Your ancestors' place of origin may determine how your body burns calories, according to a recent study.

In the study, researchers analyzed gene sequences from the mitochondria of 104 people. Mitochondria, present in all cells, produce energy and play a role in regulating metabolism. The DNA in mitochondria, which is inherited maternally, varies greatly by geographic region.

People whose relatives came from cold, arctic climates have gene adaptations that allow their bodies to produce more heat while burning calories. On the contrary, those whose ancestors came from warmer climates tend to produce little extra heat and use calories more efficiently. Researchers say that these adaptations are evidence of natural selection in which genes evolved to account for environmental stresses.

Mitochondrial gene variants helped natives to survive in their original environment; however, these adaptations may not be beneficial when people relocate to different climates. For example, those with ancestors from arctic climates have gene variants that allow their bodies to put out less energy, therefore keeping them warm more efficiently. However, if they move to a warmer climate this variant is no longer necessary.

Researchers say that these variants, which were once beneficial, may now be contributing to present day disorders such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases as people adopt different lifestyles than their ancestors.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2002;10.1073/pnas.0136972100

Founder of The Healthexcel System of Metabolic Typing and author of The Metabolic Typing Diet.

This study lends credence to our philosophy of metabolic typing of the last 25 years that we are as unique on a biochemical level as we are in our fingerprints. People differ in how their bodies metabolize nutrients.

What constitutes a healthy diet for one metabolic type may produce pathology in a different metabolic type. Forces of natural selection, genetic mutation and survival of the fittest assured that the indigenous people of a certain geographical and climatic region became perfectly adapted to the foods in their environment. This same scenario played itself out throughout the planet.

The study author's statement, "...the same variants that are advantageous in one climatic and dietary environment might be maladaptive when these individuals are placed in a different environment," echoes the research of metabolic typing pioneer George Watson, Ph.D. Watson spent some 30 years objectifying indicators of what he termed Fast Oxidizers and Slow Oxidizers.

Watson found that Fast Oxidizers metabolized carbohydrates too quickly and as a result tended toward an acid blood pH and thereby thrived on a diet high in proteins and fats and low in carbohydrates. Slow Oxidizers with an alkaline blood pH required a diet high in carbohydrates and low in proteins and fats in order to acidify the blood. Watson further showed that the right diet for the metabolic type resolved health issues but that when the diets were transposed, pathologies worsened.

Each of us today carries the genes of our ancestors and the genetic predisposition to thrive on certain foods and decline on other foods. The secret of the right diet for each person depends not on whim, fancy or philosophy but is irrefutably dictated by our genes. Eating right for your metabolic type should be the foundation of any quest for good health.

For further information, please review our recent article about Metabolic Typing. You can also purchase William Wolcott's book, The Metabolic Typing Diet.