Reset Your Metabolism For Life!

Weight loss can be a challenge to a good number of us once we hit a certain age.  My research which involves treating patients for the last 35 years in a clinical setting has shown that there are main factors that contribute to a person’s weight which will all be discussed in this article.  Among some of the most important factors for resetting your metabolism are the function of the part of the brain called the hypothalamus, blood sugar levels, and the liver.

The first factor that will be discussed is the part of the brain called the hypothalamus. In the 1950’s, there were a few physicians that were studying weight loss. The doctors were able to prove that the main part of the body that controlled weight and metabolism was the hypothalamus.  The physicians also discovered that a substance called HCG could reset the hypothalamus and the metabolism!  HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and is a hormone naturally produced in large quantities during pregnancy. HCG was used on obese patients, and several important factors were discovered that were important to the research. For example, when the patients were given the HCG supplement, they had no headaches, hunger pains, weakness, or irritability as long a low calorie restricted diet was combined with HCG. This is because the purpose of HCG is to release stored nutrients for the fetus.  When the HCG is taken and there is no fetus present to use the nutrients, the body releases the stored substances and the body then gets rid of them via the elimination system.  This enables the body to release stored toxins and allows the body to burn ABNORMAL FAT when used in conjunction with a low calorie diet.  Additionally, it was discovered that the patient does not lose muscle mass like when you put people on other low calorie diets.

More specifically, HCG acts on the hypothalamus, signaling the body to release the stored fat into the bloodstream where it is then available to be utilized by the cells for nourishment.  This alone will not cause weight loss unless you combine this with a low calorie diet.  This forces the body to use the mobilized fat from the bloodstream.  HCG causes the release of ABNORMAL FAT without affecting structural fat and muscle tissue.  This means that you only lose fat in the stubborn areas such as the hips, thighs, buttocks and upper arms. HCG not only assists the body with burning abnormal fat but also helps to reset the hypothalamus so that your metabolism will be permanently changed to a healthy normal metabolism for your body. Often people that have weight problems have done a considerable amount of yo-yo dieting and crash dieting in between period of eating many processed foods which can over time set the hypothalamus and metabolism to a very slow rate. Studies have shown that the use of HCG for a specific amount of time in the body combined with a low calorie diet adjusts the metabolic rate back to a normal healthy rate so that it will be easier to maintain your weight permanently.  

In the 1950’s, injections of HCG were used for the research. Injections of HCG require a prescription from a medical doctor in the United States and can be painful and inconvenient for clients. Within the last couple of years, it has been shown that the homeopathic version of HCG in the form of drops has been producing the same results with more convenience and safety. Click here to find out more information.

Another factor in weight loss is the body’s blood sugar level. The reason why most people’s bodies are not operating efficiently and their hypothalamus is set a very slow metabolism in the first place was because of all the years of eating unhealthy processed foods.  When you eat processed unhealthy foods over time, the pancreas slows down and either does not create enough insulin or creates too much insulin and results in unhealthy blood sugar balance.  Therefore, going back to a healthy cleansing type of diet will help the pancreas (and all of the organs) to cleanse itself of the toxins that are clogging it and allow each organ to do their jobs that contribute toward proper food digestion, fat digestion, fat burning and a healthy metabolism.

It is very important to understand the concept of blood sugar when discussing weight maintenance. Blood sugar and insulin are very important things to control for weight maintenance.  You want to keep your blood sugar in the 80-100 level range for fat burning mode. High blood sugar levels are considered in the range of 100-120 for any length of time.  If your body is consistently having blood sugar levels in this range, then your body will release insulin to save the day.  This is because it is dangerous for your blood sugar to be in this range for long periods of time. When insulin is released, it signals your body to store fat and also takes your blood sugar from high to low.  Low blood sugar is considered anything from 60 – 80.  This causes you to feel hungry, have food and sugar cravings, and fatigue.  This is how you probably have felt on a good number of diet programs. A healthy diet of whole foods including fruits and vegetables, lean meat proteins and healthy fats has been proven the best for blood sugar maintenance which will put your body into the fat burning mode! Once your body gets into fat burning mode (and research has discovered this can be done in a short amount of time with the right diet), your hypothalamus will be reset and your metabolism will be much higher.  Therefore, regulating your blood sugar is an important step to resetting your metabolism, burning excess abnormal fat and weight loss.   

