WHAT SHOULD I EAT? PART I

Do you get confused by the conflicting advice offered about what to eat? One expert says to eat a low fat diet and another says to eat a low carb diet. Or, to lose weight you should eat 1500 calories or less a day. Who's right? How do you know what's right for your body?

The answer depends on your metabolic type (also called biochemical individuality). Paul Chek defines metabolic typing (MT) as: "...a system that identifies an individual's genetically-based nutrition and diet requirements. There is not one diet that is right for everyone, therefore to achieve optimal health, you must determine what is right for you. The great thing about metabolic typing is that it will direct you toward the diet plan that is right for your body."¹

MT finds what 'fuel mixture' works for your body, fuel mixture being the ratio of protein to fats to carbohydrates. To help you understand, let's define protein, fat, and carbs. Examples of protein and fat include meats, cheeses, oils and nuts. Protein and fats take 2-4 hours to digest. Examples of carbs are fruits, vegetables, breads, pasta and sugar. Carbs take about a half-hour to an hour to digest.²

There are three basic different fuel mixtures that work for people. A protein type's fuel mixture is very high in protein and fats and relatively low in carbs. Conversely, a carb type's fuel mixture is higher in carbs and lower in protein and fats; the newly updated food pyramid is an example of a carb-type diet. Generally with protein types, they break down their foods very quickly, are often hungry, and carbs leave them unsatisfied- these people 'live to eat'. Carb types break down their foods more slowly, an apple can keep them happy for hours, and they are not daydreaming about their next meal like protein types are- these people 'eat to live'. Mixed types are either in the middle or shift from one type to the other. A mixed type is exactly that--somewhere in the middle.

Often people have no idea what type they are without being tested. Lifestyle habits such as skipping meals and chronic dehydration will obscure what your body is trying to tell you to eat. Keep in mind too that your metabolic type has little to do with what you enjoy eating. Almost everyone will think that they must be a carb type because they love to eat carbs. I thought that too and as it turns out, I am a super-fast protein type!

How does knowing your metabolic type benefit you? As William Wolcott puts it, "...a metabolically appropriate diet will put an end to food cravings, hunger, blood sugar imbalances, many forms of digestive problems, headaches, depression, irritability, and other nagging ailments."³ How are the benefits so drastic? Giving your body the fuel mixture it runs best on allows it to perform the best it possibly can. I went from eating the standard weight-loss formula of low calories made up of carbs to eating heavy protein & fat and these are some of the benefits that I experienced: my skin stopped breaking out, chronic constipation/IBS finally began to clear up, I stopped having severe hypoglycemic spells, my energy levels stabilized, I didn't feel as though I was starving all the time, and I was finally able to put some muscle on (which aided greatly in boosting my metabolism and shedding bodyfat).

I have now been metabolically typing my clients for over 2 years. I have only had ONE client that was a carb type. In Jon's year of metabolically typing clients, he has had ZERO carb type clients. People tend to either be mixed or protein types and yet eat like carb types- especially since the media and many medical professionals have scared us away from eating protein and fat! And because of this, most of our starting-clients are overweight, addicted to carbs/sugar, scared to drink whole milk, have high cholesterol due to their excessive sugar intake, are either diabetic or pre-diabetic, and more. What's my point? This may be you!

Standby for part 2 of 'What Should I Eat?' to discover how you can find out your metabolic type, what to do about it,...and why you should believe this at all.

References:

1Paul Chek, Holistic Health Practitioner, How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy! p 41
2Apex Training Group, Apex Training Manual
3William Wolcott, The Metabolic Typing Diet, preface