Todd Moody wrote:
>Would it also make sense to try pyruvate supplementation and see
>if one felt better or worse?

I suppose it might, as might taking a large dose of any supplement which
tends to help one type and worsen the other (such as garlic, chromium, or
pantothenic acid).  However, diet probably has a much greater influence on
your sense of well-being than do supplements.

>This theory is an interesting adjunct to the hypothesis of
>divergent adaptation, since it seems that fast and slow oxidizers
>would be suited to different niches.

Exactly.  Dr. Watson believed that an extreme metabolism indicated a
pathological condition, but Wiley made the evolutionary connection.  You may
be interested in the following references:

    Wiley, R.  "Biochemical Oscillations and the Development of
Organization,"
    Journal of Biological Physics, vol. 10, 31-41, 1982

    Wiley, R.  "The Effect of Acid/Alcaline Nutrition on Psychophysiological
Function,"
    International Journal of Biosocial Research, 1987: 9(2); 182-202

Both references are listed in the bibliography of Wiley's "BioBalance"
(1989) book.  I haven't read either paper yet, but I should be able to order
the first one soon.

>In my own case, to the extent that I can discriminate, I seem to
>feel most energetic on a mixed low-carb but not ketogenic diet.
>In ketosis, I eventually (not right away) get that heavy-limbed
>feeling, although I haven't stayed in ketosis for more than
>month.  Maybe more time is required for adaptation.  I felt good
>on the Zone, and equally good with rather less carbs and more
>fat.

I haven't tried a ketogenic diet yet.  Although I usually adhere to a
low-carb diet, I don't like to depend solely on protein and fat.  Perhaps I
should try it anyway as an experiment.

>In terms of specific foods, I enjoy beef and fowl.  I remember
>back when I experimented with D'Adamo's type A diet and then fell
>off the wagon and had a large steak at Outback steak house.  It
>felt *wonderful*, like a dietary kiss!  Of course, that could
>just be a rebound effect from the type A diet, but having that
>steak certainly felt like a family reunion.  I enjoy chicken and
>turkey as well.  Fish tastes good but is not generally
>"satisfying", in some way that I can't quite describe.

I know what you mean.  I probably would have fallen off the "type A wagon"
much earlier if I hadn't been a committed vegetarian at the time.  When I
ate a steak, for the first time in nearly a year, the rush was incredible.
I like poultry too, but chicken seems to make me ill now, whereas it didn't
initially; perhaps I've developed a new food sensitivity.

Like you, I don't find fish to be as satisfying as the "heavier" meats.  I
don't bother to cook fish unless it has dark meat or a lot of fat.  You may
notice that fish is more satisfying in the evening than in the morning.
Truth be told, I've never liked fish that much (unless it was breaded and
fried -- a no-no for someone avoiding wheat and eggs), but I eat it anyway
for the sake of variety and for its nutritional value.  I read that the
Plains Indians rarely took advantage of the abundant supply of fish.  My
theory is that their metabolism was so extreme, after millenia of depending
on bison and other large game, that fish seemed too light.  However, my
ancestry is almost entirely Western European; as far as I know, seafood was
a dietary staple for most of my ancestors.

>I have no clue what all this means, in terms of metabolic type.
>It would be interesting, though, to attempt to correlate points
>on the paleodiet spectrum with metabolic types *and* evolutionary
>niches.

Robert McFerran has been trying to do exactly this.  His post at
http://bcn.net/~stoll/wwwboard/messages/7593.html summarizes his theory of
metabolic evolution.  Keep in mind that his chapters may seem simplistic at
times, because he is trying to make the ideas accessible to a popular
audience (the book is targeted at arthritis sufferers); his actual views are
more sophisticated.  For example, he uses the terms "hunter-gatherer" and
"agriculturist" as metabolic labels, even though he knows that not all
hunter-gatherers ate a low-carb diet.

Cheers,
-- Aaron Wieland