I hear almost everyday people commenting on the assumption that their metabolism is slow.
“I just look at food and my jeans get tight”
” I can’t eat anything”
What bases are you coming to this conclusion?
How do you know?
Usually a person with excess body fat or excess for what they deem appropriate will make these statements.
There can be many reasons for weight gain or lower energy levels.
If your computer or car is not running properly do you just make a comment on the ineffectiveness of it or do you get a diagnostic to confirm your belief?
The tests I’m about to recommend are equivalent to the diagnostics a skilled mechanic would run on a high performance race car. Fortunately you can always get another car.
One of the easiest tests that can be implemented is a calorie count test. I get most clients to do at least 5 days of recording of calories and at least one weekend day .
This method is much easier now days that 15 years ago. There are plenty of free apps and websites that a person can use to plug in their food intake. The program will typically ask for age,gender, height and weight.
This is not a method I’m militant with for the reason it can become a left brained activity and can detach one from the effect certain foods can have on the body.
Please pay attention to recording your day in great detail because a large % of people tend under report their daily amounts.
After about 4 weeks of using the calorie app you should discover the amount of food you have been eating was on track or not.
Is a calorie just a calorie? There are no absolutes and ill leave this for another article.
The next 2 tests sort of hold hands with each other. They are the temperature test originally used by Broda Barnes and the pulse test. Like the temperature test the pulse test does not stand alone.
The gold standard for temperature is 98.6 and a pulse between 75-85. This flys in the face of today’s paradigm but think about the heart rate and temperature like your engine. You want it running hot if you want your fuel ( calories) to be utilized and burned up efficiently.
Taking your temperature when you first wake and before you get out of bed or brush your teeth is a great measuring stick. A temperature below 97.8 can indicate the system is not as effective as needed but remember the temperature text by itself doesn’t tell the whole story.
Taking your temperature multiple times throughout the day can give you a good indication of what effect certain foods have.
When you think of metabolism a higher metabolism is extremely important.
There are plenty of research on both sides of the fence. Thinking about this logically and critically a slow metabolism will result in added body fat accumulation and eventually more than the needed. Excess fat store estrogen and toxins. Do you think Excess estrogen and fat will steer you towards health? Henry Beiler
Another common test most people will be familiar with is a standard TSH test. This test measures T4 levels in the blood. T4 in the inactive firm of thyroid. Like mentioned earlier none of theses tests stand alone. Most labs will use a wide parameter with the tsh going anywhere from .5 to 5.0 but will vary depending on the lab.
Some doctors won’t act if it is lower than 4.0 while others don’t like to see anything over 3.0.
Luckily blood sugar ranges are not given that much lenience.
The last test requires an assistant. This is an Achilles reflex test and using a reflex hammer would be ideal.
The receiver of the test kneels on an chair and allows the feet to hang over the edge with feet relaxed and toes pointing towards floor.
The Achilles is tapped by the reflex hammer and the ideal response will have the foot swing away and return the the start position at basically the same speed. A return of the foot to slightly more than the start position is an OK result as well.
A negative finding will have the foot spring away and return either slower or in an erratic tempo.
This reflex unless the patella for example has little to do with gravity and represents the contraction and relaxation of the muscle. A properly energized muscle will respond by contracting and then relaxing at about the same speed like the heart muscle.
