HAVE you ever wondered why a diet that works wonders for a friend is having no affect on you?

While their waist line is shrinking yours is expanding and sadly your size 10 trousers will no longer fasten.

Panic no more fat fighters. A fascinating new approach to nutrition has been born and beautifully titled Metabolic Typing.

This new dieting technique can establish people's biochemical individuality and give them a specific diet plan tailored to their body type.

For some, the Atkins diet is a God send, but others claim it has seriously affected their health. Every human body functions differently on fats, carbohydrates and proteins.

A high in protein but low in carbohydrate diet could work for one individual but in fact make another worse.

You can now discover your own metabolic type as part of biological terrain testing - testing that can help individuals obtain information about imbalances which are contributing to cellular stress and lack of vitality.

Your biological terrain is the fluid which supports and baths every cell in the human body.

If a cell is living in an unhealthy terrain, in time, that cell will become unhealthy to.

Niki Gratrix, nutritional advisor at The Optimum Health Clinic said: "It's started to pick up in the US and seems to answer many questions about why one diet seems to work for one person and not another."

To test your biological terrain you simply fill out a questionnaire and provide a saliva and urine sample. Your breathe rate and blood pressure are also measured.

With the information gathered from your saliva and urine sample a diet plan can be constructed to suit your body.

If you are a fast oxidiser your diet may include up to 70 per cent fats and proteins or, similar to Niki Gratrix, you can be a slow oxidiser and have just 30 per cent fats and proteins.

Whatever diet is created for you, will most definitely include plenty of living raw foods, good quality protein and a good proportion of saturated and unsaturated fats.

Metabolic Typing is something you can do on the internet and over the telephone.

You can book an appointment now with Niki or Alex Howard at The Optimum Health Clinic London on 0845 226 1762 or visit the website www.theoptimumhealthclinic.com

TRACEY SCOTT