Learning Your Metabolic Type To Improve Health

I know there is lots of information out there about dieting and how to eat right to have optimum health. One thing I have learned for sure is that everyone is different. For instance, I found out I was a fast oxidizer or fast metabolizer. When I was young I could eat forever and never put on a pound. A fast metabolizer does not make a good vegetarian. We need foods that are high in proteins and fat. Go figure.

I gain weight on carbs no matter how healthy they are. Whenever I eat a high carb meal or something with sugar in it, I just don't feel good. It makes me feel sluggish. But meat and fat feel good. I have more energy. My hypoglycemia is under control. I would rather be a vegetarian but it just doesn't work for me.

Slow metabolizers make great vegetarians. Then there is also the middle of the road person who is neither slow or fast and they can eat a combination of both, or I guess you can say, they can pretty much eat anything.

I went vegetarian for about six months once and I was jittery all the time, tired, nervous and extremely cold. I was always freezing and just felt generally sick. I finally quit and went back to eating meats, eggs, cheeses and butter and felt much better almost immediately.

This is why no one diet ever works for everyone. We are all different. It has a lot to do with our backgrounds, where we came from and how our ancestors ate. My family for as far back as I can remember or have heard about ate a lot of meat, butter, cheeses, gravies, etc. Today we are told this is an unhealthy way to eat, but my great grandfather lived to be 99 years old and was still physically active till he died.

If you want to find out more about metabolism and how it effects how you should eat, there is a book called "The Metabolic Typing Diet." It helped me a lot. I feel great when I eat according to my body type.

The Number One Thing You Can Do To Lose Weight

I know that this is something that you don't want to hear, but it's the truth. The number one way to begin losing weight immediately -- barring other health problems that may be causing you to gain weight, such as hypothyroidism -- is to eliminate all sugar in all its forms from your diet. That includes fruit juices which are high in fructose.

The health industry today would have you believe that fat is the culprit in causing you to gain weight. I suppose it could be if eaten at high levels. Good fats are very healthy and they are not why you are having weight problems. It's sugar. Our bodies are not designed to handle the high quantities of sugar that the average American consumes.

Years ago I was found to be hypoglycemic. I was just boarder line hypoglycemic but non-the-less decided to stop eating sugar at the advice of my chiropractor. I lost 15 pounds in one month. The only change I had made in my diet was to exclude sugar in all its forms. I also felt better than I had felt in years -- more energy, more clarity of thought -- just great health.

The forms of sugar are: glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, maltose and other oses. Be sure to read the ingredients and see if there are any oses. If there is, it is probably a form of sugar. Another form of sugar is starch which is found in white breads and pastries. I guess starch isn't exactly sugar but the body treats it in the same way. So it's also good to avoid.