I recently listened to a Ted Talk and a few subsequent interviews with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon. (You can check out the Ted Talk HERE). She is a fellowship trained private doctor, spent many years researching protein, and recently wrote the book “Forever Strong: A New Science-Based Strategy for Aging Well”. The core concepts that she is teaching are worth sharing. I should mention, I don’t have any affiliation with her practice or her book. I’m just a guy that has been helping my personal training clients get strong and healthy for 10+ years. I have seen a lot of what works and what doesn’t long term and the thrust of what Dr. Lyon is saying makes a lot of sense to me. Here is her message: our obesity and chronic disease epidemic is not happening because we are over fat. It’s because we are under muscled. The quality of your life is a direct correlation to your muscle health. As I have read and learned more about obesity and chronic disease over the years, I have noticed that the extra fat always gets the blame. But in reality, being overweight from excess fat is actually the symptom of underlying metabolic dysfunction. That's why crash diets, bariatric surgeries, and the latest weight loss injection can make your weight go down (temporarily) but they don’t make you healthier. Based on all the lean muscle you lose with those options, I would argue they often leave you far less healthy long term. It is the same old story of treating the symptom but not the cause. This is much easier to understand when we get to another core concept of Dr. Lyon’s approach: Your muscle is the largest organ in your body. As such it controls your metabolic health and plays a vital role in fighting inflammation throughout the body. When we are talking about your metabolism, we aren’t just talking about how many calories your body burns in a day. “Metabolism” is the term for how your body metabolizes not just calories but carbohydrates, lipids, and hormones. Metabolic syndrome is when your metabolism can’t properly process something. If you can’t properly process lipids, you get heart diseases and stroke. If you can’t process carbohydrates, you get type II diabetes and related health issues. Hormonal issues are becoming more common and more talked about. These too can be linked to dysfunction in your metabolism due to poor muscle health. So if metabolic disfunction and chronic inflammation are the root causes of most of the health issues in this country, what do we do about it? It all comes back to the big rocks I am always preaching: Strength train 3 days per week Walk for 60 minutes (or equivalent enjoyable activity) on non training days Eat real food (enjoy fruits, veggies, and lean meats to satisfaction, prioritizing protein. Limit consumption of alcohol, refined sugar, and ultra processed foods to once per week or less) Focusing on muscle health through strength training and getting plenty of protein will work better for long term health than short term fat loss schemes that sacrifice muscle health. When you are ready to fuel full body health and vitality by making strong healthy muscles, fill out the form and the top or bottom of this page and I will be in touch : ) Serving Portsmouth, Kittery, and the broader Seacoast community, we help people finally get in shape, feel confident, and have all day energy, even if getting everything done is a constant struggle.
