The Science Behind Metabolic Profiling

Metabolic Profiling has a lot to do with your body’s autonomic nervous system.  This is the part of your nervous system that controls various functions in the body that just happen automatically, whether you like it or not – breathing, respiration, digestion, tissue repair and rebuilding, cellular activity, regulation of body temperature, immune system function, as well as other bodily functions.

There are two sides to the autonomic nervous system:

  1. Parasympathetic side

  2. Sympathetic side

The parasympathetic side can be viewed as the “calm, cool, and collective” side of the nervous system. This side keeps your heart rate nice and steady, maintains a level pattern of breathing, and allows the digestive system to remain relaxed so that digestion flows properly without restriction.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the sympathetic side. This is the “fight or flight” side of the nervous system.  For instance, it is the side that kicks in when you are walking down the street and are suddenly frightened by a dog.  Immediately, your heart rate increases, your breathing becomes more intensified, and your digestive system literally locks up.  All energy is quickly diverted to your muscles allowing you to flee from the dog in a matter of seconds.

Ideally, both the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems function concurrently and remain in perfect balance.  It is proper nutrition that allows this to happen. However, most people show a dominance of either their parasympathetic side or their sympathetic side. 

If your parasympathetic side dominates, then you probably have really good digestive function, but may have extremely low energy levels. However, if your sympathetic side dominates, then you might have very high energy, but very poor digestion. The efficiency of our digestion and absorption of nutrients is directly linked to our energy levels, and also affects our ability to lose weight. Therefore, it is important that we achieve balance within our autonomic nervous system.

Thus, a customized nutrition program is needed to strengthen the weaker side of the autonomic nervous system and support the stronger side.  It is only when the weaker side of the nervous system is supported by the proper combination of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, that one can achieve optimal energy, optimal digestion, optimal weight, and optimal health.