The Metabolic Diet

The basic principles of the Metabolic Diet

Being the opposite of any other diet, the Metabolic Diet is not a proper diet,; in fact, its main objective is to “free” people from their “idea of being fat”.

What do we mean with “the idea of being fat”?

It is simple: people who have been fighting against overweight think exactly the same things because they are all victims of the same commonplaces (they think that bread, pasta, pizza and cakes make you fat, that you must use the sweetener, that sacrifice is necessary to lose weight, etc.)

Is it true?

It does not seem like that if you look at slim people!

Fat people are permanently on a diet and they do not even manage to lose weight definitively.

Slim people, instead, are not on a diet, they do not count calories nor have a conflictive relationship with food.

Many people believe that slim people are just lucky because they have a good metabolism, but it is not like that.

In addition, the idea of “luck” is often brought up by people who are not sensitive to cold or who do not even feel the cold, which unequivocally shows that these same people have a good metabolism, otherwise they would be sensitive to cold.

Therefore, why should you not imitate slim people?

Here is the first objective of the Metabolic Diet, that is, freeing fat people from the “idea of being fat” and, consequently, freeing them from diets and dieticians, that is to say, from the obsolete old paradigm according to which being on a diet and suffering are necessary if you want to lose weight.

Furthermore, statistic research has proved this paradigm wrong since diets are not successful or, when they are, lost kilos are regularly regained during the maintenance phase.

Therefore, the majority of people do not manage to be on a diet, whilst an inferior percentage, which is clearly highly motivated in a specific phase of the life, succeeds in losing weight, even if with the awareness that lost kilos will be regained (and often with interests).

Obviously, people starting a new diet hope that this time it will work and that they will manage to respect the maintenance diet for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, such a purpose cannot be fulfilled because, luckily, in our brain there is a gland called Hypothalamus that prevents you from being on a diet for your whole life.

Moreover, it often prevents people from being on a diet even for a shorter period of time, especially when they have to face problems (i.e. when they do not feel loved, when they have economic troubles, when they have to face a disease or problems regarding their family, when they are not satisfied with their sentimental life, when they have a loss in the family, accidents, etc.)

In these specific cases, the last thing to do is dieting!

In fact, the Hypothalamus cannot take one more stressful experience such as a strict diet, especially if followed by a “maintenance diet”, that is, a lifelong diet.

But the patient is aware of this kind of mechanism and finally feels guilty for not following the diet; moreover, the dietician and the family tend to blame him/her because they are generally unaware of the protection mechanism which is activated by the Hypothalamus.

Therefore, people tend to pick on fats and not on diets!

Diets are responsible for overweight indeed!

In fact, all diets are more or less similar and they follow the same strategy, that is, putting people through an extremely stressful period: whoever is on a diet is aware of the fact that he/she is going to face a sad moment of sacrifice.

Why then is it necessary to blame yourself just because you do not manage to respect such an unnatural “regime”?

Let’s repeat! Slim people are not on a diet!

Furthermore, our Hypothalamus prevents us from facing alimentary stressful times by sending subliminal messages that encourage you to eat, in spite of your will.

Why then do you blame yourself?

It is the opposite! Old dietetics systems should blame themselves, since they keep on proposing the same unsuccessful code disregarding the disastrous data which have been pinpointed by statistics.

The metabolic diet allows you to get free from all of this!

How? It is simple: the metabolic diet represents a point of view which is completely different from the other ones, exactly because it is not a real diet.

In addition, contrary to other diets, the Metabolic Diet is not an a priori diet since it is the result of an interaction with a specific subject.

First of all, it is necessary to be aware of all the characteristics of the patient (metabolism, habits, needs, favourite food, etc.).

Being aware of these factors allows to satisfy his/her characteristics and expectations, and to create not a personal diet, but a way of eating which is completely “anti-dietetics” and not stressful.

It could be said that the Metabolic Diet is like a Valentino dress, different from any other one.

The metabolic diet is unique, unrepeatable and different from any other diet that already exists independently from a specific person; for this reason, codified diets cannot be followed because people fail to identify with them, thus facing a trauma and a strong stress.

Moreover, learning how to lose weight with the Metabolic Diet does not imply following a further “maintenance diet” since it allows you to learn how to “lose weight without being on a diet”.

