PHYSICIAN-LED
Every plan comes from a physician
You meet with a board-certified physician who reviews your records and labs, not an automated report or a sales rep.
ABOUT METABOLIC CARE · PHYSICIAN-LED METABOLIC HEALTH
“Our mission is to meet patients where they are in their health journey and teach them how to preserve and extend health span.”~ The Metabolic Care mission
Dr. Charles Meakin, founder, explains what Metabolic Care is and how it works.
Metabolic Care is a group of board-certified physicians who see patients by video visit. We focus on metabolism, the chemistry that powers every cell, for people who want to stay ahead of disease, are going through cancer treatment, or are building health after it.
BOARD-CERTIFIED PHYSICIANS · TELEHEALTH VISITS IN ALL 50 STATES · NO INSURANCE BILLING
The Care Navigation Call is free and non-clinical. Our team helps you choose a program. No medical advice is given.
Dr. Charles Meakin, founder, explains what Metabolic Care is and how it works.
WHO WE ARE
Metabolic Care, formerly Meakin Metabolic Care, was founded by Dr. Charles J. Meakin, a board-certified radiation oncologist with more than 35 years caring for cancer patients. After decades in standard cancer treatment, he built a practice focused on practical, well-tolerated metabolic and lifestyle care that works alongside it.
Today Metabolic Care is a team of board-certified physicians with backgrounds in medical and radiation oncology, emergency, family, lifestyle, integrative and preventive medicine, and urology. Registered nurses from our partner Heal Navigator and a national board certified health coach support patients between visits.
Visits happen by secure video, from home, for patients in all 50 states. Physicians are licensed state by state, so you choose your state when you book and see the physicians licensed where you live. We do not bill insurance. You pay us directly, and payment is taken when you schedule.
Our physicians review your records and labs, explain what they mean in plain language, and build a plan with you. Where it helps, that plan covers nutrition, movement, sleep, supplements and prescription medications. Your oncologist and primary care doctor stay in charge of your core treatment.
Meet the full Metabolic Care team →PHYSICIAN-LED
You meet with a board-certified physician who reviews your records and labs, not an automated report or a sales rep.
ALONGSIDE YOUR CARE
Our care is built to sit next to your oncology plan and your primary care, not to replace either one.
EVIDENCE FIRST
We cite published research, and we say plainly where the evidence is strong and where it is still limited.
THE BASICS
Metabolism is the network of chemical reactions running in every one of your roughly 30 trillion cells, every second. Those reactions turn food into energy, build and repair tissue, and send the chemical signals that keep you alive.
Genetics passes on the blueprint for who you are. Metabolism keeps that blueprint running. It is not only about burning calories. It is a constant flow of information between what you eat, how you move, how you sleep and how your genes behave.
When metabolism works well, the body manages blood sugar, repairs tissue and keeps inflammation in check. When it does not, the first signs usually show up in numbers a doctor can measure: blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol and waist size.
METABOLIC HEALTH IN THE US
Most American adults are not metabolically healthy. These figures come from national health surveys run by the CDC and from peer-reviewed analyses of that data.
Share of US adults with optimal levels of all five metabolic measures without medication, based on national survey data from 2009 to 2016.
Source: Araújo et al., Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 2019
Share of US adults in 2017 to 2018 with optimal blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, body fat and no heart disease. That share declined from 1999.
Source: O'Hearn et al., JACC, 2022
Share of US adults with obesity in August 2021 to August 2023, measured in the CDC's national health survey.
Estimated number of US adults with prediabetes, meaning blood sugar is higher than normal but not yet diabetes. Another 40.1 million people have diabetes, and about 27.6% of adults with diabetes do not know they have it.
THE CANCER CONNECTION
Cancer is not only a genetic disease. Major cancer and public health organizations link it closely to metabolism, body weight and blood sugar. This is why a metabolic practice cares about cancer.
