How To Assess Your Metabolic Health at Home
One of the easiest ways to assess your metabolic health at home is a simple body temperature measurement. Body temperature is a sign of how well your body is creating and utilizing energy. So, a lower body temperature is a sign that our body is not producing a lot of energy (meaning, hindered metabolic function).
Measuring my body temperature for the first time five years ago was my lightbulb moment when I finally accepted and realized that my previous restrictive lifestyle (keto, fasting, and carnivore) was no longer serving me.
The oral thermometer reading was 96.5 degrees Fahrenheit (F), with a pulse in the 50-60 bpm range.
These readings screamed YOU ARE IN SURVIVAL MODE and are NOT thriving. Some of the symptoms I was experiencing while in this hypothyroid, low energy state (confirmed by my low body temperature) included cold hands and feet, hair thinning, digestion problems, limited food tolerance (had a very limited list of foods I was able to consume), and dwindling energy levels.
A low body temperature is a sign that what you are doing now is not optimal. But do not worry, this can change and be improved. But you may need to make some dietary and lifestyle changes.
Why Body Temperature and Pulse Measurements Provide Insight Into Metabolic Health
You do not run on thin air — as every function in your body requires energy. And this energy is largely obtained by the food we consume (of course other factors like light and sun exposure matter as well!) But electrons come in through the food we consume, and the goal is to get those electrons into the mitochondria through the electron transport chain all the way to the final electron acceptor, oxygen, in order to make the energy molecule that fuels life: ATP.
A thriving body with a strong metabolism generates plenty of energy so that all functions of the body run smoothly. So, the less ATP we generate, the less energy your body has to function and non-essential tasks are down regulated.
A high metabolic rate comes with a number of perks — you can eat more calories and maintain your weight, have more energy in life, have a better body composition, digest food better, eat a wider variety of foods, have great digestion and poops, sleep better, and live an overall higher quality life.
With better energy production, you thrive, instead of just survive. A byproduct of energy production is heat. So, a simple way to assess your metabolic health at home is body temperature and pulse measurements taken throughout the day.
So, higher body temperatures = higher metabolic rate since we are producing a lot of energy and generating heat as a byproduct.
Our body temperature is on a circadian clock. In a thriving and resilient body, your waking temperature should be high 97s/low 98s F, and pulse measurements should be in the 70-90/95 BPM range.
Your body temperature should then slowly increase after each meal, reaching 98.6 deg F mid-day or early afternoon. Body temp will then slowly decline as we get closer to bedtime. Pulse measurements throughout the day should be in the 70-95 BPM range.
Why Take Multiple Body Temperature Measurements?
When assessing metabolic health, it is important to take measurements throughout the day, as stress hormones can keep your morning body temperature high. So, someone living on stress hormones can have a high waking temp that lowers after breakfast (which is not a sign of a strong metabolism, as we want to see the body temperature rise, a sign we are using food to produce energy). As explained by the late Ray Peat, a biologist and thyroid expert:
“If the night-time stress is very high, the adrenaline will still be high until breakfast, increasing both temperature and pulse rate. The cortisol stimulates the breakdown of muscle tissue and its conversion to energy, so it is thermogenic, for some of the reasons that food is thermogenic.
After eating breakfast, the cortisol (and adrenaline, if it stayed high despite the increased cortisol) will start returning to a more normal, lower level, as the blood sugar is sustained by food, instead of by the stress hormones.
In some hypothyroid people, this is a good time to measure the temperature and pulse rate. In a normal person, booth temperature and pulse rate rise after breakfast, but in very hypothyroid people either, or both, might fall.”
A drop in body temp after a meal shows that the fo
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