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Clinical
Programs: Health and Nutrition
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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