From 01 January 2021, it will be possible to have obesity surgery from a BMI of 30+ with concomitant type 2 diabetes. One of the prerequisites is that diabetes can no longer be safely controlled by conventional means. Only a few specialist clinics are authorised to perform such operations. This also includes the clinics of Swiss1Chirurgie, which offer such procedures in the Helvetia Holding AG network. Learn more about the BAG’s decision.
Overweight surgery possible from BMI 30 with diabetes as of 2021
Being overweight is not something to be trifled with. All those affected know this just as well as we do as medical specialists. For years, the experts at Swiss1Chirurgie have been observing the development of obesity in modern industrialised countries. It is becoming increasingly clear that the proportion of overweight people is growing. Associated with this are not only the individual restrictions and complaints. Healthy societies quickly become sick societies through an oversupply of food at any time in any place and correspondingly wrong nutritional behaviour, whose lack is above all abundance.
So far, health insurers and medical organisations, together with politicians in Switzerland, have agreed that surgical interventions to reduce weight are only possible for a BMI of 35 or higher and are financed accordingly. It was completely ignored that a BMI of 35 or more is already an enormously high value, which is already associated with numerous secondary diseases and complaints. Such concomitant diseases not only complicate the lives of the patients themselves, but are often also a clear obstacle in the preparation and implementation of necessary obesity surgery.
From 2021 the threshold is BMI 30
In accordance with the interventions of the medical specialists and a close observation of the development, the politicians together with the medical profession have decided to lower the threshold value for bariatric surgery in the context of obesity surgery now to a BMI of 30, provided that the patients are affected by diabetes at the same time.
This long overdue decision will benefit patients who, despite being diagnosed with obesity and the corresponding symptoms, were previously not included in the group of patients for whom obesity surgery was an option.
This means that a wide range of conditions closely related to obesity can be treated much sooner and necessary and desired surgical interventions can also be carried out. This will have a lasting impact on the quality of life of people with a BMI over 30 and diabetes, and ultimately reduce the proportion of severely overweight people, along with the social and economic costs.
Advantages especially for humans
The decisive advantages of this decision now lie above all with those people who, with a BMI of 30 or more and diabetes, are already clearly affected by morbid obesity. Now the suffering of these people can be significantly shortened. This is also because it obviously does not make sense to wait for an enormously high BMI of 35 and more until a surgical intervention for weight reduction is made possible by the regulations.
A major advantage of this decision is that the extent of overweight and the associated concomitant and secondary diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and arthrosis can be significantly reduced. The psychological suffering can also be significantly shortened and patients with a BMI of 30 or more with diabetes may now place themselves in the hands of the experienced specialists in obesity surgery. The Swiss1Chirurgie clinics are among the specialist medical clinics that will be authorised to perform surgical procedures to reduce excess weight from a BMI of 30 with diabetes from 01.01.2021.
Determine your BMI here and find out whether and under what conditions you belong to the circle of possible candidates for obesity surgery.
In addition, we recommend that all severely overweight people contact a Swiss1Chirurgie clinic. By doing so, you will take the first step towards a better, healthier future in 2021 and use the possibilities of modern medicine to improve your life.
Those who suffer from morbid obesity look for quick solutions. The use of a gastric balloon promises such a quick solution. However, such a gastric balloon is nothing more than a “crutch” in the treatment of obesity. The obesity experts at Swiss1Chirurgie, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery ZfbC and the Gastroenterology Group Practice Bern know this. In the detailed article, the benefits of bariatric surgery are contrasted with the rapid effects of a gastric balloon. Here is the full report.
The gastric balloon – the best way to cheat yourself?
Why a gastric balloon is the worse alternative to bariatric surgery?
Those who suffer permanently from severe overweight and feel stigmatised by their social environment often look for quick solutions to reduce their body weight. People affected by obesity and the associated concomitant and secondary diseases want effective measures and treatments to change their life situation. The so-called gastric balloon promises such a quick remedy. Without any surgical intervention, without restrictive diets, in the wrong perception and even without a change in exercise behaviour, a quick weight reduction could be achieved with a gastric balloon. But the first impression is just as deceptive as the first successes.
How the gastric balloon works
The gastric balloon promises quick success in losing weight. Find out why this is only half the truth in the detailed article by the obesity experts at Swiss1Chirurgie.
The gastric balloon is usually inserted into the stomach by means of gastroscopy and filled with a saline solution in the same procedure. Recently, some centres have also been promoting a “swallowable” version – the balloon is swallowed and filled via a tube – without the need for a gastroscopy. This installs a foreign body in the stomach that significantly reduces the stomach volume available for food intake.
As a result, a feeling of satiety is produced even after eating comparatively small amounts of food, but this can be very deceptive. Because of this early onset of satiety, many patients think they can lose weight quickly, easily and permanently with the intragastric balloon without surgery. However, this is often accompanied by complaints such as nausea and frequent vomiting, which indirectly help to lose weight in a rather unpleasant way.
In fact, there are reports that the gastric balloon can be used to lose ten to 25 kilograms over a reasonable period of time. It should be remembered, however, that efficient weight loss attempts are less about quantity and more about the quality of the food. Anyone who consumes very high-calorie drinks, fatty foods or a lot of sugar-heavy food to satisfy their needs after the insertion of a gastric balloon will not automatically achieve success even with the reduced mass. Without a consistent change in diet and exercise, attempts to lose weight are hardly successful in the long term, even with the gastric balloon. Especially since a gastric balloon can only ever be used temporarily.
Self-deception with a system
Experts in the treatment of obesity speak of self-deception with a system when favouring a gastric balloon for weight reduction. After all, such a gastric balloon is a foreign body in the stomach and at best something like a crutch in the treatment of obesity. And a crutch is not a leg on which you can stand safely.
It is also worth considering that the gastric balloon is not a permanent solution. Depending on the quality, such a gastric balloon can remain in the stomach for a maximum of 3, 6 or, more recently, 12 months and must then be removed. Although a new intragastric balloon can be placed immediately, this only continues the actual self-deception.
From the reports of those affected, it can also be learned that in addition to some good successes, a large number of negative experiences can also be registered. This ranges from persistent nausea to spontaneous vomiting to an unpleasant feeling of fullness, which does not contribute to the patients’ well-being. If the intragastric balloon is worn for the recommended maximum period of six months, there is a risk that the balloon will lose the saline solution, which in itself is not tragic. Much more dangerous is that the then flaccid envelope of the balloon can migrate into the intestine and lead to a dangerous intestinal obstruction.
Bariatric surgery is the better methodology
Given the problems associated with the use of a gastric balloon, bariatric surgery is the better option in the vast majority of cases in patients with BMI over 30 kg/m2 with diabetes, or in patients with BMI over 35 kg/m2 without diabetes. The preferred methods are stomach reduction by forming a tube stomach or gastric bypass. Such interventions aim to consistently and permanently reduce the volume of the stomach or to virtually bypass the stomach. Both methods involve surgical procedures, but these are now performed as minimally invasive laporoscopic operations. In addition to the bariatric operations, further therapeutic offers are provided with the aim of achieving and securing long-term success in weight reduction. This means that in the vast majority of cases, surgical intervention is the better, more reliable and permanently more successful way to treat morbid obesity in the long term.
When the use of a gastric balloon can be useful
Even if a gastric balloon does not appear to be a target for long-term weight reduction, it can still be a sensible temporary solution in individual cases. For example, if a surgical intervention is not (yet) an option because of a very high excess weight. Then the gastric balloon can help to achieve a weight reduction that makes surgery possible. But that’s all.
