It’s been around for over 20 years, but many still ask: what is the Metabolic Balance diet?
While the initial structured phase may last a few months, the Metabolic Balance diet is designed to create lasting habits and equip you with the knowledge to sustain positive lifestyle changes for years. It’s not just a short-term program; it’s a way to support your health, reset your metabolism, and achieve your long-term goals, whether managing health conditions, enhancing well-being, or achieving weight balance.
Before we dive deeper, let’s clarify what we mean by ‘diet’! Everyone has a diet – it simply refers to the food we eat. Metabolic Balance reframes this concept into a sustainable, nourishing approach to eating and living.
What is the Metabolic Balance diet?
The Metabolic Balance diet is a personalised nutrition program that supports healthy metabolism, hormonal balance, and overall wellbeing through tailored meal planning. It was created in Germany by Dr. Wolf Funfack M.D, a physician who specialised in nutritional medicine and food scientist Silvia Bürkle, to provide individualised dietary recommendations based on an individual’s unique biochemistry.
The Metabolic Balance diet emphasises simplicity, structure, and sustainable eating habits, whilst discouraging calorie counting or extreme restrictions.
Each individual’s plan is developed with personal data and blood marker analysis. Your plan is based on your measurements, food dislikes or intolerances, allergies, medical conditions, goals, and 36 individual blood values to identify any metabolic imbalances or nutrient deficiencies. The result is a plan tailored to your requirements and goals.
How does the program work?
The Metabolic Balance diet helps you regain a stable metabolism by supporting the body’s healing process.
Following your consultation with a qualified Metabolic Balance coach and blood test, you’ll receive your personalised nutrition plan. You’ll follow this plan, in conjunction with the eight guidelines of the Metabolic Balance diet, across the four phases of the program:
Phase 1: Preparation
Length: Two days
To prepare your body for the upcoming metabolic ‘reset’, you have two days of light, simple meals combined with gentle cleansing to assist with digestive detoxification.
Phase 2: Strict adjustment
Length: Minimum of two weeks
During this phase, you will eat three balanced meals each day, designed to enhance sluggish or imbalanced metabolism whilst replenishing any identified nutrient deficiencies.
The goal of this phase is to shed old unwanted habits, such as binge eating or snacking. It also supports gentle detoxification and metabolic adjustment.
Strenuous exercise is limited for the first 14 days to allow the body to become metabolically agile, efficiently burning both glucose and fat. During this time, energy levels and overall wellbeing naturally improve.
Phase 3: Relaxed adjustment
Length: Dependent on the individual
Now, you can begin to carefully reintroduce foods not on the plan and begin to relax the rules. This time is great to listen to your body and learn which foods work for you, and which cause digestive issues, tiredness, headaches or joint pain.
Once you have reached your goal weight, your carbohydrate tolerance can be determined. You learn to trust your body’s innate signals, and with this knowledge, you can begin to indulge in ‘treat meals’. Exercise is now encouraged.
Phase 4: Maintenance
Length: Ongoing
The final phase is about ensuring you can maintain your level of health by continuing to make the dietary choices that are right for you. Now your metabolism has been reset and you’ve learned what foods and portion sizes best support your body, you can continue to eat a healthy diet that supports your goals.
The benefits of Metabolic Balance
There are many benefits to undergoing the Metabolic Balance diet, with the overarching theme being improving your health. However, more specifically, many people who decide to give this diet a go also find the following true:
- Weight loss
Metabolic Balance promotes rapid fat loss alongside healthy body composition, which can lead to sustainable long-term weight regulation. The program promotes positive eating habits, and adherence to these principles can also support long-term changes and the sustaining of weight loss.
- Improved energy and vitality
The plan focuses on whole foods to promote optimal digestion and energy use. By adhering to the diet, you can see improvements in energy and focus.
- Hormonal balance
Metabolic Balance addresses hormonal imbalances, making it potentially beneficial for people with conditions such as type 2 diabetes, PCOS or poor thyroid function. It could also help perimenopausal or post-menopausal women struggling with symptoms.
- Food behaviour changes
The structure that Metabolic Balance provides eliminates guesswork when it comes to food. The clear plan and rules can also help eliminate bad habits like snacking or binge eating.
Is the Metabolic Balance diet right for me?
Your path to better health starts with understanding what your body needs. Metabolic Balance offers a science-backed, individualised approach to nutrition and health.
Consider your health goals, budget and commitment – results come from dedication to the plan and process.
After working through the four phases of the Metabolic Balance diet, you will be armed with all the information and skills you need to continue to make positive lifestyle decisions to optimise your health in the long run. If that’s your goal, the Metabolic Balance diet could be just what you’re looking for.
