Understanding Metabolic Health: What It Actually Means and Why It Matters
I've been thinking a lot about metabolic health lately. Through 25 years as a massage therapist and my certifications as a personal trainer, nutrition coach, and menopause specialist, I've become passionate about helping people understand what this term actually means.
The term gets thrown around a lot, but most people don't really know what it is. And when you try to learn about it, the information can feel overwhelming or contradictory. Understanding metabolic health—what's happening in your body and what you can do about it—changes everything.
I know how hard it can feel to make changes. I've struggled with dieting cycles, prioritizing appearance over how I felt, and feeling stuck. I'm 44 now, and I'm in the best health of my life—not because I've perfected anything, but because I finally understand how my body works. I'm stronger than I've ever been, my health markers keep improving, and I did it without restriction or obsession.
What Metabolic Health Actually Is
Your metabolism is your body's energy management system. When it's working well, you experience:
Stable energy throughout the day
Feeling satisfied after meals without constant cravings
Clear thinking and good focus
Restful sleep
A body that feels good to live in
When your metabolism isn't working well, you might notice:
Energy crashes, especially after meals
Constant hunger or cravings
Feeling tired even after sleeping
Brain fog
Difficulty managing your weight
Inflammation that shows up in various ways
Here's what's important to understand: metabolic health affects how you feel today AND your long-term health. It influences your risk for heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and other chronic conditions. And you have tremendous influence over your metabolic health through what you eat and how you move.
Only about 12% of American adults are metabolically healthy right now. But that doesn't mean metabolic dysfunction is inevitable or irreversible. It means most of us simply haven't been given the right information about what we can actually do.
Understanding Insulin: The Key Player
Let me explain the most important concept as clearly as I can, because once you understand this, everything else makes sense.
When you eat, your blood sugar rises. Your pancreas releases insulin, which helps move that glucose into your cells for energy. This is completely normal and healthy.
Problems start when your blood sugar spikes repeatedly—from eating refined carbs and sugars without protein or fiber to slow absorption. Your pancreas releases insulin over and over. Eventually, your cells become less responsive to insulin. They start ignoring the signal. This is called insulin resistance.
When you're insulin resistant, your pancreas makes even MORE insulin trying to do its job. Now you have high levels of both glucose and insulin in your blood. This affects how you feel daily—you're tired after meals, hungry soon after eating, craving carbs constantly, gaining weight around your middle.
But here's what matters: insulin resistance is reversible. Your body is remarkably responsive when you give it what it needs.
The challenge is that insulin resistance can develop silently for years—sometimes decades—before showing up on standard lab tests. Your body is remarkably good at compensating—until it can't anymore. Your fasting glucose might be 95 or 100 mg/dL, and your doctor says it's "normal." But optimal is 70-85 mg/dL. That gap represents years of your body working overtime to maintain blood sugar control.
The Inflammation Connection
Insulin resistance and chronic inflammation fuel each other. When you're insulin resistant, inflammation increases throughout your body. And inflammation makes cells more insulin resistant. It's a cycle.
Chronic inflammation is different from acute inflammation (like when you sprain your ankle or have a fever). Chronic inflammation is low-grade and constant, affecting your entire body. You can't see it or feel it directly, but it's contributing to how you feel and your long-term health.
What drives both insulin resistance and inflammation? Diets high in refined carbohydrates and added sugars, physical inactivity, poor sleep, chronic stress, excess body fat (especially around the abdomen), and lifestyle factors like smoking and excessive alcohol.
The good news? All of these are things you can influence.
Why This Matters
Insulin resistance and chronic inflammation are at the root of most major chronic diseases: cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, Alzheimer's disease, and certain cancers. These conditions don't develop overnight—they develop over years through processes that are happening right now in your body.
I was working on this blog when I got diagnosed with psoriasis this month—an autoimmune inflammatory condition. My dermatologist biopsied a skin concern during my yearly skin check, and it came back as psoriasis. It was a surprise. Even though I know it's manageable and I'm already doing most of what I should be doing, it was still a wake-up call that I really need to make this a priority.
I'm aware that psoriatic arthritis is a potential complication—where the same inflammatory process can affect the joints, causing permanent damage. Understanding how chronic inflammation and metabolic health work together means I know that keeping my inflammation low through the choices I make about movement, nutrition, and stress management is one of my best tools for reducing that risk.
So this isn't abstract for me. It's personal. Whether it's an inflammatory condition like mine, concerns about diabetes or heart disease, or just wanting to feel better day-to-day, the work you do now directly influences not just how long you live, but the quality of those years—especially in your final decade.
This isn't about preventing something that might happen decades from now. It's about feeling better today AND protecting your future.
Movement: The Most Powerful Tool
Exercise is the single most powerful intervention for metabolic health. Let me explain why.
When you move, especially when you do strength training or any activity that works your muscles, something remarkable happens in your body. Your muscles can take up glucose (sugar from your blood) and use it for energy WITHOUT needing insulin to unlock the door. Exercise essentially bypasses the insulin resistance problem.
This effect lasts for hours after you finish moving. And with regular exercise, your cells become more responsive to insulin even when you're at rest. You're literally reversing insulin resistance through movement.
