Some people are able to do well on a vegetarian diet, but many aren’t. Even worse, some people destroy their health by forcing themselves to maintain this type of diet despite not feeling well.

Any healthy diet should be based on natural whole foods, and from there, Metabolic Typing is great for customizing your diet to your individual needs. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask.

Carrie – I’ve also experienced a significant reduction in anxiety and mood swings after changing my diet. We’re all still human and I don’t think it’s possible for anyone to eliminate unwarranted negative emotions completely. However, that’s not to say that we can’t come close!

I think the people who are most likely to criticize Metabolic Typing are those who do well on a standard diet. The benefits won’t be as obvious to them. Two great things about Metabolic Typing are that it’s based on natural whole foods and also your reactions to your meals. You can’t go wrong from this perspective! Personally, if I eat too much carbohydrate (which is not that much), I get weak, shaky, tired, and irritable. If I eat more protein and fat, as my Metabolic Type suggests I should, this doesn’t happen and I feel great. It takes time and effort to learn how to adjust your meals in response to your reactions, but for many people, it’s well worth it.

I agree that a high carb and low fat diet isn’t good for anyone, but it depends on what is actually being eaten. While a carb type, including a slow oxidizer, should eat about 60% carbs and 40% protein and fat, the average person today often goes well beyond this. Furthermore, the quality of carbohydrate and fat must be considered as well. Even on a protein type diet of 70% protein and fat and 30% carbs, if the carbs are from sugar and refined grains and the fat is from denatured vegetable oils, that’s certainly not good either.

A Metabolic Type can be either genetic of functional and a slow oxidizer can be either. Yes, someone could be a slow oxidizer based on a deficiency which would make it a functional type, but it’s also possible to be a slow oxidizer based on genetics. People with significant health issues often have a functional type and eventually change towards their genetic type as their health improves.

Raine – Yes, the drug industry is always finding more ways to make more people dependent on their medication. It’s very sad and is pushing us in the opposite direction of where we need to be. The concept of natural and holistic health is nothing new, but it unfortunately has been slow in overcoming the influence of mass media and big industry. With the internet now at our disposal, I believe that awareness is spreading more rapidly and am hopeful that it will continue.

Brian – While some people do need conventional treatment, I agree that most people are reactive to their health rather than proactive. It’s amazing how easy it is to get a prescription for cholesterol, blood pressure, anxiety, or depression and how rare it is to be advised of the healthy lifestyle that would likely prevent these conditions and the need for their associated medications. Even in the case where such medications are truly necessary, a healthy lifestyle should still be the foundation of any treatment.

Nutrition and good food with proper lifestyle really is the winning combination, thanks for proving that again with this article. I also liked the mention of the Metabolic Typing Diet, which I really believe in. I’m definitely a protein type, and feel best when I eat large amounts of protein from healthy meat and fish, and vegetables.

Unfortunately, this way of life we’ve adopted with processed foods, doctoring, and drugs has become so ingrained in the way we function as a culture, it does take some repeated exposure, education, and ultimately experiencing it for yourself to undo all the damage done by these bloated, powerful industries. But with sites like this and mine, I’m hopeful we can help more and more people to achieve better health.

This is all very interesting, as usual! I really found that my anxiety, mood swings, etc. were virtually eliminated by the change in diet (although I’m still human and prone to grumpiness every so often! Just ask my husband!).

I also took the Metabolic Typing Questionnaire and, just as I suspected, am a “protein type”. Later I read some criticisms of the Metabolic Typing which left me confused, but I want to read up more on what you’ve written about it and try and learn more.

Knowing what I know about carbs and fat, it’s hard to believe that eating a “high-carb, low-fat” diet would be good for anyone. Could it be possible that the slow oxidizers were dealing with a specific nutritional imabalance that was causing them to be slow oxidizers? Just curious.

Fascinating stuff, this is! Great post; very scientific yet understandable to the laity!

Carrie @ Organic & Thrifty