| Clinical
Specialties: Metabolic Typing
Nutrition
of the Future.
 Metabolic
typing is a nutritional approach to health which
takes into account the unique biochemistry of
each person also known as “biochemical
individuality”. This was a term coined
by late Dr. Roger Williams to describe the infinite
number of variations that individuals have in
their metabolic biochemistry. Each person's metabolic
individuality is rooted in his genetic inheritance.
Metabolic individuality in turn determines nutritional
requirements -- the way in which his body reacts
to nutrients. The reason for metabolic typing
is that different people require different amounts
of and quantities of nutrients for optimal health.
No one program works for everyone.
This idea goes against the grain of several
prominent nutritionists who advocate a single
diet for everyone. Dean Ornish, for example,
recommends a low protein, low fat, high carbohydrate
diet. Barry Sears recommends the Zone Diet of
40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 30% fats.
And Robert Atkins recommended a high protein,
moderate fat and low carbohydrate diet
Given the infinite variations in each person's
biochemical make-up, no one diet is appropriate
for everyone. This idea harkens back to Lucretius’ well-known
adage: "One man’s food is another
man’s poison.” Granted, certain foods
are bad for everyone. However, some good foods
are good for some people, but other good foods
are “bad” for these same people.
Which foods are “good” and which
ones are not is determined by each person's metabolic
type.
Physiological imbalances and diseases are linked
to blood pH values that deviate from venous blood's
ideal value of 7.46. This is the pH at which
the body can best absorb and metabolize macro-
and micro-nutrients for optimal health. Foods
and nutrients are inherently either acidic (with
a pH less than 7.0) or alkaline (with a pH higher
than 7.0). However, the effects that these foods
have on a particular person’s venous pH
varies, depending on each person’s unique
metabolic and biochemical processing.
The natural potassium in an orange, for instance,
may produce an alkaline shift and sedating effect
in one person. But in another individual, the
potassium causes an acid shift that results in
a stimulant effect. In short, any nutrient and
any food may have opposite biochemical effects
in individuals who have different metabolic types.
This profound concept also means that the same
degenerative disease or same adverse symptom
can be triggered or exacerbated in different
individuals by very different foods.
According to William Wolcott, author of The
Metabolic Typing Diet, metabolic typing is a "…systematic,
testable, repeatable and verifiable advanced
nutritional technology that enables people to
discover their own unique dietary needs with
a very high degree of precision." This approach
to healing has become even more sophisticated
as scientists better understand the links among
genetics, nutrition, and biochemical imbalances.
Over the last fifty years, scientific research
has shown that the oxidative and autonomic metabolic
systems influence nutritional health. Oxidation
is the process by which glucose and fatty acids
in our food is converted into energy by the tissues
of the body. This happens at different rates
in different people. Autonomic pertains to the
neuro-endocrine control of the metabolic processes.
This also affects the rate of oxidation. It is
the rate at which oxidation occurs that determines
its effect on blood pH. Metabolism represents
the sum total of all of the electrical and chemical
reactions that take place in a cell or organism.
There are four primary metabolic types- two
oxidative and two autonomic types. The Oxidative
Types consist of Fast Oxidizers who tend to have
acid blood and Slow Oxidizers who tend to have
alkaline blood when eating certain foods. The
Autonomic System groups are divided into the
Sympathetic Type who tend to have acid blood
and the Parasympathetic Type who tend to have
alkaline blood. Except for those rare individuals
who already have balanced acid/alkaline blood,
because they happen to be eating the proper diet
for them, everyone else falls into one of these
four groups and is either too acid or too alkaline.
By determining your Oxidative or Autonomic
type Dr. Kochan and his assistant Ray Seipel
are able to recommend 1) the optimal proportion
of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates for your
optimal health and 2) which foods and nutrients
you should avoid or minimize in your diet because
eating these particular foods for would move
your pH into a metabolically sub-optimal range.
Metabolic Typing can help you control your weight
more easily, have more energy, handle stress
and mood swings better, and help prevent or forestall
chronic degenerative diseases.
It is Dr. Kochan’s feeling that physicians
who consider Metabolic Type when diagnosing and
treating their patients for degenerative conditions
are more likely to have successful outcomes than
are doctors who rely on limited, conventional
nutritional approaches. This is why a growing
number of physicians have turned to Metabolic
Typing to help them develop custom-designed,
comprehensive nutritional treatment plans for
their patients.
[Insert graphic of 4 Metabolic
Types]
Related
Links
The following are links to various published
papersand organizations of interest:
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