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The Metabolic Typing Diet: Customize Your Diet For: Permanent Weight Loss, Optimum Health, Preventing and Reversing Disease, Staying Young at Any Age

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Customize Your Diet to Your Own Unique Body Chemistry For hereditary reasons, your metabolism is unique. Cutting-edge research shows that no single diet works well for everyone–the very same foods that keep your best friend slim may keep you overweight and feeling unhealthy and fatigued. Now, William Wolcott, a pioneer in the field of metabolic research, has developed a revolutionary weight-loss program that allows you to identify your "metabolic type" and create a diet that suits your individual nutritional needs. In The Metabolic Typing Diet, Wolcott and acclaimed science writer Trish Fahey provide simple self-tests that you can use to discover your own metabolic type and determine what kind of diet will work best for you. It might be a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet filled with pasta and grains, or a high-fat, high-protein diet focused on meat and seafood, or anything in between. By detailing exactly which foods and food combinations are right for you, The Metabolic Typing Diet at last reveals the secret to shedding unwanted pounds and achieving optimum vitality with lasting results. The Metabolic Typing Diet will enable you - Achieve and maintain your ideal weight - Eliminate sugar cravings - Enjoy sustained energy and endurance - Conquer indigestion, fatigue, and allergies - Bolster your immune system - Overcome anxiety, depression, and mood swings

424 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 4, 2000

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631 people want to read

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William Linz Wolcott

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55 (9%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
Profile Image for Kate.
349 reviews85 followers
November 2, 2011
While the metabolic typing questionnaires were more in depth (I'm still a pesky mixed type eater for sure) than the ones in How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy!, I found the science and other suggestions to be more 'lofty' than the actual facts Paul Chek and Robb Wolf offer up in their books. This one has been my least favorite book on nutrition I have read thus far. It's not a bad book, just more 'sciencey' than what I normally enjoy reading.
79 reviews2 followers
November 13, 2010
As a health coach, I think this concept plays a major role in fighting obesity, chronic disease, and the general ill health experienced by the majority of Americans today. I will probably also buy a DTV to be able to reference some things a bit more easily for my clients.

There is no such thing as "the perfect diet" for mankind. We are all individuals with distinct biochemistry based on our genetic heritage and influenced by our environment. While a raw vegan diet may work for some, it definitely will not work for others.

This is where metabolic typing comes in. The basic questionnaire included in the book provides a base line to start you on your path to determining the best foods for you to be eating. Some people may need more protein, some less. Some need more fats in their diets, some less. This helps you figure out your approximate location on that continuum.

Determining your metabolic type really requires mindfulness and attention to your body physically, mentally and emotionally. As you tune in and understand your body again, you'll be able to modify your diet to produce good health, energy and maintain a proper weight for your body.

The book has further tools to help understand what your body is saying to you, and for helping adjust your diet for maximum benefit.

Metabolic typing, combined with proper habits on what, when and how you eat and physical exercise are the keys to weight management and vital health
13 reviews9 followers
December 21, 2014
The idea is interesting and according to my own experience there is probably truth to it. A diet that is right for your body is important for good health. How to figure out the diet that is right for you is another matter. The topic is complex and this book offers only a limited amount of immediately useful information - further study and experimentation is needed to find out what works for you.

While the book has lots of useful data and tips, it is quite repetitive and could be much compressed without losing important information. I also found that some of the text was very salesman-like, a bit like a commercial.
Profile Image for Cee.
38 reviews8 followers
April 23, 2010
A must read for the serious athlete, or performance concerned person. How to pay attention to your body, and derive amazing results free of fad diets and other myths. This book was key to some major personal changes that I will attest to bringing astounding results. I am a lifetime diet and exercise addict, and this book has helped bring me to a place of happiness, with physical results and freedom from guilt and the yoyo exercise trap. I have never looked or felt better, and I apply almost no effort!
Profile Image for Shawna.
4 reviews2 followers
November 9, 2012
This book gave me a lot to think about. It also freed me from the dreaded low calorie diet plan. The self test is included in the book - which is nice. It also gets you started on healthier eating with some adjustment suggestions if you are still experiencing problems with the foods you eat. The only thing I didn't care much for was the first several chapters was tireless in it's justification for this approach to nutrition. Enough with the justification - get on with the methods!
Profile Image for Erika ♥OwlwaysReading♥.
389 reviews154 followers
July 8, 2015
I'm a protein type :) What's yours?

