48 FETEPRESS.COM.AU / ISSUE NO.26
One of the most effective ways to
minimise stress hormone production
is diaphragmatic breathing, so breath-
focused practices such as meditation,
tai chi, Stillness Through Movement and
restorative yoga can be highly beneficial.
If these don’t appeal, simply take 20 long,
slow breaths at regular intervals across
each day, that move your belly out and
in, rather than short, shallow breaths
that move your chest.THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSCLE MASS
Muscle mass typically accounts for around
a third of total body weight and a quarter
of your body’s metabolic activity. In
contrast, body fat usually accounts for at
least twenty percent of your body weight
(and more for many people these days)
but only five percent of metabolic activity.
Your ratio of muscle to fat mass therefore
greatly impacts your metabolic rate. This
means that if you have a higher proportion
of muscle mass, your body uses more
energy (calories) simply to sustain these
muscles – ultimately, this can lead to less
body fat being stored. Not to mention
that our muscles have the highest
concentration of mitochondria in our
body (the heart muscle cells have the
most, while the ‘visible' muscles such
as your biceps, also contain high levels).
Mitochondria are the powerhouses in
our cells that convert fuel (the energy
we obtain from our food) into energy that
the body can use, so the more muscle
you have the greater your energy-
producing capacity!
Ditching restrictive diets and managing
stress can help to prevent muscle
breakdown, however we also lose muscle
mass gradually as we age (from about
the age of 30 onwards) unless we do
something to maintain or build it.Embrace some kind of resistance training.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to
go to the gym. Pilates is a great form of
resistance training and yoga uses your
own body weight as resistance. Above all,
don’t avoid movement – look for more
opportunities to move throughout
your day.IS YOUR LIVER STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP?
Put simply, the liver is the metabolic hub
in the body. It is responsible for storing,
activating and transporting many nutrients,
and it is our key detoxification organ.
Detoxification is something that occurs
inside us all day, every day and it is
essentially a transformation process –
any substance that would be harmful to
you if it accumulated in your body must be
changed into a less harmful form so that it
can then be excreted safely from your body.
Our liver has to deal with substances that
we ingest or absorb (think pesticides,
alcohol, caffeine, substances in highly
processed and refined foods and synthetic
substances in conventional skincare and
cleaning products), as well as substances
that our body makes itself (think sex
hormones such as oestrogen and
cholesterol). The choices we make greatly
influence how much work the liver has to
do, and therefore how efficiently it is able
to do its job.
If the liver can’t keep up with the load
going in, some problematic substances
can be recycled back out into the blood,
rather than undergoing all stages of
detoxification so that they can be
eliminated. But the body doesn’t want
these substances to stay in the blood as
this is the very blood supply that is being
delivered to your vital organs. So, to
protect you, your body takes the
problematic substance and stores it in your
body fat, away from your vital organs. This
is one of the ways through which body fat
can go up and up and it’s a mechanism that
explains why for some people, some body
fat can be extremely difficult to shift. We
only have one liver – love it accordingly.health / WELL-BEINGTOP TIPS FOR
STOP DIETING AND START
NOURISHING
WHEN FOCUSED ON EATING
FOR WEIGHT LOSS OR WEIGHT
MANAGEMENT, WE’RE GENERALLY
FOCUSED ON TAKING A
RESTRICTIVE APPROACH TO
OUR DIET AND THIS HAS THE
POTENTIAL FOR US TO MISS SO
MUCH OF WHAT WE NEED FROM
OUR FOOD TO FUEL THOSE
VITAL BIOCHEMICAL PROCESSES.
RATHER THAN BASING YOUR FOOD
CHOICES ON THEIR CALORIE
CONTENT, A MUCH BETTER
QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF IS
“WILL THIS NOURISH ME?” FOCUSING
ON NOURISHMENT MEANS WE’LL
BE CHOOSING MORE NUTRIENT-
DENSE WHOLE FOODS, WHICH
WILL NATURALLY LEAD US TO
REDUCE OUR INTAKE OF HIGHLY
PROCESSED, LOW NUTRIENT
FOODS.
REDUCE YOUR INTAKE OF
'LIVER LOADERS'
THESE INCLUDE ALCOHOL,
CAFFEINE, TRANS FATS, REFINED
SUGARS AND SYNTHETIC
SUBSTANCES. MINIMISING OUR
INTAKE AND EXPOSURE TO THESE
MEANS REDUCING THE LOAD ON
THE LIVER, WHICH IS A PLUS FOR
OUR METABOLIC HEALTH.
CONSIDER THE TYPE OF
EXERCISE YOU DO
IF YOU’RE STILL OPERATING UNDER
A BELIEF THAT IF YOU DON’T WORK
HARD AND PUSH YOUR BODY TO THE
EDGE OF EXHAUSTION, YOU’RE NOT
GOING TO GET THE RESULTS YOU
SEEK, KNOW THIS... HIGH INTENSITY
EXERCISE FOR LONG DURATIONS
(SUCH AS CARDIO-BASED
ENDURANCE WORKOUTS AND LONG-
DISTANCE RUNNING) CAN HAVE
A CATABOLIC (BREAKING DOWN)
EFFECT ON OUR MUSCLES, WHICH
AS YOU NOW UNDERSTAND FUEL
OUR ENERGY AND METABOLIC RATE.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO RUN YOURSELF
RAGGED TO GET THE RESULTS YOU
SEEK. IF YOU LOVE HIGH INTENSITY
EXERCISE AND FEEL ENERGISED BY
IT, BY ALL MEANS GO FOR IT. BUT
KNOW THAT EXERCISES LIKE YOGA,
PILATES, WALKING, QI GONG, TAI
CHI AND WEIGHT TRAINING CAN BE
JUST AS BENEFICIAL USUALLY EVEN
MORE SO.Dr Libby Weaver is a Nutritional
Biochemist, best-selling author
and speaker. Her book, WOMEN’S
WELLNESS WISDOM, is available at:
DRLIBBY.COM