If we consider once again that the intragastric balloon is basically a foreign body that can only be used temporarily and is ultimately only a “crutch” for weight loss, the intragastric balloon is ruled out as a long-term and efficient solution to the problem of obesity.
Counselling ensures best treatment results
Anyone who is confronted with the physical, social and psychological impairments caused by morbid obesity should seek specialist medical advice and professional care. A good place to start may be the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery ZfbC or the Gastroenterology Group Practice in Bern. Here, patients are advised in detail, individually and openly about the chances, risks and possibilities of permanent weight reduction. Obesity experts are always concerned with long-term solutions and less with quick but less reliable success.
In a special consultation at Swiss1Chirurgie, patients also learn in which rather rare cases the temporary use of a gastric balloon in preparation for bariatric surgery can be useful. At the same time, however, it is always made clear that the use of a gastric balloon can never be the permanently helpful solution to a pathological obesity problem.
Adipositas-Podcast.ch – Know what’s what
With the obesity podcast, you can find the latest and essential information on obesity, its origins, development, consequences and treatment options at adipositas-podcast.ch. Here, real experts talk about the causes and development of morbid obesity, which, with its manifestations such as overweight, cardiovascular diseases, shortness of breath, organ diseases, diabetes, limited mobility and performance as well as social stigmatisation, severely restricts the lives of those affected. On adipositas-podcast.ch we always want to inform you professionally and comprehensively and at the same time show you ways to break the vicious circle of obesity.
One can accept obesity as a seemingly inevitable fate and surrender defencelessly to the dire consequences. But in the same way, obesity can also be understood in its development and ways can be found to return to a self-determined, happy and desirable life. What is your path?
Listen to experts from Swiss1Chirurgie, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery or the Gastroenterological Group Practice Bern and learn what obesity is, what it means for an individual’s life and which paths lead out of the disease. In this way, you will gain valuable knowledge that can significantly accompany your own path out of obesity. Testimonials from patients and sufferers and the knowledge of obesity experts will help you find your own way out of the fatal obesity career and lead a healthier and happier life.
Fatty liver, non-alcoholic fatty liver, liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, hepatitis as infection of the liver and many other liver diseases are common. It is estimated that the proportion of people diagnosed with fatty liver in developed European countries is around 20 percent, with a certain number of unreported cases, as mild and symptom-free courses of the disease are hardly recognised.
A distinction is made between three degrees of severity of fatty liver, initially regardless of whether it is alcoholic or non-alcoholic.
Mild fatty liver – In this case, less than one third of the liver cells are affected by excessive fatty degeneration.
Moderate fatty liver – At this stage, a proportion of less than two-thirds but more than one-third of the liver is already excessively fatty.
Severe fatty liver – In this degree of severity of fatty liver disease, more than two thirds of the liver cells are already excessively fatty.
Fatty liver cells result from the storage of fat in the liver cells, which ultimately significantly impairs the function of the liver as an important organ. Consequential diseases or concomitant diseases such as diabetes are not excluded, but are often a complication caused by the disturbed fat metabolism in the liver.
The severity of fatty liver disease can be determined by examining a tissue sample from the liver. In the process, a tiny part is taken from the organ and subjected to a fine-tissue examination. Examinations of the cholesterol level or the blood lipid values also provide valuable information.
A healthy liver promotes a healthy life
Alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver?
Many liver diseases are diagnosed in close association with the excessive consumption of alcohol. Anyone who is more familiar with the chemical composition of alcohol knows that it is a modified form of sugar, i.e. carbohydrates. An excess of carbohydrates is deposited in the body as fat and finds its place especially in the liver. Accordingly, many chronic alcoholics are affected by liver diseases up to severe forms.
But also, and this should be a cause for concern, a large proportion of non-alcohol-related liver diseases are spreading in society. Such manifestations of fatty liver are mainly due to wrong eating and living habits, which are mainly represented by excessively fatty and sugary diets. What the body cannot process, it not only deposits in the fat depots of the lower skin layers, but also in the liver, which then leads to fatty liver.
What to do for fatty liver?
Once an alcoholic fatty liver has been diagnosed, the only thing that helps is a strict and consistent renunciation of alcohol. Only the radical renunciation of alcoholic beverages can still offer a spark of hope that the consequences of alcohol abuse on liver health can still be mitigated.
In the case of non-alcoholic fatty liver, the chances of recovery are relatively good, depending on the severity. What is important is a consistent change in diet combined with more active exercise. This change can be supported by so-called liver fasting, which we will look at in more detail in a separate section. In principle, it is always important to prevent scarring of the liver tissue, which is referred to in medical terminology as cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis of the liver is beyond repair and represents a dangerous structural change in the liver tissue that cannot be reversed.
Once a fatty liver has been diagnosed, depending on its severity, it is important to make actual changes to halt and, if possible, reverse the process of fatty liver. Half-hearted measures help relatively little. Also because a relapse into old lifestyle and dietary habits will always lead to progressive damage to the liver.
Treatment of fatty liver with medication or surgery is not possible. In the case of a fatty liver, the only thing that can help is to tackle the causes, which are to be found either in excessive alcohol consumption, in the wrong diet that is too rich in fat, or in a combination of both. Some rare forms of fatty liver are due to medication or other episodes, but are negligible in this paper.
Who is affected?
If you follow the statistics, about 20 percent of our society is affected by non-alcoholic fatty liver. The age of patients ranges from 40 to 60 years, with women being affected by fatty liver slightly more often than men.
It is noteworthy that many patients with fatty liver are significantly overweight (obesity) or already suffer from diabetes in various stages. Elevated blood lipid levels are as common as the occurrence of metabolic syndrome.
Even if the actual causes of a fatty liver have not yet been fully researched, it can be assumed that there is basically a disproportion between energy intake and energy consumption. This means that in the long term or permanently, significantly more calories are supplied to the body than are actually consumed.
Even though fatty liver is often associated with alcohol abuse in the general perception, the proportion of non-alcoholic fatty liver is much higher than that of alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Liver fasting according to Dr. Worm – a good therapy for non-alcoholic fatty liver
A liver fast according to Dr. Worm is an effective means of individually and successfully combating fatty liver. Even without a specific medical diagnosis, but especially after a diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver, liver fasting according to Dr. Worm offers excellent possibilities for a targeted and healthy defatting of the liver without overtaxing the organism. However, it must also be said that any form of dietary nutrition, including liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, does not work without renunciation and one’s own will.
This is how liver fasting according to Dr. Worm works
Dr. Nicolai Worm is one of the best-known nutritionists of our time. Based on years of experience in nutritional counselling and supported by current scientific findings, Dr. Worm has developed liver fasting with Hepafast together with the nutritional physician Dr. Hardy Walle, MD. Such a diet is by no means new territory, but is based on the experience of many decades of research, science and practice.
The special thing about the Hepafast cure is that it specifically addresses the requirements and physical circumstances related to a fatty liver. This means that with the targeted Hepafast liver fasting cure, which is limited to a few weeks, the fat levels of the liver can be specifically influenced.
If the liver fasting cure according to Dr. Worm is carried out correctly, the fat metabolism is naturally influenced, which in the majority of cases also leads to a general weight loss. Both the blood fat values and the liver fat values recover noticeably, the success of liver fasting can be observed and experienced by the person doing it. Unlike many other diets, the feared yo-yo effect is not to be expected, as the Dr. Worm liver fast is not a starvation diet, but is accompanied by valuable ingredients in an easy-to-prepare drink.
