Nexus Metabolic Health Protocol

PREVENT DISEASE WITH DIET AND LIFESTYLE FIRST

Diet and lifestyle modifaction is the foundation of most medical guideline’s first-line intervention and should be a foundation of disease prevention and modification.

According to the world’s greatest heart attack and stroke prevention specialists, in the book, Healthy Heart Healthy Brain, the root cause of 70% of heart attacks an most strokes is insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is associated with a very commonly missed medical diagnosis called metabolic syndrome.

Our practice commonly initiates the Nexus Metabolic Health Protocol for a number of patients both in combination and without pharmacologic intervention and it can be found in your records.

The aim of the Nexus Metabolic Health Protocol is to reduce the insulin levels in the blood, reduce visceral fat mass, and reduce uric acid production in the body. Insulin plays a vital role in affecting metabolic disease and weight gain. Uric acid is an important biomarker for metabolic dysregulation. Visceral fat is the hallmark for metabolic disease.

We chose to share this protocol publicly because want to help as many people as possible. Many of the interventions in the protocol can safely be done independently but we advise that you speak with your healthcare provider first before implementing this protocol in your life. This protocol is based on the science regarding metabolic disease and much of it was inspired by the original work of Richard Johnson, MD and his colleagues as well as Satchidananda Panda, PhD and his colleagues at t he Salk Institute in San Diego, CA.

THE PROTOCOL

• Focus on protein first in your diet.
• Time restricted eating -stop food consumption by 6:00 pm.
• 3 L (100 oz) water daily as a minimum.
• Be mindful of the addition of salt to your food, unless you are making your meals from scratch.
• Avoid restaurant-prepared food on a regular basis.
• No fast food. 
• Avoid snacking between meals (may use nuts or something low-carb if you need) so as to keep insulin levels low.
• No carbohydrate products derived from refined grains and sugars (e.g., white bread, packaged bread products, pastas, white rice, etc).
• Only eat carbohydrate with breakfast or lunch (e.g., for dinner have a protein and a green veggie).
• Have at least one serving of vitamin-C containing fruits/veggies daily, particularly if you need a snack (e.g., guava, bell pepper, kiwi, strawberries and other dark berries, oranges or other citrus fruits, papaya, broccoli).
• No fructose (e.g., sweetened or packaged food or beverages) you may have to check google for a more inclusive list but avoid the obvious stuff with high-fructose corn syrup. Also, the fructose in the above fruit is not a concern.
• No Sorbitol.
• No agave nectar, maple syrup, or honey.
• No dried fruit.
• No fruit juice or sugar sweetened beverages (including sports drinks and energy drinks).
• Abstain from alcohol (particularly beer or mixers).
• Resistance training, at least 45 minutes a minimum of twice weekly, this can be even body-weight exercises or anything where you are moving your own weight.
• Cardiovascular exercise, low intensity, at least 45 minutes twice weekly. You should aim to sustain a heart-rate around 120-130 and be able to carry on a conversation.
• High intensity cardiovascular exercise, for up to 20 minutes, once per week: 30-60 seconds on, 2 minutes off (e.g., sprints, sled pushes, all out on an assault bike). This can be performed at the end of a low intensity cardiovascular session.
• Do something active for fun, this could be paddle-boarding, hiking, tennis, or literally anything else that you enjoy for an hour at least once per week. If it's something social, that's even better.