Obviously, another objective is to follow a lifestyle which is better for metabolism: this result can be achieved without drugs and just following a range of principles set by the Metabolic Diet.

Lastly, another fundamental prerogative of the Metabolic Diet is the safeguard of the health of the patient, therefore, it can be adopted to treat several pathologies (hypertension, cholesterol, triglycerids, diabetes, headache, allergies, etc.)

THE REASON WHY THE METABOLIC DIET IS UNIQUE

From the above, in order to lose weight permanently, it is necessary to take into consideration a series of factors:

IDENTIFYING METABOLIC TYPES

In modern medical language, three different metabolic types are acknowledged:

Hypo-oxidators, characterized by a low metabolic-oxidative ability.
Being characterized by a low metabolic-oxidative ability, the hypo-oxidating subject tends to feel the cold; in addition, he/she may feel tired or suffer from constipation, sweat in short quantities, have dry skin (unless he/she is definitely overweight), he/she may have a slower metabolism and put on weight more easily (unless he/she is extremely careful with the diet).
 

HYPER-oxidators, characterized by a high oxidative-metabolic ability.
Being characterized by a high oxidative-metabolic ability, hyper-oxidators tend to feel hot constantly and they present characteristics which are opposite to the ones noticed in hypo-oxidators.

NORMO-oxidators, characterized by a normal metabolic-oxidative ability.

Normo-oxidators are much more balanced and they do not feel the hot nor the cold excessively. 

STUDY OF THE DIETARY HABITS OF A SUBJECT

The METABOLIC DIET pays much attention to the individual habits of people who have to lose weight: it is necessary to teach them not to fear the things they love to eat.

Furthermore, there is a need to bring to their attention the fact that the world abounds with slim people who eat pasta, bread and cakes keeping their weight unchanged.

The question is how to learn this without gaining weight!

This is the only way to let people lose weight and lose it permanently!

RADICAL ELIMINATION OF “THE IDEA OF BEING FAT”

Such a step is very important in order to obtain permanent results.

For this purpose, Dr. Simeone periodically holds a specific course that can be given to you directly, in case you are unable to attend personally.

STUDY OF POSSIBLE NUTRIRIONAL INCOMPATIBILITIES

The problem of food incompatibilities is a delicate matter: in this context, it is possible to summarize it by saying that possible intolerances (supposing they can be easily identified) do not have any influence on overweight.

Greater attention has to be paid to the kinds of food which are evaluated according to the principles of “superior nutrition” which go beyond the simplistic concept of “intolerance”, because they may be eliminated after analyzing the psychic-mental-endocrine-immunological condition of the patient.

STUDY AND CORRECTION OF POSSIBLE ENDOCRINE IMBALANCES 

(Thyroid, diabetes, etc.)

If the person who has to lose weight also suffers from endocrine pathologies, such as diabetes, allergies or thyroid diseases, the METABOLIC DIET also implies specific nutritional advise.

For instance, certain specific foods slow down the production of thyroid hormones and they consequently exercise a bad effect on metabolism in general.

METABOLIC DIET

For a hypo-oxidating subject in Winter (from October to May)

This is the case when your anamnesis pinpoints a hypo-oxidating metabolic pattern, characterized by a low metabolic-oxidative ability.

A hypo-oxidator is unable to turn calories into heat and energy at the right speed.

Consequently, he/she will be sensitive to the cold and will reveal symptoms such as tiredness, constipation, mood swings, proneness to gaining weight.

Additional symptoms can include dry skin, scarce perspiration in winter, especially if the subject is not excessively overweight.

Therefore, the Metabolic Diet has to improve the individual metabolic pattern as much as possible, so that the patient can lose weight in an easier way, improving his/her wellbeing at once.

N.B. Following herewith are seven suggestions regarding alimentation which are useful to speed up the Metabolic Type; in the last page, the scientific reasons why they are convenient to be followed are explained.

SUGGESTIONS TO SPEED UP METABOLISM

1)   It is fundamental to drink at least one litre of water (low in mineral content) and a half a day.

2)   It is important to drink a litre of water before 1.00 p.m., since metabolic processes take place during the first part of the day.

3)   The best kinds of water are Plose, Lauretana, Monterosa, Surgiva, Fiuggi, Norda, Sant’Anna, Levissima, S. Bernardo, Santa Croce, Vera, Panna, Rocchetta.