Of course, liver fasting with Hepafast makes no sense if the diet and lifestyle in general are not changed at the same time. However, as Hepafast works naturally and is filling, continued excessive food intake is neither felt nor factually necessary. The affected persons therefore eat more sensibly and healthily, do not have to starve themselves and simply supplement their diet with Hepafast. This leads to a significant decrease in fat levels and thus to improved health, which is also noticeable in performance after just a few weeks.
When is liver fasting according to Dr. Worm useful?
In principle, liver fasting according to Dr. Worm always makes sense at the latest when symptoms of a fatty liver are noticed. However, a fatty liver in the first degree of severity is not associated with any individual complaints and is therefore usually not even noticed.
It is good that liver fasting according to Dr. Worm can also be carried out preventively, without deficiency symptoms or too abrupt changes in lifestyle. Step by step, users can familiarise themselves with the mode of action of liver fasting and are then guided themselves to make their lifestyle and eating habits more sensible.
Liver fasting according to Dr. Worm is particularly recommended after the cold season. In winter, most people exercise a little less anyway, rich and fatty food is often part of everyday life in winter, and around Christmas and spring is the best time to activate the body again. Especially since Lent is in full swing then anyway. In addition, liver fasting according to Dr. Worm with Hepafast can be used practically any time of the year.
This is how liver fasting with Hepafast works
In many years of nutritional research, Dr. Nicolai Worm and Dr. Hardy Walle, MD, have put together a formula that has a measurably positive effect on liver fat values. The special composition and easy handling of the Hepafast liver cure helps to boost fat burning and successfully reduce the storage of fat in the liver cells. Finally, the ingredients of the Hepafast cure also have an effect on the fats already stored in the liver and can effectively break them down.
A prerequisite for a successful liver fasting cure with Hepafast remains a sensible change in lifestyle and dietary habits. Hepafast is not a miracle cure, but a nutritionally compounded support for defatting the liver and for overall better eating habits. Accordingly, Hepafast is not a food supplement, but replaces part of the diet with liver-active components when used as intended.
In concrete terms, this may mean that lunch or another meal is replaced by a Hepafast Shake prepared as intended. There is no need to fear a feeling of hunger, as Hepafast is satiating and at the same time can break down fat molecules in the body. The fear of an unbalanced diet or malnutrition is also not justified, as other meals can also be taken when using Hepafast, which then contain the substances required by the body. A Bodymed Hepafast liver cure is not a diet that focuses primarily on renunciation, but rather a targeted influence on fat burning in the body. Ideally, Hepafast not only helps burn fat cells, but can also promote weight loss. In addition, the effects of liver fasting with Hepafast boost the body’s own forces and energies, which can generally lead to an improved sense of well-being and higher performance. It is important to know that in liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, the focus is not on radical or large-scale weight loss, but on naturally flawless liver function.
Experience reports with Bodymed Hepafast Liver Fasting according to Dr. Worm
Years after the first introduction of liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, there are thousands of enthusiastic and successful users who have not only been able to reduce the degree of liver fatty degeneration, but also to take preventive action against possible liver fatty degeneration. And that with relatively little effort and sacrifice, but a liver-healthy dietary pattern that is excellently supported by Hepafast.
In the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics, we also support and recommend liver fasting out of the knowledge that overweight people in particular often suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver, even if they do not always feel it immediately. Healthy liver function plays a significant role in well-being. Conversely, a balanced, varied and healthy diet always promotes liver health. This can be supported very well with Hepafast liver fasting according to Dr. Worm.
Here are some feedbacks from people who regularly do the liver fasting according to Dr. Worm.
“As a player and as a coach, I have been paying a lot of attention to my diet for years. I tried out many different ideas and projects to be able to talk to my players about performance optimisation.
3 years ago I consciously detoxified my liver for the first time on recommendation. I was curious to see what the body would do to me. 14 days of iron discipline. Protein shake, vegetables, counting calories was the routine that accompanied me every day.
The result: 5 kilos lost, vital, motivated, dreams, fit in spirit, conscious handling of nutrition and real enjoyment. Not once did I feel hungry. I was allowed to get to know many interesting, creative menus. In short, “it was worth it.”
I can highly recommend liver fasting with a clear conscience. Bottom line: do something good for yourself while you wait for happiness.”
Martin Andermatt, football player and coaching legend
“Thanks to liver fasting, I experienced unique things at the beginning of each of the last years.
Whether on a snowshoe tour through the Ottmar Hitzfeld GsponArena or in the home office, whether at the CSI event in Basel or the Lauberhorn Races in Wengen, 14 days changed my consciousness with liver fasting. For 14 days, the perfect-tasting Bodymed shake was my faithful companion and made every single day a pleasure.
I was able to experience positive things: Better well-being, deeper sleep, reduced fatigue, healthy eating, weight loss. And liver fasting brings even more welcoming side effect – it saves valuable time, is easy on the wallet and helps you learn new cooking habits.
“Liver fasting means 5 star health for me.”
And who knows, with a little luck, the intense dreams will come true thanks to liver fasting … “
Fabian Furrer
“I treat myself to a liver fasting course of Hepafast once or twice a year. With a BMI of 24, I do this not to regulate my weight, but because it means wellness for my body. I feel much fresher after the cure, which is also confirmed by my blood values (cholesterol and liver values). The most important thing for me, however, is that I don’t have to go hungry at any time with the Hepafast cure! The shakes taste good and give a good feeling of satiety. The recommended meals are easy to prepare and bring a lot of variety into the diet. And last but not least: I’m on the road a lot, but I can easily take the shakes and vegetable snacks with me and prepare and enjoy them “on the go”.”
Markus Fuhrer
“I am very satisfied with the liver fasting according to Dr. Worm, Hepafast, which was prescribed to me by Dr. Jörg Zehetner, MD. My laboratory values, especially cholesterol, are now all at a good level and I have lost 15 kg in one year because my eating habits have changed after the fast. I will repeat the cure every spring to stay in shape.”
Erika Fuhrer
Now, the series of experiences with Hepafast and a liver fast according to Dr. Worm could be extended almost indefinitely. However, we are of the opinion that only one’s own trial and error with one’s own personal experiences in liver fasting is really useful and meaningful.
Accordingly, we at Swiss1Chirurgie recommend that you make your own experiences with liver fasting according to Dr. Worm. “Because there is nothing good unless you do it!”
You will receive appropriate professional and medical advice on liver fasting according to Dr. Worm with Hepafast gladly and in detail in every Swiss1Chirurgie clinic and also in the other affiliated clinics within Helvetia Holding AG.
The need for information on medical issues is growing. Especially those affected who face medical questions and problems also look for answers to their individual questions on the internet. Unfortunately, the online information from the search engine results of Google and Co. is not always accurate and in many cases not sufficiently well-founded. As a result, many people move in a grey area between self-diagnosis with not always reliable information and the need for a profound and, above all, factually correct diagnosis by the respective medical specialists.
The experts at Swiss1Chirurgie have long recognised the need for comprehensive and, above all, professional information and offer comprehensive information options on specialist medical questions in the respective service areas on the websites of Swiss1Chirurgie, the Centre for Bariatric Surgery ZFBC, the Gastroenterology Group Practice GGP Bern and the Bern Clinic PZBE.
Swiss1Chirurgie Podcasts – Listening instead of reading
The podcasts, which are offered on the initiative and under the content supervision of Dr. Jörg Zehetner, are a relatively new information service for the medical layperson but also for specialist colleagues.
