can lead to finding it

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<v Speaker 2>very difficult to go between meals without reaching for a snack.

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<v Speaker 2>That's a common experience. That's not someone's fault. That's the

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<v Speaker 2>fact that their bodies, all the nuts and bolts of

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<v Speaker 2>metabolism are not able to tap into that energy source

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<v Speaker 2>the way they should be. And of course that's reversible.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's the point of the book, is to return

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<v Speaker 2>to a place where you can access your body fat

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<v Speaker 2>stores for energy. The other aspect, important aspect of metabolic

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<v Speaker 2>dysfunction is having something called insulin resistance. I know from

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<v Speaker 2>experience with my patients and my followers, and everyone half

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<v Speaker 2>tunes out when they hear that term. It needs a rebranding.

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<v Speaker 1>But it does, doesn't it because it sounds very sciencey

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<v Speaker 1>and oh, I don't even want to think of I

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<v Speaker 1>know that, how would you rebrand it?

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<v Speaker 2>I think it's something in the word resistance that people

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<v Speaker 2>feel immediately that sounds hard.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, So.

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<v Speaker 2>Insulin resistance is the state of having chronically elevated levels

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<v Speaker 2>of the hormone insulin. One of the most important downstream

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<v Speaker 2>effects of that is insulin. Chronically elevated insulin impairs fat

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<v Speaker 2>burning and makes it difficult for all the parts of

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<v Speaker 2>your body that are trying to get access to your

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<v Speaker 2>body fat stores to do that. So it is about

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<v Speaker 2>trying to get insulin down. So maybe chronically elevated insulin

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<v Speaker 2>might be another term for it.

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<v Speaker 1>That sounds a bit more serious.

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<v Speaker 2>I guess it does.

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<v Speaker 1>Does That could be a good thing.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, But people are familiar with having high cortisol. For example,

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<v Speaker 2>I think, oh, yes, high cortisol. That's a thing that

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<v Speaker 2>sounds bad. It's actually high corsol is related to high insulin.

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<v Speaker 2>High insulin helps communicate a bit more what's going on,

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<v Speaker 2>and of course, untreated, it can progress to pre diabetes

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<v Speaker 2>and eventually type two diabetes. It's also called metabolic syndrome

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<v Speaker 2>in the science. When I was looking at all the

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<v Speaker 2>old papers around this, when metabolic syndrome was first described,

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<v Speaker 2>the original experts called it insulin resistance syndrome. So it's

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<v Speaker 2>that central and.

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<v Speaker 1>I agree we should go back to that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, of course, metabolic syndrome is the cluster of high

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<v Speaker 2>blood pressure, high tricolystrides or cholesterol, and potentially weight gain

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<v Speaker 2>around the middle. People can have insulin resistance without having

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<v Speaker 2>really noticeable weight gains. So there is this disconnect between

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<v Speaker 2>just body size and what's going on metabolically, which I

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<v Speaker 2>hope I've managed to communicate in the book. And the

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<v Speaker 2>weight associated with insulin resistance is inside the abdomen. It's

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<v Speaker 2>not the soft kind weight fat you can see on

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<v Speaker 2>the outside your boy, It's deep inside and it sort

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<v Speaker 2>of can feel like a like a hardness under the

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<v Speaker 2>ribcage or sort of a thickening through the waist.

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<v Speaker 1>So what's your I mean is what's your advice around

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<v Speaker 1>determining whether you're insulin resistance as a matter of just

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<v Speaker 1>going getting you know, triglycerides tested, cholesterol, et cetera, et cetera.

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<v Speaker 1>Is that the first stop.

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<v Speaker 2>Triglycerides are an excellent starting place. I was just I

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<v Speaker 2>just read a Twitter thread this morning just saying, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>don't ever complicate things. High triglyss rides are a really

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<v Speaker 2>good surrogate biomarker for insulin resistance. But I dedicated a

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<v Speaker 2>whole chapter two testing, so I talk about some other

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<v Speaker 2>common tests that people might already have on their reports

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<v Speaker 2>from their GP. You can also measure the hormone insulin,

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<v Speaker 2>and I talk about that in the book. But just

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<v Speaker 2>an important takeaway is that having a normal blood glucose

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<v Speaker 2>or a normal what's called HbA one C cannot rule

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<v Speaker 2>out insulin resistance.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh interesting, Yeah, Actually, I just wore a CGM for

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<v Speaker 1>a few weeks, a continuous glucose poster because I was

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<v Speaker 1>really I mean, I love trying everything, and I just

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to see whether it's you know, what my insulin

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<v Speaker 1>was doing and how my blood sugar levels were when

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<v Speaker 1>after I ate. Do you think that's a good.

