The issue with metabolic typing is that the computer program was written by someone who has put his own concept or understanding about what the different metabolic types require. Having a computer printout tell you what you need to eat does not necessarily account for other influencing factors, such as climate, seasons, circadian rhythms, emotional stress, current disease processes, degree of liver bile duct congestion, and other physical requirements (being a cold Vata type requires warming and heavy, sweet, sour and salty tasting foods, whereas being a cold Kapha type require warming, light foods pungent, bitter and astringent foods; being a hot Pitta type requires cooling foods that are of sweet, bitter and astringent taste.

I prefer the 6,000-year old Ayurvedic body typing, not just because it wasn't man-made or invented by someone with an opinion of what the body needs, but because it includes all the possible influences that exist in the nature of things. I have made this system accessible to the layperson in my book The Key to Health and Rejuvenation.

Having said all that, I recommend that you choose whichever system you feel most drawn to. In any event, we can learn from everything we do. Mistakes occur only in the mind of man; in truth they don't exist. I learnt most of what I know from trying it out.

I don't think that the promoters of metabolic typing consciously deceive anyone when they avice meat-eating. They are concinced that this is good advice. Likewise, I believe that whatever bodytype you may be, to bring heated and thereby coagulated, dead meat cells back to life or to some sort of vitality or to believe that the body is interested in or capable of utilizing these damaged, degenerate proteins in some way, requires a feat that I know the body doesn't have. It is true that eating flesh foods have an energizing effect, but not for the reasons you think. Dead foods pose a threat to the immune system. Meat is a stimulant, not dissimilar to nicotine of caffeine. It triggers a powerful immune response required to remove the cadavers of meat, fish, chicken, etc. from the body in order to avoid poisoning through cadaverines and putrescines (poisons from decomposing meat) and attraction of parasites and worms.

It doesn't require much digestive effort to process such simple protein foods. The samll intestine in a carnevorous animal is very short, and meat stays there no longer than 1/2 hour. But, to digest such complex and nutrient-rich foods as, lets say, a bunch of broccoli or some green beans, you need an 18-feet long small intestine, with an absorptive surface area of the size of a tennis court. If you suffer digestive problems and lack of energy, it is this complex sytem of digestion that is not functioning properly anymore. A lot of energy is lost in the body's attempt to get rid of this complex food, which can make you even more tired. Eventually, there is not even enough energy left to cleanse the body. In the long run, eating flesh foods or concentrated proteins congests the blood capillary walls with excessive protein and thereby prevents nutrients, even water and oxygen from reaching the cells. This leads to chronic fatigue.

Trying to build strong muscles without having any complex energy resources is not only difficult, but would be disadvantagous. Having a congested body is not the right foundation up on which the body should grow new cell tissue, such as muscle. This is not the kind of muscle you would much benefit from. Of course, the liver plays a major role in all this. It not only controls the ability of the body to detoxify itself, but also how well you digest food and eliminate intestinal waste. These are the most basic functions in the body that determine how healthy you are (see The Amazing Liver Cleanse, ener-chi.com for details). Drugs of any kind cause major bile duct congestion, which can affect brain functions and mind/body coordination. So liver cleansing is definitely something I recommend for problems like yours.


Andreas