Nutrition

There are many misunderstandings and misinformation in nutrition, eg it is not fat in your diet that makes your cholesterol increase, it is sugar (single carbohydrate).  The gut wall can only absorb 600 units of cholesterol whereas reactions involving insulin can make many times more than this.

If one looks at the present style of eating in the West (where we eat about 60% carbohydrate) and one were to put our time on this earth into a measurement of say 2 metres, our present style of diet would equate to about 2 cm.  This ‘new’ style of diet is ‘new’ to our digestive system which was designed for far less refined food and especially carbohydrate.

The last time a civilisation ate as much carbohydrate as this was the Egyptians.  During the feast times they carefully stored large amounts of grain and during the famine times they would have this to use.  It is interesting to note that this was the last civilisation who noted a huge increase in vascular disease, diabetes and mental illness.

Whilst there are dietary approaches which are general in their considerations “Metabolic Balance” is individual.  This German originated approach asks the participant to do a special blood test looking through haematology, liver, thyroid and a few other requirements followed by an interview to piece together these results, medical background, eg illness, allergy etc and food likes and dislikes so that an individual dietary makeup is devised for that person.

Once the strategy is devised and gone through the individual finds a 16 day window of opportunity.  It requires a two day fast normally half the normal breakfast, steamed vegetables or vegetable soup for the next two meals but there are other options.  To exit the body of built up foods Epsom Salts (or other options) are used after the first breakfast.  This cleansing two days paves the way for the fuel system change over.

The next two weeks are absolute in their requirements but there are a few variations so the person can stick to the approach.  This stage I call the “free fall stage” as people find the weight “falls” off them yet they don’t get hungry.  It maybe the time when a drop in energy occurs so no vigorous exercise is to be performed.  Once the body’s enzyme system re-establishes itself (reboots itself) people then find improving concentration, well-being, sleep pattern amongst others and of course loss of weight.

It is feasible with some alterations in requirements to keep on this stage of weighing out foods and its strict approach for some time longer than two weeks, to quickly drop the weight to then “click” into phase 3 where it is less regimented where one has more choice of foods and cheat meals once a week.  This allows normal foods to “change the taste buds” where initially one craves for sugar it is found to fade and it is not hard at all to go the five hours between meals.

Phase 3 is performed for about three months and it will be found more energy returns as phase 2 to 3 occur.  This allows more activity and sport to be done where often more ability is noted.  It is commonly noted that people lose 10 kg in 8-10 weeks and this loss (in all the right places) is maintained to a lesser but gradual way until the optimum for that person is found.

It is really an approach to optimise weight and well being, even having comments of underweight people putting on weight.

More information can be found on the “Metabolic Balance Website” or speaking to John Brewster about this area.