4)   In Winter, a hypo-oxidator has to drink the majority of water in the shape of hot beverages, such as tea, green tea, natural tisanes (soft fruit, cherry, raspberry, orange, etc.). The best existing organic tisanes are produced by “Viropa”.

5)   In Winter, it is important to avoid summer vegetables: tomatoes (they can be eaten only in tomato sauce), aubergines, peppers, cucumbers, French beans, zucchini, salads (lettuce, canasta salad, etc.)

French beans and zucchini can be eaten in April and November as well.

Winter vegetables allowed: chard, prickly lettuce, chicory, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, savoy, wild chicory, endive, pumpkin, carrots, fennels, radish, celery, mushrooms, potatoes.

During the winter season, it is preferable to eat vegetables cooked in the oven or in a pan.

6)It is necessary to avoid fruit in Winter: if the patient cannot do without fruit, he/she can eat bananas and apples only; alternatively, he/she can eat a little seasonal fruit (apples, pears, citrus fruit, khaki and grape as long as they are available), but only if he/she has become less sensitive to the cold after taking the suggestions of the Metabolic Diet, which would also indicate that metabolism is getting better.

7)It is important to eliminate food that slows down metabolism and the activity of the thyroid, such as dairy products, cheese and pulses. Furthermore, food of this kind is highly caloric.

BASIC RULES

-      It is compulsory to seat while eating, even if you are having just a sandwich.

-      Never eat exotic fruit

NEVER EAT BETWEEN MEALS!!!

Your answers have highlighted the tendency to eat between meals.

In order to get slimmer and, above all, to keep your weight unvaried, it is necessary to eliminate this habit.

This tendency represents a serious impediment to the success of your diet.

In fact, people who eat between meals (even if with moderation) increase their caloric supply of at least 400-500 calories a day (half a packet of wafers is sufficient to bring up to 500 calories).

It is clear that, at the end of the month or of the year, the calculation of the total calories taken in out of the three regular meals results in a high caloric amount which is responsible for putting on weight.

A person who nibbles with moderation can take in up to 3000-4000 calories more than a person who does not eat between meals each month (even an apple is enough), which makes up a kilogram.

The consequences of nibbling with exaggeration are even more serious.

What does “nibbling” mean?

You may think that we refer to a sandwich or to a cake, or anyway, to something nourishing.

It is not like that!

Nibbling means eating anything, even the smallest thing, out of the three established meals (chewing gum, sugar-free sweets, juice, fruit juice, tasting food while cooking, etc.).

Only tea, green tea, tisanes, barley coffee and coffee are allowed between meals.

Someone may think that such a strict attitude cannot be justified since sugar-free sweets and chewing gum contain few calories.

This apparent harshness is justified by the fact that what seems to be insignificant at the beginning, progressively accumulates over time as well as by the fact that “nibbling” between meals implies an anomalous activity of the hypothalamus (the gland which regulatger and repletion) which should function only three times a day, differently from the hypothalamus of cows which works constantly.

Years ago, Dr. Simeone coined an expression which sumps up the whole issue of “nibbling” between meals: “cows weigh 1000 kilograms despite eating just unseasoned grass”.

Nibbling between meals represents a considerable hamper to the success of any diet as well as to its maintenance over time.

Even in your case, it is necessary to become more aware of the gravity of this habit that has to be eliminated as soon as possible so as to obtain lasting results.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A GOOD NUTRITION

PRELIMINARY REMARKS AND BASIC RULES

Whoever is on a diet tends to believe that getting slimmer means making considerable sacrifices and eating only unappetizing food, without taking into consideration that many slim people eat normally.

For instance, a “first course” does not have to be necessarily represented by a dish of pasta with tomato sauce. There are many other dishes which are usually  erroneously ignored due to the biases made up by old dietetics.

Therefore, it is only necessary to be careful with oil and then you can give the green light to pasta with “pesto”, “amatriciana” spaghetti (pasta with tomato sauce and bacon), “puttanesca” spaghetti (pasta with anchovies, olives and capers), pasta with meat sauce or with clams, etc.

Only tea, tisanes and coffee are allowed between meals.

Lunch and dinner can be exchanged.

