What is Metabolic Balance^®?

Metabolic Balance^® is a tried and tested nutrition programme that improves the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins and thus completely revives and rehabilitates your body. Besides other results, it focusses on the treatment and prevention of lifestyle diseases (such as diabetes or high blood pressure).

Metabolic Balance^® is not a drastic diet that makes you suffer from hunger or forces you to eat unpleasant foods, nor is it a programme that forces you to do strenuous exercise or use food supplements and protein pills.

Metabolic Balance^® represents a nutrition plan based on commonly available foods that is designed to fit your body’s needs. Its ingredients are selected based on the results of a thorough medical screening and an examination of one’s blood in order to supply your body with the necessary nutrition and to start healthy processes in your body.

The Metabolic Balance^® nutrition programme consists of four phases: the preparatory phase, the strict phase, the transitional phase and the sustainability phase. How long the programme takes and what you want to achieve from it is solely up to you – be it weight reduction, lowering the need for pills for high blood pressure or diabetes, etc. Weight reduction, however, is not the only benefit of the programme. Your body will, thanks to appropriate nutrition resources in the correct amount, start remedial and regenerative processes. As a result, you will also start to feel better from a psychical and emotional point of view.

The programme is based on a medical research project that was carried out in Germany. Its excellent results were published in a renowned medical, the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism.

Why is Metabolic Balance^® so unique?

• NO YO-YO EFFECT

Compared with other slimming programmes, there is a weight regain of only 10-20% of the lost kilograms in the long term. If the programme is followed accordingly, you lose no muscle mass, only body fat.

• NO SIDE EFFECTS

• NO STARVATION – you lose weight during the day and even during your sleep

The programme does not cause starvation, even though there are breaks of 5-7 hours between the three daily meals.

• NO CALORIE COUNTING

Your nutrition plan is designed by a computer programme and includes the calculation of amounts of particular foods. Thus, there is no need for the additional complicated counting of calories or joules. Particular foods are chosen and counted based on their “glycemic load”, which is a far more accurate specification than just the amount of kilocalories, joules or the glycemic index (GI). Your task is thus only to measure precisely the selected foods.

• NO LIFETIME DIET

Metabolic Balance^® is not a “lifetime diet”. The strict phase usually lasts from a couple of weeks to months depending on the specific goal you choose. Later, you gradually progress through the subsequent phases of the programme to a wider spectrum of foods and, finally, to an almost normal diet – only with the knowledge of our unique rules.

• NO SPORT OR PHYSICAL EXERTION

During the first two weeks, your body adopts to the fundamental change of metabolism, which is why it is not recommended to undergo any extreme physical exertion. Regular physical activity, however, need not be restricted. On the contrary, in a short time you will have more energy than before you started the programme, and you will be able to intensify your physical activities and return to or brush up on your previous sporting activities. Attention should be paid to the regularity and long-term sustainability of your selected physical activities; that is, the joy from it should be more important than the performance.

• REVIVING YOUR SENSES

Based on our experience, many clients experience a return to their natural tastes and increased tolerance of foods that they previously disliked or found difficult to digest. The diet therefore becomes more flavoursome, healthy and fragrant.

• THE PROGRAMME IS A MEANS TO IMPROVING FOOD INTAKE IN GENERAL, REGULATING WEIGHT BOTH DOWNWARDS AND UPWARDS

The aim of the programme need not be weight reduction only. It can also be used and applied for problems with food intake and when you need to gain extra weight.

• ENHANCING YOUR IMMUNITY

We have observed improvements in patients’ resistance to inflammations, especially of the upper respiratory tract, and the reduction of skin problems.

How can Metabolic Balance^® help you?

Metabolic Balance^® has a positive influence on chronic diseases and their symptoms, in particular:

• Overweight and obesity, underweight,
• Diabetes,
• High blood pressure,
• Repeated inflammations,
• Chronical fatigue,
• Headaches,
• Shortness of breath,
• Leg or arm swelling,
• High levels of lipids and cholesterol in blood,
• Constipation or diarrhoea,
• Fungal diseases,
• Joint pains,
• Skin problems (including acne and allergic reactions),
• Insomnia,
• Depression and other related difficulties.

All these problems can be cured or at least significantly reduced by Metabolic Balance^®. Very often it is possible to reduce or even cut out permanent medication prescribed for hypertension, diabetes or allergies. People start to feel more satisfied, happier and more efficient, and as a result their self-confidence grows. Besides, the programme can help you identify the foods that represent optimal support for your best possible general health.

