The human body works on a principle of compensations. Unlike the sectarian view we have now developed, where each organ or process has a ‘specialist’ who observes only that part of the bodily functioning, every cell in our body works in consensus with all the other cells. If the calcium level in the blood stream drops below a certain amount, the body will take calcium from bones and teeth to ensure blood calcium levels are maintained, which is a must for survival. In that sense the body will steal from ‘Peter’ to save ‘Paul’. The reason for this is very simple, the body is permanently working on achieving an inner balance treating all parts as an integrated whole in tune with the intelligence embedded in it to keep us alive. 

The universe is said to be created by the five primordial elements of Earth, Fire, Water, Air and Space. Indian esoteric wisdom states that the microcosm, our human body, is just a reflection of the macrocosm – the Universe. In other words we are made up of the same thing this universe is made of. If the same five elements combine to create you and me and the rest of the universe, why do we find it so difficult to stay healthy? Ancient Indian scientists, whom we refer to as yogis, believed and practiced the principle that all disease does not have an independent presence. They are merely a reflection of the interactions (and imbalances). So despite the fact that you and I and the rest of the universe have the same five elements, we are a result and effect of the interactions, balances and imbalances we create with the outside world.

Let us take the simple act of eating. So many times, we share our food with friends and loved ones only to find that while some loved it, to others it was unpalatable. The same diet that worked wonders on your friend proved to be a disaster for you. The dish your loved one prepared with so much love and affection is really not the dish you like, despite there being nothing actually wrong with it! So where have we gone wrong? The Hindu tradition inspires everybody to eat ‘prasad’ or that which has been offered to the Gods. But I wonder how many know the meaning in that Sanskrit verse recited during the puja “Om Pranayaswaha, Om Vyanaya swaha, Om Samanaya swaha, Om Udanaya swaha, Om Apanayas swaha,…” It actually refers to the processes of digestion namely crystallization, circulation, assimilation, metabolism and elimination. 

The very act of offering the food to the Gods before man was asked to consume was to bring to his conscious awareness that each morsel of that food offered, needs to travel down a very long road before it gets fully absorbed and excesses eliminated from the body. The five primordial elements work to enable three main activities of the Universe namely to unite, to transform and to move. Inside the human body, these five elements carry out these three basic activities of union or giving structure (Khapha), transformation or digestion (Pitta), and movement (Vata). Ayurveda addresses not the ailment afflicting the man, but the man himself on his metabolic processes. 

Humanity believed in the principle of homeostasis or feedback cycles similar to the mechanism of a thermostat in an air conditioner regulating temperature. But we now recognize that no single or ultimate homeostatic balance point exists in biological systems. The body uses a variety of mechanisms to regulate itself. Hence homeodynamics, which takes into account the many modes of dynamic behavior exhibited by the ever changing interactions for living processes, now seems more probable. According to the words of Beverly Rubik, Ph.D, one can say that there is more than ample proof that we are not commodities that can be standardized to fit a universal protocol of being healthy. We are living creatures that respond creatively to all external stimuli dynamically rebalancing at every moment in order to survive. Our very survival is dependent on integrating ourselves to have an able body, stable mind and a noble soul.

Imagine a family sitting to watch Television together. When the entire family enjoys watching the same show, there is perfect harmony. But when each member reaches out for the remote to keep switching to their favourite channel, there is likely to be a lot of discord. The dominant member of the family at that particular time, the father for instance if he is just back from work, or the child who watches one specific favourite show, will take charge of the remote and the rest of the family simply fall in line. In most families there is a specific dominant person most of the time. In the same way, inside our body there are several homeostatic control systems that help balance our various interactions with the outside world. These include the Autonomic nervous system with sympathetic or parasympathetic tendencies; oxidative system that controls the speed of metabolism in terms of imbalances in glycolysis, Krebs cycle and Beta oxidation; Electrolyte / Fluid balances; Acid / Alkaline balances; Lipo-oxidative controls; Endocrine type; blood type and several more. With each passing moment the remote control for our body’s processes is in the hands of one of these systems. Although hundreds of thousands of biochemical reactions take place within the body on a daily basis, they all fall under the regulation of only a few fundamental homeostatic controls. The Autonomic nervous system is concerned with maintenance and regulation of energy while the oxidative system concerns the rate at which nutrients are converted to energy within the body’s cells. In each person, one fundamental homeostatic control will be dominant, thereby taking charge, holding the remote control, and dictating how foods and nutrients behave.

A person who is sympathetic dominant type is one who is constantly in a fight or flight process within. To such a person there is excessive nervous output from the sympathetic division of his Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) in relation to the parasympathetic division. The late arrival of the maid, an unexpected power cut, getting stuck in a traffic jam – such daily occurrences may be handled with a lot of stress by those whose homeostatic control is a sympathetic response. They may complain of high blood pressure, nervous tension, diabetes. On the other hand one who is parasympathetic dominant may suffer from low blood pressure, hypoglycemia, osteoarthritis, asthma. Lethargic by nature, they thrive on procrastination. There are those for whom both parasympathetic and sympathetic responses are acute. Here they fall under a balanced category – but the balance is relative caused by the extreme fluctuations. A person whose fundamental control is in his oxidative processes is one whose responses are directly in congruence with the energy derived from food, an imbalance or deficiency in energy production. He may be a slow oxidizer where his body takes a longer time to convert the food he eats into energy or a fast oxidizer where carbohydrates are immediately metabolized without any loss of time, producing imbalances. The nutritive requirement for each of these dominant types is varied. Also, it is not just the quality of food you consume, but the proportions, the ratios of the macro nutrients, that actually make it convertible into energy for use by the body.

Most people believe that orange has an acidifying effect when eaten. However later research popularized the concept that orange though acidic on the outside, actually has an alkalinizing effect when eaten. Both are right and wrong! Eating an orange alkalinizes an Autonomic dominant person but acidifies an oxidative dominant. Therefore, in the acidic environment of a sympathetic dominant person, orange balances by pushing alkalinity. However in the already alkaline environment of a parasympathetic dominant, it is likely to imbalance his diet as he has a requirement for more acidic foods to balance his alkaline nature. Though eating an orange acidifies an oxidative dominant person, it is very effective for the slow oxidizer as it balances his alkaline nature by pushing towards the acidic. However, it imbalances the fast oxidizer by making his already acidic nature more acidic. So a simple common everyday fruit like an orange will cause different reactions in different persons, as we each have a unique biochemistry.

William Wolcott after 30 years of research evolved the system of Metabolic typing whereby an individual’s dominant fundamental homeostatic control can be identified. As India’s first Metabolic typing advisor, I have been absolutely stunned by the science, implementation and dramatic results that can be achieved by simply understanding and accepting that we are each our own nutritionist. We simply have to learn to listen to our body’s whispers.

To sum up, the food you eat is not to be considered in terms of vitamins and minerals, macro & micro nutrients, kilocalories and supplements. The food one eats has everything to do with how well your body can convert it into energy for use considering the fact that there are constitutional balances and imbalances that we are born with; the remote control of all bodily processes vests in the hands of one dominant controlling fundamental homeostatic condition; and that with every passing moment we are interacting with the outside world creating a homeodynamic state of constantly needing to achieve balance. 

Written by Gita Krishna Raj  |  Published in Food & Health in September 2012