Dominant Gland Body Typing, Part 1: Thyroid and Adrenal

How Our Dominant Gland Affects Our Lifestyle Choices

Many of us have read the book "EAT RIGHT FOR YOUR TYPE" which deals with blood types and genetic eating patterns. That's a good place to start, but there's more to the health equation including dominant glands and how they affect our lives.

The dominant gland theory isn't something new, it's been around for thousands of years and has gone by many different names. Some have chosen three as the figure for different dominant gland types, some four and others five or more. I believe the four gland type makes the most sense, proves correct the most often, and that's what I'll use for explanation.

If we look at different people, we see different body structures. Some have long skinny fingers, are small to medium boned with medium width shoulders, not heavy in the shoulders, upper back or buttocks and generally have long muscles. Add to that a narrow angular face and head, long arms, long legs, long toes and you have a person who is very likely thyroid dominant. Meaning, the thyroid is the gland they rely on most for energy and a feeling of well being. Thyroid types usually excel at endurance sports like marathons, cycling and triathlons.

All the glands are stimulated by certain types of food, exercise and basic lifestyle choices. If we rely too heavily on a singular gland, such as the thyroid, we can stress it out and, in this case, experience thyroid exhaustion that requires medical attention. Thyroid types generally are what's considered "Type A" personalities. They're lively and their downfall is they don't rest when they need to. If they always eat the same stimulating foods and do the same activities, they can drive themselves into thyroid exhaustion. No one is a pure thyroid type or any other dominant gland type. We're all mixes of two or more types, and we have to know all the different types to find out what works best for us.

The adrenal body type person is typically broad shouldered with heavy muscles in the upper back. Adrenal dominant gland types are the ones who make the best body builders because of their basic body structure, and propensity toward putting on large compact muscles.