This means that there is also a professional information service for those affected, who can get an initial overview of diagnoses, medical interventions, surgical techniques and aftercare as well as accompanying services.
Podcasts on the following topics are currently available:
Medical knowledge – Obesity (Complex bariatric surgery)
Medical expertise and expert advice on Radio Bern1
Swiss1Chirurgie informs patients and endocrinologists (overweight surgery possible from BMI 30 with diabetes)
Gastric balloon only a “crutch” for overweight patients
Inguinal hernias and modern 3-D net care
Abdominal wall hernias, closure with net insertion
Further podcasts are in the works and are constantly expanding the range of information for patients but also for referring doctors.
With the podcasts, Swiss1Chirurgie, as an obesity expert centre and hernia centre, has created an extended information option that makes knowledge available and at the same time provides the appropriate recommendations.
It is important to note that those affected by a surgical problem can also contact the Swiss1Chirurgie clinics in Bern, Brig and Solothurn directly at any time. In this way, well-founded diagnoses can be made for individual “suspicious cases”, which enable professional further treatment.
Those in need of information about the services offered by Swiss1Chirurgie are invited to make use of the free Swiss1Chirurgie podcast offer. Knowing what is is always better than guessing what could be.
Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner on the problem of obesity and what it means for those affected.
As part of the lecture series of Helvetius Holding AG, Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner, Professor USC, took a stand on the stigmatisation of overweight people and the resulting consequences for those affected. In his lecture in the Saaser-Stube Saas-Fee, the experienced physician, who also deals intensively with obesity problems, described the circumstances that obesity patients have to live with practically every day.
They are among us
At the beginning of the lecture, Dr Zehetner made it clear that practically everyone knows the overweight. In one’s own family, in one’s circle of friends or in the circle of colleagues, they exist everywhere and the number of those affected is constantly increasing. And the lives of patients with obesity are not easy.
Where stigmatisation begins
Look at the fat guy! Oh, she’s fat. The fat man should exercise more. Look what he’s got in his shopping basket, and he’s already fat enough.
This is how the stigmatisation of overweight people begins. Without asking why or wherefore, without taking into account how people are personally affected, they are consciously or unconsciously pigeonholed into a category in which they neither belong nor can free themselves from it. Besides the flippant remarks, there are also those that really hurt and don’t help the people concerned at all.
Reduce prejudices
Anyone who has studied the problems of obesity and adiposity in depth knows that those affected suffer greatly from their current life situation. A first step towards at least reducing this unfortunate situation would be to dismantle popular prejudices. It’s always the best moment for that.
The fight against obesity requires a professional network
Hardly any overweight person with a serious problem will be able to successfully face the disease alone in the long term. Even though overweight surgery is now a proven and successful means of fighting the extra pounds, it requires targeted networking before, during and after the medical intervention. For this purpose, a professional network has been established under the umbrella of Helvetius Holding AG, which provides advice, support and assistance to patients in all phases.
Large social alliance against stigmatisation necessary
The topic of obesity is present everywhere. Not only in everyday life, but also in the media, people are encountering this topic more and more frequently and intensively, in addition to the commonly known jokes and remarks about being overweight. From stigmatisation, the path to discrimination is usually a very short one. Obese people are associated with a conceptual world that is anything but pleasant or appreciative. Especially when you don’t know these people personally. This stigmatisation extends far into the personal and social lives of those affected. Even professional life is not excluded. To change this, a large social consensus is needed.
Steps out of stigmatisation
If the spiral of stigmatisation and discrimination against overweight people is to be broken, a clear line is needed. And this begins precisely where obesity is understood as a disease and thus also as treatable and curable. Only then can an active approach be made to these people, who can then actively face their problems themselves without having to continue to hide.
A further step would be to significantly rethink the approach to these patients. And in every area of life and in every encounter with overweight people. Only when the stigma is taken away from these people will they themselves be able to actively enter into the process of their recovery. Dignity, respect and tolerance are exactly the right keywords here.
It is important to also perceive overweight people as valuable members of our society and to recognise that they are not lazy, sedentary, unpleasant and low performers, but sick. And something can be done about diseases, including morbid obesity.
Define obesity as a disease
Anyone who takes a closer look at overweight and obesity will quickly be able to understand them as actual diseases. As with any organic disease, there are clear definitions and developments, but also therapeutic interventions that clearly speak for a clinical picture. A first indication of this is the division into different classifications of overweight, starting from the Body Mass Index, BMI.
Although obesity surgery is a helpful intervention, it does not by itself solve the problem. Being morbidly overweight is and remains a chronic disease that requires lifelong attention, but not disparaging stigmatisation.
More in-depth information on the topic is available in the video recording of the lecture (LINK) and directly on the Swiss1Chirurgie website.
Whether at the football pitch or in the bar, men don’t hide their beer belly, but the 10-15kg overweight is proudly carried in front of them. No one should make fun of it, but the topic must be addressed and discussed with sensitivity. People like to keep quiet about their supposed beer belly, even at the doctor’s, even at physiotherapy or during sports.
“Male obesity”. This cannot simply be categorised as “gluttony” or “self-indulgence”. Male obesity has as many causes as it has manifestations. It primarily affects men from middle age onwards, who (like women) are undergoing a particular type of metabolic change.
Recording from 3.9.2021 ” Saaserhof” in Saas-Fee Overweight: Beer Belly & Love Dumbbells as a Danger? by J. Zehetner, MD
Chapter selection : Start video Select menu bar at the bottom right or the dots!
Particularly with increasing age, the body strives for developmental reasons to store food reserves as fat reserves, so to speak, in order to provide for possible shortages. Especially for men who consume fewer calories than they take in due to their occupation or limited exercise, this quickly leads to unwanted excess weight. Organic processes in particular play an important role here, which cannot be “switched off” so easily.
While there is often talk of dieting and smaller portions, the topic of alcohol and alcohol consumption is talked down, ridiculed and negated, especially among men. However, liquid foods such as beer and wine contain many hidden calories that are not readily counted. The energy drinks that have become fashionable, various shakes and also protein shakes (although healthy) are also energy suppliers and usually high in calories. Fruit juices and smoothies in particular are easily consumed on the side without thinking about how much sugar is being consumed.
Obesity is now more common than malnutrition worldwide. The real problem is predominantly to be observed in the western industrialised countries, since it is precisely here that there is an ever-increasing oversupply of food at all times. The obesity rate in the USA, for example, is around 35-40 percent of the population, which is a fact that should not be underestimated. This means an overweight of at least 20 kilograms, or a BMI of 30 or more. This is also the case despite the surgical intervention options, although these methods in particular can now be classified as very safe and successful. Nevertheless, the rate of surgical interventions needed in this particular area is far too low.
The topic of beer bellies – as the starting point of the discussion – is not only about informing the population and professional colleagues accordingly. Rather, I see it as important to educate about the modern treatment options of bariatric treatment methods up to surgery. The primary aim is always to help patients according to their individual starting situation.
Information on the topic of obesity
It is important to understand that obesity is always associated with concomitant diseases. Diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnoea, high cholesterol – all these manifest themselves in the environment of obesity. But there is also another aspect that has emerged, especially in recent years. The point is that people who are overweight are simply stigmatised. At school, at work and even in private life, overweight people are described as lazy, fat, greedy, careless and lazy about exercise. This puts additional stress on those affected and does not help to tackle the problem in a targeted and conscious way. Significant overweight has been defined as a disease since 2013 at the latest. This puts morbid obesity in the same category as diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and many other chronic diseases.
