Metabolic Flexibility: How Your Body’s Rhythms Shape Your Physical and Emotional Wellbeing

A New Way of Understanding Your Metabolism

When most people hear the word metabolism, they think of weight, calories, or energy. But your metabolism is actually your body’s rhythm, the way every cell builds, repairs, and communicates.

This rhythm moves between two natural states: one for growth and action, and another for rest and renewal. When they’re in balance, you feel strong, calm, and clear. When they’re out of sync, you might notice fatigue, cravings, anxiety, or low mood, even if you’re eating well or exercising regularly.

Learning how to restore this natural rhythm is the foundation of both physical and emotional health.

The Growth State — mTOR

You can think of mTOR as your body’s “on” switch, the mode that helps you grow, build, and get things done. It turns on when your body receives nutrients, especially protein, and when you’re in an active or creative phase.

When this growth system is healthy, you feel:

• Energised and focused
• Motivated and productive
• Strong in body and mind

But when this state stays on for too long, often because of chronic stress, overwork, or too much stimulation, your body struggles to rest. You may feel wired but tired, experience inflammation, crave sugar, or find it hard to sleep.

This reflects a nervous system that’s stuck in “go mode”. This is what we know as the fight-or-flight state.

The Repair State — AMPK

AMPK is the body’s natural balancing system, the mode that cleans, restores, and renews. It turns on when you’re resting, fasting, or moving gently.

When this repair state is active, you often feel:

• Grounded and calm
• Clear-minded
• Balanced in appetite and mood

It’s your body’s pause button, helping you burn fat efficiently, clear waste, and heal.

But when this system dominates too much, from exhaustion, under-eating, or chronic burnout, you can feel flat, foggy, dry or emotionally heavy. The body starts conserving rather than creating energy.

The Nervous System — Your Inner Conductor

These two states, growth (mTOR) and repair (AMPK), are guided by your nervous system.

When your body feels safe, it naturally moves between them throughout the day: active and alert when needed, then restful and reflective when it’s time to recharge.

When stress or emotional pain keeps the body in survival mode, that flow stops. You might stay “switched on” too long or find it hard to re-engage after burnout.

This is why true healing involves more than food or supplements; it’s about helping the brain, body, and emotions reconnect so the system can find its rhythm again.

The Emotional Link — Why Feelings Affect Energy

In therapies like Internal Family Systems (IFS) or Trauma-Informed Stabilisation Treatment (TIST), we explore our inner “parts”, the different emotional states that protect or express us.

• Busy, driven parts often keep us stuck in growth mode.
• Vulnerable or tired parts surface more in repair mode when we finally slow down.

Neither is wrong. But if the system doesn’t feel safe, you can get caught swinging between overdoing and shutting down.

When we meet these parts with compassion, the nervous system relaxes, and metabolism naturally starts to balance. That’s when energy and emotion begin to flow together again.

The Role of Nutrition in Metabolic Flexibility

What and when we eat has a powerful influence on these metabolic rhythms.

When meals are built mostly around quick sugars or refined carbohydrates, the body stays locked in its “growth” state, constantly seeking its next energy hit.

Over time, this can lead to cravings, fatigue, and difficulty burning fat. By gently adjusting food timing, balancing proteins with fibre and healthy fats, and supporting good digestion, we help activate the repair side of metabolism and train the body to switch between fuel sources more efficiently.

This flexibility not only steadies blood sugar and appetite but also calms the nervous system, helping you feel more emotionally balanced and clear-minded throughout the day.

The Power of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine

Chinese Medicine has always understood this balance through Qi, the life energy that flows between Yin (rest) and Yang (activity). In modern terms, many traditional herbs and treatments help the body re-learn that rhythm.

A few examples include:
• Ginseng (Ren Shen) and Astragalus (Huang Qi): build energy and support healthy metabolism when the body feels depleted.
• Dan Shen or Green Tea: help clear stagnation and activate the repair process.

Acupuncture is also a powerful way to calm the autonomic nervous system, helping the body switch smoothly between rest and activity. It can reduce inflammation, improve sleep, and ease the emotional tension that keeps you in “overdrive.” When combined with gentle lifestyle support, these therapies help your body remember how to breathe and flow again.

The Takeaway — Health Is Rhythm

Whether we describe it as Yin and Yang, or as mTOR and AMPK, the message is the same: Health is not about pushing harder, it’s about moving in rhythm.

Your body was designed to build and restore, to work and rest. When those rhythms are nurtured, you not only gain energy and metabolic balance, you also find emotional steadiness, clarity, and a deeper sense of peace.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, constantly tired, anxious, or caught between “doing too much” and “not doing enough”, your body might simply need help finding that flow again.

Book a longer consultation with me to explore how we can rebalance your metabolism and nervous system using a blend of Chinese Medicine, integrative therapy, and Nutrition.

About the Author

Isabel Peace is an Integrative Health Practitioner specialising in metabolic health, trauma recovery and emotional healing, women’s hormonal balance and fertility, and
the treatment of complex conditions.

Her work combines nutrition, acupuncture, herbal medicine, somatic therapy with modern and research-based mind–body modalities such as IFS (Internal Family Systems), EMDR, and TIST. Through this integrative approach, Isabel helps patients regulate their nervous system, restore metabolic flexibility, and achieve sustainable wellbeing.