Fast vs Slow Oxidizers

mrsbastone · June 2012

I just started reading Jillian Michaels Making the cut. I am not too far into it yet. However, she talks about Slow and Fast Oxidizers. Below is a description of what I am talking about. I haven't quite finished the book yet. but this oxidizers stuff seems kind of gimmicky. Do you feel that this is something I really need to pay attention to when eating? I consider myself a pretty good eater. no sugar, a little as processed food as possible.. It just seems a bit much or am I just not seeing the big picture here? How can it really be determined if one is a fast or slow oxidizer by a few questions too?

Here is a quote I found

Michaels believes that dieters with different metabolic types need different combinations of fats, protein, and carbohydrate to make their meals the most efficient for that dieter. Fast oxidizers change the carbohydrates in their food to energy very quickly, and so tend to have spikes of blood sugar right after meals. Because of this Michaels says that people who are fast oxidizers should eat meals that have higher levels of protein and fats, which are converted to energy more slowly, and lower amounts of carbohydrates, so that the energy levels are more stable during the periods after and between meals.

Slow oxidizers are the opposite of fast oxidizers, and they have metabolisms that break down carbohydrates into energy very slowly. Michaels suggests that slow oxidizers should eat meals that contain large percentages of carbohydrates, and lower amounts of fats and proteins. Balanced oxidizers should eat balanced amounts of all three, fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. This is because their metabolism converts food neither very quickly nor very slowly. Michaels provides a detailed quiz to determine what kind of metabolizer a dieter is so that menus can be customized effectively.

mrsbastone · June 2012

nobody?

LesterBlackstone · June 2012

Complete nonsense that Jillian pulled out of her butt. It has no basis in science whatsoever.

janik2799 · March 2013

Did you try the diet? I am a fast oxidizer and wondered if the plan w
orked for you.

katjamendez · July 2013

hello! i'm late to this conversation, but have something to add nevertheless.

i'm a slow oxidizer and have been following jillian's recommended ratio of carbs-protein-fats within a limited calorie diet. i have found it really works. i'm both satiated and feel good throughout the day, i.e. have energy, sleep well and wake up hungry, but not starving.

for reference, before switching to this diet i did the exact opposite (low carbs, high protein and fats). i felt sluggish and didn't digest my food optimally.

aside from how i feel, i have been steadily losing weight in the last month after having a very hard time doing so over the past year. i also do interval training and hot yoga on alternate days.

i began exercising religiously a year ago and while i lost a bit of weight at first, i didn't lose more. i watched my diet in a general sense, but didn't see results. that was my mistake: thinking i'm eating healthily without clear guidelines was misleading. i only really lost weight when i (1) started logging in my calories here on MFP and (2) started using jillian's ratio as a guideline.

every day i come close to her ratio, but it's not an exact thing. still, if i have not enough protein and too much fat by midday i know what to compensate for in dinner. it's *really* helpful.

it's true that weight loss is 80% diet and 20% fitness. i spent a year working out with minimal results. i spent the last month keeping the same level of fitness, but getting on a diet plan and have already lost 4 lbs.

a final point on motivation. i found a carb-protein-fat ratio that is do-able, as well as a calorie count that is do-able. (side note: i actually tweaked jillian's ratio a bit to be more realistic for me.) i can stay on this plan for months til i reach my goal. this is important because a more drastic measure (extreme dieting, "detoxing") would eventually be fruitless. the faster you lose weight the easier it is to gain back, IMHO.

hope this helps!

sannie50 · February 2014

after 3 months i stuck to the regular eating healthy and lost very little or was at stable weight. Then i was eating more protein less carbs and found myself not only gaining, mainly muscle nit never really lost weight. I finally followed Jillian's more carbs less protein and I lost 21 lbs and gained less muscle. but i felt much better, slept better and could work out much longer. I consulted to with my nutritionist and she was okay with what the meal plan had. I actually improved my BP, and HDL, LDL levels and even my glucose was spot on. So go with what works with you. It took me 3 months to see which worked best for me and I got faster and better results with the more carb, less protein

nsdiet2011 · September 2014

So I am in the same boat about which oxidizer I am. I took Jillian's quiz and it said I was balanced. I took another different quiz and it said I was fast. But here's my predicament, when I had gum graft surgery last October, I could not chew anything for ten days or drink alcohol or exercise. So I pretty much ate nothing but oatmeal, frozen yogurt, protein shakes, ice cream, and high carb soups like tomato, potato, ect. During that time, I lost like five pounds. So does that mean I'm a slow oxidizer? I've also tried the paleo diet in the past and I felt horrible on it. I had insomnia and gained weight. Uggg any advice on this would be much appreciated.

juggernaut1974 · September 2014

. So I pretty much ate nothing but oatmeal, frozen yogurt, protein shakes, ice cream, and high carb soups like tomato, potato, ect. During that time, I lost like five pounds. So does that mean I'm a slow oxidizer?

No it means you ate less calories than you burned.

That's really all there is to it.

Fast vs Slow Oxidizers

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