Alternating and Consecutive Appetite Determination in Human Design

Appetite Determination: How You Digest Food, Information, and Life

Your Determination variable is often referred to as your human design digestion type. If you're new to Human Design's Primary Health System (PHS), I recommend reading my overview of Human Design Determination, where I explain all six Determination types and how they influence the way we take in food and information.

If you don't know your Determination, look it up with my nutriton-focused bodygraph chart generator. NOTE: to ensure your Determination is accurate, an exact birth time is required.

I'm Kelly, a Registered Dietitian (RD) with 26 years of experience providing medical nutrition therapy and personalized nutrition coaching. I use a functional nutrition approach to uncover root causes of disease and dysfunction rather than chasing and treating symptoms.

I'm also a human design guide and absolutely love weaving human design energetics with nutrition and physiology. The insights shared in this blog are intended to spark curiousity and self-reflection. This information is not meant to diagnose, treat, or replace medical advice.

Where is Determination Located in Your Human Design Chart?

Determination comes from the top left variable (aka: arrow) on your human design chart. It's the Color within that variable.

Eating according to your Determination can accelerate deconditioning, helping your design come “online” to its fullest potential!

I'm excited to teach you about this fascinating nutrition aspect of your design, especially Alternating Appetite which is my Determination.

Neutrino Movement

Neutrino frequency enters through the brain. If you’re connected to your body (by following your Strategy & Authority), the freuqency is picked up by your Cognition (Tone), then it moves to Determination (Color), and from there, that’s the exit frequency into the line of the gate. When you’re in alignment, the true Tone and therefore the true Color will be picked up. If you’re not in alignment, you won't even have access to your Cognition, and transference of Color can occur. If you are eating in transference, your brain won’t operate.

What is Determination?

Determination is the specific way your body takes in food and information. It's connected to digestion and your brain's cognitive potential. Determination is linked to your Design Sun and Design Earth gates.

Following your Determination will promote proper digestion and can therefore optimize cognitive abilities. Eating in the way that's aligned with your body will provide it with essential nutrients that support brain function and ultimately nurture your inherent talents. 

Determination is dependent on being in the correct Environment in order to properly take in food and information. 

I encourage you to experiment with your Determination, and because this is an experiment, move as slowly or quickly as you need to. It can take a few months to feel a difference, and as you decondition your design, you will notice more of a preference to follow your Determination. Enjoy the ride!

Color 1 Appetite is Splenic Binary

Each Color is grounded in one of the awareness Centers - Spleen, Ajna, or Solar Plexus.

Appetite is interpreted by the Spleen, which is about instincts, intuition, well-being, and survival. Your instincts keep you in the body and guide your food choices. It’s spontaneously following the body’s signals. If there’s no appetite don’t eat. This absolutely aligns with the principles of intuitive eating, where the goal is to connect with your body's signals for hunger and fullness rather than relying on external food rules.

What is Appetite Determination?

in general, Appetite Determination is the most primitive digestive system. It's sensitive digestion. You are designed to eat one thing at a time. Your nervous system wants to chew on one flavor at a time. It's also important to keep your ingredients and food choices simple and as close to their natural, whole state as possible.

“Keep it simple” is your motto.

When I talk to people who have Appetite Determination, I notice they often gravitate naturally toward simplicity and singlular foods. When I travel and get hungry, I'm most drawn to find a grocery store or farmer's market where I can buy a fruit, a protein, and a carb. It's so much easier on my digestion!

Yes, this way of eating is a bit boring. These people want their food plain (ie: plan chicken). When I was in Florence, Italy, my lunch was stopping by a local market in which my spleen led me buy 3 little oranges that were the most delicious things ever! I also think I was fighting a virus so my body knew it needed the Vitamin C, Potassium, and antioxidants.

With Appetite Determination, mixing foods can interfere with your digestion, especially foods with processed ingredients. Rather than blending everything together, Appetite Determination often seems to favor experiencing food as distinct inputs. For example, a casserole, pizza, or sandwich.

In my personal experience having Appetite Determination and talking to people with Appetite Determination, these are very common food behavior tendencies:

• do not want food to touch on the plate.

• do not like or don't have a preference for mixed dishes like casseroles, pasta salad, and macaroni salad, and when you do eat them, it can lead to indigestion.