A) Protein Type
B) Carbo Type
C) Mixed Type

Do I diet? HELL NO! Then why read a diet book? Because it's important to know how to optimize your bodies nutritional needs in order to maintain your individual metabolic balance. Everyone is different, that's why there is no such thing as "one diet fits all."

Check out the metabolic type self-test on page 136!
Profile Image for Jessica Sandfort.
13 reviews6 followers
June 12, 2014
You can basically skim Chapter 1-2 and then skip to Chapter 6 because it is a lot of redundant hypotheses and what if scenarios without anything helpful.

I think that this concept is real and is much more sensical than the fad diets ... the no carb, the atkins, the cabbage soup diet, the vegetarian diet ...


Every human being's makeup is so unique that it makes sense that some "diets" and restrictions simply do not work for everyone! The book is worth the read to simply explore this point and to see how genetics and biochemistry influence our weight loss and gain and a healthy, normal weight. It keeps all of the fads and the latest trend in check. There are HEALTHY and NATURAL ways to stimulate your metabolism without
powders and pills!

Profile Image for Beth C.
65 reviews2 followers
July 31, 2023
“There is no such thing as a standard “healthy diet”... There’s nothing intrinsically healthy or unhealthy about any given food. All that matters is how well a particular food or dietary regimen can fulfill your unique, genetically inherited metabolic requirements… A diet or nutrient that works well for one person may have no effect on a second person, and may make a third person worse… Any nutrient can have virtually opposite biochemical influences in different people.”(xix)

Yes!! It has been my experience that there is not a single, one-size-fits-all dietary solution which can be applied to everyone. According to this book, different metabolic types require different ratios of macronutrients.

I came to this book in a roundabout way. First, I took the online Metabolic Typing test ($49ish), then implemented the suggestions (Protein type - organ meats and such! 😬) The results were impressive after only a few days - better sleep, no hangriness, no sugar cravings, no light-headedness, increased energy - and then I wanted to know more about why these changes were working for me. With a background in naturopathy, I am endlessly intrigued by all things health and wellness.

The Metabolic Typing approach addresses individual nutritional needs from a biochemical standpoint. No two individuals are alike on a biochemist physiological level, so why would their nutritional needs be identical?

Do you have to read the whole book to get help from the book? Absolutely not! Take the quiz on pages 136-157 - Tally your results and identify your type on page 158 - Then, read guidelines for your specific type. Or, skip the book completely and take the online test. With the online test you get suggested menus and food lists, everything needed to get going right away.

This book aligns with my personal opinions on health: never skip a meal, don’t count calories, listen to your body, get both aerobic and anaerobic exercise, avoid artificial sweeteners, eating fat does not make you fat. I’m adding Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill to my read-next list.
301 reviews24 followers
June 25, 2019
What I liked:
-- telling me to eat more butter
-- the type quiz, mostly because I hadn't thought about most of those things before, and I was surprised at how skewed my answers were toward one type
-- telling me to eat whole-fat dairy, because I already do, and I get so annoyed when any person or app (looking at you, NutriSavings) tells me that skim milk is "healthier." Screw you.

What I didn't like:
-- claiming that a list of 12 steps to follow is simple
-- literally referring to "good" and "bad" foods (I don't like moralistic language with food)
-- huge lists of food to have or avoid--especially silly for me as an alleged "mixed" type
-- grocery shopping would become a true burden, and I already struggle enough with it. Actually, I'm trying to remember the last time I went to the grocery store...
-- giving me a bajillion rules and then saying that it's really up to me to experiment and figure things out...within this framework. Haha no, if I'm figuring it out myself I'm gonna do it in a way that feels good and is more practical.
-- I wanted more science.
-- feeling on board for a bit of it until it got really preachy, and wanting to throw the whole thing out. I don't think I'll make any real changes based on it.

