Metabolism - What is it?

Metabolism is the word we use for the chemical and physical processes of ingesting foodstuff, breaking it down into basic parts, and using those basic parts for production of energy (fuel for activity) and the repair and formation of cells and other body components.

Imagine that you decide to build a house entirely of wood. You go to the forest and cut down trees. You cut some of the wood into thick lengths and lay out the shape of the house. Some of the wood is cut into thin planks for walls. Pegs are fashioned to hold the walls in place. Flooring is cut, doors made to size, windows set. Furniture is custom made and built in. Decorative pieces are carved for the shutters and roof. Each wooden piece is made to order for this house. When it is finished, the house is unique and as strong as you are precise about how it all fits together.

This is like metabolism. Big things are broken down into smaller pieces and then re-fashioned as needed to create something new and unique.

An example would be eating meat, fish or chicken (protein) and breaking down the protein into amino acids.  There are eight amino acids that are called “essential” because humans can’t make them, but must acquire them from food. Plants do contain proteins, but they do not contain the eight essential amino acids. Plants must be combined to form complete proteins.. Beans and rice are used together in many cuisines to form more complete proteins.  Only meats, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products contain all essential amino acids.

How can you increase your metabolism? Eat whole, natural unprocessed foods. The body can break down and utilize foods it recognizes. Our bodies are natural ecosystems. The friendly bacteria in our guts help breakdown our foods, and produce vitamins we cannot make ourselves. To keep this gut colony healthy, unrefined foods are vital, as well as naturally fermented foods such as kefir, yogurt, raw cheese, sauerkraut, and tempeh (fermented soy).

White flour, white sugar, processed fats, chemicals and synthetic Frankenstein foods cannot be utilized for fuel or cellular function. They cause inflammation clog our digestive tract. Frankenstein foods create Frankenstein bodies, since food contains the building blocks for making new cells.

When it comes to fats, just consult Mother Nature. Real butter, fish oils, virgin vegetable oils, raw nuts, raw (unpasteurized/heat-treated) dairy products and meats have been consumed by humans for all of recorded history. Heart disease was virtually unknown before 1900. Margarine was invented in the late 1880’s. Heat and chemically processed oils were added in the effort to find cheap fats with long shelf lives.

Let’s go back to your wooden house. Now imagine only half-emptying the waste-baskets and kitchen trash. Pile up old newspapers and dirty rags. Leave dirty dishes and the remains of your meals. How long before rodents, bacteria and insects would find a feast? Eventually the garbage would spill out into the yard and the smell would announce your lack of housekeeping to the neighborhood.

If you clog up the body with waste it cannot breakdown and eliminate parasitic bugs and yeast organisms start to thrive.

Whatever you decide to eat, choose “live” unprocessed food that has a very short shelf life and your body will get the metabolic boost it needs to help you stay slim and healthy.

Ever wonder how cows get so big when their native diet is grass?  Cows are “ruminants” which means they have multiple stomachs, instead of just one like humans. Humans have a hundred trillion good “bugs” in their gut, but cows have a hundred times that many. These helpful bacteria break down cellulose into carbohydrates, proteins and fats, as well as vitamins and minerals, that cows use to make their big bodies. Cows must eat 10 hours a day in order to ingest enough calories.

Adult African elephants, also herbivores, eat 220-440 lbs. of vegetation per day. A herbivore is an animal that eats only plants in the wild. Gorillas are also herbivores, but many eat fruit as well as green leaves and bark. Adult males eat about 50 lbs of food per day.

Notice that herbivores must eat huge quantities of food and spend most of their waking hours foraging for food!