Learning Your "Real" Metabolic Type

It seems like every week, I get at least one email that starts this way:

"Hi Carole, I took a metabolic typing test, and I'm a mixed type. Can you tell if how I should eat to control my weight?"

Or sometimes, it starts with:

"Carole, I'm trying metabolic typing, and it doesn't work. I'm a protein type, and I've been eating mostly protein, but I've gained weight instead of losing it!"

Unfortunately, I have to tell both these people, "No, I'm sorry. I can't help you, because you still don't know what metabolic type you really are!"

You see, real metabolic typing recognizes six "metabolic dominances" and four endocrine types. This means there are 24 metabolic types in all. These types have names, like "Fast Oxidizer/Thyroid" or "Balanced Autonomic/Adrenal".

"Protein" or "carb" or "mixed" are not "real" metabolic types.

Of these 24 types, eight could be considered protein types. Even though all eight are protein types, each type has different eating recommendations, especially for health and weight control. Yes, all eight will need to eat more protein and less carbs, but the actual recommendations - the ratios, the actual food to eat to control weight - can be drastically different.

Of the 24 types, there are also eight that can be considered mixed types, and eight that can be considered carb types. But two carb type people may need different ratios and different foods to control weight and be healthy.

Often times, people find their "metabolic type" from one of the free tests available in books and on the webs. In my experience, these tests are prone to error!

When I started, I took a free test metabolic test in a book. When I first scored this free test, I thought I was a "mixed" type. But nothing could have been farther from the truth.

After taking the advanced test (the one now included in my MetaTyping Nutrition Plan), I learned I was a Fast Oxidizer. Fast Oxidizers are not mixed at all, but tend to need mostly protein (and the right kinds of protein - not just any protein will do) to control weight and feel great.

It was a good thing though that I didn't follow the recommendations for my score on that "free" test. I would have wound up "paying" for it - by making my health and weight problems that much worse!

I now call these free tests the "dumbed-down" version of metabolic testing. I realize that's a bit harsh, but you must realize that the only way a self-scoring test could be included in a book or on a website would be if we used an extremely simplified version.

Metabolic Typing is based on a nutritional and scientific approach to determining your metabolic genetics. It integrates disciplines such as biochemistry, anatomy, and endocrinology.

It would be difficult to have a self-scoring test that would take into account your particular genetics - and get the right scores for your oxidative, autonomic, and endocrine systems. Hence, most free tests are extremely simplified - and that makes their use prone to error.

I've had so many people take the "real" metabolic profile and find out that their type was quite different from what these free tests led them to believe. And with MetaTyping Nutrition Plan, you get a much more accurate picture of what it takes to help you control weight and become healthier.

I realize many people are cost-conscious, but don't be tempted by these free tests.

This is one case were "free" does NOT mean you are getting a good value.

This is one time where "free" might mean you WILL have to "pay" - not with money, but with frustration, poor health, and weight gain.

If a free test tells you that you are a "protein" type, or a "carb" type, or a "mixed" type, we still don't know enough about your genetic systems to help you.

More than likely, you'll try the suggestions from this free test, see little or no improvement, get frustrated just like with every other diet you've tried, and give up. You might then think metabolic typing doesn't work - but in reality, the problem was that you didn't really know your metabolic type to begin with.

Instead, a Certified Metabolic Typing Advisor can help you put together a plan that tells you your precise metabolism, and that will help you look and feel great!