But there's another crucial reason why movement—particularly strength training—matters so much: muscle tissue itself.
When I say muscle is "metabolically active," here's what that means: muscle tissue is constantly working even when you're sitting still. It requires energy just to exist and maintain itself. The more muscle you have, the more places your body has to store glucose and the better your body becomes at managing blood sugar.
Think of it this way: your muscles are like storage units for glucose. When you eat, some glucose goes into your bloodstream for immediate energy. The rest needs somewhere to go. Your muscles can store it as glycogen (stored glucose) for later use. The more muscle you have, the more storage capacity you have. This means less glucose sitting around in your bloodstream requiring insulin to deal with it.
People with more muscle mass have better blood sugar control and better insulin sensitivity—even at rest, even while they sleep. Their bodies are simply better equipped to handle the glucose from food.
This is why strength training is so powerful for metabolic health. You're not just burning calories during the workout. You're building tissue that improves your metabolic function 24/7.
You can build muscle at any age. Research consistently shows that people in their 60s, 70s, even 80s can build significant muscle mass with proper strength training. It's never too late.
You don't need to become an athlete or bodybuilder. You need consistency with movement that works for your life.
Start with something simple: Walk for 10-15 minutes after one meal. Research shows post-meal walking reduces blood sugar spikes by 20-30% because your muscles are actively using that glucose. Do this consistently, and you're making a measurable difference in your metabolic health right now, today.
From there, you can build: add more walks, include strength training (even 20 minutes twice a week makes a real difference), find movement you enjoy. I've curated free movement resources on my website because everyone deserves access to quality guidance.
The work you do now—the muscle you build and maintain—determines your physical capacity in your 70s, 80s, and 90s. Dr. Peter Attia calls this "the marginal decade"—the last decade of your life. Will those years be vibrant and independent, or frail and dependent on others? That's being decided right now by the choices you make consistently over time.
Nutrition: Understanding What Actually Matters
What you eat profoundly affects metabolic health. Not for weight loss—for how your body functions, how you feel today, and how you'll age.
Let me share the core principles here:
Protein builds and maintains muscle tissue. Remember what we just talked about—muscle is your glucose storage system. Protein also keeps you satisfied for hours and stabilizes blood sugar when eaten with carbohydrates. Aim for 25-40 grams per meal. Most people don't eat anywhere near enough protein, especially as they age.
Fiber slows glucose absorption (preventing blood sugar spikes), reduces inflammation, feeds the beneficial bacteria in your gut, and is consistently associated with lower all-cause mortality. This means people who eat more fiber literally live longer. Aim for 25-35 grams daily. Most Americans get about 15 grams.
Strategic carbohydrates means understanding that not all carbs affect your body the same way. Fiber-rich whole carbohydrates (vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, potatoes with skin) cause a gentle, manageable blood sugar rise. Refined carbohydrates (white bread, pastries, soda, candy) spike your blood sugar rapidly, demanding a large insulin response. When you do eat carbs, pair them with protein or fat to dramatically reduce that spike.
Limiting added sugars reduces the rapid blood sugar spikes that drive insulin resistance and inflammation. The American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugars to less than 25g daily for women, though many experts suggest keeping it under 10-15 grams on most days. For reference, a 12 oz soda contains about 39 grams of added sugar.
Understanding alcohol means knowing your body recognizes it as a toxin. When you drink, your body immediately stops other metabolic processes—including blood sugar regulation and fat burning—to deal with the alcohol. It disrupts sleep architecture, increases inflammation, and the metabolic byproducts (like acetaldehyde) are carcinogenic. The healthiest amount of alcohol is no alcohol.
I spent months creating a comprehensive Nutrition Guide because I saw how much confusion exists around nutrition and how much people need clear, practical, evidence-based information. It represents years of research, my certifications and experience, and countless hours of work—a resource that breaks down complex nutrition science into understandable, actionable strategies that work for real life. The guide goes deep into all of this with practical strategies for busy lives, tight budgets, picky eaters, and real-world challenges. It's designed for all levels—whether you're completely new to nutrition or already know a lot but need help implementing it. You can find it on my website, and I genuinely believe it's one of the most valuable resources I've created.
The goal isn't perfection or restriction. It's understanding how different foods affect your body so you can make informed choices that work for your life.
Start Small, Build Consistently
Pick ONE thing:
Walk for 10 minutes after dinner
Add protein to breakfast
Choose high-fiber bread
Add vegetables or beans to one meal
Do it consistently for 2-4 weeks. Then add something else.
Small changes compound. You don't need to overhaul everything overnight.
The Empowering Truth
Even if you've had insulin resistance or inflammation for years, research shows you can reverse it and dramatically improve metabolic health through lifestyle changes. I've seen this in my own life and in working with clients for 25 years. When people have accurate information and make small, sustainable changes, transformation happens. Not because of perfection, but because consistency works.
You have more control than you may believe. Metabolic health isn't predetermined by genetics or age. It's influenced every day by what you eat, how you move, how you sleep, how you manage stress.
Your body is designed to heal.