Since 1987 |
Maximize Your Phenotype
Do You Know The Right Diet For Your Metabolism ?
If you (or anyone else for that matter) do not already know the answer to that question, finding out can prove an overwhelming if not impossible undertaking. Where can one go to find a satisfactory explanation? Little help of any real value can be gained from traditional medicine whose focus is on treating disease rather than on building health. A typical response from the average physician when asked, is merely to eat a well-balanced diet. But, when the next logical query, "What is a well-balanced diet for me?" is posed, one receives little if any practical or meaningful information at all.
Undertaking a library search for a solution uncovers literally thousands of books on the subject, most any of which may claim to provide the answer. Scrutiny of the healthfood store bookshelf bequeaths analogous results -- numerous writings expounding the matter, ranging anywhere from sound research works on the various effects of vitamins and minerals, to personal testimonials touting the essential nature of this substance or that to optimal health. Unfortunately, the sum total of this most extensive and impressive volume of recorded knowledge is sadly, though not surprisingly, confusion ...uncovered unfortunately instead, are seemingly more questions than significant and practical answers!
Seeking out the wisdom of experts in the field results in an equally fruitless resolution of one's growing perplexity, seeming only to lead to additional pieces of contradictory information, which often prove no better than anecdotal advice from a friend or common folklore on the subject.
What is possibly most consternating and confounding of all, is the realization that of the thousands of books that have been written and of the innumerable opinions that have been expressed, certainly not all or even most can be dismissed as the fraudulent claims of snake oil salesmen or the unfounded hullabaloo of quackery. Yet through it all, one maintains the strongest sense, the utmost conviction that there must be an answer!
Many people seem to put more time and energy into the upkeep of their automobiles than into the proper care of their bodies. Perhaps one major reason for this is that virtually no one knows how to be healthy. Where are the rules that if followed, lead to good health written? Where is the roadmap to optimal health? Where is the instruction book or the maintenance manual for the human body that explains how it works . . . and what to do if it doesn't?
Finally (usually as a last recourse), when personal experimentation is attempted, more often than not one is still left with very little in the way of a practical, useful understanding of what it takes to gain and maintain good health. Many health-conscious individualists, failing to find proper guidance in the marketplace, discover for themselves that even by eating the very best organic foods, by taking all the finest nutritional supplements money can buy, by receiving regular structural treatments, by avoiding toxins in food and in the environment, and even by cleansing and detoxifying the body regularly, one still does not feel well! Moreover, what seems to work for some people, making them feel better or improving their adverse symptoms, in others has little or no effect, and in still others, actually appears to worsen their health situation!
Conceiving Clarity From Confusion
Take heart, for there does appear to be a solution to all of this! A framework does exist for understanding and making sense out of what appears to be a hopelessly complex chaos of confusing and conflicting information, i.e., what to foods to eat and what supplements to take in order to be healthy.
HEALTHEXCEL is an organization dedicated to the acceleration of the unfoldment of human potential through the creation of excellence in health. The basis for this unfoldment is a provocative health-building program which is structured in a highly individualized approach to nutrition known as The Healthexcel System of Metabolic Typing® ! Metabolic Typing® is a highly complex procedure that requires the use of computer technology to analyze an enormous amount of personal data concerning each person's unique metabolic characteristics in order to determine individual nutritional requirements.
The concept of unique individual requirements for nutrition is certainly not an original idea brought forth by HEALTHEXCEL, nor even is the term "metabolic typing." Writings of the ancient Greek physicians such as Hippocrates give evidence of the recognition of the validity of addressing the needs of the whole person rather than the symptoms of dis-ease. To paraphrase their thinking on the subject, they recognized that different sorts of people had different kinds of maladies and that one man's food was another's poison. Similar concepts can also be seen in the ancient healing arts in the Far East, e.g., the yin and yang of Chinese medicine, and the correlation of the five elements to individual classifications in the Ayurvedic medicine of India.
Modern, progressive-minded researchers have revived this notion of health being dependent on one's ability to obtain all the nutrients for which one has a genetic requirement. Dr. Roger Williams, the noted biochemist from the University of Texas, expounded his genetotrophic principle in which he showed that our individual characteristics which are an expression of our uniqueness, are based in our genes and that these genetically inherited differences extend to even the level of the individual cell in determining the rate of individual cellular activity.
According to Dr. Williams, all people are genetically predisposed to specific biochemical needs, which, if not met, lead to degenerative disease. This he terms as a person's biochemical individuality. He believes that all degenerative disease, including cancer, is caused by such "cellular malnutrition."
Dr. Williams advocated the need "...to develop techniques for identifying the inherited pattern of susceptibilities and resistances that is unique to each individual. Call it a `metabolic profile' or any other name you wish, but plainly it represents a necessary precondition for making rational programs of nutrition, tailored to fit each individual's special requirements."