The stigmatisation of obesity is extremely dangerous for patients, as they then withdraw and cannot address their actual problem in a targeted and active way. Professional treatment, counselling and support is the surest way out of obesity.
Everyone is challenged to exercise some restraint in their contact with morbidly obese people, both in their choice of words and in their behaviour. Even if it’s “only” about the supposed beer belly.
Why specifically “men who are overweight”?
Yes, women also suffer from morbid obesity. But men do it in a special way. There are now “curvy models” for women, but not for men. And men by nature already tend to eat the slightly larger portions, even if that seems to be gradually declining. The world view was and still is such that a belly is always subconsciously associated with prosperity. Also in modern industrial societies. The dangers are mostly conscious, but are only realised when they are actually there, visible and sometimes already tangible.
In addition, after a certain stage of life at the latest, men do not have this special view of their appearance that many women have. The actual problem is not recognised, or is recognised only very late, and is then gladly accepted as natural. This means that they don’t have to go to the doctor, and the obesity surgeon is an unknown quantity for many of those affected. Therefore, men in particular must be sensitised to actively face this problem.
What starts with a beer belly that is not taken seriously often ends in an overweight catastrophe, unless the right steps are taken in time, for example to a Swiss1Chirurgie clinic.
Dr. med. Michaela Neagu FMH Gastroenterology and Internal Medicine GGP Bern
In a lecture by the gastroenterological group practice GGP Bern AG (a company of Helvetius Holding AG), the gastroenterologist Dr. med. Michaela Neagu illustrates the connections between fatty liver and diabetes. Following the lecture, it becomes clear that fatty liver and diabetes form a vicious circle in which both diseases trigger and drive each other. In addition to diagnostics and the effects on overall health, the lecture also opens up a clear picture of how the course of the disease can be successfully influenced and, in the best case, reversed. We have made the lecture by Dr Michaela Neagu available in text form, but also as a video lecture and as a PowerPoint presentation. You can find out more here.
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Fatty liver disease and diabetes mellitus – are there correlations?
The experts at Helvetius Holding AG clarify
In a lecture by GGP Bern AG, Dr. med. Michaela Neagu presented the connections between fatty liver disease and diabetes mellitus. This is less about medical jargon and more about educating people about what a fatty liver is, what it means for people’s lives and whether there is a connection to diabetes mellitus.
Dr Michaela Neagu is a specialist in gastroenterology (gastrointestinal diseases) and general internal medicine in the Gastroenterology Group Practice Bern, a partner of Helvetius Holding AG, and has extensive experience and expertise in her specialist field.
In her lecture, Michaela Neagu, MD, highlights the clear connections between fatty liver and diabetes mellitus.
The fatty liver disease
Basically, a distinction is made between alcoholic fatty liver disease and non-alcoholic (metabolic) fatty liver disease. As the different names suggest, one form of fatty liver disease is related to excessive alcohol consumption, the other has nothing to do with alcohol consumption. In addition, there are manifestations such as viral liver diseases, autoimmune diseases, iron storage disorders and other conditions that promote fatty liver disease or make it possible in the first place.
Worldwide, about 25 percent of the population is affected by fatty liver disease. This makes fatty liver the most common liver disease of all. Among diabetics themselves, about 30 to 40 percent have a fatty liver. Also, about half of patients with severe dyslipidemia suffer from fatty liver disease.
How does a fatty liver develop?
A fatty liver occurs when the capacity of the liver cells to absorb fat is exceeded. This causes fat to be deposited in the liver itself, which can no longer be broken down by the liver. The accumulation of fat in the liver cells causes these cells to become inflamed and then send out messenger substances that inhibit the supply of insulin to the liver. Eventually, a kind of insulin resistance develops, so that insulin cannot work in the body as nature intended.
As a result, hyperglycaemia occurs in the body. This sends out a stimulus that causes even more insulin to be produced. The increased insulin level then further leads to increased fat absorption, fat synthesis and fat storage as well. This creates a cycle of action that deposits more and more fat in the liver, but also generally increases fat storage in the body far beyond normal levels.
What do people affected by fatty liver notice?
It is sobering to note that about half of all those affected live practically asymptomatic and accordingly do not worry at all about their liver health, for example. On the one hand, this may have a calming effect, but on the other hand, it is an alarm signal that effective therapeutic interventions only start late, usually very late.
Some patients experience general but rather non-specific fatigue. A certain faintness and perhaps once undifferentiated slight pain in the upper abdomen indicate that a serious condition could be present here. Mostly, however, this is not taken seriously by the patients themselves.
As a result, in most cases the fatty liver remains an incidental finding that only comes to light during the treatment of other diseases. This could be, for example, elevated liver values during a health check or visible changes in the liver during a standard ultrasound examination.
In general, there is a risk that untreated fatty liver can progress to cirrhosis. At the latest then, those affected realise that their liver is sick. Typical signs are then the well-known large water belly, certain bypass circuits in the organism and other signs come very late, however. In practice, everything is possible with the clinical picture of fatty liver, from no symptoms to severe and dangerous courses of the disease.
Between 50 and 90 percent of people with fatty liver are obese, i.e. clearly overweight. Signs of a metabolic syndrome are recognisable.
How can a fatty liver be diagnosed with certainty?
A few years ago, biopsy was the method of choice when the condition of the liver cells needed to be determined more precisely. To do this, a needle is inserted directly into the organ and a small tissue sample is taken. This tissue sample can then be further examined for fatty liver cells.
Thanks to advances in medical technology, we can now diagnose fatty liver without a biopsy in 90 percent of cases. With different imaging methods such as ultrasound or computer tomography, absolutely painless examinations can be carried out today without interfering with the body. Thanks to the excellent presentation, the fat content in the liver can be determined comparatively well with reliable values.
The basis for the evaluation of the ultrasound examinations is, for example, a comparison of liver and kidney tissue. If both organs are healthy, they have approximately the same structure and colour in the image. If the kidney tissue appears darker than that of the liver, then the lighter parts in the liver indicate fat deposits. In this way, a fatty liver can already be recognised with a fairly high degree of certainty.
If the specialists then decide to take a tissue sample, usually to exclude or detect additional liver diseases, the differences become even clearer. A healthy liver consists of neatly arranged and clearly differentiated cells. In fatty liver, the disturbance of the cell architecture due to the fatty deposits is clearly visible. This becomes even more obvious in the case of a pronounced fatty liver with infected cells.
What is the path to fatty liver
From a healthy liver to a fatty liver always takes time and certain circumstances. Various unfavourable factors cause fat storage in the liver cells, which can then further lead to infection in the liver itself. It doesn’t have to be, but it can be. However, when such an infection takes place, a certain remodelling in the connective tissue is driven forward, which can lead to complete scarring of the liver if left untreated. Then the stage of liver cirrhosis has already been reached. Liver cirrhosis, in turn, is a favourable factor for the development of liver cancer. This applies to about two percent of those affected. But even when liver cirrhosis has not yet been diagnosed, more and more cases of liver cancer in fatty liver are becoming known. And in the USA, fatty liver is now considered the most common reason for liver transplantation.
A look at diabetes mellitus
Usually we are talking about diabetes here. This is diagnosed when chronically elevated sugar levels are found in the blood. The body is over-sugared, so to speak. The factors that cause high blood glucose levels are a reduction in the effect of insulin and, in the course of time, often an insulin deficiency.
Currently, about six percent of the world’s population, including children, are affected by diabetes. In children, type 1 diabetes is mostly observed. With the increase in morbid obesity, also in children, type 2 is also becoming more common. Diabetes can be diagnosed in a very reliable and uncomplicated way in various test procedures.