CANCER BIOLOGY
The Hallmarks of Cancer framework lists reprogrammed cellular metabolism as one of eight core capabilities cancer cells acquire. It was added as an emerging hallmark in 2011 and confirmed as a core hallmark in 2022.
Source: Hanahan, Cancer Discovery, 2022
CDC DATA
Overweight and obesity are associated with a higher risk of at least 13 types of cancer. In 2014 those cancers made up 40% of all US cancer diagnoses, including about 55% of cancers diagnosed in women and 24% in men.
Source: CDC, MMWR Vital Signs, 2017
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
An American Cancer Society analysis estimated that 40% of cancer cases and 44% of cancer deaths in US adults 30 and older in 2019 were attributable to risk factors people can change, including excess body weight, diet, physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking.
Source: Islami et al., CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 2024
DIABETES
A joint consensus report from the American Diabetes Association and the American Cancer Society found diabetes is associated with higher risk of liver, pancreas, endometrial, colorectal, breast and bladder cancer. Proposed links include high insulin, high blood sugar and inflammation.
METABOLIC SYNDROME
Metabolic syndrome means having several of the five measures out of range at once. A review of 116 datasets found it was associated with higher risk of several common cancers. In men, for example, risk was about 43% higher for liver cancer and 25% higher for colorectal cancer.
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
The NCI describes several possible ways: fat tissue making extra estrogen, high levels of insulin and IGF-1 (a growth-signaling hormone) when the body stops responding well to insulin, and long-term inflammation that can help tumors grow.
Source: National Cancer Institute, Obesity and Cancer fact sheet
WHAT THE GUIDELINES SAY
In 2022 the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) published a guideline on exercise, diet and weight management during cancer treatment. It recommends that cancer doctors advise regular aerobic exercise and strength training during active treatment when the goal of treatment is cure.
The same guideline found the evidence on specific diets and on intentional weight loss during treatment was still limited, and called for more research. That is why every Metabolic Care plan is built by a physician for the individual patient, and works alongside the oncology team rather than around it.
For survivors, an international roundtable convened by the American College of Sports Medicine published exercise guidelines in 2019, reviewing the evidence for exercise in managing and recovering from cancer.
See Metabolic Care cancer care services →Watch: Dr. Ron Hunninghake and Dr. Charles Meakin discuss metabolic health and cancer care.
OUR PHYSICIANS
A team of board-certified physicians. Each brings a different specialty to metabolic care. You choose your physician when you book.
Registered nurses from our partner Heal Navigator and health coach Chelsea Rolfes, BSN, RN, NBC-HWC, support patients between physician visits.
Read full physician bios and credentials →PREVENTION · TREATMENT · SURVIVORSHIP
Pick the one that sounds most like you. Each path starts with a physician visit or a free call, and your physician will tell you if anything else would help.
PREVENTION AND HEALTHSPAN
Start with a 40-minute video visit with a physician focused on prevention, healthspan and metabolic health.
START HERE
See the Health Optimization Consult →ALSO AVAILABLE
DURING CANCER TREATMENT
Start with a Cancer Care Consultation. Your physician usually reviews your records before the visit, goes through them with you, and you receive a written plan afterward. It is designed to work alongside your oncologist's plan. Cancer care is led by our cancer-focused physicians: Dr. Meakin, Dr. Tan, Dr. Ron and Dr. Cushing.
START HERE
See the Cancer Care Consultation →ALSO AVAILABLE
AFTER TREATMENT
Start with a Cancer Care Consultation to review where you are. If you want ongoing structure, the Remission Optimization Program adds physician and health coach support focused on metabolic health and monitoring, alongside your oncology follow-up.
START HERE
See the Cancer Care Consultation →ALSO AVAILABLE
NOT SURE YET
Book a free Care Navigation Call. It is a short, non-clinical call with our team. We ask about your situation and point you to the right program and physician. No medical advice is given, and there is no cost.
START HERE
Book a Free Care Navigation Call →