It Is About Living Not Just A Long Life

It is about living not just a long life, but a better life. Where you can thrive, live the best version of yourself and do extraordinary things! And for that, one of the prerequisites, is a healthy body and mind.

And one of the keys for a healthy, vibrant life is keep your metabolism going. What is metabolism? Fundamentally, metabolism is the way that we produce energy in the body. This beautiful, amazing thing that is the human body works seamlessly, but there are substances that slow it down and overpower it- one of them being sugar.

Effect on our metabolism:

Think of this scenario – you think you are eating healthy. Starting the day with a glass of orange juice, having a bowl of oats with dry fruit and honey for breakfast, lunch could be a quinoa salad with some protein, and dinner is rice or pasta with barbequed chicken or meat. Throw in a couple of Frappuccino’s in a week.

What we don’t realize is that all fruit juices are high in sugar in a concentrated form. Have it everyday and you are loading yourself with many many spoonfuls, without the benefits of the fibre that will slow down a sugar spike. The quinoa salad by itself is great, it is the hidden sugars in the salad dressing that tilts the balance. Sauces and dips are loaded with hidden sugars that add up very quickly. So, a potentially ‘healthy’ meal suddenly is no longer that anymore. Do this over years, maybe decades, and the numbers add up to really large quantities! An average flavoured grande Frappucciono with toppings can have anything between 35 to 55gms of sugar1, which is approximately 9 to 14 teaspoons of sugar! 

Paracelus, the man who brought chemistry to medicine in the 16th century said, “The dose makes the poison”. Is that occasional trip to the coffee shop going to kill you? Is that occasional bit of chocolate going to kill you? No. It is the kilos and kilos of sugar that are added to our diet, without us consciously factoring it in, that is the issue. Everything has sugar – your ketchup, cookies, juices, sauces, dips. And continuous consumption of these wreak havoc on the body’s metabolism and eventually,l;; health.

When you get your blood work done annually, the three key markers that can show us where a person’s metabolic health falls are - blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. When we see any of these above the optimal range, one of the main drivers they all relate back to is blood sugar regulation or insulin resistance. All of them!

Imagine this – we are eating, on an average in the modern world, around 150 times more sugar now than humans did 200 years ago! And our ancestors burnt it off with the sheer amount of physical work that they needed to do. We spend most of our day sedentary and with all this excess sugar, the cells in our body have way too much to work to do in processing it, and they get TIRED. They break down. And when this happens, our metabolism takes a beating. And this is the precursor for multiple health concerns like diabetes, cholesterol, heart conditions, cancer and so on.

What makes you fat? Fat or sugar?

All parts of our body need glucose. But what if there is an excess of it? What if all the cells that need glucose, have got their fill? Well, it is converted into…fat! Excess sugar that we don’t utilize, is stored as glycogen in the liver. When the liver is overfull in a sense, this excess glycogen gets converted and stored as fat in the tissues. And is also a key factor in people developing a fatty liver. That belly around your stomach that refuses to budge? Excess sugar. Higher levels of LDL? Excess sugar in the liver.

Excessive amounts of processed starches are also big culprits here. Consider typical fast foods like fries, onion rings, nachos, etc. Or white bread, pasta, biscuits and so on. It is completely devoid of fibre, which means that sugars in all these foods are just that, fast. They race through the digestion process and get into our bloodstream really quickly, causing glucose spikes. These up and down spiking of glucose on a regular basis is the big bad contributing factor to chronic health conditions.

How to manage this better

Food is connected to family, memories, social connections, emotions and so many things that are intrinsic to us as humans. We feel, love, emote through food.

What you need to do is understand your bodies better, use tools that help you figure out the causative factors in order to optimize blood sugar levels, understand what foods are affecting you, and let the body rest. If you can keep the glucose down, you can keep the insulin down, and then the cells start to perk up again say, okay, let us do this. The factory that is our cellular bodies can run a little bit better. And this is certainly the way towards better health and longevity. 

You can then enjoy your favourite foods in a way that keep you happy as a person and your body happy too! Learn More.

Devayani Vijayan Bio – Functional Wellness Practitioner/ Wellness Strategist

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨

■ I am an 𝐅𝐱𝐍𝐀 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐫 (𝐔𝐒𝐀) with additional accredited certifications from the 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞 (𝐔𝐒𝐀).
I founded my own Functional Wellness Practice specializing in integrated protocols for managing-
► Chronic illnesses, specifically autoimmune conditions /hormonal & biochemical imbalances
► Supported by- root cause analysis in managing disease/ building & supporting gut health to reduce internal inflammation and enhance overall wellbeing

■ As a continuum, with my Diploma in Sports Nutrition from the 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐚 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐮𝐛 (𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐂 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧), I translate the knowledge of how elite sportspersons fuel their performance with nutrition, to unlock peak performance for senior & C-Suite executives

■ Currently supporting clients from the Middle East, USA, India and SE Asia

Follow Me On  Instagram & LinkedIn.