March 1, 2025
The benefits of a metabolic reset programme can lead to weight loss, less stress, better sleep and more energy.
It does it by rebalancing the body’s metabolism. Our metabolism is the way we convert food into energy and Rhian Stephenson, a naturopath, nutritionist and retired professional athlete and the programme’s creator, says many common health issues such as stress, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue and weight gain are hard to improve while blood sugar remains erratic.
“The effects of excess sugar have systemic implications. Sugar depresses immunity, impacts mood and promotes inflammation,” she says. “So, you give up everything that spikes your blood sugar and which influences your brain chemistry”.
The programme is available as an ebook, The Metabolic Reset, £30.
Whilst the programme includes some exercise such as 10,000 steps a day, plus regular managed breathing, it’s mainly about not eating bad things and eating lots of healthy protein, fats, vegetables and fruit. Find out how to reset your metabolism.
What to eat during the three weeks
Focus on four categories of food — fibre, fat, protein and phytonutrients (the bioactive compounds found in plants).
Gluten, sugar and dairy are not allowed — apart from in week three, when you can include goat or sheep’s milk. Avoid additives such as flavour enhancers, chemical preservatives, thickening agents and sweeteners including MSG or aspartame. Your focus should be on whole natural foods, so any ultra-processed version should also be avoided.
Fruit
All natural, unprocessed, unsweetened fruit is allowed, but the following are particularly recommended for their low sugar, high fibre or nutrient content: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, pomegranates, papaya, grapefruit, avocado, tomato, lemon, lime, cantaloupe, nectarines, cherries, pineapple, watermelon, apricot and fresh figs.
Vegetables
You can eat any vegetables you like — although portions of starchy vegetables such as potatoes and parsnips should be moderate ones and avoid processed versions. French fries are out, baked potatoes are fine.
Grains
You can eat rice, gluten-free oats, corn and millet (you should avoid gluten during the three weeks because it can cause irritation of the gut lining). You can also have quinoa, buckwheat and amaranth, which are good gluten-free sources of carbohydrates.
Meat/eggs
Eat plenty of good-quality protein — chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, eggs and liver. Avoid processed meats. It’s important to go for high-quality, organic meat whenever possible.
Fish
You can eat any variety of fish, including tinned.
Legumes/pulses
They are a good way to keep you satisfied so all beans, lentils and peas are allowed, including organic tofu and tempeh.
Nuts/seeds
You can eat all unsalted, unflavoured nuts and seeds — including tahini and nut butter.
Dairy
Avoid dairy until week three, when you can add minimal amounts of goat or sheep’s milk, cheese and yoghurt to your diet.
Plant ‘milk’
You can have any unsweetened plant “milk”. Try to stick to hemp or nut milk over oat milks, except for in your daily coffee. Oat milk is fine in moderation, but it contains quickly absorbed sugars, so it’s best to minimise intake.
Spices/herbs
You can liven up your food with whichever herbs or spices you like.
Condiments
You can have vinegar, sugar-free mustard, tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), sugar-free salsa or tomato sauce, coconut milk, coconut oil, and cold pressed oils such as olive oil, avocado oil, sesame oil, nut oils etc.
Flours
Wheat isn’t allowed during these three weeks but you can have any flours made from chickpea, buckwheat, almond, coconut or rice. Avoid gluten-free flour mixes. Even supermarket bread that is labelled gluten free is to be avoided because it is often full of emulsifiers and other additives like sugar, flavouring and palm oil.
Coffee/tea
Coffee and tea are both allowed, but try to limit your intake to two each day. Caffeine can be a good brain stimulant in moderate doses, but high amounts can lead to dehydration, sleep disruption and irritate your stomach.
What not to eat for the next three weeks
• Ultra-processed foods
• Foods with added sugar, such as sweets, commercial baked goods, sugary cereals
• Sugary beverages
• Processed meats — eg salamis, sausages and burgers
• Any products, such as bread, containing gluten
• Cow’s milk
• Alcohol
Week one
Four days’ intermittent fasting
Most people have an eating window of about 15 hours per day. This means there are only nine hours of downtime for the body to digest, assimilate, repair and recover — which isn’t enough. The intermittent fasting (IF) method used in this programme is a 16:8 timed eating window.
During the programme, aim to eat your first meal between 10am and noon, and finish eating between 6pm and 8pm. That is, eat all your meals within an 8-hour window. If your first meal is not till noon, try a tonic of 500ml water with lemon juice and 1 tsp of cayenne first thing to boost energy levels. Your four days can be any days.
