Institute for Healing Arts Research : Director, Andrew Kochan, M.D.
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.

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Related Links

The following are links to various published papersand organizations of interest:


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