Written by Dr Monique Hope-Ross and Dr Paul Chell
The term “fat adaptation” continues to gain attention in the health world. We’ve witnessed the profound impact it has on health and well-being. Here, we’ll explore what fat adaptation is and how you can benefit from this healthy practice.
What is Fat Adaptation?
Rather like a hybrid car, your body has a choice of two fuels to provide energy: carbohydrates or fats. Our bodies constantly need energy; even when we sleep, we need to breathe, our heart must continue to beat, and our brains need to work. We use the equivalent of batteries to provide energy, and these constantly need to be recharged. Recharging happens deep within your cells, in the powerhouses of your cells, called mitochondria.
The pathways that provide energy from carbohydrates are separate from those that provide energy from fats. The carbohydrate pathway is the easiest one for your cells to use, and these pathways are well developed in most people. In contrast, if the fat pathways are underutilised, they become poorly developed. This leads a lowering of the body’s ability to efficiently use fat for energy.
Fat adaptation is the process of redeveloping the pathways necessary for your body to use fat as an energy source for all its needs. It means teaching your body to switch from using carbohydrates for fuel to using fat for fuel: called flipping the metabolic switch. When you fat adapt your body, you redevelop all the redundant systems needed for using fat as an energy source.
When you are fat adapted, both your carbohydrate and fat energy supply pathways are equally well developed, allowing you to switch seamlessly between using either fat or carbohydrates, as your main fuel source. Carbohydrate stores are limited and are depleted quickly. Conversely, fat stores are almost infinite and provide fuel for prolonged periods, without the need to eat.
Fat Adaptation at the Cellular Level
When you are not fat adapted, the pathways for fuelling on fat, dimmish and become less efficient. Our bodies are very adaptative and your body’s mantra is very much “use it or lose it”. Fat adaptation involves multiple upgrades to the poorly performing fat pathways within your cells.
Fats are utilised for energy production in your mitochondria; your cell powerhouses that utilise fat to recharge your batteries. Firstly, fat needs to enter the mitochondria and to do this, needs to cross the mitochondrial membrane. Fats use a specialised drawbridge called CPT-1 to do this.
Insulin, the fat storage hormone, has a strong adverse effect on the CPT-1 drawbridge and prevents the drawbridges from working and the higher the insulin levels, the greater the effect. The more that you snack, the greater your insulin release, which means the fewer working drawbridges and the more difficult it is for fat to enter your mitochondria. Snacking is another habit that reduces your CPT-1 drawbridges. The fat drawbridges are also blocked by the Western Pattern Diet, with its toxic cocktail of ultra-processed food, high sugar, and low fiber.
Once fats enter the mitochondria, they must be adjusted to enter the energy generating battery recharging circuit, a step called beta-oxidation.
Once fats can enter the mitochondria with fully functioning drawbridges and the appropriate enzymes are present in sufficient quantities to metabolise the fats, the process of fat adaptation is complete.
Am I Fat Adapted?
The flip side of the coin to fat adaptation is what we call “carbohydrate addiction”. Here there is almost total reliance on carbohydrates for fuel. These are some of the symptoms of carbohydrate addiction and lack of fat adaptation:
- You have low energy periods throughout the day, particularly after lunch
- You have mood swings during the day
- You suffer frequent hunger and snacking brings relief
- It is a struggle to sleep on an empty stomach
- You awaken during the night feeling hungry
- If you don’t snack regularly, you get brain fog
- You get “hangry” if you skip a meal
- When you are hungry, you develop migraines, shakes, sweats or headaches
When you are fat-adapted, your energy needs are better catered for. This affects all your cells, organs, and body. You reap the benefits in so many ways:
- Your energy levels are sustained and even throughout the day
- Your energy levels are increased
- You no longer feel the need to snack
- Your sugar cravings have disappeared
- You have no problem delaying or even skipping meals
- You can now fast for longer periods, even for days
- You have clarity of thought and can work better
- Your focus and cognitive performance are improved
- You can easily burn fat and lose fat
Fat Adaptation: How It Transforms Your Energy, Endurance, and Overall Health
When you become fully fat adapted, your life will be transformed. You will find that you no longer feel the dreaded sensation of being “hangry”—that irritable, desperate hunger that strikes when your blood sugar levels plummet. Instead, your energy levels will be stable throughout the day, and you will no longer be reliant on frequent meals and snacks. And it will free up your time! This also has the added benefit of reducing both insulin levels and insulin resistance.
