Good day, Mr. Jelínek,

I am unclear about accelerating metabolism "with the help" of stress. You state that metabolism speeds up with increasing levels of stress. However, Marc David in the Slow Diet (which is also on the recommended reading list) claims the opposite: during the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, i.e., during stress, digestion is turned off because the organism focuses its capacities on fight or flight.

Could I ask for an explanation? Thank you!

In this context, the focus is on accelerating the metabolism as a whole, rather than concentrating on its individual components. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system suppresses the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, which regulates digestion. However, this increases the activity of the cardiovascular system, and in the case of engaging in physical activity, also the activity of muscle tissue. This supports the metabolism of nutrients that power these systems. Increased activity of individual parts of the metabolism therefore always leads to the acceleration of the whole.

It is also beneficial to view this principle from the perspective of time. In the short term, stress (including physical activity) accelerates metabolic reactions, but if these are not balanced with diet (a typical example being a long-term protein deficiency), this combination of factors will lead to an overall slowdown of metabolic processes (= a predominance of catabolic reactions leads to a slowing of metabolic activity).

Themes:  Stress