Key Takeaways

• Metabolic health refers to how well the body uses and stores energy. 

• Metabolic health is a spectrum ranging from very good to very poor. 

• Poor metabolic health can also be referred to as metabolic syndrome.

• A decline in metabolic health can often be reversed if it’s detected early.

• A test known as HOMA-IR can be used to detect the early signs of insulin resistance, or a decline in metabolic health.

• Lifestyle changes – including increased exercise, dietary changes, and focusing on sleep and stress – are often very effective for improving metabolic health.

What is metabolic health?

Metabolic health refers to how well the body is able to use, process, and store energy.

When a person is in good metabolic health, their body is able to effectively process glucose after a meal. The body produces insulin, and cells throughout the body respond to this insulin by taking up glucose from the bloodstream. They can either use it right away or store it for later use. 

In addition, when metabolic health is good, the body is able to process fats from the diet effectively, without producing high levels of triglyceride. It produces enough HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol, which reduces your risk of a heart attack), instead of LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol, which increases your risk of a heart attack).

The spectrum of metabolic health

Metabolic health is not simply classified into “good” or “poor.” Instead, metabolic health is a spectrum. A person’s metabolic health may be anywhere from very good to very poor, with many gradations in between.

A person with mild insulin resistance may still have normal blood glucose levels. This is because the body produces extra insulin to compensate for the lack of response from the tissues. We would say that this person has experienced a decline in their metabolic health, but the change is not yet severe and is still likely to be reversible.

As metabolic health declines further, the body is no longer able to produce enough insulin to compensate for the insulin resistance of the tissues. When cells don’t respond to insulin, they will not take up glucose from the blood. As a result, blood glucose levels begin to rise. The excess glucose causes damage to proteins throughout the body. 

When metabolic health has declined to this point, it’s classified as prediabetes. As metabolic health declines further, blood glucose levels rise more significantly. This is classified as type 2 diabetes.

In addition, when metabolic health has declined, there are increased levels of triglycerides, which are fats circulating in the bloodstream. The body also produces too little of the protective HDL cholesterol, and often produces too much of the damaging LDL cholesterol.

The term “metabolic syndrome” is used to describe a cluster of factors related to poor metabolic health. These factors tend to occur together, although some people don’t have all of them. Metabolic syndrome is diagnosed when a person has three of the following factors:

• Abdominal obesity (meaning that the excess weight is primarily carried around the belly)

• High blood pressure

• High fasting glucose level

• High triglyceride level

• Low level of HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol)

In general, a person with poor metabolic health could also be said to have metabolic syndrome. 

Studies have shown that only about 12% of adults can be considered to be metabolically healthy. Although having obesity does increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, it’s not required. In fact, only about one-third of adults who are of normal weight are classified as metabolically healthy.

Why is metabolic health important?

Your metabolic health is one of the keys to your overall health, well-being, and longevity. Having metabolic syndrome significantly increases the likelihood of developing a serious medical condition. Those with metabolic syndrome have approximately double the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, and five times the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, as those who are metabolically healthy.

People with metabolic syndrome often have insulin resistance. Because of this, insulin levels will rise, as the body attempts to compensate. High insulin levels trigger a variety of effects throughout the body, including weight gain. Because excess weight itself increases the risk of metabolic syndrome, this can set up a vicious cycle, where increased weight causes a decline in metabolic health, which then causes weight to increase further. Many people who find themselves in this cycle feel very frustrated.

When the decline in metabolic health is more severe, then glucose can’t enter into the cells that need it, and excess glucose remains behind in the bloodstream. This glucose binds to proteins throughout the body, changing them chemically and interfering with their function. In addition, when triglyceride levels are high, the excess fats in the bloodstream may deposit into the walls of arteries. This makes the arteries stiffer and narrower, which can lead to a heart attack or a stroke.

Risk factors for metabolic dysfunction

Anyone can potentially experience a decline in their metabolic health. However, there are some risk factors that are strongly linked to metabolic dysfunction and metabolic syndrome. These include:

• Lack of exercise

• Unhealthy diet

• Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep

• Smoking

• Alcohol use

• Aging

• Genetics

• Obesity

• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

People who have one or more of these factors may want to consider checking their metabolic health more often, to ensure that early signs of insulin resistance are not missed.

