How to Determine your Metabolic Type
Monday, December 8th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Last week I wrote about how Steve Pavlina has really come to understand what types of raw food combinations and fat percentages work for him. I think that this is such a crucial aspect to being successful on a raw food diet, that I today wanted to write how you can determine what type of oxidizer you are: fast, slow or mixed.
What do I mean by metabolic type, or type of oxidizer?
Taken from Womenfitness.net (although this applies to you GUYS too!):
“Metabolic Typing is the science of discovering the fundamental way in which your body produces energy from your food, in other words, the explanation of why “one person’s medicine is another’s poison.
“One of the basic principles of Metabolic Typing is that protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, which are transported by the blood, are best absorbed and utilized by the cells in your body at the ideal blood pH level of 7.46. Below this figure the blood is too acidic, above this figure the blood is too alkaline. The more your pH deviates from the ideal, the less efficient will be the conversion of food to energy.
“The second principle of Metabolic Typing is that any nutrient can be acidifying or alkalizing, stimulating or inhibiting, depending on your metabolic type.
“The benefits of eating according to your metabolic type are not just weight loss. Metabolic Typing is used by healthcare practitioners to help many conditions, including the following: weight problems, chronic fatigue, allergies, chronic pain, diabetes, heart disease, and rheumatologic disease, just to name a few.”
This website also offers a great test/quiz (applicable to both genders) that I really encourage you to check out. Maybe you already know what metabolic type you are, or maybe (hopefully) you can learn something new about yourself and on how to optimize your diet. Have any of you found that your metabolic type has changed since going raw? I think this is my case, or maybe I was just eating the wrong foods (an understatement, I know) for a couple years in my early twenties. I used to get away with eating all sorts of low fat/no-fat foods a couple of years ago. Now, I can’t seem to eat a meal without any fats in there and leave the table feeling satisfied. I eat a lot more fat now and I know that this is the right thing to do for my body.
Here is the ULTIMATE metabolic typing test that I wanted to give you today though, very useful to raw foodists too. I got it from listening to David Wolfe speak about it several times over the past 7 years:
*Note-Not all steps will be necessary for you.
Step 1: In the morning, as soon as you get hungry, have some fruit, a green smoothie, or a plain fruit smoothie for breakfast. Step 2: Notice how you feel afterwards. Are you satisfied and energized for hours or do you get immediately fuzzy/light headed, and are hungry again within 20-30 minutes?
If you don’t have to eat again for hours, then you are definitely a slow oxidizer and your body runs very well on simple carbohydrates. You should avoid heavy meals with a lot of fat and protein in them because they will slow you down.
But if you are hungry soon after this first experimental breakfast, then you are most likely a fast oxidizer.
Step 3: Now to determine whether you’re body runs best on fats or proteins, the next morning make yourself a smoothie with just a little fruit in there and this time add some fat such as 2 Tablespoons of flax seed oil or coconut oil or avocado in there.
Step 4: Notice how you feel afterwards. If you’re satisfied for hours, then your body runs very well on fats and you should make sure each of your meals has enough fat in them to keep you going until the next meal.
Step 5: But if you are hungry soon after this breakfast, the next morning make yourself a smoothie with a little fruit and some protein such as hemp protein or hemp seeds or chia seeds in it. How long does that meal take you? If this meal takes you longest into the day, then you should make sure that all of your meals have enough protein in them to keep your satisfied.
That’s it! Simple enough right? If you’re not sure about any one breakfast, try the same breakfast out for several days in a row. Trust your instincts and intuition.
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