If you talk to anyone truggling to lose weight, nine times out of 10 they’ll tell you their metabolism is sooooo slow they can’t shed any significant avoirdupois. So why are the most obese people on the planet fast metabolisers????

If there’s one thing people are confused about, it’s what constitutes a fast or a slow metabolism. People assume slow metabolisers are cursed and fast metabolisers are lucky. Actually, they’re both wrong -- and -- they’re both right.

Why Fast Metabolisers Are The Fattest People On The Planet

First of all, what is metabolism? It is the biochemical process that transforms the foods you eat into nutrients your body can use, fat it can store or waste it can excrete. The rate at which you do this -- called your basal body metabolic rate -- eventually dictates how much scale weight you have.

Each metabolic type has advantages and disadvantages. One type is not better than the other. Actually, very slow and very fast metabolisers are the worst off. The goal is to become the fastest slow metaboliser or the slowest fast metaboliser. (If you’ve got that, take a drive on north Loop 10 west in Houston!) Seriously, fast metabolisers need to slow their basal metabolic rates and slow metabolisers need to turbocharge theirs so both groups can burn deep into their natural fat stores and look better on the scale and off..

The Four Metabolic Levels

FYI, each metabolic type is divided into four distinct levels. The worst metabolic rate is a level 1. Conversely, the best is level 4. To slim down to and remain at our ideal shapes, we must become a level 4 -- that’s the fastest slow metaboliser or the slowest fast metaboliser. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a slow 4 or a fast 4.

Changing your eating habits appropriately can up your level. For example, I’m now a proud slow 2, up after a year of hard work from being a hateful slow 1. However, except under one condition I’ll discuss later (a condition you don’t want, BTW), you can not change your metabolic type.

Here’s a simplistic explanation to describe how the fat burning process works. Your body can only burn fat within a circumscribed temperature range, say between 98.6 and 100 degrees. (I’ve made these numbers up for simplicity.) Slow metabolisers like me burn fat at say 95 degrees. My metabolic rate is hot enough to burn some fat, but not hot enough to melt deep into my genetic fat storage area -- my thighs or your tummies or jowls.

Fast metabolisers have metabolic rates way over the 100 degree limit. Their thermostats are stuck at say 102. They’re always hot; they can sweat eating cold soup. They can burn NO fat because they’re too hot. That’s why the most obese people on the planet are stuck at the fast 1 level.

These people literally have to eat fattening foods -- which include butter, cheeses and cream sauces-- to slow their metabolisms so they can lose weight. (Now why couldn’t this be me?) Complex carbohydrates make their metabolic rates soar, exacerbating their weight problems. No pasta for them.

Fast or slow denote specific endocrine patterns. Your endocrine glands produce hormones that control all your body functions. This includes everything from how you lose weight to how you lose your temper. How you eat influences the production of these hormones.

Most Americans and Europeans -- almost 80 percent -- are slow metabolisers. However, more women than men are slow metabolisers, because too much estrogen (often a by-product of pregnancy) plays an important part in the endocrine profile of a slow metaboliser.

Here are some basic descriptions about the two endocrine types. But only a TMA will tell you for sure which type you are.

Slow metabolisers have thyroid glands that are sleepy, meaning their parathyroid glands work overtime. Their adrenal glands need a jolt, too. This is the key to jump starting your weight loss program: do whatever it takes to make the thyroid and adrenal glands power up.

Slow metabolisers tend to gain weight in the hips and thighs, creating a pear shaped silhouette. Well, just look at me.

Slow metabolisers tend to tire easily, thanks to their poky glandular activity. These soporific glands also can retard circulation, resulting in a reduced blood flow to the extremities. This increases their sensitivity to cold, which they notice in their hands and feet. (You don’t want to get into bed with me on a cold night and play tootsies!)

We may also develop Type II insomnia, a serious malady which can destroy top performance. We fall asleep easily, but awaken frequently throughout the night. We then wake up feeling tired, even after a delicious eight hours of sleep. This, in part, contributes to our constant fatigue.

Ironically, we develop this problem because we don’t have enough energy to sleep fitfully and well. Restful sleep requires energy to reach the stage of rejuvenating sleep characterized by rapid eye movements. Type II insomniacs wake up so frequently they can’t reach REM sleep.

Slow metabolisers are prone to increased insulin production, which can also cause fatigue. (Too much insulin, of course, also prevents us from burning significant amounts of fat.) Depression frequently accompanies fatigue; depression is a defining characteristic of slow metabolisers.

People who are vegetarians are almost always slow metabolisers. So are people who live on sugar or who consume a high fat diet.

On the biochemical front, slow metabolisers typically have too much calcium and copper. But they generally don’t have enough potassium, sodium or iron.

Fast metabolisers are always feeling hot. That’s because their thyroid and adrenal glands are working overtime, accelerating cellular activity. Heat is a by-product of this metabolic overload.

Their endocrine glands cause them to gain weight in the abdomen and torso without much gain in the legs or arms. Doctors call this "central obesity," but most people call it an apple shaped physique.

Fast metabolisers frequently develop addictive personality traits. They can be nervous and irritable. High blood pressure is typical.

On the biochemical front, fast metabolisers never have enough calcium or magnesium, the sedative minerals. But they have too much sodium, potassium and phosphorus, which keep ‘em jazzed.

We were all born fast metabolisers. Children have constant energy; ask any parent! However, a family’s eating habits will alter that chemistry over time. By the time the child turns into a teen-ager, s/he will mirror his or her parent’s biochemistry.

Why You Can Go AC/DC

I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon. When slow metabolisers are under supreme stress, they jump from a slow to a fast metabolic rate for the 90 to 180 day period when they are dealing with that stress. One of my customers made this radical change when her mother was diagnosed with cancer and was told mamma only had six weeks to live. Another did the same thing when the IRS threatened to close his business in a dispute over FICA and Medicare taxes.

This happens because a supremely stressful lifestyle increases the metabolic rate. Stress causes the body to retain the nutrients that stimulate and excite while losing the nutrients that quiet and sedate.

Why is this important to know? Because fast and slow metabolisers eat differently. You may be eating diet foods that are actually keeping you fat. Knowing your exact metabolic level and type will help you fine tune your eating plan to slow or stoke your metabolic rate -- so those pounds melt away.

And how to you know exactly what metabolic type and level you are? Or what foods to eat to stoke your metabolism into a raging fire of burning fat? You guessed it. Order a Tissue Mineral Analysis test! Just click the icon below or fill out the on-line order form.

P.S. Your fingerprints are unique to you. So is your metabolic rate. (That’s why chubby children can have skinny siblings.) Just thought I should share that!

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