What does diabetes mellitus mean for people’s lives?
The presence of diabetes mellitus is actually associated with serious risks and consequences for the health and life of those affected. One problem is the damage to the small veins. This mainly affects the kidneys, the retina of the eye and the nervous system. The range extends from relatively mild kidney problems to complete kidney failure requiring dialysis. In the case of retinal diseases, such disorders can lead to blindness due to diabetes mellitus. In terms of damage to the nervous system, there is a loss of certain sensory impressions, which can manifest itself, for example, in patients no longer being able to feel the ground beneath their feet. Problems with coordination and spatial position change are also observed. Gastrointestinal disorders with diarrhoea and other symptoms are also reported. Cardiac arrhythmias can complete the picture.
In addition to damage to the small veins, damage to the large veins is also a consequence of diabetes mellitus. Particularly worth mentioning here are coronary heart diseases. At least here, the risk of diabetes patients is significantly higher compared to the normal population. For diabetics, this risk can be assessed as about twice as high. A full 75 percent of diabetics die from a cardiovascular event.
The risk of suffering a stroke is also about 2.5 times higher than in the comparison group of people without diabetes. A circulatory disorder, especially in the legs, has a risk of 4.5 times more than in the comparison group. The diabetic foot is well known, which is caused by precisely these circulatory disorders and can even lead to the necessary amputation.
Diabetes mellitus also generally increases the risk of infection in relation to practically all infectious diseases.
The relationship of fatty liver and diabetes mellitus
What is special about the relationship between fatty liver disease and diabetes mellitus is the fact that both diseases can be mutual and reciprocal triggers as well as consequences of the other disease. This means: fatty liver patients are or often become diabetics and diabetics often suffer from fatty liver. So there is a causal relationship between fatty liver and diabetes.
Let us imagine a possible course of events: An initially physically completely healthy and normal person begins to gain weight for various reasons. Fat tissue increases and at some point the ability to store fat is exhausted. This then leads to a veritable flooding of the entire organism with free fatty acids. At some point, the organism becomes resistant to the effect of insulin and hyperglycaemia occurs. Now the question arises: Where to put the sugar?
Some of the free fatty acids are deposited in the liver cells, where they lead to the fatty liver already described. This significantly limits the liver’s ability to metabolise healthy fats. In addition, there is an increasingly pronounced insulin residual tendency, which in turn affects blood sugar in the interaction and ultimately leads to type 2 diabetes. Other effects are always included here, such as high blood pressure, disorders of the function of the pancreas, etc.
The mutual condition of fatty liver and diabetes creates a vicious circle that is difficult to break, and then only with radical methodology.
What can be done?
At least up to a body mass index BMI of 30, maximum 35, it is still possible to take countermeasures and something should be done actively. It is worth noting that the fatty liver is reversible, i.e. it can also be regressed. Even if liver infection has already occurred, the process can still be reversed. Timely action is crucial. If cirrhosis of the liver has already occurred, it can hardly be stopped. Nevertheless, even then, consistent lifestyle adjustments and regular check-ups should be aimed at preventing further liver damage.
The way back to a healthy liver is always through a reduction in body weight and a corresponding reduction in the over-fatness of the organism. Even a five percent reduction in body weight leads to a relevant defatting of the liver.
With seven to ten percent weight loss, infections in the liver or incipient scarring of the liver tissue can also be reversed. These are encouraging facts that have been sufficiently tested and researched.
Several factors are crucial for weight loss. This starts with a significant reduction in calorie intake and continues with healthy and regular exercise. A period of at least eight weeks, but usually considerably more, is to be set. The closest possible consultation and care by specialists is highly advisable, as other risk factors must also be observed and ruled out. This applies especially to cardiovascular risks.
Toxic foods such as alcohol, drinks with a high fructose content and nicotine should be avoided at all costs.
You can watch the entire lecture by Dr. med. Michaela Neagu with a lot of additional interesting information and further questions and answers here in the video lecture.
A PowerPoint presentation on the topic illustrates and complements the lecture.
The focus of the 4th Helvetius Holding AG symposium at the Talent Campus Bodensee in Kreuzlingen on 22 October 2021 was the topic of liver health. All speakers agreed that fatty liver is a major cause of many diseases of civilisation in modern society. What could be more natural than to invite the co-founder of liver fasting with HEPAFAST® to the event? In his impressive and scientifically supported lecture, the nutritional physician and internist Dr. med. Hardy Walle not only established the connection between non-alcoholic fatty liver and diabetes, but at the same time proved the previously unattained effectiveness of the BODYMED HEPAFAST® concept for liver fasting. In the detailed report you will learn a lot about the topic and receive further information about liver fasting with HEPAFAST®.
Lecture:
Interview:
Liver Fasting with HEPAFAST® – The Effective Way to Liver Health
A healthy liver has extensive effects on a person’s state of health and has a lasting impact on many functions, especially metabolism. Hardy Walle, MD, was a very special guest at the 4th Helvetius Holding AG symposium at the Talent Campus Bodensee in Kreuzlingen.
Hardy Walle, MD, together with Prof. Nicolai Worm, is known as the founder of liver fasting with HEPAFAST®. The system, specially developed by both nutritional physicians, has been proven to have a positive effect on liver health and offers excellent opportunities for keeping the liver healthy. Even after severe liver diseases, but also used preventively, liver fasting according to Dr. Walle brings about the full functionality of the liver and thus contributes decisively to a healthy lifestyle. In his lecture, the internist and nutritionist and founder of BODYMED AG will present liver fasting with all its effects on liver detoxification and interactions on a healthy life.
Why liver fasting and what is special about it?
The core of the considerations here are the differences of liver fasting compared to other diet programmes. The starting point is provided by data on the development of overweight and the spread of obesity in Germany. It is clear that obesity with a BMI over 25 has spread significantly in the last 20 years or so. This applies especially to obesity with a BMI of 30 and above. In Germany, it is currently assumed that more than half of the total population is overweight. This leads to the logical conclusion that being overweight is now considered the normal thing to be. At the same time, almost a quarter of the population with a BMI of over 30 can be classified as obese. When we talk about obesity, we clearly mean obesity. This also makes it clear that in the case of overweight we are essentially looking at the ratio of fat to total weight. Last but not least, it is also about body fat distribution, i.e. where the fat is located on the body.
It is also interesting to note in the assessment of obesity that with the increase in overweight people, the proportion of people with type 2 diabetes is also increasing at more or less the same rate. It is interesting to note that diabetes mellitus type 2 has nothing to do with people’s age, as was once assumed. People of any age can be affected by type 2 diabetes, with obesity playing a particularly decisive role. Also among young people. So there is a clear correlation between obesity and secondary diseases.
It is all the more astonishing that light overweight is repeatedly communicated as not being so bad and that there are specialist journalists who believe that people “with light to medium overweight live the longest and get the fewest diseases …”. What is often meant is that the connection between BMI and mortality is not so significant.
Accordingly, there is a study in which, for once, not the BMI but the body shape, here specifically the waist circumference, was taken as a yardstick for the assessment among high-risk patients. Surprisingly, in the test group of around 15,000 volunteers, the group that turned out to be more mortal when measured within five years was the one that only had a BMI of 22. However, a closer look revealed that this group showed exactly the same waist circumference as the group of obese volunteers with a BMI 30. The waist circumference was 101 centimetres in each case. However, while the BMI 22 volunteer only had a belly, the BMI 30 volunteer also had a lot of fat distributed over his body.