I was intrigued by the idea that the diet that works for your body keeps you full for longer so you don't snack as much or crave sweets as much. Since there was no convincing science around that it could be total nonsense. But as a frequent snacker (honestly I have more snacks than meals), and someone who typically can't eat much at once, I was also kind of annoyed at the idea that the way I eat implies that I'm unhealthy. I'm the healthiest I've ever been! And putting on muscle. When I try to eat a big-kid-size meal, it often takes me at least an hour, or I keep setting it aside and coming back to it. So the lesson here is that everyone's really different and screw diet books.
Profile Image for Healing Toolbox Bruce Dickson.
103 reviews3 followers
November 12, 2023
Informative, nothing inaccurate, well-written, yet not the best text intro to Metabolic Typing. Why? This is Wolcott's attempt to write a popular, million seller, general public diet book. There are several more titles trying to make MT into a diet book sensation. You can find them here on Goodreads by searching for "Metabolic Typing" in quotes. I have not read them except for Biobalance 2 which I also don't recommend as an intro.

As I expand my knowledge of the Metabolic Typing field, I do not see it primarily as a diet book topic. What is it primarily? It's learning about the dimensions of our metabolism, the binary (dualistic, di-phasic) polarity within each dimension; then, in each dimension, learning which pole your metabolism is more efficient at. This is your pattern is. Which foods to eat and which to avoid are then obvious.

A good thing in Wolcott's book is he plays down the anti-cancer angles. Cancer does not appear in the index. Focussing on the Bog C is what ended the careers of both Dr. Kelley and Dr. Gonzalez. Big Pharma'sbig money-maker is not to be trifled with.

While MT can be used to moderate or heal cancer, I believe the future focus of MT will be to teach it to middle school kids, get them to learn they own biology and how each of them is metabolically unique; hence, somewhat unique diets for each person. How's that for an embedded lesson for kids on healthy diversity and tolerance of differences?

Wolcott's 25 pages of Appendices are so useful, they should be front matter.

The videos by Nicholas Gonzalez, MD are better intros. If you want a deeper or wider intro, the better, more holistic intro to Metabolic Typing is Metabolic Imbalances, pH and Ayurveda (2011) by William W. Rasmussen. I'll review it when I'm done with it.
Profile Image for Nate Miyaki.
2 reviews11 followers
April 14, 2019
Following a temporary diet never works long term but eating for your metabolic type is something you can do for a lifetime. All that is contained in this book makes perfect sense and when you follow the proper "diet" (way of eating) for your type you will find yourself feeling more satisfied and will be able to better stabilize your weight. As a personal trainer I've recommended this to many clients. It's a lifestyle as opposed to a quick fix and one that is relatively easy to learn and live with. If you're serious about changing the way you eat without giving up every single food item take a look at The Metabolic Typing Diet and see if it works for you.
Profile Image for Eva.
55 reviews
June 2, 2018
Interesting concept. It is true that our heritage creates our metabolism. Each of us has a unique requirement for sustaining our bodies and should eat according to that. Maintaining that in our society is the problem.
6 reviews
November 28, 2017
Brings another point of view to how to approach health. It does work, but is not easy to apply sometimes.
Profile Image for Camelia Horvath.
4 reviews2 followers
February 20, 2020
Interesting concept and it’s probably a very good approach but figuring out what to eat is still no easy task.
Profile Image for David R..
11 reviews1 follower
February 27, 2021
Basically: listen to your body while actively experimenting with your diet, always looking for the optimal point for you as an individual at any particular point in your life.
63 reviews
August 11, 2024
Makes sense but did not hold my attention.
9 reviews
March 21, 2017
Great info, but hard to know if you're answering survey correctly
Profile Image for Eve.
170 reviews
February 28, 2017
Some iffy points in the book where it seems like the author was being critical of the fact that the world has become so genetically mixed? I don't know if I was picking up on that correctly, though. I would have given it five stars if it weren't for the query I had. I learned that I am a person who processes protein and fats much more easily than carbohydrates, and as such I need to be eating much more meat, and greens, and much less carbs and sugars. This seems intuitively true. I am going to give it a go.
Profile Image for Krystal Williams.
15 reviews11 followers
October 18, 2011
Of all of the nutrition books that I’ve read, this is easily one of my favorites. There’s nothing that I dislike more than an author writing a book about nutrition and purporting that his way is the only way. The Metabolic Typing Diet is different from most diet books in that regard.

