Do you ever find yourself thinking, “I just don’t feel as good as I think I should. My life feels really hard. I try to be healthy but it feels like an uphill battle all of the time. I eat right, I exercise, but I feel tired and stressed. Why doesn’t my body work like it should?”

What’s the solution so you can finally feel normal again?

What Is Metabolic Medicine?

Metabolic and Functional Medicine, the fastest growing medical sub-specialty in the world, supports the body both nutritionally and hormonally. The providers at Dr. Leila, Quality of Life Medicine look at environmental toxins and lifestyle issues that can deplete a patient’s reserves and cause accelerated aging and disease. We focus on not only disease management but also the strength and vitality of patients.

According to recent medical research, inflammation causes most diseases, including fibromyalgia, diabetes, hypertension, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Metabolic specialists work with their patients to understand the underlying cause of their increased inflammation, whether it be dietary allergens, environmental toxins, hormone imbalance, chronic infections, or an overgrowth of intestinal bacteria which leads to altered intestinal permeability.

The Effects of Stress

Stress, including toxins, makes our bodies function poorly. It affects us more than we’d like to admit. Even when we enjoy the life we have, our lives are much busier than what we were evolutionarily designed to do. Think of the caveman; he never tried to multitask – make stone tools, hunt a tiger, and start a fire all at once. He did one task at a time. A day in the 21st century, however, overflows with work, family, social media – you name it!

More → Learn How Adrenal Fatigue and Stress Affects Our Bodies

Daily stress comes from both psychological stress and toxin stress including heavy metals, pesticides, insecticides, plastics, and industrial agents. Toxins affect the body on both a cellular level and an organ level. They often interfere with the body’s ability to increase inflammation and make molecules of energy, called ATP. In relation to organs, they also act as endocrine disruptors, which decrease our endocrine organs’ ability to produce hormones. They also disrupt the adrenal production of cortisol, thyroid production of thyroid hormone, and testicular and ovarian production of sex hormones.

You can lead a full life and feel great at the same time when you support your body nutritionally and when you clear out toxins. Our bodies need extra help to compensate for the increased work from our overly-full lives.

Where Do We Get Energy?

If we want to feel good and function well, our cells need certain nutrients. A few basic nutrients, electrolytes and B vitamins, help our cells function better. Electrolytes – sodium, potassium, and chloride – drive every cellular process. Without adequate electrolytes in our cells, we can’t absorb nutrients, clear out waste, or make molecules of energy. When our electrolytes are low, we feel tired or nauseated, or we’ll get headaches. To replace electrolytes, Dr. Leila recommends alfalfa – a green that raises both sodium and potassium fairly equally – and sea salt.

The B vitamins are needed for every intra-cellular process, and especially for detox. We need B vitamins to break down and absorb food, clear out toxins, build healthy brain chemicals so we can feel good, and make white blood cells so our immune system can function properly. Dr. Leila recommends supplementing all of the B vitamins because most people are under more stress than their bodies were meant for. In addition, few people get enough vegetables in their diet to meet the body’s needs.

Fuel Your Body

In addition to the micronutrients our cells need, our body needs to be fueled with protein and a hormone called DHEA. We need protein to:

• Build muscle
• Produce healthy brain chemicals to help us feel good
• Keep our immune system functioning well
• Maintain high energy

Take at least one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight every day. For a 150 pound person, that’s about 70 grams of protein. Sometimes a patient’s intestines don’t efficiently absorb protein. Stress and toxins shut down the gut. To help this problem, take digestive enzymes with your meals as well as a good probiotic to help the gut absorb nutrients.

The hormone DHEA is our energy reserve tank. When our bodies don’t make enough DHEA, we feel tired and burned out. DHEA supplements help boost our energy, mood, thinking, muscle and joint aches, gut health, and immunity. Men can supplement with regular DHEA, but women need to be cautious. Women who are sensitive to regular DHEA should supplement with a form of DHEA called 7-keto DHEA. In women, regular DHEA can convert in the body to estrogen or testosterone and create further imbalance; however, 7-keto DHEA, a metabolite of DHEA, will stay as DHEA in the body.

Vitamin D & the Immune System

Everyone should take vital supplements such as Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids (such as fish oil). Vitamin D reduces inflammation. Both Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids help the immune system function better. Fatty acids support the nervous system, the heart, and healthy cholesterol levels. Probiotics help maintain a healthy bacterial balance in the gut.

Metabolic and functional medicine mitigates the effects of stress. In addition to supplements, take breaks during your busy day to relieve physical stress and emotional stress. During these breaks, take five deep breaths – in through the nose and out through the mouth – to release tension in your shoulders and body, or get up and walk. Exercising, of course, is an anti-ager! With a few simple nutrients, exercising, and taking a break, we can slow down the clock of aging and feel great!