The volunteers with the highest mortality were quite thin except in the abdominal area and had hardly any muscles. This also explains the relatively low weight despite a 101 abdominal girth. If we know that muscles also have a protective factor, then the increased mortality in this comparison group can also be explained by the lack of a protective function of the muscles. If one follows this thought, then it becomes clear that the ratio of muscle mass to fat mass is of great importance.
Conversely, this also means that BMI alone does not indicate how muscle and fat are distributed. So looking at BMI alone distorts reality, although it can provide initial signals. So it is not the BMI alone that is decisive. It definitely depends on the abdominal girth. Nevertheless, most people may know approximately their weight, but hardly anyone can quantify their abdominal circumference relatively clearly. An increased abdominal girth (women over 88 cm, men over 102 cm) is a clear risk factor for heart attacks, for example. Here, the risk increases by a factor of 4.5.
While there are tablets against high blood pressure, you can only influence your abdominal girth with your own activity. And this is exactly where liver fasting comes in. It is not one-sidedly about weight reduction, but quite clearly about belly reduction. In conclusion, this means getting rid of belly fat. But not only the fat around the organs, but especially the fat in the organs. This refers to the liver, pancreas, kidneys and, more broadly, the heart and bone structure.
Belly fat is the dangerous fat
It must be clear that the liver, for example, is not made to store fat. For that, there is rather the subcutaneous fat tissue. Belly fat has clear potential dangers. These show up as risk factors for
Diabetes type 2
High blood pressure
Heart attack
Stroke
Potency disorders
Circulatory disorders
Dementia
All these can be consequences of too much belly fat. In principle, this is also where bariatric surgery comes in, which can certainly also ensure rapid defatting of the liver with obesity surgery.
A renowned German researcher puts the basic statement in a nutshell: “Without a fatty liver, there is no diabetes”. (Professor Norbert Stefan, Tübingen)
In most cases, it is the fatty liver that is the trigger and cause of many secondary diseases. Knowing this is important, because only then can cause, symptom, effect be clearly determined, which ultimately has clear implications for the right therapy.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver (NAFLD) can be considered the cause of many manifestations of pathological processes. For example, for infections caused by free radicals, for gout caused by increased uric acid, increased blood sugar levels, lipid metabolism disorders, high blood pressure or for thrombosis and finally the metabolic syndrome. Liver cancer is not negligible here and is increasing explosively, especially in the USA with the large proportion of obese people.
Generally speaking, 30 to 40 percent of the total population in Germany is affected by a fatty liver. In the overweight group, this proportion is already 70 percent. If we take only type 2 diabetics, around 90 percent of those affected are “equipped” with a fatty liver. From this, the connections between fatty liver, obesity and diabetes become even clearer. This makes non-alcoholic fatty liver one of the most common liver diseases. But even 15 percent of outwardly slim people are affected by a fatty liver.
How can non-alcoholic fatty liver be diagnosed?
Basically, a non-alcoholic fatty liver is a fatty liver that is not caused by alcohol or other causes. In industrialised nations, it is considered the most frequently diagnosed liver disease. Just as no typical complaints can be detected, pure laboratory values alone hardly provide a meaningful basis.
We speak of a non-alcoholic fatty liver when more than 5.5 to 6 percent of the liver cells are fatty. This portion cannot be detected on ultrasound alone. Here, something can only be seen from a fatty degeneration of about 20 percent. The most accurate diagnosis can be made with a liver biopsy, but this is unlikely to be the first step in the diagnosis.
One value has become established in Europe. We are talking about the Fatty Liver Index (FLI). This results in a validated algorithmic numerical value that is also well suited for progress monitoring. With the FLI, a fatty liver can be diagnosed quite well and reliably.
Statistics show that mortality is significantly increased in fatty liver patients. Fatty liver is therefore not a cosmetic problem or characterised solely by increased blood fat levels etc., it is a real high-risk factor in terms of life expectancy and mortality.
Main causes for the development of a fatty liver
In the past, the causes of fatty liver were simply summarised by saying that people eat too much fat. The real cause, however, is an excess of ingested carbohydrates. Another cause may be the intake of a lot of fructose, i.e. fruit sugar. The main fatsifier of the liver is even found here.
Carbohydrates are broken down into sugar in the body. At the same time, the pancreas produces insulin. However, insulin has two effects: On the one hand, insulin ensures that the sugar reaches the muscles, and on the other hand, some of the sugar reaches the liver to regulate the blood sugar level there. If the liver releases too much sugar, insulin slows down this release. In addition, insulin ensures that excess sugar is stored in fat tissue.
Under certain conditions, organs begin to no longer respond adequately to insulin. A kind of insulin resistance develops. Then the liver is also no longer properly regulated by insulin. In the prediabetic course, the blood glucose level then rises even in fasting volunteers. Such a process develops slowly, so that in individual cases diabetes only develops after ten to twelve years. This process can even take up to 20 years. During this time, the liver is less and less regulated by insulin and becomes increasingly fatty. This process is accelerated when the subcutaneous fat tissue cannot form any more fat cells because it is literally flooded with fat. More and more fat and sugar move in the blood. Out of a natural reaction, the organism then builds up additional fat stores in the liver.
In the long term, however, it is not only the liver that becomes fatty, but also the pancreas, the kidneys, the muscles, the heart and even the hypothalamus in the brain.
The basics of liver fasting
The basic idea behind liver fasting is to simply go backwards from the rather unhealthy path taken so far. The most important step is the defatting of the liver. This usually requires a strict diet.
This means:
less than 1’000 kcal per day
few carbohydrates
Absorption of high quality protein
Only “good” fats if possible
special liver-active agents and dietary fibres
All this is combined in HEPAFAST® in a well-tolerated and easy-to-use formula. The programme is easy to implement in everyday life. It is easy to digest, fills you up and meets all the requirements of a good liver-healthy diet.
HEPAFAST® is taken three times a day, prepared with a milk product. In addition, twice daily vegetable preparations with a total of maximum 200 kcal per day. This means one HEPAFAST® preparation for breakfast, one HEPAFAST® and one vegetable preparation for lunch and one HEPAFAST® and one vegetable preparation for dinner. No more, but also no less.
Due to this suitability for everyday use, there are hardly any dropouts in the HEPAFAST® liver detoxification programme, which significantly increases the success rate.
The reset for the metabolism causes:
Normalisation of the function of the pancreas and the insulin sensitivity of the liver
Promotion of insulin secretion
Normalisation of glucagon regulation
reduces the uncontrolled release of glucose from the liver into the blood
improves metabolism and facilitates weight loss
For whom is liver fasting useful?
In principle, liver fasting with HEPAFAST® is useful for all patients with the following constellation:
Fatty liver (NAFDL, NASH)
metabolic syndrome
Type 2 diabetes
Overweight and obesity
Lipometabolic disorders
High blood pressure
preventive as a “metabolic cure” for the prevention of diseases
prior to bariatric surgery
It makes no sense to wait until you have a BMI of 30 or an abdominal circumference of well over 100 centimetres. You can always start a liver fast with HEPAFAST® even without such symptoms.
Further information
You can watch the entire live video stream with Hardy Walle, MD, with additional research results, statistics and a concrete case study here.
In addition, you will also find further contributions from Helvetius Holding AG’s specialist conferences here.
Only those who recognise the connection between reflux, obesity and diabetes can find the right therapeutic approach. This is what emerges from the expert lecture by Dr. Med. Jörg Zehetner, Professor (USC), about which you can read the full article here.