How is the Metabolic Balance^® programme carried out in AltheaPrague?

“I will guide you through all the phases of the programme in such a way that you will later be able to continue in it by yourself. Starting at the first meeting, we will go through the programme rules together. After you obtain your nutrition plan, you will be ready to begin your life change, and we will put some final touches to the specific recommendations. In my work, I use my medical and psychotherapeutic experience; I always check the patient’s relationship with food at the psychological level, his or her levels of stress, needs, self-esteem (or lack of), particularly in relation to any eating disorders, etc.”

MUDr. Marie Štefanová

Initial informative interview and the 1^st (preparatory) phase

The informative interview takes approximately 45-60 minutes. It is, in fact, a conversation about what you want to change in your life and about your priorities. We will go through your motivation for this particular change and explain how the Metabolic Balance^® programme can help in your case. At this initial meeting, we also set your individual goal together, which is usually a set weight that you want to achieve. In this respect, we usually focus on a moment in the past when you felt well with regard to your weight. By doing this, we also try to get to the so-called Body Fat Set Point of your body, which is a genetically coded weight below which you should not go at any time.

If you decide to follow the programme, a complete medical consultation will take place during the second meeting (interview and examination – anamnesis, relation to eating, stress, previous attempts to reduce weight or regenerate your body, weight, height, taking body and blood pressure measurements, allergy and food intolerance or aversion, basic physical examination, medications, sport activities, dental care, etc.). Besides this, the contract between the consultant and the client will be signed, and a request form for a blood test will be given to the client.

If you have been examined by a doctor in the past year or if you are undergoing health care because of a disease, it is recommended to bring relevant medical reports. After the whole entrance report is prepared, including laboratory results, everything is sent to the Metabolic Balance Institute^® in Germany, from where we will promptly acquire your individual nutrition plan.

Then it is solely up to you when you want to start the programme. It is important, however, to give the planning of your “D-day” careful consideration.

1. The preparatory phase takes 2 days, and its function is to better prepare you for the progression to the subsequent strict (slimming) phase of the programme. During the preparatory phase, you will receive recommendations for some of the purifying methods that will further help you adapt to the whole programme.
2. The strict phase

The strict phase of the Metabolic Balance^® programme lasts until your goal is fulfilled. Usually, this means between 2 weeks and several months.

Your nutrition plan will be put together from various combinations of the recommended dishes and side-dishes, and it is solely up to you which foods you choose to make your meals from. You will create combinations of tasty meals by yourself, depending on your specific tastes and what good-quality foods are seasonally available on the market. The list of permitted foods is usually very long, so we recommend trying as many combinations as possible. You need not worry about managing your diet during workdays; there are several ways that you can prepare your meals in advance and take them to work. During the first two weeks only, it is not permitted to use any oils.

3. The lighter (transitional) phase

After you reach your goal, you start the pleasant period of stabilising your weight and/or your state of health. Each week you will try to eat new foods, enlarge your portions and observe how these changes work for you. The aim is to stabilise your weight (or the set goal) and to ease the rules little by little.

4. The sustainability phase

In the final phase, you eat all the foods that you fancy, even if they were not listed in your nutrition plan. Your body has been correctly set to appropriate eating habits. In fact, this phase has no end. It can be interrupted during your lifetime for a short return to the strict phase, be it because of a deviation from the regime or for a periodical regeneration of your body. Consequently, you are offered to come to the clinic for an extra consultation whenever you consider it necessary, or whenever you feel that your success with Metabolic Balance^® is jeopardised.

How is the programme Metabolic Balance^® associated with medicine?

“I consider Metabolic Balance^® to be a high-quality nutrition programme for people who want to focus on the prevention of the aforementioned diseases, or if they simply want to know which foods support their body 100%. Besides, it is great for people who want to have in their life their very own “map” with certain rules and limits. The aim of primary prevention is to reduce the risk of the illness or at least to postpone its outbreak in people who do not have any difficulties and are not undergoing any medical treatment. Generally said, we try to reduce the influence of risk factors such as overeating, irregular eating, high amounts of fatty and sweet foods, improper dealing with stress and, at the same time, to increase the desired factors that are positive (healthy lifestyle, reasonable decisions, education, increasing one’s motivation by realising his or her specific situation, etc.). This is why it is essential for the success of the Metabolic Balance^® programme to explore with the client how he or she can reduce his or her specific risk factors of the particular disease. The patient’s active approach is vital. Our current society is very much orientated towards “performance”. Our body has huge, long-term potential for compensating at a functional level (that is, when classical medicine is unable to diagnose anything for a long time, but we nevertheless feel unwell in various aspects of life) if, for whatever reason, we do not treat it well.

