Metabolism is incredibly complex. It is dynamic and governed by a highly sophisticated series of interlocking feedback mechanisms to keep it in a zone of optimal efficiency.
Yet Metabolism is often treated as if it were simple.
Drug companies frequently focus on activating or inhibiting a single metabolic pathway, as if metabolism were a light switch that can be turned on or off. But metabolism is not a switch. It is more like a soundboard with dozens of controls that must be carefully balanced.
The supplement business takes it one step further by stating drugs have side effects (that’s true), but their magical supplements are totally safe, and using them will solve your metabolic problems. Of course, this is why they have to put the disclaimer on every bottle that states: “This statement has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” That is not a real confidence builder for the consumer.
Both approaches ignore the complexities of metabolism. To be successful, you need to maintain an optimal metabolic balance between opposing forces.
Inflammation is initially required to fight a microbial infection or a physical injury (external or internal). But then you have to turn off inflammation, or it will keep attacking the body, accelerating the development of chronic disease. You also need to constantly remove damaged cellular components and replace them with new components, all without missing a beat. This is like trying to change a flat tire while your car is still traveling at 60 miles per hour.
These are things no drug or magical supplement can do, but they are the foundation of Metabolic Engineering®. This is because Metabolic Engineering® uses your diet to control gene expression. Your genes don’t change, but your diet can control the expression of those genes on a second-by-second basis.
This metabolic stop-and-go drama is played out in each of your 30 trillion cells and is ultimately controlled by two ancient players. One is AMPK, which is the master regulator of metabolism. Metabolism requires a lot of energy to keep you alive. AMPK is the cell’s energy sensor. If energy is low, AMPK shifts metabolism to start recycling damaged cellular components and increase the burning of stored fat to make more energy.
On the other hand, the transcription factor mTOR is required to activate tissue repair to replace the damaged components removed by AMPK activation. Thus, an efficient metabolism is one in which AMPK activity is balanced by mTOR activity. Furthermore, AMPK and mTOR are linked together; if one goes up, the other goes down. Achieving the intimate balance of AMPK to mTOR is something no drug, let alone a supplement, can do. However, it is the foundation of Metabolic Engineering®, which is controlled by your diet. But which diet?
The most powerful way to activate AMPK is to reduce calorie intake. But increasing AMPK activity inhibits mTOR. The best way to increase mTOR is to increase protein intake (especially the amino acid leucine). Furthermore, you need adequate protein at every meal to reduce hunger, so you can restrict calories without feeling hungry or fatigued. However, excessive mTOR activity can inhibit AMPK and promote tumor cell growth. It seems like maintaining the necessary dynamic balance between AMPK and mTOR to maintain an efficient metabolism throughout the day is Mission Impossible.
That’s why I developed the Zone diet more than 30 years ago. The goal was not to directly manipulate metabolic regulators, but to control the hormones that influence them — insulin and glucagon — at every meal, using the fewest calories possible to reduce hunger and fatigue.
Insulin is driven primarily by the glycemic load of a meal. Glucagon is driven by its protein content. Protein also supports natural GLP-1 production, which enhances satiety.
The hormonal effects of a meal last about five hours. Then the process begins again. The more precisely you balance protein and glycemic load at each meal, the more efficiently your metabolism operates.
Although the Zone diet accounts for 60% of your success in controlling your metabolism, there are two other dietary components you need for optimal success. One is adequate intakes of omega-3 fatty acids, not only to reduce inflammation, but more importantly, to turn it off (i.e., resolution) until it is needed in the future. In addition, the hormones derived from omega-3 fatty acids (i.e., resolvins) also activate AMPK. What is an adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids? It will need at least 2 grams of EPA and DHA per day. The average American consumes about 100 mg per day, so you can see there is a pretty big existing gap. Adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids will account for another 30 percent of the increase in metabolic efficiency. So, combining the Zone diet with adequate omega-3 fatty acid intake gets about 90 percent of the benefits of Metabolic Engineering®.
The final component of Metabolic Engineering® is polyphenols. These are the chemicals that give fruits and vegetables their color. Polyphenols are metabolized in the gut to shorter phenolic compounds that can then enter the blood. Once in the blood, these phenolic compounds prevent damage to your DNA by reducing oxidative stress. However, that is true only if you have previously activated AMPK by following the Zone diet guidelines. Nonetheless, even under ideal conditions, polyphenols will account for only about 10 percent of the benefits of Metabolic Engineering®. Each dietary component of Metabolic Engineering® is beneficial, but they are all linked to increased AMPK activity for maximum benefits.
This is why the Zone diet is your starting point, coupled with adequate intake of omega-3 fatty acids and polyphenols, to crack the metabolic code for a longer, better life.
