So many clients are confused about nutrition when they first come to visit us. Confused because they hear one thing about healthy diet from a huge university study on Monday, and then hear a counter-argument from an equally prestigious university study, days later. Drink red wine, don't drink red wine, vitamin C is good for you, vitamin C is not that good, a best selling book suggests a diet with lots of fats, another says no fats, the list goes on and on.

One thing is for sure however, each person is unique and responds differently to diet and supplementation guidelines than any one else.

This is why your sister may be on a nutritional plan that has helped restore health and vitality, but offers you no beneficial effects. This is why some people respond favorably to a particular supplement while you may just get stomach upset.

The answer to these contradictions lies in Metabolic Typing.

Metabolic Typing is a revolutionary system for optimizing whole body health. Diet and nutritional supplements are used to address the individual at a fundamental metabolic level. This is the fundamental way in which your body produces and processes energy. 

For many years nutritional science has been based on a generic approach to health and nutrition. That is why there are so many diet "gurus" that espouse a single "one size fits all" diet solution, which is believed to be applicable to everyone. In fact, there is no such thing as "one" healthy diet. The Roman philosopher Lucretius spoke about this when he stated, "one man’s meat is another man’s poison."

The concept of metabolic typing is not new. What is a more recent discovery is a scientific understanding of how the body can go out of balance. It is this knowledge that is at the heart of a testing system designed to determine your nutritional fingerprint.

Some people utilize foods quickly and are called "fast oxidizers." Conversely, people who take a long time to utilize their foods are "slow oxidizers." People are then divided into several categories, depending whether they are acid, alkaline, or balanced blood types and whether they are fast, slow, or balanced oxidizers. A diet is then provided based on this information.

Say you are a "fast oxidizer." This means you need to be on a diet of foods that take longer to metabolize. This is why this type of individual thrives on a diet of predominantly meat and fats. They also need supplements that balance the pH. These include vitamin E, B-3, B-12, B-5, fish oils, zinc, iodine, and calcium. Since "fast oxidizers" usually have a high acidity levels in their blood, high doses of vitamin C, in the form of ascorbic acid, should be avoided.

A "slow oxidizer" needs to eat foods that are more quickly metabolized by the body. This diet includes more fruit and vegetables and less protein. As a "fast oxidizer" has a high acidity level in their blood, a "slow metabolizer" is an "alkaline blood type." These people can take vitamin C with all its benefits.

So far, we know of ten ways that the body's chemistry can go out of balance. The imbalances are divided into five pairs. These imbalances are very common, and most people have at least one of them. Correcting them usually results in noticeable improvements in health. Briefly, the five imbalances are:

Anaerobic/Dysaerobic - Assesses the efficiency of the conversion of oxygen to energy and the movement of nutrients into cells (cell permeability)

Glucogenic/Ketogenic - Assesses the ability to metabolize carbohydrates and fats into energy

Sympathetic/Parasympathetic – Regulates digestion, heart rate, energy, metabolism, breathing, circulation etc.

Acid/Alkaline - Determines any pure acid/alkaline imbalances other than the contributions of the other four imbalances to altered pH.

Electrolyte excess/Electrolyte insufficiency - Uncovers imbalances in the electrolytes sodium, potassium, chloride, and phosphorous.

In summary, standardized dietary approaches do not take into account that we are all different in how our bodies process food and utilize nutrients. Therefore, we have highly individualized nutritional requirements. Furthermore, it is important to understand that although you were born with a genetically determined set of dietary requirements, your body’s chemistry can change as a result of aging, stress, hormonal effects, medication and illness.

If you are wondering why your healthy diet is not translating into a healthy life style, then you should call to make an appointment for Metabolic Typing. Give us a call at (253) 564 9223.