Elliot D. Abravanel - Dr. Abravanels Body Type Diet and Lifetime Nutrition Plan

In 1983, when I first introduced the concept of Body Type Dieting, the idea that people were different and needed different diets was exciting and very new. I was able to offer a unique system for finding a diet that was right for each individual, based on his or her own type of metabolism, as revealed by the body itself. As I traveled the country speaking about body types, I found that most people had a surprised aha reaction. They said, I see! That explains a lot! Why hasnt anyone told me that before?

Now, as this new edition is being published, Im delighted to find that the body type idea has taken large strides toward general acceptance. Once youve entertained the notion that a diet thats right for one person may not be right for someone else, its hard to go back to the old one-size-fits-all way of looking at things. A large number of doctors, nutritionists, exercise instructors, and others with whom I have worked have made body types very much a part of their own view of human diversity.

Yet there are still many people who dont recognize their own body type. And many (indeed, most) nutrition experts have yet to learn how to take each persons type of metabolism into account when making dietary recommendations. I invite them to take a close look at the material in this new edition, to weigh the recommendations, and to contact the Body Type Institute at 1-888-263-9897 if they would like any more information on implementing them in their own practice.

I feel today, as I did in 1983, that Body Typing based on the glandular system has medical validity and a strong history of predictive success in terms of determining the right diet for you as an individual. It also has implications for your overall health. One of the main reasons for bringing out a new edition at this time is to give a fuller emphasis to the health benefits of knowing your body type. You may have chosen this book to lose weight, but your health should be the overriding consideration.

There are other reasons for a new edition as well. I knew I could give you more help in determining your body type than I did in 1983. The Body Type Checklist in the first edition has worked quite well, on the whole, and many people have been able to find their body type and have gone on to follow my recommendations very successfully. But I have been concerned over the past ten years or so at the significant number of readers who have not been able to determine their body type to their own satisfaction.

At the Body Type Institute, Elizabeth King Morrison and I have worked with a large number of people who have had this problem, and have improved our understanding of what is needed for this vital first step in Body Type Dieting. We have revised the Body Type Checklist and added a way for you to get additional help finding your body type if you need it.

I have also updated my diet recommendations, or rather, I have updated the form in which they are made. The recommendations themselves have not changed except in a few minor details, because the physiology of the four body types has not changedeach one has the same needs it had in 1983, and those needs must be met by the same diet.

But the scientific understanding of diet in general has changed greatly since 1983. There is much more knowledge of how the right diet can promote health and minimize the risk of various diseases, including obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. I have put my recommendations into this context so that you can clearly see how the Body Type Diets meet todays scientific nutritional standards.

I have also extensively updated my exercise recommendations for each Body Type. Researchers today consider the importance of regular physical activity to be equal to, or even greater than, the importance of good nutrition in promoting physical and mental health. In fact, not exercising is now considered a risk factor equal to smoking! But if youre like most people, youre still not as active as you wish you were. You may have tried a dozen diets for every one time youve started an exercise regimen. This edition has a practical exercise program for your body type, including cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility training, with hints on how to ease into it comfortably.

I also wanted to give you some insight into the nutritional supplements that are right for your body type. As a physician, I have watched the medical view of supplementation change radically since the eighties. In the 1983 edition I followed the then-current medical thinking and did not recommend nutritional supplementation. Today, I understand the value of supplementation that takes the needs of each body type fully into account. Im giving you my recommendations and urging you to use themyou can add greatly to your health, and reach your best weight more efficiently, with the judicious use of just the right supplements for your body type.

There are other areas where particular health measures can add greatly to the effectiveness of the Body Type Program. Yoga positions for each body type and my Long Weekend of Rejuvenation are examples. This new edition adds these and other recommendations, and I think youll find them very helpful.

Its possible to think of the Body Type Diet as mainly a way to lose weight. But I have seen over and over in my practice that its importance goes far beyond weight alone. It provides a paradigm for thinking about health that should be at the very heart of medicinenamely, a concern for the particular needs of each individual. I invite you to learn your body type for whatever reasons seem most important to you, but you should also know that this knowledge can greatly improve your health and your prospects for a longer life, with a better quality of life to the very end. That is my wish for you and my primary reason for this new edition.

Elliot D. Abravanel, M.D.
Los Angeles, California