The basic premise of The Metabolic Typing Diet is that we are all individuals, biochemically speaking. We are different in the way that various foods affect our biochemistry, our gene expression, our health, weight, and so on. The author, William Wolcott, asserts that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition; that there are as many metabolic types as there are people.

After discussing the numerous successes he’s had with metabolic typing (permanent weight-loss, chronic ailments alleviated, degenerative disease reversed, etc.), Wolcott provides a 65-question self-test for you to find your unique metabolic type. He then details the general guidelines for each metabolic type, and instructs you on how to customize it even beyond the generalizations given.

With chapter titles like “One Man’s Food is Another’s Poison” and “Key Considerations Beyond Diet,” this book provides a comprehensive starting point for you to implement the principles outlined in it. It is full of actionable information that you can incorporate into your lifestyle going forward to help you reach your health and fitness goals. I highly recommend it!
Profile Image for Denise.
21 reviews
June 19, 2012
This book is one that I will reference again and again. I walked away having a broader and more indepth understanding of this very important subject. The pages of this book are filled with indepth information and delve into the depths of metabolic typing and all its functions. It is so well written and straight-forward that I sit and wonder how I got by all these years without this interesting and extremely pertinent material. It includes self-tests to find your correct metabolic type and goes even further with charts, references, and websites. You learn all about the nine fundamental homeostatic controls, which I found more than interesting. This book, for me, cleared up many years’ worth of wonder about how well I was doing as a person living a holistic lifestyle. There are definitely tips I will incorporate into my life as I enhance my well-being and continue to live a life full of maximum wellness. I consider this book a tool for ongoing learning as I journey through holistic health.
Profile Image for Courtney La cava.
45 reviews3 followers
May 26, 2015
Could've been a worse read, and the quiz really made me thing about my eating habits and what works best for my diet and metabolism. But getting deeper into the issues for my mixed metabolism, the author claims that you'll reach a level of healthy eating that'll make counting calories unnecessary. Like apparently if you finally find the right combination of foods for your type, you won't have cravings any more and you lose weight. (Or, miraculously, gain weight of you have a hard time keeping it on). No. Just no. Maybe if You're like 10 pounds overweight and you just need a change or two here and there. But if you're a serious binger, or morbidly obese, it's not going to work out for you. You MUST count calories. Would you tell a diabetic that they don't need to take their blood sugar tests as long as they avoid sugar and only eat kale and tofu? Obesity is a health problem, not a cosmetic one. You have to monitor what goes on. Sorry. Just another junk science book, what a shame.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
353 reviews4 followers
July 1, 2016
I absolutely loved this book. To be honest, I had been introduced to this idea many years ago but had never really taken it seriously. I had never read the science behind it and it seemed crazy that I could eat high fat and still lose weight. It was only years later after I had given up gluten, alcohol, and sugar and was pretty much left with a high fat, high protein diet, that I was able to see how wonderfully it worked for me (I'm a fast oxidizer). I lost 50 pounds and kept it off easily without counting calories or feeling deprived. My cholesterol went down too and my energy went up. It wasn't like a diet at all. I decided to reread the book because I think I'm eating a few too many super sweet fruits and unhealthy restaurant items and want to work with my diet just a bit more. I'm excited to see if a bit more strict observance of my type of diet will help to make me 100% better :).
Profile Image for Cwilson466.
56 reviews20 followers
November 28, 2009
I buy the premise of the book. I completely believe that different people need different nutrition to be healthy. But, I don't buy the idea that finding my metabolic type will cure cancer and every other disease that there is. I'm growing a bit tired of these "medical miracle, cure-all" methods that doctors are just too blind to see.

