Indigestion, Blood And Body Types

Slow And Fast Metabolizers Plus Other Issues That Effect Our Digestion.

Slow and fast metabolism, to a large extent, goes hand in hand with food combining. There are no hard and fast rules because two foods that would digest quickly if eaten separately, might digest slowly if eaten together. Taking blood type and dominant gland profiles into account changes the equation even more. This is where a daily log becomes very important as a tool for personal health information.

Let’s take an example and work from there, as opposed to trying to cover the entire spectrum in a shotgun manner.

Let’s assume you are a slow metabolizer, are blood type O and your dominant gland is the thyroid. If you read the blood type book it tells you that you can eat a lot of meat. Protein is the most difficult food to digest. Calcium and iron also don’t digest easily but are generally taken as supplements, are in whole foods, are in a natural combination and in small overall percentages. When eaten in whole foods, calcium and iron are ingested at relatively low percentages when compared to protein dense foods such as red meat.

As a slow metabolizer: if you follow the O blood type diet or the other high protein diets, you will find that you’re low on energy, have a full feeling many hours after a meal, tend to put on excess weight or not be able to lose those last few pounds. You may also experience frequent occurrences of indigestion or acid reflux. In those situations, indigestion may not be caused by too much stomach acid, but by too little. When our food digests too slowly it can putrefy in the digestive tract and cause symptoms similar to those usually self-diagnosed as excess stomach acid. If we watch the ads on television we’re lead to believe that every time we belch we’re supposed to grab an antacid. If we have reoccurring indigestion, it’s best to check with your health care provider to make certain we’re not taking a simple condition and making it into a complicated and costly problem. Acid reflux and chronic indigestion can lead to cancer of the esophagus, ulcers and other very serious problems. Since calcium is very hard to digest it doesn’t make sense to add it to an antacid that lowers the stomach acid, making the digestion of calcium even more difficult. But, it sells product.

If you’re a slow metabolizer and an O blood type, which requires more protein than the other blood types, it makes sense to get your protein from other highly beneficial sources. Some that are more easily digested than red meat are: bluegill bass, cod, halibut, mackerel, ocean-silver-white and yellow perch, pike, red snapper, shad, sole, swordfish, rainbow trout, and yellowtail in the fish category. Many of the beans, although less in protein by bulk and weight than red meat, are also high in protein. These include: adzuki bean, black-eyed pea and some soy products. If you’re a slow metabolizer you might find squeezing fresh lime or lemon juice on beans and other foods, will aid your digestion, bottled juice doesn’t work. Most fruits and vegetables don’t contain large percentages of protein but can be beneficial for slow metabolizers and those of O blood type. Generally speaking, the same foods listed above work well with the thyroid dominant gland type as long as fruits that are high in sugars aren’t consumed too excess. Again, this is where the daily log is so important. It will help us discover which foods we may be allergic to, which cause indigestion and which have a tendency to make us tired after a meal or the next day. Any food, no matter how beneficial, can cause problems if eaten in excess, especially if we eat late and then go to bed before we have time to adequately digest our meal.

Copyright 2007 Larry R. Miller