How to monitor your metabolic health

In many cases, a decline in metabolic health doesn’t cause any obvious symptoms, particularly in the early stages. Very commonly, people don’t even realize that their metabolic health is not good.

It’s important to detect any problems with metabolic health early. You can then take steps to improve your metabolic health before significant damage has been done to your body. In many cases, a decline in metabolic health can be reversed if it’s discovered early enough. However, if it’s not discovered until later, significant damage may already have been done to the body. At this point, it’s a lot harder to reverse the effects of insulin resistance and restore good metabolic health.

The only way to know your metabolic health status is through testing. Regular screening of your metabolic health markers allows you and your doctor to detect any problems with your metabolic health as early as possible, and to develop a plan to address these and protect your long-term health. 

Most people over the age of 40 receive some type of metabolic health screening as part of their regular wellness check. In most cases, this includes only a single measurement of metabolic health – either fasting glucose or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). The test is usually repeated every three years.

Tests like fasting glucose and HbA1c generally don’t show abnormal results in the early stages of insulin resistance. During this period, the body is able to produce extra insulin to compensate for the lack of insulin response from the tissues. As a result, blood glucose levels remain normal, even though metabolic health is not optimal. It’s not until later in the process, when the body is no longer able to produce enough insulin to compensate for the resistance, that these tests will show abnormal results.

A test called HOMA-IR can be used to look for early signs of insulin resistance, allowing you to get a more comprehensive picture of your metabolic health. This test checks your insulin level and your blood glucose level at the same time. By comparing your level of insulin with what would be expected for your glucose level, this test allows your doctor to determine how your body responds to glucose. If you have insulin resistance, then your insulin level will be higher than expected, even if your glucose level is normal. 

The HOMA-IR test is not included as part of a standard wellness screening. If you’d like to have this test to ensure that you know your metabolic health status, you’ll need to have a consultation with a doctor who can order the test. This test is included in our NOVI Assessment Max package, as part of a panel of tests designed to gain a comprehensive picture of your overall health. 

How to improve your metabolic health

If the results of your tests indicate that your metabolic health is not optimal, then there are steps that you can take to help improve it. This will greatly reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and will help to protect your long-term health and longevity.

Some steps that help to reduce insulin resistance and improve metabolic health include:

• Get plenty of physical activity. Many studies have found that exercise helps to make the body’s tissues more sensitive to insulin. Try to get at least 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (cardio) on most days. In addition, strength training increases muscle mass, which is very helpful for weight control.

• Reduce your consumption of sugars and starches. These foods lead to a quick spike in blood glucose levels, which then forces the body to produce a lot of insulin to process this. By reducing your consumption of sugars and starches, there will be less demand for insulin from the pancreas. In addition, eating less of these foods tends to lead to weight loss, which is also beneficial for metabolic health.

• Consider trying intermittent fasting. This is a technique that involves eating only during a certain window of time. Most commonly, people using intermittent fasting restrict their eating to specific hours – for example, you might only eat between 10am and 6pm. Sometimes, certain days of complete fasting or very restricted food intake might also be included each week or each month. Intermittent fasting has been shown to lead to improvements in metabolic health.

• Prioritize sleep and manage your stress levels. These lifestyle factors are commonly overlooked when people are trying to improve their metabolic health, but research has shown that they’re crucial. Getting eight hours of high-quality sleep each night has been shown to help maintain insulin sensitivity. Stress hormones like cortisol, which are produced when your body is under stress, have been found to act in the tissues to reduce insulin sensitivity. This is why it’s important to try to reduce the amount of stress that you experience, and to learn healthy ways to manage potentially stressful situations.

If you’re concerned about your metabolic health, or if testing has shown that you’ve started to develop insulin resistance, then it’s a good idea to get professional advice to help you address this. A health coach can help you to develop a personalized lifestyle plan that will work for you and adjust this as needed to achieve the results that you’re looking for. In some cases, your physician may also prescribe medication to help improve your insulin sensitivity and metabolic health.

NOVI Assessment Max goes beyond standard diagnostics, testing over 80 biomarkers linked to metabolic health, as well as hormones, systemic nutrients, and longevity.