When Martin Andermatt talks about his experiences with liver fasting, the football legend and FC Schaffhausen coach is mainly talking about experiences with himself. The core of his presentations is that something only changes if you change yourself. This is just as true in active sports as it is in maintaining the health of one’s own body. The well-known Swiss also shares this experience at the 4th Helvetius Holding AG symposium at the Talent Campus Bodensee in Kreuzlingen. Read the report here and find out where you can watch the live stream.
A field report on liver fasting with HEPAFAST® by Martin Andermatt
Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner, Professor (USC), and Dr. med. Hardy Walle spoke on the topic of liver health and fatty liver at the 4th specialist conference of Helvetius Holding AG at the Talent Campus Bodensee Kreuzlingen. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the lecture by Dr. Hardy Walle, MD, who not only used the latest scientific approaches to shed light on non-alcoholic fatty liver from a somewhat different perspective, but was also able to present an effective concept for liver fasting in the form of HEPAFAST®.
In the following, football legend Martin Andermatt reported on his own experiences of liver fasting with HEPAFAST®. As a successful professional footballer and now coach of FC Schaffhausen, Martin Andermatt knows very well how important stable health is and what effects a healthy liver has on the entire organism.
As a football coach, Martin Andermatt likes to talk about his own practical experiences. With his own experience, Martin Andermatt was the first Swiss coach of a German Bundesliga team and also knows the German league business from the perspective of a supervisory board member at the Hannover 96 club.
In line with his own sporting career, also as an active player, Martin Andermatt has always been interested in how a good, balanced and healthy diet can be designed. As he got older, the question of how to continue in life after active football also came into focus. The main interest was in the physical and psychological effects of no longer exercising so intensively and practically losing a previously accustomed amount of exercise.
As a coach, Martin Andermatt also sees his responsibility in conveying information to adolescent and also adult players that is also correct and underpinned. Conjecture, hearsay and supposed knowledge are not really strong arguments. That is why Martin Andermatt knows very well that only one’s own experience is a good basis for passing on knowledge. He also sees this fundamental approach as important when he gives his very own experience report on liver fasting with HEPAFAST® at the 4th Helvetius Holding AG symposium.
Even though Martin Andermatt, as a non-medical doctor, does not know the formulas for liver health, he was able to follow every step in the lectures by Dr. med. Jörg Zehetner, Professor(USC), and Dr. med. Hardy Walle, founder of BODYMED and co-developer of liver fasting with HEPAFAST®. Especially from his own experience.
Personal experience is what really counts
Martin Andermatt also knows from his experience with liver fasting that this is not simply a matter of doing things quickly for a short time. It is always important to look at the development. Martin Andermatt sees this in his sporting commitment as well as in his personal attitude to health. However, even here beautiful and melodious words are always worth less than one’s own experience. And this is exactly how Martin Andermatt reports on his own experience with liver fasting with HEPAFAST®.
His first observation is about the dream world. For example, he reports that he dreamed much more intensely than usual during the periods of liver fasting. In addition, he felt extremely vital and efficient in every phase of the liver fast.
With now already 60 years of life experience, Martin Andermatt still feels very well today and knows that he has already tried a lot of things regarding health maintenance. Be it juice cures or various diet programmes. Martin Andermatt knows what he is talking about when he passes on information to his athletes.
Especially with regard to older people, nutrition is very important. Too little exercise, a lack of good proteins and the loss of muscle mass all impact on health. Overall, the quality of life can suffer a lot, which is an important issue for Martin Andermatt. After all, quality of life is an important issue for all people. Especially when they get older. Then you also need a good measure of discipline if you want to stay physically and mentally fit over a long period of time.
Just thinking that maybe you should lose some weight is not enough to really achieve that. Only then, when one becomes active in the process, will success be achieved. So it’s about real action, which is always crucial for change.
A first step for Martin Andermatt in his encounter with liver fasting was to pick up the HEPAFAST® preparation himself in Bern and not simply have it sent to him. In the Swiss1Chirurgie clinic, he had his measurements taken, so to speak. What really counts are actual and current values. Martin Andermatt already knows this from his sporting career.
Motivation counts
As in many other areas, the right motivation is the best starting point for good results in liver fasting. If one’s own motivation can then be supported in a discussion with a medical specialist, this is a good prerequisite for active action.
What counts then is the real doing. Not tomorrow or perhaps the day after tomorrow, but ideally right away, one should start with what one has recognised as good and right for oneself.
From Martin Andermatt’s point of view, it is sometimes the small vanities that can be an impetus for liver fasting. Who doesn’t want to please their partner even at an older age? Who doesn’t want to be active and fit even as they get older? You also want to be a role model for the children and if you are a coach, it all has something to do with a positive aura on the people you are training. Only if you like yourself can you radiate that positively, says Martin Andermatt.
In addition, of course, there are the thoughts about one’s own health. Even if you have paid absolute attention to a healthy diet and lifestyle for many years, sometimes this changes as you gain experience in life. However, personal health always remains the most important asset. You have to decide what is good and what is right. Those who decide for themselves do not have to let others decide for them. And health should always be a very important factor in these decisions as well.
What advice should you give to active athletes at the end of their career?
In general, active athletes eat a diet very rich in carbohydrates, as they need this energy for their physical exertion. Often, at the end of their career, it can be observed that many athletes quickly gain weight and even tend to become obese. Then it is important to get back to normal life as well. A deeply human factor also plays an important role here. As an athlete, you are suddenly no longer in demand. This can quickly lead to letting oneself go. In every respect. It is then all the more important to recognise one’s own human value. You have to see what you still want to achieve in life and what you can accomplish and with what charisma you want to meet your fellow human beings. The short-lived lucky charms like good food, Coke or a bag of crisps are then not really what you need. The short happiness is a fallacy that in the end only makes people dissatisfied and unhappy.
The recommendation for active athletes at the end of their career
In any case, those who are at the end of their career have to train off slowly. It is not the end from one day to the next that counts, but the gradual change to a normal status. Just as you then gradually say goodbye to high athletic performance, you naturally also have to change your diet. The mental load also changes, which must also be considered.
Martin Andermatt is convinced that what counts now are good conversations, even beyond one’s own horizon of experience. Good medical supervision can be useful. This is not about fear of any diagnosis, but about developing visions for one’s own future. At the same time, it is also important for Martin Andermatt to simply live in a more relaxed and happy way.
As a coach, he follows a very clear philosophy, which he likes to sum up in three words: Laugh, learn, sweat. When he passes this on to his players, Martin Andermatt himself also likes to think about whether he has already laughed, learned and maybe even sweated today. The most beautiful thing is when you can give the players something beyond pure sport that is still of value for life after active sport.
Your own experiences with liver fasting
From his own experience, Martin Andermatt can only associate liver fasting with pleasant perceptions. This includes above all the real feeling of well-being and the new energy he felt for himself.
Especially in times when one wants to recognise oneself anew, liver fasting is an additionally exciting experience. Martin Andermatt has already completed a liver fasting cure with HEPAFAST® three times and is sure that he will do it again and again. If only because of all the positive energy it has given him. He is also happy to recommend liver fasting to others. He stands behind it with all his personality and experience.
Of course, it can be difficult for individuals to face their issues. People often prefer to make fun of themselves instead of tackling important changes. Certainly also because change can be uncomfortable. But those who listen to themselves know that only change brings change. And that is exactly what applies to liver fasting.
The question is not why you fell into the water, but how you get out of it. It’s about making decisions and then following through with them consistently. And if you need support to do that, you have to get that support.
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