Bio-Individuality

The theory of Bio-individuality is that one person's food is another person's poison, because no one diet is right for everyone.  It's based on the fact that people have natural genetic differences - if genes affect other functions in the body, it makes sense that they would affect the ability to digest certain foods too.

I am very intrigued by this concept. 

I know that in Indian medicine, ayurveda, they have a way of determining a person's 'type' and suggesting foods to bring that person's body into balance and of course avoiding foods that further the imbalance.  Sad to say, they recommend bitter foods for me.   yuck

Sometimes I feel frustrated at the slow pace of research -- food company-funded research is not going to address the basic issues of wellness and bio-individuality that might help millions of people.

I have considered following Ayurveda more closely.  I realized that I was, in fact, naturally drawn to foods that calmed vata (sweet, sour, or salty).  For me it was mostly salty snacks.

However, in Ayurveda they want you to cook things thoroughly to allow for easier digestion - less work for your agni.  I can't go for that; not everything needs to be simmered into submission.

I had never heard of this before so I googled it.  I am a amazed!  I took a dianostic test and all of the symptoms and issues I was matched with were dead on.   I am looking forward to trying this out.  Are there any other theories or practices  like this?  I would love to know more about them.

Thank You

Original Post by bryarsmomma:

I had never heard of this before so I googled it.  I am a amazed!  I took a dianostic test and all of the symptoms and issues I was matched with were dead on.   I am looking forward to trying this out.  Are there any other theories or practices  like this?  I would love to know more about them.

 

Thank You

can you provide a link to the diagnostic test you took?  Is it available online?  I'm very interested in checking it out.   Thanks!

http://www.holisticonline.com/w_ayurveda-dvik ruti1.htm

This is what I used.  It has so many options you can pick and choose what you want to do from here.

Hope this helps!

I don't know if this is along the same lines exactly, but Paul Chek has a test that determines which types of foods you should be eating for your body type and a chart that tells you how to "recover" when you've eaten the wrong foods for you to maintain energy and clarity throughout the day.

You can check out his web-site at www.chek-institute.com and read the articles.  He also has a book that is my nutritional bible entitled:  How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy.

Interesting!

I am going to check both of those out.

I have really gotten into Ayurveda recently and it has helped me alot to eat for my prakruti (my natural state) which is Vata-Pitta. However, I have an imbalance of Vata-Kapha. I feel so nuts that I eat and cling and procrastinate just to feel normal.

I want to visit a clinic, but the nearest one is so far away. I hope to find a practitioner in my area soon.

But even just eating for my dosha as if I didn't have an imbalance has made me fell more normal and I don't binge and purge like I used to. It has really helped.

My eating and stuff has gotten way better...but I pretty much had to emerse myself in studying it for a while and talk to a practitioner who gave me a pulse diagnosis for my Prakruti, before I really understood that I needed to eat like a vata-pitta no matter how much I wanted to eat like a kapha so I could loose weight.

I reccomend getting a professional diagnosis to be sure, but even then the tests online said something similar enough to what she said (Vata-Pitta) about me. I just thought if I had an imbalance I should eat for the imbalance, but eating for my prakruti has felt the best for me. I love ayurveda and if anyone wants to talk about it, friend me and message me!

Hi! I just had a look at the suggested link for Ayurveda, very interesting and rather accurate!  I feel I already do some of the things it suggests to maintain a balance just by my assessing my own needs but I'm liking having it all explained and confirmed, and it will definately help me further improve my diet.  I like the fact that I am two types Vata and Kapha- one tells me not to do vigourous or competetive expersize whereas the other encourages it.  I like running and sports but its interesting to find that I also need to do more Yoga and calmer exersizing.

I'm going to find out more......