The New Body Type Guide is a comprehensive work by Chiropractor Dr. Eric Berg. It categorizes people into distinct groups based on their metabolic status. Dr. Berg is quite popular for his earlier diet book called The 7 Principles of Fat Burning that helped innumerable people understand the role of hormones in controlling weight gain. It enabled many of them to self-regulate their hormonal status and food intake to achieve successful weight loss. The New Body Type Guide takes it one step ahead by providing a thorough understanding of one’s body type to make the weight loss efforts even more effective. [1]
How the New Body Type Guide Works
Most of us are familiar with the fruit-shape based body typing which compares the overall shape of the body to fruits such as apple, pear or banana depending on the areas of major fat deposition. While your tendency to accumulate fat in specific areas can give some indication of how your body works, it’s more useful for choosing your wardrobe rather than your diet. The new body types depicted by Dr Eric Berg delve deeper than outward appearances. He describes the typical characteristics of each body type and gives credible explanations of why those types are different.
Healthcare professionals, nutritionists, and exercise specialists often advise overweight and obese people to lose weight to become healthy. Dr. Berg, on the other hand, insists that one has to first become healthy to lose extra weight. According to him, it’s not overeating or lack of exercise per-se that causes weight gain, but glandular dysfunctions that predispose people to eating disorders and lethargy. Unless those root causes are tackled and set right, no amount of exercise or starving can give lasting results. That’s exactly why people who temporarily lose weight through severely calorie-restricted diets and rigorous exercise regimen often gain back all the lost weight, and some more, within 1-5 years.
It is common knowledge that some people respond well to certain diets while those same diets have little or no effect on others. The same is true about exercise programs. The New Body Types explains why it is so, and how people belonging to different types can do things differently to achieve desired weight loss. Four main body types are recognized, although some people may be a combination of two or more types.
The Adrenal Type
Adrenal glands are a pair of small organs found on top of the kidneys. They secrete the hormone Adrenalin in response to stress. Adrenalin is called the fight-or-flight hormone because it prepares the body to respond to danger with either fighting or taking flight. This hormone can be a lifesaver in the face of real danger, because it brings in extra glucose and oxygen into the muscles by increasing blood supply. But, more often than not, Adrenalin is produced in our body in response to stress from everyday situations that pose no real danger.
When Adrenalin levels remain high, it produces many side effects such as irritability, poor sleep quality, and unnecessary anxiety. It also triggers the production of cortisol, another hormone produced by the same gland. This hormone is associated with weight gain in the upper part of the body, especially face, chest, and the abdominal area. Poor sleep also contributes to weight gain because growth hormones that favor fat burn are produced during sleep at night.
People of adrenal body type find it difficult or even impossible to lose weight with calorie restricted diets. That’s because starvation increases stress, which, in turn, increases the production of Adrenalin and cortisol. Strenuous workouts also have a similar effect, and sabotage their weight loss efforts. Adrenal type happens to be the most common body type. Dr. Berg’s advice to the Adrenal type is to take it easy, supply the body with the nutrients that support proper adrenal function and, most importantly, get sufficient sleep.
The Thyroid Type
Thyroid is an endocrine organ (hormone producing gland) found in the front lower neck portion, but it produces hormones that regulate cell metabolism, heart function and overall physical and mental development. Proper functioning of thyroid is essential for weight management because it also controls appetite and gut function, including the utilization of glucose and basal metabolic rate. A sluggish thyroid could be the reason for weight gain in many people. Thyroid body types accumulate fat all over the body rather than concentrating it in any specific area. Other characteristic symptoms are hair loss and ridged nails.
Many women struggling with obesity, especially following childbirth have thyroid problems. That is because of excess circulating levels of the hormone estrogen during pregnancy tend to suppress thyroid function.
The Ovary Type
Ovaries are a pair of small reproductive organs found on either side of the uterus in women. Besides producing eggs during their reproductive phase, they also act as endocrine glands secreting hormones. Overactive ovaries can cause hormonal imbalance that may lead to weight gain, particularly in the lower abdomen and thighs. Sagging stomach and saddlebags constitute the typical Ovary type body shape. It may be accompanied by heavy and painful periods, bloating, facial hair, and acne. Extra estrogen production during pregnancy can turn an Ovary type person into a Thyroid type person after childbirth and result in further fat deposition all over the body.
The Liver Type
Liver is the largest internal organ in the body occupying the upper portion of abdomen. It is the main chemical factory of the body and performs various functions related to digestion and absorption of food, glucose metabolism, and protein synthesis. People with Liver type body typically have big bellies and thin legs. Although the protruding stomach makes them look fat, they have low levels of body fat. The bulge is due to ascites––a collection of fluid in the abdominal cavity as a result of liver dysfunction. One characteristic of Liver type is craving for carbohydrates because fats are not properly digested due to insufficient production of bile. Other symptoms include gas and abdominal discomfort after eating and irritability in the morning due to low blood sugar.