Secondary prevention, that is a situation where the disease has already occurred, is the proper and timely diagnosis and consequent treatment of the disease. By using Metabolic Balance^®, the further development of many diseases can be prevented and their stabilisation can be achieved (the disease does not get worse). In some cases, we can succeed even in curing the early stages of a disease. Usually, the daily necessary intake of medications is lowered step by step. In such cases, we usually contact the patient’s specialised medical practitioner (for example endocrinologist or cardiologist). It is important here for society to be informed regarding the specific risk factors and the early displays of a health disorder.

Tertiary prevention is focussed on clients in the developed phase of a disease and on lowering the number of complications. The aim of tertiary prevention is to reduce the further deterioration of a disease (such as the advancement of fat build-up in veins, nerve damage during diabetes, etc.) and the occurrence of complications such as repeated cerebrovascular accidents (heart attacks, strokes), pains, exhaustion, loss of self-sufficiency (being confined to bed, limb amputation, diabetic feet, etc.). The aims of tertiary prevention include treatment using Metabolic Balance^®, the standard treatment of specific health problems and rehabilitation, with the aim being to return the patient to as normal a life as possible while trying to maintain the highest possible quality of life.

MUDr. Marie Štefanová

Where did the Metabolic Balance^® system come from?

The founder of the Metabolic Balance^® nutrition programme was Dr Funfack from Isen in Germany, an internal medicine specialist who created this nutrition system together with other medical practitioners, nutrition therapists and biochemists of natural medicine. He has been developing this highly efficient system since the 1990s and, starting in 2001, he has been a supervisor of new consultants all around the world. The basic principle of Metabolic Balance^® is to fine-tune the correct amount of foods, the appropriate ratio of nutrients that they comprise, the timing of the food intake and thus the consequent adjustment of the metabolism (not only of blood sugar, but also insulin, glucagon and other hormones that are normally present in the body). The results of the Metabolic Balance^® programme were documented in an extensive independent study published in the medical journal Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. Dr Funfack has made speeches at international nutrition conferences all around the world. In August 2011, he made a public appearance in the Czech Republic as well, at an International Nutrition and Diagnostics Conference (INDC) in Brno.

When should the Metabolic Balance^® programme not be applied?

• Low motivation – when you just want to satisfy those who are close to you or if you do not feel sure of yourself
• During pregnancy and lactation
• When using certain medications that influence your psychic condition (some psychiatric medication) and other states associated with psychic ability
• Severe malfunctions of kidneys, liver, heart or lungs, diseases with a generally unfavourable prognosis

What is a nutrition plan?

A nutrition plan is a meal itinerary that has been designed by specialised software (or, in some specific cases, manually by an expert), based on the combination of a medical interview, examination, laboratory results and Ayurveda typology. This individual nutrition plan will be your guide during all 4 phases of the Metabolic Balance^® programme and later on throughout your lifetime.

The nutrition plan is composed of comprehensible rules and measures as well as a main and a supplementary list of foods. In the 3^rd phase, the list is extended and made varied: more foods are added. Through the nutrition plan, you will learn how to eat safely and to enjoy some treats that would normally harm the results of the Metabolic Balance^® programme, or foods that would normally cause various digestive problems.

Is it possible to just have a nutrition plan made without following the Metabolic Balance® programme?

No. We work on a professional level only, and the nutrition plan alone, without the initial guidance by a specialist, would not have the desired results.

How do you guarantee the quality of the consultant’s care and expertise?

Each consultant of the Metabolic Balance^® programme must go through basic training followed by a certified exam. They must educate themselves on a regular basis and must have signed a Metabolic Balance^® contract with their representative in the Czech Republic. The client gives consent at the second meeting that he or she can be contacted by the Metabolic Balance Institute^® in Germany and asked questions on the quality of the care provided by his or her consultant.

 

Once the client decides to enter the Metabolic Balance^® nutrition programme in AltheaPrague, it is counted as the initial consultation.

 

Payment methods at the private clinic AltheaPrague (Krkonošská 5, Prague 2): you can pay in cash in two separate payments or you can send the payment to the clinic’s account by a transfer order. We do not accept credit or debit cards. It is possible to arrange an instalment plan as well.

 

https://de.metabolic-balance.com/