Eat Right for Your Blood Type

[pink_fortitude]

Good morning Catheites! I have a question for you all about the book this thread is named after. I was working out with one of my friends last night and she told me that nothing helped her weight loss and made her feel better more than following the eating guidelines in this book according to her blood type. I had heard about this book a long time ago and didn't really look into it because I figured it couldn't have anything in it that wasn't common sense - I thought it was another fad. I was looking it up this morning to see what it said about my blood type and it was almost unreal how it was telling me to avoid the foods I already have been staying away from because they cause digestive problems... then I got to thinking that there just might be something to this blood type theory. What have been your experiences with this book, good or bad? I know there are very educated and experienced people here and I would love your feedback! TIA!!!

Missy

 

[teddy16410]

Hi Missy,

I havent read the book but when it came out alot of Drs & Nutritionists seemed to be discussing it. They pretty much said that all the "plans" were fairly healthy and if focused on would reduce calories enough for healthy weight loss.

The general feeling in those communities was that the idea of eating to your blood type was a little silly (their phrasing) because until relatively recent years blood typing was not even an option.

If you look at the historical development of obseity its not that type of knowledge that seems to have mattered. Obsesity is more a cause of the types of food we now ingest which are highly processed & refined.

I am always open to new ways of thinking - just reporting what I've heard & read.

Traci

Good morning Catheites! I have a question for you all about the book this thread is named after. I was working out with one of my friends last night and she told me that nothing helped her weight loss and made her feel better more than following the eating guidelines in this book according to her blood type. I had heard about this book a long time ago and didn't really look into it because I figured it couldn't have anything in it that wasn't common sense - I thought it was another fad. I was looking it up this morning to see what it said about my blood type and it was almost unreal how it was telling me to avoid the foods I already have been staying away from because they cause digestive problems... then I got to thinking that there just might be something to this blood type theory. What have been your experiences with this book, good or bad? I know there are very educated and experienced people here and I would love your feedback! TIA!!!

Missy

 

[Stacy]

I've read it, it appears to be another diet book with the same info as every other just with a new guise.

 

[NY25]

Just a new way to try to sell books. No science behind it. If you have food sensitivities, those have to do with your own body, not with your blood type. Otherwise, everyone with your blood type would have the same issues. It's bunk. The simple answer is eat a healthy, natural, clean diet and don't eat more calories that you burn. Period. No secrets. Occam's Razor!

 

[goldenpath]

Would you have to prepare a separate meal for everyone in your household based on blood type. I am sure there are some foods that are the same but there are a lot of differences too. That would stress me out. I have trouble preparing one meal, can't imagine having to cook 2, 3 or 4.

 

[pink_fortitude]

All of the reasons that you guys listed are the reasons I didn't think twice about it until this conversation with a friend.

Is there anyone who has tried it that has any feedback?

Missy

 

[bundschuh]

http://www.dadamo.com
I have been on it for 11 years, since I was breastfeeding my now 12 year old.

While feeding him, I tried to eat grain heavy diet and very little red meat. I started to lose my milk, my baby was constantly hungry and I had no energy and very bad skin.

Picked up the book and like you couldn't believe what he told me about what I should eat. I was having dreams about red meat and craved it constantly. As an O type, I should eat eat more meat, fish and veggies, eliminate coffee, wheat, most grains and milk products.

I have been feeding my family like this since then. I haven't had the flu in 11 years, my kids never get sick (their teachers will often send notes home wondering why they don't get sick).

I am 48 and people often think I am 38. My stamina is incredible, I can easily work 12 hours days and not feel it.

So I recommend it highly. BTW, there is a tremendous amount of science behind it, especially Lectin science, and blood type disease.

www.dadamo.com

 

[goldenpath]

I have been on it for 11 years, since I was breastfeeding my now 12 year old.

While feeding him, I tried to eat grain heavy diet and very little red meat. I started to lose my milk, my baby was constantly hungry and I had no energy and very bad skin.

Picked up the book and like you couldn't believe what he told me about what I should eat. I was having dreams about red meat and craved it constantly. As an O type, I should eat eat more meat, fish and veggies, eliminate coffee, wheat, most grains and milk products.

I have been feeding my family like this since then. I haven't had the flu in 11 years, my kids never get sick (their teachers will often send notes home wondering why they don't get sick).

I am 48 and people often think I am 38. My stamina is incredible, I can easily work 12 hours days and not feel it.

So I recommend it highly. BTW, there is a tremendous amount of science behind it, especially Lectin science, and blood type disease.

www.dadamo.com

Does your husband and kids have the same blood type of work as you? If not, do you feed each one of them differently based on their blood type.