In any case, it is not allowed to eat two proteinic meals a day (proteinic food include meat, cold meat and salami, fish, eggs, dairy products and pulses).

BREAKFAST

Choose one of the following possibilities:

-      a cold beverage + cereals (rusks with marmalade or biscuits or corn flakes or a croissant or a slice of cake)

-      take just the right quantity and put the packet back in the cupboard before starting to eat.

LUNCH

Choose one of the following possibilities:

-      First course

-      First course + vegetables

-      Second course + vegetables

-      Second course + vegetables + bread

-      Vegetables + bread

-      A sandwich (usually stuffed with salami, Bologna sausage, ham, etc.)

DINNER

Choose one of the following possibilities

-      Second course + vegetables

-      Second course + vegetables + bread

-      First course + vegetables + in case bread

-      First course + second course + vegetables (+ in case bread)

-      A pizza (+ in case vegetables)

Condiments

Using extra virgin olive oil as least as possible is the only true precaution while being on a diet (it is better to use cold-presses oil).

The usual oil quantity recommended by any diet, that is, 2-3 spoons or 10-15 tea spoons should be used especially while cooking tomato sauce, meat, fish, omelettes and vegetables: a small amount of oil can be used to cook any course along with other condiments such as salt, lemon, vinegar, balsamic vinegar, cooked tomato and spices (parsley, basil, sage, oregano, pepper, chilli, ginger, mustard, ketchup, etc.).

Mayonnaise is not allowed.

EXEPTIONS

Two exceptions a week are recommended, taking the chance to eat a more complete meal (a cake or an ice cream can be added to the usual meal or to pizza on Saturdays, first course + second course + side dish + a cake slice or an ice cream are allowed on Sundays).

Everyone can choose what he/she prefers; the most important thing is not to eat between meals during the week.

FORBIDDEN FOOD

Dairy products and Cheese (with the exception of Parmesan cheese on pasta and mozzarella cheese on pizza)

Pulses (beans, chickpeas, lentils, beans, soy)
 
Pizza by the slice, white pizza and “focaccia”

Dried fruit (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios, peanuts)
  
Fried vegetables (French fries, aubergines seasoned with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, zucchini flowers, fried artichokes, potato croquettes, fish sticks, etc.).

FRUIT

Hypo-oxidators are not allowed to eat fruit in order not to make their metabolic pattern worse (read the last page very carefully). 

MISCELLANEOUS TIPS

1) Second courses include meat, fish, eggs, cold meats and salami.

2) First courses include pasta, rice or polenta; short pasta is preferable.

3) Soups, vegetable soups and everything that can be eaten with spoons has to be eliminated from the diet.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT FASTER 

First of all, it is necessary to underline that the Metabolic Diet is not necessarily intended to lose weight rapidly, but to obtain long lasting results without “being on a diet” and therefore, “without regaining weight”.

For this reason, the Metabolic Diet is not a proper diet, but a “dress made to measure” according to the specific characteristics of a person.

In addition, the Metabolic Diet is made so that breakfast, lunch and dinner can be based upon different solutions which can be more or less nourishing. Everyone has to decide what to eat according to a series of personal factors (hunger, emotional state, etc.).

As per the above, it is clear that there is one more difference that characterizes the Metabolic Diet: while other diets are based upon strict models, the Metabolic Diet is extremely flexible.

Two main principles represent the basis of the Metabolic Diet:

-      losing weight “without dieting” and “without making big sacrifices”, and

-      optimizing metabolism without drugs.

If the first principle aims at avoiding putting the hypothalamus under stress, it is clear that the path to obtain a faster loss of weight CANNOT COINCIDE WITH A STRICT DIET, otherwise you would go back to the more common dietetics canons, making sacrifices without any guarantee not to regain weight anymore (provided that you succeed in being on a strict diet, thus losing weight...).

Therefore, if patients want to lose weight quickly, we suggest that they avoid being on a strict diet, just following our recommendations and without renouncing to eating with satisfaction.

Obviously, one or more recommendations should be followed only if it does not imply too much sacrifice, otherwise it is better to wait for a better condition of the biorhythm as well as of the emotional state to lose weight. 