Another factor in weight loss is the liver. Our liver is mainly responsible for 2 things – burning fat and eliminating toxins that are harmful to the body.  If you are eating a great deal of processed foods that are being marketed as healthy (but they really have a lot of chemicals in them), then your liver needs to spend all of its time filtering the toxins and cannot spend any time on fat burning. What are those processed foods?

• Refined Grains such as whole wheat and white bread, whole wheat and white pasta, cereals, and crackers can cause increase in blood sugar and lead to weight gain.
• Sweets such as cookies, candy, cakes, processed muffins, foods containing sugar, and high fructose corn syrup can all cause blood sugar spikes and prevent fat burning. 
• Artificial sweeteners such as Equal, Splenda, Sweet N Low, etc make the liver work harder. 
• Unhealthy fats such as hydrogenated oils, margarine, substitute butters, or any food items that have trans-fats cause the liver to have to filter the toxins found in these. You will find that a good deal of processed foods such as crackers, chips, pretzels, cookies, cereal bars, microwave popcorn, ready-to eat cereals, low fat and fat free products and salad dressings all have hydrogenated oils and are not good for you!  
• Processed soy products which contain phytoestrogens which have been shown to affect normal hormone levels and thyroid levels that can lead to weight gain.  
• Commercially processed dairy products that have been pasteurized and homogenized.  The processes that they put the dairy products through cause a great deal of people to have allergies to dairy products and cause them not to be assimilated by the body which can lead to weight gain. 
• Meats that have been raised with hormones and antibiotics which have to all be processed by our liver and tend to clog it. 

What foods are considered healthy? The following are considered healthy, whole foods that you should incorporate in your diet as much as possible:

Best Protein Sources:

• Attempt to get your protein source from organic lean meats such as white meat poultry like turkey, chicken or white-fish. Avoid (or eat only occasionally) high-fat proteins which may cause lethargy, depression, or fatigue.  Try to eat a source of protein with every meal to keep blood sugar levels stable. Whole organic eggs are also good sources of protein.

Best Carbohydrate Sources:

• Choose plenty of low-starch vegetables like broccoli and salad greens, and limit consumption of high-starch foods such as bread, pasta, and grains. If you feel sluggish, sleepy, or hungry soon after a meal containing a low-fat protein, a vegetable, and a grain, you may have eaten too much grain. Try increasing the protein amount and decreasing the grain amount the next time you have this same meal.
• The best carbohydrate sources are organic fruits and vegetables.  Any whole fruits and vegetables will put your body in fat burning mode and not cause you to be fat, so you can be very liberal with fruits and vegetables. It is the grains that you have to be cautious with because these can lead to food intolerances and can cause weight gain if eaten in large quantities.    
• Legumes can be tricky because they contain protein and carbohydrates and can be hard on digestion.  Therefore, eat legumes less often. As with all other foods, monitor your response carefully, and pay attention to your ability to combine them with certain foods. Some people can eat chicken, beans, and vegetables and feel fine but they may feel tired and sluggish if they eat beans, rice, and vegetables.

Best Fat Sources:   

• Natural, unprocessed fats help you burn fat.  Fats are very misunderstood and people think that we have to avoid them like the plague in order to lose weight.  This could be farther from the truth.  We actually need a small amount of fat in our diet in order to burn fat!  We just need to be eating the right kinds of fats.  Research has shown that the best fat sources are real raw butter, whole eggs, coconut oil, olive oil, avocados and raw nuts.

Best Sweetener Sources:  

• Sweeteners such as stevia, agave, and xylitol that can be found in health food stores and some regular supermarket chains are best sources of sweeteners.  These have been found to not raise blood sugars as much as regular table sugar and are considered safe and effective in sweetening foods. 

As you can see from the above, the factors that contribute to weight gain are not that complicated once they are broken down and described in such a way that you understand them. There are many products and information out there that can help you attain your weight loss goals!

Written by Dr. Larry Martin

Naturopath, Clinical Nutritionist, Chiropractic Physician