Customization and Rates of Oxidation

[Yael Grauer]

http://www.healthexcel.com/
This has a ton of info on it if you look under the library.

The basics are here:
https://www.metabolictypingonline.com/WhatItIs.aspx
https://www.metabolictypingonline.com/FAQ.aspx?page=2

From the FAQ:

QUESTION: My doctor says a balanced diet is all I need to stay healthy, and I do eat as healthfully as I can. Yet, I still feel like I'm running on empty and like there is something my body must be lacking, or I would feel better.

HEALTHEXCEL: The failure to acquire all the nutrients for which one has a genetic requirement expresses itself in different ways in different people. For some, it's intense cravings; for others, it's feeling hungry five minutes after eating a big meal; for you, it's feeling like you are running on empty; for others, it's something else. Regardless of the specific form it takes, it's just your body's way of communicating, it's your body's language, saying that it did not get the right balance of nutrients to meet its needs.

Your doctor is very right; one should eat a well-balanced diet in order to be healthy. The question which naturally follows, of course, is what constitutes a well-balanced diet? Actually, what constitutes a well-balanced diet for one person, very likely is not right for someone else. The high protein, fat diet of the Eskimo certainly is not right for the vegetarian East Indian. The basis for the determination of what diet is correct for any given individual is a matter of genetic inheritance. Just as your genes dictate your height, bone structure, color of eyes, strength of your digestive system, the efficiency of your immune system, the rate of your cellular metabolism and all the innumerable characteristics which make up the unique biochemical and biological wonder that is YOU, so too, do your genes deter-mine the requirements your body has for fuel. In order to find out what a well-balanced diet is for you, you would need to determine your metabolic type.

QUESTION: What is the difference between Metabolic Typing and Blood Typing? Is a Metabolic Type the same thing as a Blood Type?

HEALTHEXCEL: With the advent of the recent book on blood types, Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter D'Adamo, N.D., we are often asked if blood typing is the same as metabolic typing. In short, no. Actually, one's blood type is just 1 of 9 different components used in the process of metabolic typing to determine individual nutritional requirements. Here are the components that we have discovered are necessary to consider in evaluating your metabolic type:

1. Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) – the “master regulator” of metabolism
2. Oxidative System – rate at which nutrients are converted to energy within the cells
3. Catabolic/Anabolic – aerobic / anaerobic metabolism, tissue pH, selective membrane permeability
4. Acid / Alkaline Balance – 6 different kinds of pH imbalances
5. Electrolyte Stress / Insufficiency – concerned with blood pressure, circulation, electric potential
6. Endocrine Type – determines body type, shape, weight gain, etc.
7. Constitutional Type – from AyurVeda and Chinese medicine, concerned constitutional qualities of foods relative to constitutional qualities of indivisual
8. Blood Type – food lectins specific to ABO blood types
9. Prostaglandin Balance – Series 1, 2, 3 prostaglandin balances
10. Neurotransmitter Balance – balance of excitatory vs. inhibitory neurotransmitters control brain function

The blood type has more to do with what few foods should be left out of your diet due to their lectin content specific to your blood type. But blood type has little to do with what foods and nutrients should be eaten. For that, we need to consider the body's primary mechanisms that specifically regulate how energy is created, maintained and controlled, such as the ANS, Oxidative System and Catabolic/Anabolic processes. And whereas the blood type is static, non-changing, the different balances, strengths and weaknesses in the other fundamental control mechanisms can and do change.

What is most important to know is that every food and every nutrient has very specific stimulatory or inhibitory effects on these fundamental homeostatic control systems that regulate every process in your body at every level of activity. This is why getting the right nutrition is so critical. Moreover, through metabolic typing we have learned that any food or nutrient can have different effects on different metabolic types. As it turns out, the old adage that “one man's food is another's poison” is literally true. Fact is, you can eat the best organic foods, take the best supplements money can buy, get plenty of rest, exercise regularly and still not feel well. Why? Because you did not eat those foods for which your body has a specific, genetically-based requirement. Only through metabolic typing can you be assured that your food will be the medicine God intended it to be.
QUESTION: My sister, my best friend and I all embarked on Dr. Atkins' weight loss program* with gusto, expecting fantastic results. Two of us got them and one of us didn't . . . guess who? I ended up gaining the weight that each of them lost and feeling terrible to boot, and even though I've been off the diet for 3 weeks now, I can't even look at food without putting on more weight! Is there anything in your program that might make a loser out of me? Sounds strange, but I wouldn't mind having that title!

