Understand Your Metabolic Score

Metabolic score refers to the measurement of metabolic rate, which is the rate at which our body burns calories to carry out essential functions.By understanding your metabolic score, you can gain valuable insights into your body’s energy expenditure and how it influences weight management. 

Factors such as age, gender, body composition, genetics, and lifestyle choices can all impact your metabolic rate. In this guide, we will explore the concept of metabolic score, its significance, and ways to optimize and maintain a healthy metabolism. Understanding your metabolic score can empower you to make informed decisions regarding your nutrition, exercise, and overall well-being.

Understanding Metabolic Score

Metabolism refers to the complex set of chemical processes that occur within the body to convert food into energy. Factors such as age, sex, body composition, genetics, and lifestyle habits can influence an individual’s metabolic rate, which is the amount of energy the body requires to function at rest. Generally, a higher metabolic rate is associated with increased calorie burning and potentially easier weight management.

A metabolic score is a way to assess and evaluate an individual’s metabolic health or efficiency. It may take into account various factors such as resting metabolic rate, body composition, blood markers, and other physiological parameters. 

In the most basic sense, the metabolic score reveals the changes in your blood sugar levels and indicates your health status. A metabolic score lies in a range of 0 to 100. This range provides you with an average result of your daily efforts for regulating your blood glucose levels.

Your metabolic score may vary depending on your diet, exercise routine, sleep schedule, mental health, etc. Thus, you can consider your metabolic score as the sole indicator of your overall health and the efforts you have been putting into it. 

How is a metabolic score determined?

A metabolic score is calculated based on three governing parameters: 

1. Glucose Variability

As the term suggests, it measures your glucose variability across the day. The number of spikes and crashes in your blood sugar levels determines the glucose variability factor. No matter how hard you try, sometimes your diet might go off track, your sleep schedule might get disturbed, or other hindrances will cross your way. These factors will lead to altered glucose levels. 

Studies indicate that spikes in blood glucose, as well as hypoglycemic events, can be correlated to increased cardiovascular events in diabetes. Hence, minimizing glucose variability can prevent future cardiovascular events.

One needs to constantly keep a check on their glucose level which is a painful and onerous process involving numerous finger pricks in a day. The new CGM technology is a modernistic solution to the issue. The CGM incorporated with the new HealthifyPro helps you get a consistent and holistic understanding of your health. Its Bio-sensor syncs with your phone and gives you concurrent data about your blood sugar levels. You can also review how your glucose level changes over a few hours or days to see trends and make informed decisions about your diet, exercise and medicines. 

2. Average levels of glucose

While glucose variability highlights the changes in your glucose levels throughout the day, average glucose levels are the baseline glucose values in your blood over 2 to 3 months. Also, a minimal level of blood glucose is a must in your body, and it shouldn’t drop or spike above that. 

Studies reveal that a 4% to 5.6% HbA1c level is the usual range you must have, a surge of 5.7% to 6.4% indicates chances of pre-diabetic conditions, and values as high as 6.5% or more indicates diabetes. 

3. Time in target levels of blood sugar

It determines whether your blood glucose levels are within the set target. A normal blood sugar level ranges from 70 mg/dL to 100 mg/dL. Any deviation from this range shows the predominance of diabetes in your body.

The Importance of Calculating Metabolic Scores

There are several reasons why you must focus on improving your metabolic score and maintaining it at high levels. Some of the most proven benefits of keeping a high metabolic score are listed below:

• Improved blood sugar levels 
• Enhanced cardiovascular functionality
• Decrease in obesity 
• Reduced mood swings and mental disorders 
• Reduction in seizures 
• Good neural health
• Good for your kidneys and renal system 
• Prevents mental confusion
• Aids in weight loss 
• Reduced inflammatory responses
• Feel good all-day
• Increases your resistance to diseases

Ways to Manage a Successful Metabolic Score in the Long Run?

When you subscribe to the HealthifyPro continuous glucose monitor, you are already a step closer to a healthy you. Putting in some personal effort is another thing you can do to conquer good health. 

CGM or Continuous glucose monitor is a small and powerful health-tech device that helps you track blood sugar levels day in and day out. In short, it helps you measure glucose levels real-time. This helps you decide which foods to consume and when to burn your calories.

A tiny sensor is painlessly inserted on one’s arm. A transmitter sends this information to the reader or the HealthifyMe app. 

1. Since CGM systems give real-time data, one can make informed decisions about their food choices, activity status, and other proportional trends of their transformational journey. 
2. These devices are designed to alert the user when the blood-sugar levels touch an alarming high or low level helping one take necessary actions to tackle it.
3. CGM has the potential to completely eliminate the painful and onerous process of numerous finger pricks in a day to measure glucose levels. 

The CGM incorporated with the new HealthifyPro helps you get a consistent and holistic understanding of your health. The CGM syncs with your phone and gives you concurrent data about your blood sugar levels. Your Pro coach can then review how your glucose changes with respect to your unique diet, exercise, medication and overall lifestyle, and help you create a fitness plan customised for you. 

HealthifyPro is a complete package that comes with a Smart Scale to keep a tab 11+ body metrics, Metabolic Panel to keep a check on your metabolic health, Pro coaches to give you personalised feedback and smart AI assistance along with the advanced CGM experience at your fingertips. 

HealthifyMe Suggestion 

Continuous glucose monitor (CGM) helps you to understand how your blood sugar responds to your diet and lifestyle which is the first step in improving your metabolic score. 

There are many strategies for improving metabolic scores, ranging from eating less refined foods to pairing carbohydrates with a good amount of protein and exercise. Behaviours like walking after meals, eating fibre, and regular exercise will likely contribute to better scores. If you didn’t sleep well or ate foods that spike your blood sugar, you may find your metabolic score lowers. Hence by continuously tracking glucose, we can identify how food and lifestyle choices are directly impacting our metabolic health. Knowing the glucose responses to a particular food and how to improve your meal choices along with your activity is the key.

Conclusion

In conclusion, a metabolic score serves as a useful indicator of metabolic health and efficiency. While its specific calculation may vary, a higher metabolic score generally signifies better metabolic function, potentially aiding weight management. Lifestyle modifications, such as regular exercise, a balanced diet, adequate sleep, and stress management, can positively influence metabolic health and improve metabolic scores. However, it’s important to remember that a metabolic score should not be the sole determinant of overall health, as other factors contribute to well-being. Consulting with healthcare professionals can provide personalized guidance in assessing and improving metabolic health for long-term wellness.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this article is just to disperse knowledge and raise awareness. It does not intend to replace medical advice from professionals. For further information please contact our certified nutritionists Here

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Reference Links 

1. Glycemic Variability: How Do We Measure It and Why Is It Important?: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4543190/

2. It’s called the A1C test, and it’s a powerhouse.: https://diabetes.org/diabetes/a1c#:~:text=The%20goal%20for%20most%20adults,that%20is%20less%20than%207%25.&text=If%20your%20A1C%20level%20is,were%20in%20the%20diabetes%20range.