Editing Metabolic typing

{{Short description|Pseudoscientific diet system}}
{{about|the pseudoscientific diet system|the classification system of organisms by their energy and carbon sources|primary nutritional groups}}
'''Metabolic typing''' is a [[pseudoscience]] whose proponents believe that each person has a unique [[metabolism]], and that the proportion of macromolecules (proteins, [[Carbohydrate|carbohydrates]] and fats) which are optimal for one person may not be for a second, and could even be detrimental to them.

Metabolic typing uses common visible symptoms related to the skin, eyes, and other parts of the body to assess different aspects of a person's metabolism and categorize them into broad metabolic types. In addition, some proponents of metabolic typing use tests such as [[hair analysis (alternative medicine)|hair analysis]] to determine a person's metabolic type.<ref name="wolcott1">The Metabolic Typing Diet, Wolcott and Fahey, p.118-119</ref>

A number of somewhat different metabolic typing diet plans are currently marketed, though the validity and effectiveness of metabolic typing have yet to be established.<ref name="qw2">[http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Tests/nutrabalance.html Nutrabalance], a metabolic typing firm, described by [[Quackwatch]]. Accessed April 27, 2007.</ref>

== Background ==

Metabolic typing was introduced by [[William Donald Kelley]], a [[dentist]], in the 1960s. Kelley advocated basing dietary choices on the activity of one's [[sympathetic nervous system|sympathetic]] and [[parasympathetic nervous system]]s. In 1970, Kelley was convicted of practicing medicine without a license, as he had diagnosed a patient with [[lung cancer]] based on a fingerstick [[blood test]] and prescribed nutritional therapy. He continued to promote a metabolic typing diet through the 1980s.<ref name="qw1">{{cite web | url = http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/cancer.html | title = Questionable Cancer Therapies: Kelley/Gonzalez Metabolic Therapy | date=27 July 2010|accessdate =3 September 2013| author=Stephen Barrett, M.D.|publisher = [[Quackwatch]]}}</ref> The practice has been further developed by others including Harold J. Kristal and William Wolcott.

== Effectiveness ==

Some metabolic typing companies{{which|date=July 2012}} use a battery of [[blood test|blood]] and [[urinalysis|urine tests]] performed by reputable laboratories, but interpret the results in an unconventional and medically questionable fashion.<ref name="qw2"/> During a 1985 investigation into one such firm, an investigator sent two separate samples of his own blood and urine for analysis. He received two drastically different "metabolic typing" reports and dietary plans. Both plans involved the purchase of [[dietary supplement]]s costing several dollars per day.<ref name="qw2"/>

==Metabolic therapies==

"Metabolic therapy", including administration of [[laetrile]], was promoted for cancer patients by John Richardson in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1970s, until his arrest for violating the California Cancer Law and revocation of his license by the California Board of Medical Quality Assurance.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/laetrile.html | publisher = [[Quackwatch]] | title = The Rise and Fall of Laetrile | first = Benjamin | last = Wilson | accessdate = September 15, 2010 | date = February 17, 2004}}</ref>

The [[Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center]] (MSKCC) website describes '''metabolic therapies''' as "strict dietary and detoxification regimens touted to prevent and treat cancer and degenerative diseases", a term and definition different from that used for '''metabolic typing''' in this [[Wikipedia]] article.  The MSKCC website notes, in relation to three such anti-cancer therapies, that "...retrospective reviews of the Gerson, Kelley, and Contreras metabolic therapies show no evidence of efficacy."<ref name="mskcc">[http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69299.cfm Metabolic Therapies]: Information sheet from [[Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center]]. Accessed April 27, 2007.</ref>

==Metabolic diet==

William Donald Kelley, in his book {{Citation needed|reason=unclearbook reference|date=December 2020}}, classified the [[Metabolism]] of an individual into three categories. Few are fast oxidizer, few are a slow oxidizer. Some have a normal rate of food oxidization called mixed oxidizer. Based on this rate of oxidization the [[Diet (nutrition)]] for an individual varies. Since fast oxidizers oxidize food quickly, they are advised to rely more on fat protein efficient diet. This diet will help them to bear [[hunger]]. Meanwhile, slow oxidizers are given carbohydrate efficient diet. Eating more proteins or fats can cause [[Abdominal pain]] in them. Mixed oxidizer eat a mixture of fat and protein efficient diet.<ref name="health and fitness bank">[https://healthandfitnessbank.com/fat-protein-efficient-diet-metabolic-typing-diet Fat Protein Efficient Diet]: Information extracted from metabolic typing diet explained by [[Quackwatch]]. Accessed 9 April 2020.</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of ineffective cancer treatments]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Unproven and disproven cancer treatments}}

[[Category:Alternative cancer treatments]]
[[Category:Diets]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]