I have found no scientific evidence that this diet would work, but I would be interested to see if it does. I don't assume that it can't possibly work, and it certainly isn't as restrictive as some diets so it could be promising, but I would like to see some evidence. Especially if I'm going to give up eating apples, sugar of any sort, and caffeine.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Ranjani.
78 reviews5 followers
January 2, 2016
The fundamental premise of the book - that every person has a unique metabolic type they should eat for - is well represented but in my opinion the science goes a bit soft beyond some basic points.

A lot of the book feels like the gristle you have to put up with to enjoy a little bit of juicy meat; sometimes bordering on those websites you see that try to sell you their book about their magic formula for a flatter stomach / million dollars / generic life success. The typing itself makes sense to me and I would recommend trying it out for yourself not as a regimen to blindly follow but as a guideline to figuring out what really works for your body and what doesn't.
Profile Image for Doris.
24 reviews5 followers
November 4, 2007
I loved this book in that it helped open my eyes a few years ago to realize that the diet I was eating, which I thought was healthy, was the right type of diet which totally was the opposite.

The quiz in the book showed that I needed a higher protein-fat diet rather than the high carbs diet I was consuming. That was one of the reasons why I was not able to drop the bodyfat I wanted.

The book gave me a much clearer understanding of how to change my diet to be better for my body and what it needed. To go from a predominantly carb diet to mostly protein-fat was a huge transition.
Profile Image for Sirena.
16 reviews12 followers
December 24, 2009
The concept of Metabolic Typing is not revolutionary, but nonetheless, profound. Over the century of moving towards a highly commercialized system of food production and consumption, we have almost completely abandoned and forgotten our traditional, ancestral and ethnic ways of eating. Although MT is highly useful and not short of scientific evidence and research, I find that it is easy to get caught up in the "dogma" of Metabolic Typing and again, box yourself into a specific method, which, ironically, is the very premise that MT attempts to avoid.
383 reviews1 follower
April 15, 2015
This book is a must read if you are interested in food and it's relationship to your health.
We need to learn to honor who we are in the food chain and eat as is best for our body. There is a reason that most nutrition studies never show 100% of the people responding the same way to specific diets; that is because the studies are done on people of various metabolic types.
It is nonsense to believe that all of us have the exact same nutrional needs.
The book is packed with information. It does move slowly, but it's not intended to be a quick read.
Profile Image for L. L. .
17 reviews8 followers
February 17, 2016
So Basically this is just touting the already popular, yet very controversial, Atkins diet or Low Carb High Fat. This is something I already knew as I have lost 46 pounds in 8 months doing the low carb high fat/Atkins diet. But I did pick up a few pointers that I was not already aware of. I paid a lot for this book and feel that I did not gain a lot of new knowledge from it. Those who are not currently aware of or doing LCHF diet, however, should benefit greatly from this book and others of its genre.
Profile Image for Lisa Riolo.
5 reviews8 followers
June 20, 2008
This offers some fascinating ideas about how to achieve a truly healthy, natural state.

If I could wish for those of you seeking improved health just one thing: it'd be to begin with this one book. It will literally save you so much time (and money) because you'll avoid the common pitfall of trying one thing after another without success.
Profile Image for Danyal.
41 reviews
February 19, 2012
I agree that a lot of the later chapters are a bit more of the types of pseudoscience that get on my nerves, however, the rest of the book, including the questionnaire, are extremely helpful. I have been unable to lose weight for years; by following the recommendations based on my apparent metabolic type I have managed to start shedding pounds (finally!)

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