You will experience the freedom to skip meals without discomfort, a benefit that comes from your body’s enhanced ability to efficiently burn stored fat for fuel. This means you can embark on a journey of fasting, ranging from intermittent fasting to prolonged fasts, without the fatigue and mental fog that accompany a carb-dependent metabolism.
Your workouts will also feel different. As a fat-adapted individual, you will notice improved endurance during exercise. Fat adaptation helps you particularly with activities in zones 1 and 2 rather than zones 4 and 5. Your body will be able to tap into its abundant fat reserves, providing a consistent energy source that enhances your performance activities. This makes participating in endurance events, such as long-distance running or cycling, more manageable and enjoyable. There’s a tremendous freedom, knowing that you can run without the need for endless gels and energy bars. There is one caveat here, being fat adapted won’t help you so much with short runs, bursts like hill reps or short sprints, as you will fuel on stored carbohydrates, for this more intense activity.
You will experience fewer cravings for sugary and starchy foods. This reduction in cravings not only supports better dietary choices but also helps in maintaining a healthy weight. With stable energy and mood, your overall productivity and focus will improve, making you feel more accomplished in your daily tasks.
You may also notice more stable and even improved cognitive function. Without the rollercoaster of blood sugar spikes and crashes, your brain will have a steady supply of energy, enhancing your mental clarity and concentration. This can lead to better decision-making, improved memory, and a greater sense of mental sharpness.
In summary, becoming fat adapted will allow you to enjoy a more balanced, energised, and resilient lifestyle. The challenges of fluctuating blood sugar levels will be a thing of the past, replaced by a newfound sense of stability and wellbeing. You will be able to embrace endurance events, long fasts, and a host of other activities with confidence and vigour, experiencing life to its fullest.
Transformative Health Benefits
Weight Loss: Fat adaptation means that fasting for long periods can be undertaken with relative ease. During periods of fasting, your body turns to your fat stores and fuels with fat. When you use fat for fuel, you lose fat, and when you lose fat, you lose weight. So, when fasting, you see the weight just fall away. When you are using fat to fuel during a weight loss phase, it helps to protect and preserve the protein in your muscles.
Being fat-adapted and having the ability to fast gives you a long-term weight loss tool that will serve you well throughout your life.
Disease Reversal: The dramatic powering of insulin levels during periods of fasting brings huge health and disease reversal benefits. Lower blood sugar levels seen in those who are fat-adapted help to prevent or reverse diabetes. Activating the metabolic switch from carbohydrate to fat burning lowers the risk of diseases such as heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and many other metabolic diseases. It also is of benefit in cancer, neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Reduced Inflammation: In the fasted state, inflammation is reduced. And reduced inflammation in your cells means less inflammation throughout your body, and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, cancer, non-alcoholic liver disease, and brain diseases such as dementia may all respond to using fat for fuel or fasting—either of which are seamless when fat-adapted.
Longevity: Fat adaptation and fasting have really come into their own by virtue of the explosion of interest in longevity.
Scientists are unlocking the keys to aging and showing what we need to do to live a long, healthy life. Various regimes for longevity and better wellness have been described, but almost a universal commonality is fat adaptation and fasting. In the fasted state, where fat is used for fuel, there is regular replacement of vital intracellular organelles such as mitochondria, reduced inflammation, reduced oxidative stress, better cellular health, and improved hormonal balance. And this results in better wellness, less disease, and a longer, healthier life.
Practical Steps to Fat Adaptation
There is nothing complicated about fat adaptation, once you understand the basics. What you mustn’t do is confuse complicated with easy. If you are carb-addicted, you’ll find the journey a bit rough. If you are eating every two hours, eat 6-8 times per day, your eating window is 14 hours or more, fat adaptation will take some time and effort. It may take 3-4 weeks, or even 3 months. But there is no need for gloom; you have the machinery in your cells to fuel using fat; it will take time, but you will get there.
We use fat adaptation in our healthbuddi courses to repair and restore your cellular machinery, lower the drawbridges, and recruit the enzymes, so that you will be able to effortlessly use fat for fuel. We share with you the most successful route to fat adaptation. You will then be able to reap the rewards of fat adaptation and all the health benefits this brings.
Conclusion
Mastering fat adaptation one of the most powerful ways to enhance health, prevent disease, and promote longevity. By understanding and implementing the principles of fat adaptation, you can transform your metabolism, achieve sustainable weight loss, and enjoy a healthier, longer life. Embrace the journey to fat adaptation and unlock the full potential of your body’s natural metabolic capabilities.
