Why People Get Sick

One of the biggest differences between The Gonzalez Protocol® and other treatment programs is our belief that people thrive and heal on different types of diets. There is no one diet that is best for everyone. Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez's mentor, Dr. William Donald Kelley, proposed that as long as we follow the appropriate diet for our type, our autonomic nervous system will be in balance, and our health will be ideal.

However, Dr. Kelley proposed this balance can be disrupted in a number of ways and this is why people get sick. We can follow the “right” diet for our type but use refined, synthetic, or otherwise nutrient-depleted foods—the types of foods Dr. Weston A. Price warned of seventy years ago.

An extreme sympathetic dominant might be on a plant-based diet but rely on vigorously cooked canned fruits and vegetables instead of raw, fresh produce and refined white flour products instead of natural whole grains. He or she might consume large amounts of white sugar daily, instead of natural sugars from fruits.
A parasympathetic might be on a meat diet but consume processed, chemically treated meat, from animals raised with hormones, antibiotics, and less-than-optimal feed. The proportions and amounts of many nutrients, Kelley claimed, will differ considerably from the proportions and amounts in meat raised under more natural growth conditions.

In these two cases, metabolic equilibrium cannot be maintained, or even attained. Over time, both the strong and weak branches of the autonomic system will deteriorate. This decline may be gradual, but according to Dr. Kelley, it will inevitably occur.

We might also follow a diet suitable for another metabolic type. A sympathetic dominant might eat red meat two or three times a day; a parasympathetic might become a vegetarian. In this situation, we provide our bodies with excess amounts of those nutrients that support the strong system and further suppress the weak. Autonomic imbalance only worsens.

Dr. Kelley recognized gradations of “wrong” diet. Many people follow the right diet for their type some of the time, and alternate wholesome with nutrient-depleted foods. Overall, the more we stray from the ideal diet, the further we move from metabolic equilibrium. If the imbalance is not corrected with proper nutrition, overt disease can develop.

Dr. Gonzalez diagnosed his patients by metabolic type on a scale from Sympathetic Dominant (more vegetarian) to Balanced and Parasympathetic Dominant (more carnivore). In partnership with Dr. Kelley's team, we have developed an online, multiple-choice test where you can learn which foods are best for you and receive an 18 page, detailed nutritional plan based on your metabolic type. Learn more about the Gonzalez Metabolic Type Test here.