[Note: The Atkins program is a well-known high-protein, high-fat diet. Similar questions have been received in regard to the Pritikin diet, a low-fat, low-protein diet. The same answer would apply to all such questions. -Ed ].

HEALTHEXCEL: Yours is not, by any means, an uncommon problem and illustrates wonderfully the concept of what is referred to as biochemical individuality, which is just a fancy way of saying that you are unique and that therefore, your body has unique requirements for nutrition.

Weight is an important consideration in one's overall picture of health. Each person has a genetically programmed ideal weight. This is simply the weight at which you look and feel your best. While being overweight may be a symptom of imbalance, or even in some cases, lack of health, losing weight is not necessarily the same as obtaining good health. However, empirical findings have found the normalization of weight to be a natural by-product of balancing body chemistry and building health, which results from the natural maximization of your body's energy potential.

There are two main considerations in the healthful and successful process of weight loss through balancing body chemistry. The first and most important, is that you must acquire the right fuel mixture in the nutrients that you ingest. If the food that you eat does not provide the right balance of nutrients for your genetic needs, then it won't be adequately oxidized (burned for energy) in the cells and will end up being stored as fat; and your body's energy levels will be disrupted, causing you to not feel well, besides put on more weight.

The second consideration is the one everyone is familiar with caloric intake. If one continues to take in more calories than are burned, one will gain weight. However, the key is eating the foods that are right for your type. In so doing, you will be balancing your body chemistry, maximizing your energy production, burning your calories more efficiently, and satisfying your appetite because your are supplying your body with all that it needs. The only way to lose weight, keep it off and feel wonderful at the same time, is to balance your body chemistry and maximize your energy potential.

[Yael Grauer]

Originally Posted by Robb Wolf

Yael-
Are you then saying that with MT'ing you have achieved the body comp and performance you desire?

That's kind of a loaded question. Of course I don't think I'll ever reach the performance I desire, but I'm pretty stoked that all of my numbers have doubled in the past three months. Of course there are a ton of variables involved... and I've been eating more fruit than recommended the past week or so because it's a million degrees out.

I just can not track down a straight answer on what constitutes a "fast vs slow oxidizer".

Fast Oxidizers:
These are the people who process carbohydrates at a fast rate so that
eating carbohydrates alone, or as the dominant part of the meal, leaves them very hungry soon thereafter, what might be called “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.” They are characterized by having a strong appetite and high energy so long as they have a constant sugar intake. This is because the immediate processing of the carbohydrates into glucose leads to a high demand for insulin, which then causes a high demand for sugar shortly thereafter when the glucose has all been transferred to the cells. What is needed for this type are heavy proteins and fats to slow down the Krebs, or Citric Acid, cycle. Thus, this type needs a “fats and protein” diet as opposed to one weighted heavily in carbohydrates.

Slow Oxidizers:

These people, in contrast, process carbohydrates, the fuel of the Krebs cycle, slowly and do very well on high carbohydrate intake relative to protein and fat intake. Indeed, more protein would only further slow down their oxidative rate and lower their energy and cellular metabolism, leading to increased weight and health problems.



The other descriptions are about autonomic dominant types, sympathetic vs. parasympathetic, but I don't think it matters as much because usu. fast oxidizers do well on the same diet at para-sympathetic dominant and slow oxidizers should follow sympathetic-dominant diets.

I don't think MT is necessary for everyone but I'm just going to assume that everyone from Poliquin to Mercola to my friend who's a dietitian use it because it can be helpful, especially for people who have no idea what foods make them feel nourished. For example my friend had a client who just really couldn't stand red meat but ended up being a fast oxidizer. Apparently aversion to meat is sometimes a symptom of protein deficiency, so you really have to sort through the issues to determine where the aversion is coming from, and not just assume that the person is a slow oxidizer... And I'm sure we all have stories of people who feel awful when they eat too much red meat even though they aren't protein deficient... It's just a tool, a starting place.

Okay, rant over.

[Greg Davis]

Yael are you a Type O blood type? I was under the impression from Dr. G's comments that I was quoting that Type O's are more likely to be fast oxidizers and Type A's slow oxidizers..

This was part of his comments on the CFit board:
"What this diet has opened my eyes to is the very distinct possibility that my wife's optimal version of this diet is going to be very different than mine--she is a Type A (haven't done her metabolic type yet, although I'm positive she's a slow oxidator), probably needing a whole lot less fat, salt, and animal protein than myself."