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<v Speaker 2>Thing or right? So that's measuring glucose. Yes, sorry, insulin. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of people do kind of conflict.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, there we go. Yes, but they just completely joined.

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<v Speaker 2>The two importantly with insulin resistance. With chronically elevated insulin,

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<v Speaker 2>people can and do have episodes of low blood sugar.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh interesting, So it's not synonymous with high blood sugar.

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<v Speaker 2>I talk a little bit about the cgms or the

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<v Speaker 2>continuous glucose monitors in the book. I think if people

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<v Speaker 2>are interested and can afford it and want to put

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<v Speaker 2>it in the right context. It can be a tool,

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<v Speaker 2>but there's lots of ways to assess metabolic health and

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<v Speaker 2>get healthier without having to go that route.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I just want to mention something else in your

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<v Speaker 1>book that I actually really enjoyed and think is really valuable.

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<v Speaker 1>And you talk a lot about taking the shame out

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<v Speaker 1>of well metabolic dysfunction and that it's not our fault.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you expand on this, Well.

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<v Speaker 2>It started through generations ago because of something called epigenetics,

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<v Speaker 2>which is we've only discovered we only known about epigenetics

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<v Speaker 2>for twenty five or thirty years. It's the fact that

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<v Speaker 2>what we're exposed to in terms of food and stress

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<v Speaker 2>levels and toxins, we can pass on to our offspring.

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<v Speaker 2>So something changed with the food supply about anywhere between

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<v Speaker 2>fifty to seventy years ago, and we're now seeing an

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<v Speaker 2>amplifying of that. Every generation is born with a greater

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<v Speaker 2>risk of insulin resistance compared to the generation before. And

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<v Speaker 2>of course that doesn't mean you know, it's written in

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<v Speaker 2>still and people can still do something about it and

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<v Speaker 2>still reverse it. But of course the scientists are scrambling

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<v Speaker 2>to figure out what went wrong with the food environment.

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<v Speaker 2>I dedicate a chapter to that to try to survey

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<v Speaker 2>all the different possibilities.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think you take the just takes a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of the guilt, the self guilt out of But I

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<v Speaker 1>can't make healthy decisions all the time. Well, no, because

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<v Speaker 1>we live in this environment where signs are shouting at us,

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<v Speaker 1>prices are low. You know, there's not enough fresh fruit

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<v Speaker 1>and veggies around us.

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<v Speaker 2>And another takeaway, one of the most important symptoms of

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<v Speaker 2>metabolicists function or insulin resistance is feeling abnormally hungry, like

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<v Speaker 2>abnormally high hunger. So given that's a common almost everyone

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<v Speaker 2>who has insulin resistance is probably going to have that symptom.

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<v Speaker 2>Given that fact, how cool is it that we just

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<v Speaker 2>tell people to try to eat less?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, cruel? Now, just quickly before we go, what's one

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<v Speaker 1>key thing we should all be doing today to improve

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<v Speaker 1>our metabolic health?

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<v Speaker 2>What I do isn't necessarily what's going to work for

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<v Speaker 2>every single person. I mean, just as an example, I

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<v Speaker 2>was thinking about this this morning. I often try to

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<v Speaker 2>have leftover dinner for breakfast, like I have meat for breakfast,

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<v Speaker 2>just because I find that really stabilizes my energy throughout

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<v Speaker 2>the day, and I personally enjoy walking and yoga, but

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<v Speaker 2>that's not the right fit for everybody, so I guess,

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<v Speaker 2>as you know, the book is a troubleshooting manual to

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<v Speaker 2>try to find what are the next best steps for

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<v Speaker 2>each individual person. But a really simple one that probably

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<v Speaker 2>everyone needs to do if they're not doing it already,

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<v Speaker 2>is to cook at home most of the time. Ah good,

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<v Speaker 2>I know that's hard, but doable.

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<v Speaker 1>Lara, thank you for coming on healthy Ish.

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you feel you want to know more? After hearing

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<v Speaker 1>from Lara, She's great, isn't she. I really enjoyed chatting

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<v Speaker 1>to her. Well, there is more and it is in

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<v Speaker 1>the book, her book, her new book. It is called

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<v Speaker 1>The Metabolism Reset, and it is out now. If you

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<v Speaker 1>did enjoy this chat, we encourage you to jump on

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<v Speaker 1>rate and review it, or of course, you can subscribe

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<v Speaker 1>to this podcast, share this set with a friend, Share

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<v Speaker 1>the healthy Ish, love anything else. Head to body and

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<v Speaker 1>our print edition, which is out in your local Sunday paper,

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<v Speaker 1>and until tomorrow, stay healthy Ish