Other independent metabolic and nutritional researchers concurrently developed just such Metabolic Typing® systems for the determination of individual nutritional requirements. Many researchers such as Dr. Francis Pottenger, Dr. R.O. Muller and others, worked with individual classification through the autonomic nervous system. Dr. William Donald Kelley coined the term metabolic typing and was the first to utilize computer technology to analyze nutritional needs based on the autonomic nervous system. Dr. George Watson's research, and later that of Dr. Paul Eck, centered around the oxidation rate, the rate at which nutrients are burned for energy in the cells, as the basis for the determination of individual nutritional needs. Other researchers, such as Dr. Henry Bieler, Dr. Melvin Page and Dr. Elliot Abravanel developed means of classification through analysis of the endocrine system.
It has become quite clear that the acquisition of good health is dependent on the acquisition of good nutrition. It has also become quite clear that what is right for one person, as the ancient Greeks knew, is simply not necessarily correct for someone else. What constitutes good nutrition for the Eskimo is not the same as for the vegetarian East Indian. However, knowing one's ancestry alone is not of much practical value, for it has become apparent that children from the same parents may not only differ to the extreme in external appearances and personalities, but also in terms of their nutritional requirements. This is particularly true of our modern society in America which today is a true genetic melting pot of the world.
However, the fact that one's genetic requirements may be a matter of genetic roulette does not diminish the imperative need to meet those genetic nutritional requirements. The bottom line still is that in order to be healthy, one must supply the body with all the raw materials, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc., for which it has a genetic need. The failure to do so results in inefficiency of function of cells, organs, glands and systems, imbalance in body chemistry and eventually medically diagnosable dis-ease.
Obviously, every vitamin and mineral is vital and necessary; but different people need different amounts of the different nutrients. Amazing as it may seem, it is very likely that all the books touting the various nutrients are correct. However, they are accurate only for certain, specific Metabolic Type® s; their recommendations are incorrect for other Metabolic Type® s! This is what has made the field of nutrition so confusing.
What is an even more remarkable discovery now expounded by HEALTHEXCEL is that not only do different people need different amounts of nutrients, but also any given nutrient can have an opposite reaction in different people. Metabolic Typing® explains why what improves one person's condition can actually worsen the same condition in someone else. Until this discovery, that how any given nutrient effects an individual depends upon the Metabolic Type® of the individual in question, any research experiments regarding the effects of nutrients will be quite meaningless.
This important understanding has yet another implication: any given health problem can not be successfully addressed by a symptom treatment approach. To illustrate, consider for a moment the common problem of leg cramps. Leg cramps usually are an indication of a disruption of calcium metabolism. The common solution is to take additional calcium, and indeed for some (Metabolic Type® s) this is an effective and proper solution. But, few realize that in other Metabolic Type® s this course of action provides not a solution but rather a worsening of the problem. For these Metabolic Type® s what is needed is not the ingestion of more calcium, but rather a diminishment of dietary calcium and an increase of those nutrients which are the biochemical "opposite", like potassium and magnesium, in order to improve the utilization of calcium!
The principle illustrated with this relatively simple health adversity holds true for most all health problems as well. In order to successfully deal with an adverse health situation it is imperative that one first understand the Metabolic Type® in question before any recommendations are made. Only in this way can one be assured of getting his "medicine" and not his "poison." The answer to the question regarding proper nutrition for any individual can only be obtained once the Metabolic Type® of the individual is understood.
The Healthexcel System
Through The Healthexcel System of Metabolic Typing® , the clouds of confusion regarding what one can do in order to be healthy, may be dispelled by providing a scientific (i.e., systematic, testable, repeatable and verifiable) answer to this question. Over 40 years of empirical research into the relationship of Metabolic Typing® to the determination of individual nutritional requirements has uncovered a common denominator to all the systems of metabolic evaluation ...energy! This realization led to the further discovery that the previous systems of evaluation developed by the pioneers of metabolic nutritional research, are in themselves neither right nor wrong, but are instead pieces of the same puzzle, which complement, rather than oppose each other.
Genes dictate the characteristics of each individual cell -- the structure and purpose of the cell, the rate of cellular activity, the nutrients required by the cell for repairing and rebuilding, for reproduction, for energy production and for successful completion of all cellular activities. Cells group together based upon similar makeup and purpose to form organs, glands and other bodily tissues. These in turn, form the various systems in the body whose purposes are to perform special functions (e.g. the digestive system, the immune system, etc).
The nutrients obtained by the body from air, food, water and light provide the fuel for all the processes of metabolism. By supplying the body with all the raw materials for which it has a genetic requirement, one sets the stage for optimum energy production, the essential ingredient for good health and well-being and the optimum functioning of all the body's cells, organs, glands and systems. The HEALTHEXCEL System of Metabolic Typing® , is a process of evaluation of the interrelationship of the body's three main systems for the creation, maintenance and control of energy: the autonomic nervous system, the oxidative system and the endocrine system.
METABOLIC TYPING® ...Understanding Body Language
Every activity in the body, whether it be physiological, psychological or biochemical in nature, depends on the rate, quality and amount of energy available. When optimum energy is available to the body on all levels, to all the cells, organs, glands and systems, then optimum functioning - good health - is possible. As a natural result, one's experience on all levels, all the multitudinous symptoms, traits and characteristics of the body, reflects this optimum energy potential. The mind is clear and sharp, there is ample energy for emotional experience and physical energy abounds. All of the body's cells, organs, glands and systems function efficiently and harmoniously. An overall feeling of vitality and well-being naturally pervades one's experience.