Week two
Five-day keto sprint
The traditional ketogenic diet recommends that more than 70 per cent of your calories should come from fat, with moderate protein and very little carbohydrate. The diet does have many benefits — it has been shown to reduce both insulin and the excess fat that is stored around our vital organs.
During the five days you should focus on healthy fats (avocado, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds); palm-sized portions of protein; unlimited non-starchy vegetables and a smaller-than-usual amount of fruit (about one cup a day of lower-sugar fruits such as berries, grapefruit and kiwi).
It doesn’t matter which day of the week you start on, but this needs to be done on consecutive days. It is then followed by another intermittent fasting cycle.
Week three
Four days’ intermittent fasting again
Finish the way you started with four days of intermittent fasting and otherwise sticking to the core foods.
Again, on the days you’re not using IF, aim to keep a 12-hour break between the final and first meal of the day. Build this into your routine as a general guideline once you’ve completed the programme to keep gut health and energy optimised.
Add these foods to boost your nutrition
Make sure you really up your intake of vital plant nutrients by eating as much as you can of these foods during the three weeks.
Antioxidant foods
Turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, blueberries and blackberries — which all contain phenolic acids. Tomato, pomegranate, watermelon — which all contain lycopene (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory).
Anti-inflammatory foods
Onions, citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables — which all contain quercetin (anti-inflammatory).
Antimicrobial foods
Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale — which all contain sulforaphane (anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial).
Flavenoid foods
Raw cacao, red cabbage, parsley — which all contain flavanols (which improve circulation and reduce cell damage).
Foods to boost blood sugar regulation
Green tea, cranberry, blackberry, kiwi, avocado, pistachio, pecans, which all contain EGCG (an anti-inflammatory compound).
Vegetables to support liver function
Carrots, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, spinach, beetroot — which contain alpha-lipoic acid (antioxidant, supports liver function, helps regulate blood sugar).
Prebiotic foods
Pomegranate, cranberry, walnut, pecan — which all contain ellagic acid.
Foods to support cognitive function
Egg yolk, liver, salmon, pasture-raised beef, nuts, cauliflower, broccoli — which all contain choline (memory, mood, muscle function and cognition).
More ways to boost metabolism
Exercise — anything as long as you are moving
Exercising is a core driver of metabolic health so keep moving during the programme.
Ensure you have one rest day, where your only movement is walking or yoga
On days you are doing intermittent fasting, aim to eat within two hours of finishing your workout. This means if your first meal is at 12pm, a 7am workout is not recommended so you don’t put additional stress on the body.
If you’re new to exercising, it’s important to get moving. Try to do six sessions a week – even if they are as short as 15 minutes. What matters is moving.
Try three cardio sessions (such as cycling, spinning, running, rowing, body-weight cardio classes and power walking) plus three strength-based sessions.
Daily breathwork for a few minutes — staying calm boosts digestion.
During the reset, try to commit to just five minutes of breathwork per day. It doesn’t need to be complicated — it can be as simple as sitting comfortably and breathing deeply, consciously and with your full focus.
Ideally it will be split into three separate sessions. One minute first thing in the morning, two minutes before lunch and three minutes before dinner.
Scheduling your breathwork before meals will have the added benefit of improving the stimulation of the cephalic phase of digestion. This is the sensory phase of digestion, which is triggered by the look, smell and anticipation of food and is responsible for the secretion and stimulation of a significant proportion of our digestive enzymes. If you would prefer to do your five minutes in one go, that’s fine.
Walk for an hour a day
Walking boosts mood, stimulates the lymphatic system, gets the gut moving and is an easy way to improve how your body metabolises sugar. For example, walking after a meal can result in a significant improvement in postprandial blood glucose because your muscles will use it up for energy.
During the programme, your goal should be to walk for at least one hour a day. That may sound a lot but it doesn’t need to be done in consecutive minutes, so you can break it up however you see fit.
Extracted from The Metabolic Reset: a 21-day Nutrition Plan to Improve Metabolism, Energy and More, which is available as an ebook for £30 from Artah. Also includes recipes.
Alternatively, you can subscribe to https://fasteasy.life/ where you input various details and it comes up with a plan and recipes and tracks you progress. Personally, I couldn’t really get into it and reviews are mixed ( FastEasy: Trustpilot). Something I did learn when I came to cancel my subscription and gave the reason as too expensive, they kept reducing the monthly subscription cost, so worth a try even if you continue.
Find out what small changes you make for a healthier life.
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