• do not want liquid from a food on the plate, such as gravy, mixing with another food, such as salad.

• do not want someone plating the food for you, such as along a buffet line. We want to be in charge of what goes on the plate and where to put the food on the plate. It can feel as if it starts your meal with bad digestion. This is like caveman mentality thinking about our food because I want to choose which piece I get and how much.

• have trouble feeling fullness cues when eating an unsimple, mixed meal. It's easier to overeat. This is one reason I encourage clients to explore their Determination if weight loss has been a struggle, because satiety, digestion, transference, and food satisfaction often play a role.

Are you conditioned to mix your foods together? Many people spend years following diets that disconnect them from their natural eating style. If you've been frustrated by traditional dieting approaches, you may also enjoy my article on using Human Design for personalized weight loss.

In order to find what digests best for you, check in with how your body feels 15-30 minutes after eating. This will help you gauge how many ingredients your system can handle.

What is Consecutive Appetite?

Consecutive Appetite is when the variable points to the LEFT. A left-facing variable is a strategic mind and active brain. It represents structure and consistency. It’s about taking action, creating routines, and being disciplined. Having a focus is everything with this variable. You're great at remembering dates, details, and specifics of what it is you're focused on.

"If you are a strategic mind, your inner Authority is your greatest ally because sooner or later, it is going to identify for you that focus." - Ra Uru Hu

An active brain may require you to eat more frequently, especially prior to doing heavy thinking, such as before studying, taking a class, or a client session.

Consecutive means you eat one food at a time before moving onto the next food. It can help to have smaller portions of each food so you don't get flavor fatigue trying to finish a large portion. Do not mix flavors in your mouth. Your system wants one thing at a time, so eating too much variety can disrupt your digestion. Consecutive Appetite likes one thing at a time, so while eating you might prefer few to no distractions.

What is Alternating Appetite?

Alternating Appetite is when the variable points to the RIGHT. A right-facing variable is a receptive mind and passive brain. It enjoys freedom, flow, and less structure. You take in the peripheral and see the big picture. You struggle remembering details, but you remember the feeling and the essence of something.

Alternating means you eat one food but may enjoy alternating from one food to another during a meal. For example, take a bite of one item, chew it completely, and then take a bite of another food, and chew it completely before moving on. The flavors do not mix in your mouth. 

Just like you alternate between foods, consider where else in your life you tend to alternate between things or focus on one task at a time, such as your wardrobe, style, and taking in information from the outside world.

Appetite Determination and Digestive Symptoms: A Pattern I've Noticed in Practice

In my clinical nutrition practice and doing human design readings, Appetite Determination has the most frequent digestive struggles of the six Determinations. For me personally, I always carry digestive enzymes and digestive bitters with me in my purse and at home, and definitely when I travel.

American Health Papaya Enzmes are my favorite digestive enzymes, which help break down undigested food. I also swear by Organic Olivia's Digestive Juice, which is a digestive bitter you spray on your tongue. As soon as bitters touch the tongue, the mouth's salivary glands are triggered and the stomach starts secreting digestive juices.

(I have zero affiliation).

When I don't eat simple and one food at a time, my digestion really suffers, and I hear this from so many people with Appetite Determination. Symptoms like bloating, indigestion, stomach ache, and gas are common complains when the diet is too mixed and too processed. The enzymes and bitters really help me remedy these symptoms.

Embodiment Questions for your Determination

• What past experiences come to mind with this eating pattern?

• As a child, what felt natural to you with eating before "rules" or comments from caretakers interrupted that?

• What are some examples (maybe from childhood) you can remember when you used to eat for your “true Determination?” Describe the experience.

• List something(s) from your Determination you want to start experimenting with.

• Something to observe: After you eat according to your Determination, how does your body feel 10-30 minutes later? 

• Something to observe: If you don’t eat according to your Determination, how does your body feel 10-30 minutes later?

Appetite Determination is just one piece of your Personal Health System (PHS). If you'd like a broader understanding of how your body is designed to digest food and information, explore my guide to all six Determination types. I've seen a pattern of emotional eating in people with Appetite Detemination because of transference. I recommend my article on emotional eating through the lens of Human Design.

Are you interested in learning more about your PHS? Book a reading with me. I'd love to help you.

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Warm regards,

Kelly