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO LOSE WEIGHT MORE RAPIDLY 

1)   Choosing the lightest possibilities given by the Metabolic Diet (e.g. a first course is lighter than first course + vegetables + bread, the same way as second course + vegetables is lighter than second course + vegetables + bread).

2)   People who can do without breakfast can skip it (tea, tisanes, coffee) or just drink a beverage in addition to tea, tisane and coffee (e.g. a cappuccino or a mug of hot chocolate)

3)   Similarly, people who can do without lunch can skip it or choose lighter solutions (e.g. just mixed vegetables or vegetables with bread or cappuccino and croissant or a cake, etc.)

4)   People who have already fasted or been on a vegetable diet can fast or follow a vegetable diet one day every now and then, e.g. once a week or every fifteen days or once each month.

N.B. options can be combined: the most important thing is to choose them when you want, without making sacrifice and with proneness, otherwise you risk being stressed and the results would not be good.

WHAT IS THE METABOLIC TYPE?

The metabolic type corresponds to the individual ability to turn calories into energy and heat.

This ability is based upon two bio-chemical reactions that take place in cells. They are called “oxidative reactions”.

FOOD CALORIES >>> CELL>>>PRODUCTION OF HEAT AND CALORIES

The ability to carry out such oxidative processes, that is, to produce energy and heat at cellular level, varies from one patient to another: people can activate this ability easily, normally or with difficulty.

Therefore, the medical language makes a distinction between three types of patient:

“HYPER-OXIDATORS” characterized by a high metabolic-oxidative ability

“NORMAL-OXIDATORS” characterized by a normal metabolic-oxidative ability

 “HYPO-OXIDATORS” characterized by a low metabolic-oxidative ability

The three metabolic types have different symptoms and characteristics: for instance, the hypo-oxidating subject will be sensitive to cold exactly because of his/her low oxidative ability; on the contrary, the hyper-oxidating subject will be very sensitive to heat, whilst the normal-oxidating subject is not particularly sensitive to cold nor to heat.

The three types also imply other differences: for example, in addition to being sensitive to cold, a hypo-oxidator will be more sensitive to tiredness or suffer from constipation and/or insufficient perspiration, his/her skin will tend to be dry (unless he/she is abundantly overweight), his/her metabolism will be slower and he/she will put on weight easily (unless he/she always eats with moderation).

On the contrary, as mentioned above, the hyper-oxidator represents the opposite type and, if he/she is fat, it will be due to a wrong diet or lifestyle and not to a slow metabolism.

It is very important to understand the METABOLIC TYPE of a patient in order to establish the most suitable diet to eliminate his/her metabolic unbalance: everyone has to satisfy his/her food needs according to a specific metabolic demand.

Let’s make an example regarding a hypo-oxidator and his/her specific characteristics in order to understand this mechanism . Let’s imagine that in Winter, this patient who is highly sensitive to the cold eats foods which are of cold “nature”. Everything in nature can be cold or hot; for instance, summer fruit and vegetables (salad, tomatoes, etc.) are “cold” foods.

For this kind of patient, the modification of the metabolic type is fundamental to feel better and the only way to achieve it is to adopt specific food habits.

THE RISKS OF THE HYPO-OXIDATING PATIENT

Especially in Winter, a hypo-oxidator may take many risks linked to the worsening of the metabolic situation: excessive sensitivity to cold, tiredness, proneness to putting on weight, skin dryness and poor perspiration, constipation and even hypothyroidism.

In fact, the common patient who suffers from hypothyroidism is characterized by the same symptoms.

In addition to the recommendations above, it is fundamental to drink water in the shape of hot beverages or tisanes in order to improve the metabolic type.

In fact, in Winter, drinking water at room temperature (15°-20°) implies an excessive activity of the organism (especially of the thyroid) which has to increase the temperature up to 36° in the body.

This activity requires energy and calories, but the hypo-oxidator is very sensitive to cold and has little energy: drinking water at room temperature in Winter implies the use of even more heat and energy and this is dangerous since they are already insufficient and produced with difficulty by the body.

This example clearly explains the reason why a hypo-oxidator has to follow specific nutritional rules, at least in Winter.

 

Contacts: Phone numbers: 063201127 - 063240278 - Fax: 063236402 - E-mail: info@broussais.org

 

 

 

 

http://www.broussais.it/
http://www.digiuno.it/
http://www.kousmine.it/