Part 3 (1/2)

IN THIS SECTION, I describe how the oxidative system works on the functional level of the individual. In the section immediately following, I explore how the oxidative system works on a biochemical level.

The oxidative system is dominant in approximately 60% of the population. The autonomic system is dominant in 40% of the population.

What is fascinating about this is that the same food or supplement for people who are oxidative system-dominant will have just the opposite effect in a person whose autonomic system is the dominant force. For example, calcium in a sympathetic-dominant person will create more sympathetic dominance imbalance and acidity. In a person whose system is dominated by the oxidation homeostatic mechanism, calcium will cause a slower oxidation and move the system toward alkalinity.

Pota.s.sium and magnesium will alkalinize a person whose autonomic nervous system is dominant and will acidify a person who is oxidative-dominant. As you can see, this completely opposite effect has great clinical significance as far as what one prescribes for people.

Fruits and vegetables in the oxidative-dominant system will cause the blood to move to the acid side. In the ANS-dominant person, fruits and vegetables will cause the blood to move in an alkaline direction.

Protein foods acidify the blood in ANS dominants and alkalinize the blood in oxidative-dominant people.

The startling point here is, it is not the food or nutrient that determines the alkaline or acid effects in the body. It is the dominant system of that person which determines whether a nutrient will react in an acid or alkaline way in the body At the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center I now measure the change in blood pH in response to foods and nutrients in different individuals. It constantly amazes me how the blood pH tests are totally different than what is taught in medical schools and in most of the naturopathic literature. I have had to rewrite my acid-base chapter in this new edition of the book in order to adjust to these exciting new findings.

The research shows that food and nutrients behave differently in people with different dominant metabolic types. This has profound implications. It is the most obvious explanation for why some diets or ”miracle” nutrients work well for some people but may actually make other people feel worse.

The implications of metabolic systems is that there is no one human physiology that is the ”gold standard” by which to compare everyone else. In practical reality this means that diets, herbs, and nutrients must always be individually prescribed rather than allopathically prescribed in a quasi-democratic, ”one for all”-type mentality. Allopathically prescribed recommendations for so-called ”right vitamins and minerals to treat different diseases” aren't precise enough for the nutrition of the future that we are working toward developing in the present.

Following general prescriptions may lead you to taking nutrients that are specifically deleterious to your particular metabolic type. In other words, two individuals may have different systems out of balance, yet manifest the same constellation of symptoms. The reverse is true as well: Two individuals may have very similar physiologies, but different symptom patterns.

To rebalance metabolic systems and heal these two different individuals, we must introduce different diets and nutrients. The principle then is: any given disease or symptom complex may arise from virtually opposite biochemical imbalances in different metabolic types.

How the Oxidative System Works.

THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF THE OXIDATIVE SYSTEM is to convert proteins, fats, starches, and sugars into cellular energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). ATP is the biological form of energy storage at the cellular level. There are two main biochemical energy cycles at the cellular level that produce ATP. One is called glycolysis and the other is called the citric acid cycle. Glycolysis provides about 33% of the cellular energy. The citric acid cycle, when operating optimally, produces about 66% of the cellular energy. To make each of these cycles work optimally and efficiently, there needs to be an optimal ratio of raw materials coming from sugars, protein, and complex carbohydrates in a person's diet.

Specific vitamins and minerals are needed for the optimal function of these cycles. A slow oxidizer is someone whose glycolysis cycle is working slowly, so he or she needs more carbohydrates in his or her diet to compensate for the slower oxidation and lower production of glucose and its metabolic intermediates such as pyruvate, which indirectly feeds the citric acid cycle. A fast oxidizer is one whose glycolysis cycle is working too rapidly. Too much glucose and its breakdown products are produced and there is an unbalanced amount of pyruvate and other intermediates from the glycolysis in relations.h.i.+p to the acetyl-CoA from the protein and fat metabolism. Either too much or too little glucose and its intermediate breakdown products in relations.h.i.+p to protein and fat catabolism interferes with the proper functioning of the citric acid cycle. To optomize biological energy, or ATP production, the citric acid cycle must work at maximum efficiency (see the diagram). For the citric acid cycle to work optimally, there needs to be the right balance of glycosis and protein and fat catabolism. When there is the correct balance of these, the citric acid cycle has the right fuel mix to function efficiently and produce a maximum amount of ATP.

There is a third type of oxidative system which we call mixed. These people are balanced between a slow and fast oxidizer metabolism and so need a third ratio of protein/carbohydrate/fat.