 

[bundschuh]

My husband is an A and the kids and I are O's. I tend to make a "base" vegetables/salad and I will then make the protein based on our bloodtypes. My A husband is a Teacher Genotype so he can eat more meat, but I will sub turkey for ground beef, chicken or tuna for steak.

Before I found out about this way of eating, we tended to eat like this anyway. He couldn't eat red meats, as he couldn't digest them.

It is not hard to make different meals. I tend to do a lot of cooking on Sunday for meals throughout the week and it works perfectly.

 

[cindi1]

I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I've always thought this diet approach was not based on any sound research.

Your comments make me curious, though. Do you have any references to studies done by someone other than Dr. D'Adamo that support his position? When I do a general google search - I find his site, but every other reference seems to say it is not based on sound science.

 

[Matiana]

As an O type, I should eat eat more meat, fish and veggies, eliminate coffee, wheat, most grains and milk products.

I found this very interesting. I haven't eaten meat in years, but I've recenlty eliminated coffee, wheat/grains, and milk for various different reasons and I feel better than ever, and I've found it is easier to loose weight. Perhaps there is something with respect to the blood type.

 

[timea3]

Hello Missy,

I am on this diet since 7 years and it works.
This is not really a diet. You just have to eat CLEAN and eliminate a few foods. That is it.
I love it and I have more energy. I am working out 2 hours a day, working, housework and I don't feel tired. This is great.
During my pregnancy I had so much energy. I was working out with Cathe every day 60-90 minutes.
Your friend is right. This is a great thing. I don't like to call this a diet because it is not. And yes, yes I lost 20 pounds and I am 110 pounds since 6 years. No pregnancy pounds. And it is easy and fun.
You can eliminate just those red flag foods if you don't want to eliminate all of them. I personally recommend this blood type eating. This little book will teach you how to eat clean nothing else and I don't see anything wrong with that.

Good luck

 

[Shellynfree]

I was as skeptical as anyone when I first come across blood type diet but after experimenting it for a few years together with my colleagues, we came to the conclusion that there are lots of truth in it. It is not a diet for weight loss per se. There are many food one has to avoid but we have found that just eliminating those 'red flag' food for each blood type while occassionally avoiding the rest of the avoid food would suffice. The list of 'red flag' food avoid for each type is only found in his first book.

Our test cases comprised of different blood group type. Same blood group type experienced different symptoms e.g me and my friend are both AB blood type. I suffered from really bad migraine while she gets phlegm and backache. When we eliminate the 'red flag' food i.e. chicken, corn, azuki bean, our symptoms disappeared. In my case, my main meat staple had been chicken. Imagine having to give that up. Anyway for the sake of experiment, I did for a few months in the beginning. When I consume chicken again, the migraine comes back. Depending on how much I eat, the pain would differ to. If I take chicken continuously for a few days, full blown migraine comes back. Been testing this over the last six years and it never amazes me the same thing happens again and again.

Now it has become a thing when I get migraine, my colleagues would immediately guess that I have eaten chicken or corn recently.

Anyway, one should not followwhat Dr D'Adamo advocated blindly. Best is to test it out yourself. It is relatively simple to follow and no extra money involved. One does not need to buy those supplements and such promoted by him. However, through the course of experimenting with blood type diet, I have come to understand why high protein diet seems to work for certain people such as O type and fail miserably for A blood type and why O type cannot stomach milk products well etc. Interesting actually.

 

[bundschuh]

To Cindi1

I will have to get the references together over the weekend and post. There is a recent study by researchers that did an entire study on lectin theory and bloodtype.

If you go onto medline and type in blood type, disease, you will get 100,000 articiles.

 

[rjroubi]

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

I think the whole blood type thing is based more on science fiction rather than fact. For instance, I am blood type AB so I am supposed to eat a combination of the foods recommended for blood groups A and B. Now wouldn't that be somewhat confusing because type B allows you to eat most foods, while type A suggests I eat a vegetarian diet. Go figure. Dr D’Adamo gets around this by suggesting I would follow a vegetarian diet most of the time with some meat, fish and dairy products occasionally. Yep, it definitely sounds like a lot of bunk to me.

IMO, the only valuable part of the diet would be that it makes people more conscious of what they are eating.

You will also find that most qualified mainstream dietitians, nutritionist and medical experts universally agree that his theories are nonsense and unsupported.

