January/February 2003 Alternative Health
Metabolic Typing:
The Key To Normalizing Weight And Improving Metabolism
by Agnes K. Green
There is an overabundance of diet books assuring the hopeful dieter
that he/she will achieve everlasting weight loss and abundant energy.
New research indicates that these diets only work in the long term when
they are compatible with your specific metabolic type. This explains
the mystery of why one person can lose weight, while another might gain
weight on exactly the same diet! It also explains why there is always
room for yet another theory (and diet book).
Of course, while junk food isn’t good for anyone, the truth is
that not all "good" foods and supplements are equally beneficial
for all people. We have all watched with envy as a friend ate foods
we knew would not agree with us. Metabolic Typing is the science of
discovering the fundamental way in which your body produces energy from
your food, in other words, the explanation of why "one person's
medicine is another’s poison."
One of the basic principles of Metabolic Typing is that protein,
carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, which are transported by
the blood, are best absorbed and utilized by the cells in your body
at the ideal blood pH level of 7.46. Below this figure the blood
is too acidic, above this figure the blood is too alkaline. The more
your pH deviates from the ideal, the less efficient will be the conversion
of food to energy. A reduced ability to feed the body on a cellular
level causes cascading imbalances and eventually an breakdown that a
doctor can hang a diagnosis on. The hip bone is indeed connected to
the thigh bone.
The second principle of Metabolic Typing is that any nutrient can
be acidifying or alkalizing, stimulating or inhibiting,
depending on your metabolic type. Your ability to best utilize food,
vitamins and minerals is determined by which of the two main control
mechanisms dominates your metabolism: the Autonomic Nervous System or
the Oxidative System. The Autonomic Nervous System governs the "fight
or flight" and "rest and relax" responses to internal
or external stimuli. The Oxidative System determines the speed at which
your cells convert food to energy.
Nutrients that acidify Oxidative dominants actually alkalize Autonomic
types, and foods and nutrients that alkalize the Oxidative types acidify
the Autonomic dominants! For example, traditionally, people suffering
from osteoporosis are prescribed calcium supplementation. However, calcium
alkalizes Oxidative types and acidifies Autonomic types. So calcium
will help some patients’ osteoporosis while actually aggravating
others! An example of opposite effects of the same food is tomato, which
is acidifying to Oxidative types and alkalizing to Autonomic types.
Clearly, though tomato is a "good" food, it isn’t healthy
for everyone to eat. If your blood is overly alkaline and you eat foods
that alkalize your blood, they will erode your health instead of nourishing
you.
In 1983 W.L. Wolcott formulated this phenomenon into the principle
he called the Dominance Factor. W.L. Wolcott in collaboration with Dr.
Harold Kristal developed the current protocol of Metabolic Typing. Their
work was based on the groundwork of many great scientists who had been
exploring the mysteries of nutrition since the 1920’s, among them
Francis Pottenger, M.D., George Watson, Ph.D., and William Donald Kelley,
D.D.S.
Metabolic Typing today involves a series of simple tests performed
on an empty stomach. The testing takes two to three hours to perform.
After a series of baseline readings, a modified glucose (sugar) challenge
drink is given, followed by three more test cycles. These consist of
blood pressure and pulse readings, blood glucose levels, urine and saliva
pH, urine specific gravity, breath holding capacity and respiration
rate. These test results identify the metabolic type of the person.
For each type there is a specific list of foods and supplements which
will balance the blood pH over time so that optimum metabolism can be
restored.
This concept is different from the idea of acid/alkaline ash foods.
Biochemists have burned different food substances and measured the pH
level of the residue. The assumption was that foods behave the same
outside the body as they do inside the body. However, that is not the
case. Since we know that each food can acidify or alkalize, it does
not matter what the pH of the ash is. It’s the internal effect
of the food on your metabolic controls that counts. We now know that
Metabolic Typing is the only way to accurately correct nutritional imbalances
at a cellular level. Eating according to your metabolic type is indeed
the key to increased energy and sense of well being, weight normalizing
(loss/gain) and greater resistance to disease.
Agnes K. Green, CN is a Licensed certified nutritionist. For more
information she can be reached at 503 260-9810.