Although diet has a very big impact on your weight, physical activity is an important part of the equation. It is the ultimate balancing factor for optimal health. Physical activity influences your biology in so many ways that it’s impossible to summarize its benefits in one point.
That said, recent research suggests that a fat-burning hormone, released during physical activity, plays a role. This hormone, irisin (or FNDC5), helps your body break down fat and primarily prevents it from forming. Irisin appears to boost the activity of genes and a protein that are essential for turning white fat cells into brown cells. It also significantly increases the amount of energy used by these cells, indicating that it plays a role in fat burning. Tests show that irisin is able to inhibit the formation of fat cells by 20-60%. Normally, your body only produces small amounts of irisin. Physical activity is the key to accelerating its production. The fat-burning hormone also improves heart function, among other things.
The health benefits of Iridescent
Irisin is also classified as a myokine, ie a cytokine, or chemical messenger, produced by the muscles. It has many health benefits, including:
– reduces the formation of atherosclerotic plaques by preventing the accumulation of inflammatory cells, thus decreasing your risk of atherosclerosis
– increases your metabolic rate and energy expenditure in the myocardium (the thickest layer of your heart muscle),
– promotes mitochondrial biogenesis
– causes the elongation of telomeres in cells. In humans, telomere length and integrity play a role in disease, disease susceptibility, and aging. Short telomeres are a risk factor for developing many diseases, including a weakened immune system, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, atherosclerotic lesions and DNA damage.
As stated earlier, irisin is a type of myokine, or muscle-derived chemical messenger, or alternatively a type of protein. Myokines are very anti-inflammatory, and research suggests that myokines may play an important role in fighting metabolic syndrome and cancer, but it also increases:
insulin sensitivity
the use of glucose by the muscles
release of fat from fat cells
fat burning, and blocks body fat regardless of calorie intake
Inhibits the release and effect of inflammatory cytokines produced by body fat
Watch out for pro-inflammatory foods
Your diet is one of the main tools by which you can give advantage to either good or bad tissues. If you eat inflammatory foods such as sugar or fructose, grains or other foods high in net carbs, trans fats, and processed foods in general, your body will generate inflammatory cytokines. And unfortunately, it is not possible to compensate for poor nutrition through sport. You will never be able to exercise enough to make the myokines needed to overpower the inflammatory cytokines produced by a poor diet…
Increase your Irisine level and lose fat
That being said, one of the most effective ways to boost myokines is through high-intensity weight training combined with a healthy fat-burning diet. You can also choose classic HIIT (high intensity interval training), but weight training is more effective in boosting myokines. High-intensity strength training gives you the cardiovascular benefits. It also causes rapid and deep muscle fatigue. Physical activity is clearly a winning strategy if you’re looking to lose weight or improve your overall health. Remember though that you can’t make up for everything you eat with exercise. The real key to losing fat is your diet.
TIME of meals is another powerful factor. If you have weight issues and/or insulin or leptin resistance, try intermittent fasting. As for the question of WHAT to eat, the two keys to cutting fat are reducing your intake of net carbs and increasing the amount of healthy fats in your diet. Which will tip your metabolism in the right direction, allowing your body to access and burn body fat for fuel.
