5 Laws of Metabolism and Metabolic Weight Loss

Dr. Jade Teta  says, that simplistic models can sometimes be useful to help us understand a concept but they can also have serious downsides. For example, the "eat less exercise more" approach to weight loss is one such model.

As a general model it is true BUT it is only good for a short period of time. Jade says that eating less and exercising more can disrupt a person's metabolic balance and put them into a metabolic tailspin of constant weight loss and weight regain.

Jade and Metabolic Effect describe the 5 Laws of Metabolism, these are:

• Law 1: Metabolic Compensation
• Law 2: Metabolic Multitasking
• Law 3: Metabolic Efficiency
• Law 4: Metabolic Individuality
• Law 5: Psychic Entropy

Law 1 Metabolic Compensation – When we lose weight the body will slow your metabolism down, to try and compensate. This is called adaptive thermogenesis. From a theoretical model we estimate that if you lose X kg of muscle your metabolism will slow by Y. The problem is most peoples metabolism will slow by Y plus another 20 to 30% more.  The exact mechanism for this is unknown but underlines the significance of cyclically managing your body, getting your training and nutrition right to combat this.

Law 2 Metabolic Multi Tasking - The second law has to do with the inability of the metabolism to multitask well. The body functions in an anabolic (building up) and catabolic (breaking down) cycle. It either likes to be devoting its resources to storing fat and muscle (anabolism) or burning fat and muscle (catabolism). It can do both, but it is the metabolic equivalent of rubbing your head and patting your tummy. It is not easy and takes time to master.

Jade describes 2 common types of clients we may have, skinny fat and muscle fat. The skinny fat people, exercise like crazy and eat like a bird, they lose fat but they also lose muscle. The muscle fat people train with weights put on muscle but eat more and don’t lose their fat.

Jade says We now know that a higher protein diet and a weight lifting centered exercise regime helps the metabolism multitask much better. The idea with carbs and cardio is not to eliminate them but adopt Jades Goldilocks Principle not too much but not too little, as they both have a great place in optimal results.

Law 3 Metabolic Efficiency – Jade states that When it comes to metabolic efficiency more efficient metabolisms abstract calories and store them more easily and lose less of that energy as heat. A less efficient metabolism does not abstract calories as well and loses more of them as heat. If it is fat loss you desire, then a less efficient metabolic engine is what you want. Factors that impact metabolic efficiency are:

1. Genetics  and metabolic hormones
2. Thyroid function, those with low thyroid function burn less energy. This is why clients with low thyroid function respond more slowly to dietary intervention.
3. Certain parts of the body are more efficient at storing fat and less efficient at losing it eg hips, butt and thighs for women and love handles for men. These areas are more insulin sensitive, have more alpha receptors than betas. Betas are like great big garage doors fat can travel through and alphas like a tiny kitchen windows.
4. Not all calories are made the same! Proteins are the most satiating and most thermogenic fuel (it is not metabolic efficient and burns a lot of fuel to be stored). The next is carbs. Fat fills us up the least and burns the least calories to be stored.
5. Chemicals in the environment called endocrine disruptors such as pesticides, plastic leaching and industrial pollutants impact our metabolism in a negative way
6. The health of the bacteria in our gastrointestinal tract has a significant impact on our health and metabolic efficiency also.

 Law 4 Metabolic Individuality – Jade says, We each are metabolically unique, psychologically varied and have vast discrepancy in personal preferences. Just as we know we are all humans BUT we know we all look different. Juts as we look different we behave differently metabolically and psychologically. 

There is nothing at all incompatible with the idea that we each share a vast amount (and the most important aspects of metabolism), but at the same time vary in ways that make a significant difference in our health, fitness and appearance.

This goes for our psychological make up too. Our personalities differ. We have different relationships and coping strategies for stress, hardship, work capacity etc. Some of us are more or less susceptible to addiction. Some people like chocolate and others prefer vanilla.

We have to honor these differences in ourselves. If you know that when you eat fat you tend to feel bloated, breakout with acne and feel sluggish….. then you need to honor that despite what the latest health book says about adding a pound of fat to your coffee.

Law 5 Psychic Entropy - Entropy is a scientific term for loss of energy. So another name for this low is the low of mental energy drain. We now know that willpower is like a battery. It can be drained and it can be charged.

Research has shown that any type of thought or “selfediting” drains this battery.

Selfediting simply refers to the idea of judging, planning and thinking about stuff you did, are doing or have to do. You have a psychic reserve and when that reserve is empty you are far less likely to exert control over your behaviors and far more likely to revert back to habitual and pleasure seeking behavior.

This law of psychic entropy is completely ignored in the diet and health industry. If you understand this metabolic law you will immediately understand the folly of trying to change 10 things about your life at one time.