But, when the cells are deficient in their fuel requirements and metabolic activity becomes disrupted, imbalanced and inefficient, then the quality of one's experience, on all levels, reflects that condition as well. The body then begins to communicate in its own "language" the fact that all is not well! At first, it might just appear as a lessening of energy, of mental sharpness or of emotional interest. Then actual non-specific symptoms or conditions, which are undiagnosable as an actual disease process, may begin to appear -- such characteristics as headaches; digestive disturbances; constipation; food sensitivities; emotional disruptions like anger, irritability, depression for no apparent reason; apathy, lethargy; loss of interest in life; weight problems; loss of sex drive; disruption of energy levels; etc. Then, if not corrected, such biochemical deficiencies may eventually give way to a full-blown diagnosable degenerative disease.
But, long before that time the body will have been communicating in its own fashion the fact that all is not well. The interpretation and the understanding of this "body language" is the quest of Metabolic Typing® . In its own way, the body constantly defines its own individuality; it gives expression to its own imbalances and makes known the need for its own requirements! The mental, emotional and physical characteristics the body displays supply an ample description and unending flow of information regarding its status quo. One need only develop an understanding of the principles involved in Metabolic Typing® in order to begin to understand the language of the body.
This understanding is effectively accomplished through HEALTHEXCEL'S Metabolic Typing® Evaluations, which seek an understanding of the physiological basis for the numerous and varied characteristics which comprise one's individual metabolic experience. Understanding the physiological basis for all one's characteristics allows for a categorization of all the known characteristics. Once characteristics are categorized, overall metabolic patterns and styles of functioning may be seen and the metabolic classification may be determined, based upon the three main "energy systems" of the body: the autonomic, oxidative and endocrine systems. Once this is accomplished, nutritional recommendations in terms of diet and supplementation appropriate for one's unique metabolic requirements can be made.
Then, by eating the very best organic foods which are correct for your Metabolic Type® , and by taking nutritional supplements which are suitable for your nutritional individuality, by having regular structural treatments, by avoiding toxins in your food and in your environment, and by cleansing and detoxifying your body regularly, you can truly make headway on the road to your optimal health and well-being!
Should you decide that you would like to know more about Metabolic Typing® or what it would entail to find out about your unique nutritional requirements, you are invited to call or write HEALTHEXCEL at the following address:
THE DOMINANCE FACTOR
Once the discovery was made that the different philosophies of Metabolic Typing® were not mutually exclusive, but rather had a synergistic relationship, the understanding of the dominance factor naturally followed. All three of the body's energy systems work together in the creation, maintenance and control of the body's production of energy and processes of metabolism. However, different people have one system stronger than the other; this is referred to as the dominant system. From this realization came the understanding of several important phenomena, and the development of important philosophical concepts and practical applications unique to the HEALTHEXCEL system of Metabolic Typing® :
Any given nutrient will effect different people in different ways. How a given nutrient affects someone depends on the dominant factor of the Metabolic Type®
Two (or more) people can have the same adverse symptom or health problem for virtually opposite biochemical reasons.
For example, if a person had leg cramps and was an:
Autonomic dominant (parasympathetic), an INcrease in calcium and a DEcrease in potassium would be indicated
Oxidative dominant (slow), a DEcrease in calcium and an INcrease in potassium would be indicated
Foods in themselves are not acidifying or alkalinizing to the body. Whether a food has an acid or an alkaline effect on the body depends not on its ash, but rather on the dominance factor in the Metabolic Type® , i.e., on what system is most strongly affected by the foods.
For example, if a high potassium food is given to an:
Autonomic Dominant, it will cause a shift toward alkalinity and hypoactive characteristics by its effect of increasing parasympathetic autonomic activity
Oxidative Dominant, it will cause a shift toward acidity and hyperactive characteristics by its effect of increasing the oxidation rate
Furthermore, the understanding of the interrelationship between the autonomic, oxidative and endocrine systems allows for a greater capacity for understanding the causes for various characteristics, as well as for a more accurate determination of nutritional requirements than was previously possible. For example, a sympathetic autonomic dominant is normally quick and alert mentally and has excellent memory and concentration. However, if a sympathetic autonomic dominant shifted (along the oxidative axis instead of the autonomic axis) into slow oxidative dominance, the normal sympathetic mental traits could change drastically to those of a much less desirable nature such as depression, loss of memory and drowsiness. If one used only the autonomic system of evaluation instead of the HEALTHEXCEL system, such a shift could be mistaken for an autonomic shift into parasympathetic activity. However, the nutritional support to correct the parasympathetic shift is the opposite of what is needed if the change was an oxidative shift into slow oxidation. The failure to understand this facet of biochemical individuality could result in a worsening of symptoms through nutritional support instead of an improvement in them.
