Metabolic Engineering® is a defined dietary program for optimal metabolic efficacy at every stage of life.  Although the goals at each life stage may differ, the dietary pathway to achieve them is the same.  

Prenatal

There are two reasons to practice Metabolic Engineering during pregnancy.  The first is to prevent gestational diabetes, which can have adverse consequences on the fetus. The goal is not to lose weight but to improve the mother’s and child’s metabolic control during pregnancy.  The mother should consider consuming four instead of three Zone meals daily to maintain adequate nutrition for herself and the fetus.  A normal glucose tolerance test during pregnancy and weight health gain within prescribed limits would be indicators of your dietary success.    

The second reason is to ensure that the fetus has an adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids for cognitive health.  The only source of those omega-3 fatty acids is the mother’s diet.

Childhood

The brain is the fastest-growing organ in the first two years of life.  If the child is not getting sufficient intake of omega-3 fatty acids in the womb, their neural development may be compromised.  In addition, the rapid growth of the child’s brain requires adequate protein but is balanced by low-glycemic carbohydrates to promote metabolic efficiency.  This is especially true during the adolescent years.  As in early childhood, the need for omega-3 fatty acids continues as neural connections in the pre-frontal cortex are completed in the early twenties.

Peak Performance

The early adult years are characterized by trying to achieve peak physical or mental performance.  In either case, this means squeezing the highest energy output of the conversion of food into chemical energy in the mitochondria in the muscles or the brain.  There are 30 trillion cells in your body, and each cell contains between 1.000 and 2,500 mitochondria to produce ATP from the food you eat.  If mitochondria efficiency is decreased, so will your physical and mental energy.  Mitochondrial efficiency in generating energy is controlled by AMPK activity.  For the athlete, this means achieving peak physical performance.  This translates into peak cognitive performance for the young adult starting any career. Both goals can be enhanced by following Metabolic Engineering™ to improve AMPK activity. 

Midlife

In midlife, one generally begins to sense that their metabolism is slowing down.  Your metabolism is becoming less efficient.  Not only can you feel that your physical and mental performance is diminishing, but this is the point of life when the symptoms of chronic disease develop because of a decreasing metabolic efficiency.  Increased body fat is one of the first physical signs of decreasing metabolic efficiency at any stage of life.

Healthy Aging

Healthy aging can be defined as increasing your healthspan.  Healthspan is your maximum lifespan minus years of disability caused by chronic disease.  This is the real payoff for following Metabolic Engineering® for a lifetime.  Even if you have a chronic disease condition, its impact on your daily life can be significantly reduced by following Metabolic Engineering® even starting later in life. 

It’s never too late to enjoy the benefits of Metabolic Engineering® at any stage of life, but the earlier you start, the greater your healthspan will be.