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You
are What Your Grandmother Eats!
By Aram Ovsepian
No longer just another catchy phrase or clever slogan, "You are
what you eat!" is now accepted as a too true commentary on the human
condition. Physical and emotional. "Garbage in, garbage out."
But I'm going to rev it up another level and tell you, "You are
also what your grandmother eats." And hers before her. And hers.
And on and on, ad infinitum. It's not really a new idea, but it's
one that is garnering a lot of attention in the diet, nutrition
and fitness industries. And rightfully so - because it's true.
It's called "Metabolic Typing" and it's the missing link between
why one nutrition plan works perfectly for Jane but not for Jan.
Why Mike gains energy and loses weight while eating lots of carbs,
but Mac packs on the pounds and falls asleep right after dinner.
Perhaps Metabolic Typing is also the key to this week's startling
headline on low-fat diets. The "largest study of its kind," costing
hundreds of millions of dollars, working with 49,000 older women,
over a substantial period of 8 years, showed no difference in the
incidence of heart disease, breast and colon cancer between the
women eating low-fat diets and those consuming regular portions
of fat.
OK, so what is this Metabolic Typing and how does it work? Simply
stated, Metabolic Typing determines the proper ratio of fats, proteins
and carbohydrates that YOUR body needs for YOU to feel, look and
perform at your peak. It's what your natural genetic makeup requires
to fight disease and even reverse some medical conditions. And it's
all based on heredity - yours. Your genes. From which part of the
world your parents originated. What your ancestors ate. Starting
to make sense, isn't it?
Let's connect a few dots.
In the early1930's, Weston A. Price, DDS, wanted to learn why Americans
suffered from such severe tooth decay and gum disease. So he undertook
an incredible journey to study the nutritional patterns of "isolated
primitive peoples, living on indigenous foods." These "primitive"
people, from Alaskan Eskimos to Australian Aborigines, tribesmen
of Africa to natives of the South Sea Isles and the traditional
American Indians, were said to be among the healthiest and most
structurally sound in the world. And they were also untouched by
the refined and processed foods of modern civilization.
No chips or fries, no hot dogs, chili dogs, corn dogs or Coke.
No Sloppy Joes or Cheese and Mac. No pizza, pasta or Philly Cheesesteak
and pass the Pepto please. The results, published, with photos,
in his ground-breaking book of 1938, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration,
were remarkable.
While these tribes, from remote areas of the world, followed diets
that were radically divergent (although all diets included animal
fat, some ate only fish, some only meat; some ate no fruits and
vegetables while other diets were primarily plant-based)
they ALL had almost perfect teeth and palettes, well-developed skeletal
structures and facial bones - and no degenerative disease! Now that's
a dot we would all like to connect to.
Going one step further, once a modern diet of refined sugar,
white flour, vegetable oils and processed foods (with preservatives,
additives, antibiotics, etc.) was introduced to these remote peoples,
tooth decay and degenerative disease became rampant! But when they
were, once again, removed from their lifestyle, so were the dental
caries and heart disease and cancer and diabetes and arthritis and DOT,
DOT, DOT.
Dr. Price presented irrefutable evidence that you are, indeed,w
ha y ouŠand that you better eat what grandma ate because
that is the diet best suited to your genetic needs. Your body chemistry.
And your ancestral environment and lifestyle,
By the way, while the dots were scattered all across the world,
from humid rainforests to arctic icebergs; and while the Eskimos
needed fat and the natives of the tropics needed carbohydrates,
and so on, ALL the dots were connected by the devastating effects
of the refined sugar, white flour and processed foods of modern
civilization. That's right, no more Twinkies for you - no matter
where your parents came from!
Your introduction to the basics of Metabolic Typing (and this is,
after all, only an introduction) would not be complete without this
important caveat: remember that we live in the "great melting pot."
Identifying and isolating your exact genetic background is difficult,
at best. Body structure and characteristics also helps in the typing
but environment, lifestyle, activity level, food preferences and
more all play a pivotal role. Most people will need a little technical
assistance in learning their true Metabolic type and in creating
the ideal diet plan to nurture it.
Being true to yourself and knowing "where you're coming from"
has just taken on a whole new meaning! And it will offer you a lifetime
of good health and total well-being.
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