What’s Your Metabolic Type?

Warning: before I enlighten you regarding your metabolic type, this post will define a lot of terms related to metabolism…beginning with, well, metabolism, which is the chemical process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy.  Used in a sentence it might sound something like this: “The reason you can eat what you want and stay slim is because you have a fast metabolism.”  Is that true?  Do some people have faster metabolisms that permit them to eat what they want without gaining weight?  Well, according to some recent publications, people don’t necessarily have slow or fast metabolisms, they have different types of metabolisms.

However, there are certain things that cause people to burn calories faster than others especially when looking at their basal (or base) metabolic rate (BMR).  Definition time…your basal metabolic rate is the number of calories your body burns while at rest.  Yes, your body burns calories as you breathe, circulate blood and create and repair cells and some people require more calories to carry out those functions.  For example, larger folks and those with more muscle mass, such as young men, have a higher BMR.  That’s because young men generally have more muscle mass than older folks and women.  So, yes, a young male body builder has a higher metabolic rate than an older woman.

So, what does this have to do with your metabolic type?  Well, this differing metabolic rate got people thinking about different types of metabolism and their link to heredity.  For example, why can some people eat eggs, red meat and drink whole milk everyday and still have a low cholesterol level?  Or why can some people eat salty and fatty foods and still have relatively low blood pressure?  The short answer…genes.  Some people are just genetically disposed to low blood pressure and/or cholesterol.  If that’s the case, could the same be true of your metabolism?  Could our genes determine our metabolic type?  Some believe so.

Two of those people who believe so are William Wolcott who published The Metabolic Typing Diet in 2000 and Paul Chek whose How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy, published in 2004, added to the debate.  Essentially, Wolcott and Chek claim that we all fall into one of three metabolic types: protein, carbohydrate or mixed.  Others have since created additional types, but for our purposes, let’s stick to these three.

In order to determine what metabolic type you are, Wolcott has devotees answer a series of 65 questions related to your cravings, body type, and personality.  Then once you’ve determined your metabolic type, he, and Chek, break down what percentage of your diet should be proteins, carbohydrates and fats.  For example, if, under Wolcott’s guidelines, you fall under a protein metabolic rate, your diet should consist of 45% proteins, 35% carbs, and 20% fats.  Carbohydrate metabolic rate?  Then you should consume 25% proteins, 60% carbs and 15% fats.  A person with a mixed metabolic rate should eat 30% proteins, 50% carbs and 20% fats.  Chek’s percentages vary slightly from Wolcott’s, but you get the idea.

Others have taken what Wolcott and Chek started and claimed that we each have a unique metabolism.  We should then tailor our diets to adhere to our individualized metabolic rate in order to achieve our health goals, whether that’s to lose weight, increase our energy level, or improve muscle mass.  As a result, there are numerous web sites out there that have you take “metabolic quizzes” to determine your metabolic type.  I would suggest you use these sites with discretion and conduct your own research, especially if they are trying to sell you something.    Here is a link to Wolcott’s test.