What is your digestion type?
- Katie Dittmann
- Jul 9
- 3 min read
One of my goals in life; as a mother, friend, wife and practioner, is to help my people become more empowered with their food (and life) choices. My hope is to provide knowledge and tools to set the foundation for a long disease free life.
One of the tools in my tool box is understanding when and what you digest best for your body. We are all so different. For some people an omnivore diet works best, while others do better on a plant based diet. Some people love eating breakfast at 10am while others need food the second they wake up. To understand our bodies better, one resource that i find fascinating is knowing your digestion type in Human Design. Here me out on this one. Human Design is a "holistic self-knowledge system” that combines astrology, Kabbalah, I Ching, and the chakra system in order to generate an “energetic blueprint” called a BodyGraph.
Digestion in Human Design refers to the ways in which we best take in, process, and absorb not only food, but also information and energy. According to Human Design there are 6 types of digestion.
1. Appetite: Works best with simple foods that are wholesome and nutritious.
Consecutive: Too many ingredients too fast can overwhelm the system; eating (or digesting) one thing at a time (nice big meals) supports the system.
Alternate: Simple ingredients & doesn’t need to eat as often, but at a frequency that feels best.
2. Taste: Sensitive palate preferences and selective systems.
Open: Very selective, with specific likes. Thrives on repetition and eating with the seasons.
Closed: Also very selective, and likes to stick with the same foods over and over. Sensitive systems that don’t need to experiment with new foods all the time.
3. Thirst: Digestion is strongly correlated to temperature and hydration.
Hot: The body doesn’t produce enough internal heat, so has a harder time digesting cold foods. Eating warmer foods, and staying well hydrated, best supports the body.
Cold: The body produces a lot of heat (might sweat a lot), and cold or raw foods are very supportive. Also, stay well hydrated.
4. Touch: Can handle a lot of different types of foods but is sensitive to the energy around them with nourishing themselves.
Calm: Is easily overloaded with information and digests best in a calm environment (in a quiet space or perhaps alone).
Nervous: Best digests food and information in high-energy, stimulating spaces or on the move.
5. Sound: Digestion is influenced by the volume of sound and the volume of information.
High: Assimilates food best in acoustically pleasing situations with other people or with harmonious sounds.
Low: Very sensitive to acoustics and digests best in quiet spaces, perhaps alone.
6: Light: Highly sensitive to the time of day when digesting.
Direct: Sensitive to light and processes food and information best during the day. Doesn’t sleep well with food in the system.
Indirect: Processes food and information best away from direct light. Enjoys eating later in the day and may sleep better with food in the system.
To give you an example: my Human Design digestion type is Direct Light. I love eating in the sunshine or in a bright, open space. I learn and process information better when I’m surrounded by natural light. I crave big windows and bright spaces in my home. Once the sun goes down, my day is basically complete. Ask my friends—I am the person who happily disappears early! I don’t particularly love dinner and would much rather have my last meal around 5 p.m.
The beautiful invitation here is not to use Human Design as another set of rules or restrictions, but as a way to become more curious about yourself. What does your body naturally ask for? When do you feel your best? What environments help you feel nourished?
Find out your digestion type and see what resonates. You can look it up online, or next time you’re in the office, I would be happy to go over it with you.
Katie Dittmann is a licensed acupuncturist in Boulder, Colorado. She loves sharing her passion for natural approaches to health and wellness through her online articles and at her clinic, Katie Dittmann Acupuncture, at 3080 Valmont Rd. Call for an appointment at 720-470-3908.
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