In practical terms, a slow oxidizer needs a high carbohydrate intake to prime the slow glycolysis rate and a relatively low protein and fat intake to keep a low rate of acetyl-CoA production from fat and protein catabolism.

A fast oxidizer needs a low carbohydrate intake to slow down the glycolysis production and a higher protein and fat intake to increase the acetyl-CoA production. A fast-oxidizer diet is a relatively low-carbohydrate, high-protein, and moderate fat-intake diet. Please note that this high-protein diet is easily achieved with a plant-based, vegetarian diet.

Research with multiple personalities and manic-depressives shows dramatic physiological changes in const.i.tution. Although these are described as const.i.tutional tendencies, major stress physically and emotionally has been known to cause s.h.i.+fts in const.i.tutional tendencies. With prolonged optimal health I have seen people s.h.i.+ft toward more of a mixed oxidizer. They tend to be slanted more toward their original const.i.tution, but are no longer at an extreme pole.

Needs of Fast, Slow, and Mixed Oxidizers Fast Oxidizer: high protein, 50-55%; low carbohydrate, 30-35%; medium fat, 20-25%; tendency to be acid.

Slow Oxidizer: low protein, 30-35%; high carbohydrate, 55-60%; low fat, 10-15%; tendency to be alkaline.

Mixed Oxidizer: medium protein, 40-45%; medium carbohydrate, 40-45%; medium fat, 15-20%; tendency to be optimal pH 7.46.

Physiologic Const.i.tutions, Brain Functioning, and Behavior.

AT THE TREE OF LIFE REJUVENATION CENTER I am presently exploring the impact of diet and nutrients on the brain, behavior, psychological states, and overall well-being. The research of Dr. George Watson (explained in his book, Nutrition and Your Mind) on mental states and the oxidative systems is a landmark in the scientific literature. His work strongly demonstrates the influence of diet on the functioning of the brain. Watson's research with more than three hundred patients showed that some cases of mental illness, including serious psychiatric diagnoses such as obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, anxiety, and even schizophrenia, involved impairment of the nervous system and brain function due to abnormalities in the brain metabolism of these patients. Watson's research showed that the rebalancing of cellular oxidation is key for restoring proper energy function of the brain and nervous system. When proper brain energy metabolism was reestablished, many mental states such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and paranoia faded away.

I am finding the same results in my work. If the brain's cellular metabolism is producing optimal energy, mental and emotional imbalances are more likely to disappear.

Watson found that in order to regulate the rate of cellular oxidation and reestablish metabolic balance, people need an adequate supply of nutrients in a balanced ratio of food fuel proportions, according to whether they are fast or slow oxidizers. We must appreciate that food provides the raw materials the body uses to synthesize cellular enzymes as well as to balance hormones which in turn regulate thyroid, insulin, and glucagon balance, all of which affect the brain metabolism.

The Biochemistry of Brain Function.

GLUCOSE TRANSPORTED IN THE BLOOD is the basic food for all the muscles, organs, brain, and nervous system. When glucose metabolism is impaired, it impacts our mental state. The brain needs the greatest amount of glucose of all the body organs to function efficiently. All energy used by the brain is derived from the process of cellular respiration, which uses glucose as its primary fuel.

Cellular respiration is the process by which complex foods are broken down into more simple substances. These are then oxidized at the cellular level to make energy for the brain and for the body generally. In this process, glucose is transformed by the action of enzymes (biochemical catalysts) into a series of intermediate substances (intermediary metabolites) which drive complex metabolic cycles. It is these cycles which create energy in the form of ATP, the primary energy molecule of the body, as previously mentioned. The energy does not come from glucose directly, but from the interaction of the intermediary metabolites in the glycolysis and citric acid cycles that have been created from the glucose.

To understand how fast- and slow-oxidizing metabolisms profoundly affect functioning, we must appreciate how the body produces ATP from glucose. In these two primary cellular respiration cycles, any interference with the step-by-step breakdown of the glucose to ATP from the incomplete oxidation of glucose intermediates in the brain may result in impaired mental functioning.

As an example, let's take the case of a deficiency in the vitamin niacin. Niacin partic.i.p.ates in the enzymatic breakdown of sugar at several places in the energy production cycles. A deficiency of niacin slows down brain metabolism and therefore affects the creation of energy for brain function. It is well known that a niacin deficiency may result in pellagra. Pellagra has a variety of mental symptoms a.s.sociated with it, including depression and anxiety. Niacin is also needed for tryptophan metabolism. Niacin deficiency has been implicated in some forms of schizophrenia. As we can see, deficiencies of these and other vitamins and minerals, as well as pH imbalances, may profoundly alter brain functioning and therefore the normal functioning of brain activities.

