The Metabolic Natures Chart — Two Axes, Read Separately

The oxidative axis

Sets the food framework

Endurance

The slow end

Light and clear-headed after a starch-led meal
Heavy or sluggish after a rich, fatty meal
Little appetite first thing
Smaller portions than most

Effect on the planMore starch, less fat: carbohydrate 50–60% of energy.

Adaptive

The middle

Most ordinary meals land fine
No strong pull toward rich or starchy food
Appetite about average

Effect on the planBalanced plate: carbohydrate 30–50% of energy. Also the plate for any weak reading.

Catalyst

The fast end

Hungry again soon after a starch-led meal
Strong appetite; larger portions than most
Steadier after a protein-rich meal with some fat
Wants something substantial early in the day

Effect on the planLess starch, more fat: carbohydrate 20–30% of energy.

Protein is not on this axis: it is set by your body weight and is the same on every plate. How far toward either end depends on how strong the reading is. A reading that is strong at both ends at once is its own case: alternating the two frameworks in blocks can be tried as a recorded experiment, led by the practitioner.

The two axes are read separately and never combined into one type. The first sets the framework; the second adjusts inside it.

The autonomic axis

Adjusts carbohydrate within the framework — never sets it

Grounded

The parasympathetic end

Asleep quickly and sleeps through
Feels the cold before others
Slow to startle
Withdraws and wants more sleep under pressure

Effect on the planCarbohydrate 5 points lower, within the plate — about two tablespoons of cooked rice a meal, and only when the reading is strong (50% or more). Interim position.

Calibrated

The middle

Falls asleep and stays asleep without much trouble
Neither runs hot nor feels the cold first
Pressure registers, then passes

Effect on the planNo adjustment.

Kinetic

The sympathetic end

Slow to fall asleep, mind still active
Wakes in the night and struggles to settle
Runs warm
Startles easily
Keyed up and sharp under sustained pressure

Effect on the planCarbohydrate 5 points higher, within the plate — about two tablespoons of cooked rice a meal, and only when the reading is strong (50% or more). Interim position.

The direction of this adjustment is a current position, not a finding, and can be reversed. Meal timing follows your own answers — for example, shorter gaps if missed meals go badly for you — not the label. Caffeine tolerance is a separate question.

How a reading is reported

You are not given one of six types. You get a direction and a strength on each axis, oxidative first. A reading looks like this:

Oxidative: fast, lean 72%, strength 64%
Autonomic: parasympathetic, lean 68%, strength 41% — low strength

Lean: Which way the answers go. 60% or more names that end; under 60% is the middle.
Strength: How clearly they go that way. Under 50% is reported as low strength.
Coverage: How many questions you could answer. Under 70% and the reading is provisional.

These cut-offs are judgement, not evidence, and they are stated so you can see exactly how your reading was reached.

What testing adds

Testing describes what your body is doing now. It does not identify a position, and no test has been shown to. What it does is find whatever is currently in the way — and until that clears, it decides the plan, whatever the questionnaire says.

Current function, never the position
Test	What it describes now	What it can change in the plan
Alongside the oxidative axis
Fasting glucose, HbA1c, fasting insulin	How glucose is being handled	Where insulin resistance is present, it governs carbohydrate before any position does. Fasting insulin is not on every blood panel and may need adding.
Triglycerides and HDL	How fat and carbohydrate are being handled	Read with whether the sample was truly fasted.
Thyroid: TSH, free T4, free T3	The body’s current pace	Low thyroid function can make any reading look slow, so it is addressed first.
Organic acids: fat-oxidation markers	Whether fat is being burned well	If it is not, a higher-fat framework waits until it is.
Organic acids: energy-cycle markers	Bottlenecks in energy production	Points to cofactors worth checking. Not a type signature.
GI-MAP: digestion markers	Whether protein and fat are being digested	Poor digestion can make protein and fat feel wrong whatever the position.
Alongside the autonomic axis
DUTCH: cortisol curve and metabolites	Current stress-axis output	Sustained high or low output distorts the questionnaire as well, so the reading stays provisional until it settles.
Resting heart rate, or HRV from a tracker	Current autonomic tone	Context, not a verdict. Some medicines, including beta-blockers and thyroid medication, change it.
Sleep, from a diary or tracker	Recovery now	Poor sleep pushes answers toward the sympathetic end whatever the constitution.

If you know the Metabolic Typing chart

The chart this replaces paired the two axes — sympathetic with fast, parasympathetic with slow — and labelled the pairs acid and alkaline. Behind those labels was the claim that the same food alkalises one person and acidifies another depending on which system dominates. Under that rule any result can be explained after the fact, so nothing could ever show a type wrong. Metabolic Natures keeps the two axes, reads them separately, drops the acid and alkaline labels, and writes down before your plan starts what should change and by when.

This chart is design reasoning drawn from clinical observation, not a trial-validated tool. What the framework claims, and what it doesn’t · The dated correction to the book