Is exercise involved?
Exercise is not projected as essential to weight loss in this guide. To many overweight people who consider workouts to be the hardest part of weight loss programs, Dr. Berg’s recommendations may come as a relief. Excessive fat deposition is viewed as a disease symptom resulting from hormonal imbalance, so the focus is on treating the underlying problem, not adding to the stress by introducing exercise.
The Adrenal type in particular should avoid all forms of physical exertion over and above a sedate walk on level ground. Not only actual workouts, but the very requirement of having to exercise can be stressful and produce a negative effect. At the same time, Dr. Berg’s Body Type Program outlines when and how people can safely exercise and derive health benefits.
Nutritional profile
The nutritional profile of the diet varies with the body type. The high protein and fat allowances of the Adrenal and Ovary types ensures a regular supply of all the essential nutrients. The diet also includes large amounts of vegetables, which provide fiber as well as vitamins and minerals.
As for the Thyroid and Liver types that are required to stick to a low protein-low fat diet, they may be lacking in some of the nutrients, especially fat soluble A and D vitamins. They may require extra food supplements to make up the deficit. Dr. Berg’s specially formulated products may serve as a good source.
The Cost Factor
The cost of the New Body Type Guide is only a small part of the diet. The specific food requirements of each body type have to be met either through freshly prepared foods or specially formulated supplements or a combination of both. Processed foods should be excluded from the diet as they may contain lots of additives such as soy protein that can harm some body types. Healthy, organically grown produce is a must, and they should be consumed in large amounts, especially the vegetables. This can increase your grocery bills, not to mention the cost of supplements if you decide to take them as well. [2]
Do People Lose Weight with the New Body Type Guide?
The book is actually named Dr. Berg’s New Body Type Guide: Get Healthy Lose Weight & Feel Great. According to the author, that is the exact sequence of events: you need to first get healthy to lose excess weight. Correct nutrition––taking in food that contains the specific nutrients your body type requires and avoiding certain items that have a negative effect on your endocrine function––is the key to regulating your metabolism and weight. [3]
Dieters who have found it nearly impossible to lose weight or to keep it off with other weight loss diets not only get to know why it was so but also find new, extremely effective ways to achieve their goal. For example, a weight loss diet that required people to consume large quantities of cruciferous vegetables––cabbage, kale, and broccoli––would have worked well for some people. However, if you are a Thyroid type, it wouldn’t have helped you shed pounds because these vegetables suppress thyroid function by depleting iodine. Recognizing your body type is the first step, and then all it takes is following the diet guidelines for healing. Weight loss comes as a natural outcome.
Level of Effort
The effort required to follow through the nutritional program varies depending on your body type. For instance, people of Adrenal and Ovary body types are encouraged to eat lots of protein and fat, particularly animal protein and fat. Most dieters would find it surprisingly easy to follow compared to the many starvation diets they would have tried in the past with little effect. But, Liver and Thyroid types are prescribed a low protein-low fat diet, which may be relatively harder.
Similarly, Ovary and Thyroid Types should avoid soy protein, but for entirely different reasons–soy proteins suppress thyroid function in Thyroid types but exacerbate the symptoms of Ovary types since it increases estrogen levels. Soy protein is very hard to avoid, since most ready made foods, including health bars and protein shakes have soy in some form of other. Vegetarians and vegans also might find the food guidelines relatively hard; they have limited sources of good protein, except for spirulina.
Conclusion
The New Body Type Guide contains invaluable insights into metabolism and nutrition. It can work as your personal guide to understand your own body and its unique nutritional needs. Since no one else understands your body as well as you can, it is worth learning how you can tackle your weight issues as well as other health problems through correct diet that you can work out for yourself.
If finding the right nutrients for your body type is hard, one could depend on Dr. Berg’s nutritional supplements tailor-made for different body types. They are available through the website: https://shop.drberg.com/. Additionally, The Body Type Program available online would guide you through food and exercise choices for your body type. These product and services obviously cost quite a bit. But the book, available for under $20, is a small investment for the wealth of knowledge it provides. [4]
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*Individual results will vary.
Information on this website is not to replace the advise of the doctor, but rather for general education purposes. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and should not be considered as medical advice. Always consult your doctor before starting any diet or taking any dietary supplements.
Articles, reviews and investigations are our own opinion, and written based on the information publicly available or simply contacting the companies. We try our best to stay up to date with constantly changing information. If you find any information inaccurate, please email us, we’ll verify for accuracy and update it.
Sources
1. https://web.archive.org/web/20171108235637/https:/www.amazon.com/Principles-Fat-Burning-Lose-weight/dp/098260162X
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20171108235637/https:/www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+New+Body+Type+Guide+
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20171108235637/https:/www.amazon.com/Dr-Bergs-Body-Type-Guide/dp/0982601638
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20171108235637/https:/shop.drberg.com/drberg-body-type-program
