This is the Introduction from my new book co-authored with Vaidya Mishra:

Enjoy!

 

If you go on Amazon and do a search using the word “metabolism” you’ll get more than 50,000 results in a number of different categories. There is so much out there telling us we need to lose weight, burn fat, boost metabolism, cleanse toxins, balance hormones, diet, jumpstart, rev-up or slim down! The amount of content is mind-boggling. Yet the lack of accurate information is a big problem when we’re really trying to help ourselves, and not cause more harm to an already over-burdened digestive system.

 

Metabolism is the process the body goes through to convert food into energy. The body needs this energy for everything it does, whether strenuous or restful. A person’s metabolism is determined by many factors, including genetics, gender, age, hormones, body type, and activity level. Men typically have a higher metabolism rate than women. Ideally we want the body to have a metabolism that provides for us all the energy we need to do all the activities and work we want to do.

 

When the body’s metabolism is too slow, or not functioning as efficiently as it should, we may experience symptoms such as low blood pressure, a slow pulse, fatigue or apathy, constipation, dry skin, weakness, excess body fat (particularly belly fat), headaches, and an increased sensitivity to cold. There are many reasons that our metabolism might be out of whack – including eating unhealthy foods, or fasting, or lack of exercise.

 

Diabetes is a chronic disease where the body does not produce, or doesn’t properly regulate insulin. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body to store and use energy that we get from sugar, starches and other foods. Without enough insulin, unmetabolized sugar, or glucose, builds up in the blood causing damage to the body and its systems. Unmetabolized sugar gets stored as fat.

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 29 million people in the United States have diabetes. That’s almost 10%! A study published by JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) says that nearly 50% of all adults living in the United States either have diabetes or pre-diabetes, a condition where a person has elevated blood sugar and is at risk for developing diabetes. The CDC says that the leading cause of diabetes is obesity, and that in the past 30 years both the rates of obesity and diabetes have been rising.

 

Stress is also an issue. Stress leads the body to increase production of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol gets into the bloodstream and inhibits insulin.

 

Menopause is another factor that can slow the metabolism. As estrogen levels decrease, the body tries to compensate by storing fat around the belly. Slow metabolism and weight gain feed off of each other and we get caught in a downward spiral.

 

So then we don’t feel good. And when we don’t feel good, we get depressed, and we don’t feel like we look good. We wonder if we’ll ever feel fit or fabulous again. Clearly, something is wrong.

 

What’s wrong is that we are eating the wrong foods, cooking them the wrong way, eating them the wrong way, and therefore not metabolizing our foods properly. We’re working too much, and too hard, and not taking care to balance our lives with the rest and peace that both the body and mind crave. This causes a terrible strain on the entire system that shows up as dis-ease, or disease. As much as we can blame food companies for putting unhealthy food at our disposal, it really is our own responsibility to choose what, when, and how we eat. Isn’t it time for us to get into better habits? To have an awareness of the harm that we are doing to ourselves?

 

Fortunately, Ayurveda has an answer for us. In this centuries old science lies the ancient wisdom that we need right now to get our bodies back into balance and functioning as optimally as they are meant to. This book is meant to provide you will all the information you need to help your body metabolize both fat and sugar the way it is meant to. Now you have the information in your hands. And now you know that your health is in your hands. It is up to you to take the necessary steps to change your habits so that you can be the healthiest and happiest YOU possible! You’ll feel fit and fabulous – and you’ll look fit and fabulous, too!