Although glucose metabolism is primary in brain metabolism, the adequate utilization of protein and fat breakdown products in the citric acid cycle significantly affects the amount of ATP that is available for brain metabolism. There needs to be a proper mix of the intermediate metabolites from both glucose metabolism and fat and protein metabolic breakdown for the citric acid cycle to produce the optimal amount of energy for proper functioning.

To summarize, a person with a slow oxidative metabolism processes glucose too slowly in the glycolysis cycle and therefore does not create the proper fuel mix with the catabolic products of fat and protein metabolism. The result of this poor mix is a slow-down of the production of energy in the cells. Adverse psychological effects of this include doc.u.mented cases of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

As I pointed out before, slow oxidizers do best on a diet that is high in complex carbohydrates, moderately low in protein, and low in fat. The high amounts of carbohydrate supply more glucose to drive the slow oxidizer system to increase glycolysis function. The low-fat and -protein part of the diet minimizes the amount of fat and protein metabolites in the system, so less acetyl-CoA is produced. For a slow oxidizer the glycolysis needs to be primed with a high-carbohydrate diet, and the acetyl-CoA needs to be minimized with a low protein and fat input.

Fast oxidizers are people whose metabolism burns glucose quickly and have too much activity in the glycolysis cycle. In this case there is an imbalance with the metabolites of the fat and protein metabolism, which is insufficient to match the excess of metabolites such as pyruvate from the glycolysis cycle. To get the correct mix, fast oxidizers need to eat more protein and fat to produce more acetyl-CoA to keep up with the high glycolysis metabolism. Following this understanding, one can see that for fast oxidizers the traditional vegetarian diet of low fat, low protein, and high complex carbohydrate diminishes their energy production. Consequently there is a significant disruption of the energy production in the nervous system. Severe personality changes can manifest, such as social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, tendency to violence, and even paranoid delusions. I have seen this happen in fast oxidizers who have tried to convert to the high-complex-carbohydrate, low-fat and -protein style of traditional vegetarian diets. Fast oxidizers do best on variations of the ”Zone” diet, preferably plant-based as I mentioned before, which is a relatively high-protein, moderate-carbohydrate, and moderate-fat diet. The ratio is approximately 50-55% protein, 30-35% carbohydrate, and 20-25% fat. For frustrated fast oxidizers who are struggling to be vegetarian because they are sticking to the traditional vegetarian approach of a low-protein, low-fat, high-complex-carbohydrate diet, this information has been a tremendous boon. Literally overnight they transformed from low-energy vegetarians to high-energy ”successful” vegetarians. Once this information gets out and people become conscious eaters who break away from the narrow dietary teaching of the orthodox vegetarian community and attune to their own physiologic const.i.tutions, there will be many more healthy and happy vegetarians. The pathway for many more people to become successful vegetarians will be opened.

Slow oxidizers do relatively poorly on the Sears Zone Diet type of approach because they need a diet that is high in complex carbohydrates to prime the slow glucose metabolism. Both poles of the oxidative metabolism can be corrected using a vegetarian diet. I have helped a variety of fast-oxidizer people become vegetarian with an individually prescribed set of nutrients and a specific high-protein, modest-fat, and modest-complex-carbohydrate diet.

It is important for fast oxidizers to minimize foods that are high on what is called the ”glycemic index.” The glycemic index is the rate at which a food is converted into glucose. There seem to be several published variations of the glycemic index so I am not going to give numbers to the foods and share my version of the glycemic list. Common high-glycemic foods are puffed rice, rice cakes, cornflakes, sugar, wheat bread, and baked potatoes. These foods are best avoided or used minimally by fast oxidizers.

The middle-level glycemic foods include: carrots, brown rice, corn, bananas, all bran, kidney beans, raisins, spaghetti, and pinto beans.

Foods that have the lowest glycemic index include: yams, oatmeal, orange juice, rye bread, navy beans, apples, yogurt, peaches, plums, fructose, soybeans, and peanuts. Vegetables are also generally low on the glycemic index. Foods low on the glycemic index are the healthiest for fast oxidizers.

Foods high in purines are helpful to fast oxidizers. Purines are found in proteins that contain high amounts of nucleoproteins. Purines contain adenine, which is an important part of the intermediary metabolism for the production of acetyl-CoA from fat and protein. Some high-protein, high-purine vegetarian foods are chlorella, brewer's yeast, and bee pollen. Good vegetarian protein and fat foods are raw nuts and seeds as well as avocado.