I believe the rationale with this is could be linked to Type A blood being developed in line with a farming lifestyle (more vegetable based diet?) for increased bacteria resistance vs. Type O's which have more virus resistance.

So I sent Dr. G an email and he sent the following back the other day:

"The implications of how fast one oxidizes determines whether one should eat more carbs (slow oxidizers burn slow, hence they need "faster-burning" fuel) or more fats and protein (faster burning metabolic fires need "slower burning" fuels."

I don't meant to sound like a big believer in this stuff but I'm just trying to think how this might applicable, IMO there is probably some truth in it but the question is how applicable is it and are the differences actually transferrable to diet choices.

Assuming for a moment there something to this; whether you are on the fast or slow side of the spectrum, how would you change your diet? For me I eat mostly meat, fat, and veggies. Which is usually a serving of meat (ie. 20-50 g PRO), a few tbs of fat, and a serving of vegetables (enough to fill me up). I don't see how this would change much given that I like to be somewhat random/intermittent with my food intake anyway.

[Yael Grauer]

I'm actually a type A, so the blood type diet doesn't really apply to me at all.

The way that MT is applicable for me and my food choices is not really in percentages but in the types of foods I eat. For example, I started eating more buffalo, beef and dark chicken and a lot less white chicken... and there's certain fruits and other foods I'm not supposed to eat at all and others I'm supposed to emphasize. I don't agree with ALL of their choices, but it was a damn good starting point for me to discover this on my own. And I find that when I follow the (modified) guidelines my energy is more steady, I'm not craving anything or hungry all the time and I feel more clarity and balance emotionally. That's a good enough reason for me, and I don't think it has to be inconsistent with other food choicesor diets...except that it is more intuitive and less about percentages. Though I bet if I tracked the percentages they would be pretty similar for me to some kind of Athlete Zone diet. But in all honesty, I really don't think I need to be micromanaging my diet with ratios of macronutrients and taking detailed notes on everything my whole life. That's counterintuitive to me, to constantly be calculating grams and percentages and imposing strict rules about proportions of portion sizes. I've found that if I'm eating the right high-quality foods my body just kind of knows what it needs and I don't have to look at detailed charts from books for each meal.

[Robb Wolf]

Thanks Yael, good stuff. I'm just a Luddite. This is why I like the Olifts over PL'ng. Pick the bar up, put it down. No belts, wraps, chains, bands or super suits. Fewer mullets too.

I guess I'm still not seeing more clarity emerge from this than "Minimize grains, legumes and dairy, eat seasonally and locally when possible". Talk about simple and intuitive!

As to the weighing and measuring...if we know exactly what is going down the pie-hole we can make INFORMED decisions about what to do next, otherwise it's just a guess. It's a pain in the ass but it only takes a short time to get this dialed in.

The Zone is too many carbs, too often for me. I tweaked things such that most of the carbs go down post workout. Problem solved.

I'll keep reading up on the links you provided. If there is something to this I want to be able to bring it to clients and the community here...but I am also very suspicious of a lot of the nutritional "wisdom" espoused. paleo/zone/CLC...this stuff works and this is the primary method used by Berardi, Poliquin, Check, Friel (Olympic tri coach). That is pretty compelling for me.

[Yael Grauer]

We've gotten so civil. I like Olifts over PL'ng too.

I guess all I'm saying is that it's working well for me (in that I know what to eat now that will make me feel full and satisfied without cravings, feeling refueled and energetic, not feeling hungry all the time, etc.) I just think it would have been easier to just figure out my metabolic type rather than going on the Zone and calculating proportions and craving carbs because it was too low in fat and then tweaking it, etc. forever. AND also it's been helpful to learn that the TYPE of protein I'm getting is just as important than the percentage. I don't see how it would conflict with minimizing grains/legumes/dairy and eating locally/seasonally, there are plenty of Paleo foods involved, etc. and I think it might even complement the Zone if someone wanted it to...

I understand the reasoning behind weighing and measuring, but writing down WHAT I eat and what my energy levels, emotions and appetite/cravings/etc. are afterwards (this neat little diet check record sheet I got with my metabolic diet) has been much easier than trying to follow some pre-programmed Zone ratios and figuring out it wasn't working, but not knowing why, and then tweaking and tweaking and tweaking (lather, rinse, repeat.)

I would be interested to know if you find anything in there that passes your litmus test. I think Paul Chek uses it actually. At least, there's a link to one of his courses and links to his site on the Health Excel site.

They have an article on maximizing peak performance in athletics through metabolic typing, but I haven't had a chance to read it closely yet.