 

[pink_fortitude]

I was as skeptical as anyone when I first come across blood type diet but after experimenting it for a few years together with my colleagues, we came to the conclusion that there are lots of truth in it. It is not a diet for weight loss per se. There are many food one has to avoid but we have found that just eliminating those 'red flag' food for each blood type while occassionally avoiding the rest of the avoid food would suffice. The list of 'red flag' food avoid for each type is only found in his first book.

Our test cases comprised of different blood group type. Same blood group type experienced different symptoms e.g me and my friend are both AB blood type. I suffered from really bad migraine while she gets phlegm and backache. When we eliminate the 'red flag' food i.e. chicken, corn, azuki bean, our symptoms disappeared. In my case, my main meat staple had been chicken. Imagine having to give that up. Anyway for the sake of experiment, I did for a few months in the beginning. When I consume chicken again, the migraine comes back. Depending on how much I eat, the pain would differ to. If I take chicken continuously for a few days, full blown migraine comes back. Been testing this over the last six years and it never amazes me the same thing happens again and again.

Now it has become a thing when I get migraine, my colleagues would immediately guess that I have eaten chicken or corn recently.

Anyway, one should not followwhat Dr D'Adamo advocated blindly. Best is to test it out yourself. It is relatively simple to follow and no extra money involved. One does not need to buy those supplements and such promoted by him. However, through the course of experimenting with blood type diet, I have come to understand why high protein diet seems to work for certain people such as O type and fail miserably for A blood type and why O type cannot stomach milk products well etc. Interesting actually.

Thank you so much for chiming in! Actually thank you to everyone who offered their experience. I checked the book out from my library because I wanted to see if it was worth buying and had to do some of my own "research" (if googling counts as research, lol!). I looked up antigens, antibodies, red blood cells - how it all works and the differences of RBCs in each blood type and believe it or not what I read on my own and comparing it to what he proposes in his book makes so much sense to me. I am not going to discredit it based on other scientists shunning him because every time new science comes out everyone is skeptical, especially if it goes against what is viewed as acceptable science or if it's a new way of thinking. I am willing to keep an open mind about things, and this.

So I delved into what the book says about my blood type, O, the "hunter and gatherer" meat-eater, and what I found is so incredibly in line with what I have experienced. About 3 years ago I decided to go mostly vegan - the only animal product I ate was cheese. At first I felt wonderful and actually lost weight, I had more energy as well. After about 2 months I started gaining weight because what I had actually been losing was muscle, and I started packing on fat and my energy level plummeted. I also got sick 2x, which for me is unusual because I NEVER get sick. I started eating meat again and my energy returned and my body went back to how it was. I am also lactose intolerant, and dairy is a big no no for Os. I stopped consuming dairy products 5 or 6 years ago (on my own, not based on his advice) and most of my bloating went away, most of my IBS and most of my sinuses. Also, I cannot drink coffee because of how my body responds to it: my heart starts pounding, I feel light headed and I get hot flashes. Another no for O's.

Now, I still have a problem with bloating, occaisional IBS and sinus stuff and I have a bad problem with insomnia, and according to this book wheat/breads/pastas really shouldn't be consumed by O's so for dinner last night I had a steak and veggies, had forgone the rolls and pasta and I slept like a baby! I am going to give this a try and see how it goes. All of this could be just a huge coincidence, or all of his case studies had the exact chemistry as I have, but I really don't think I have anything to lose here.

I wanted to also add that I had talked to another friend (not the one who recommended this) last night and told her about this. She is AB and she said the only way that she could lose weight was by following the guidelines that he presented. She eats a high dairy diet and it makes her feel wonderful... so that she can consume many dairy products and feel wonderful while I have any and feel like crap says that it might have something to do with blood type; maybe it isn't all about blood, but it could be a factor. Anyways, like I said it's worth a trial.

Thank you everyone who responded!!! I do have a question for you Bundschuh; how on board is your DH with this? And what are your kids' blood types? We are all A's and O's, and one of my A's is already a vegetarian

Missy

 

[hiitdogs]

I am not sure that there is much credible research out there for any of these diets. Research money is scarce and any research that is be done is often tainted by special interests in the outcome.

I have several friends who swear by this diet/lifestyle and have been on it for many years. One of my friends swears up and down that it helps her husband who when I saw him last is still morbidly obese. I know in my case it is completely "off". I am blood type 0, so I am supposed to eat meat and high protein except dairy. The problem is just that I have been on high protein diets and I am doing exceptionally poor on those. My energy went down, my cholesterol went up, I was constantly sick and when I eventually went off I gained back any weight that I lost and then some.

I had a very different response to when I changed my diet and ate mostly raw and plant based food. My energy went through the roof, my blood work improved, I have lost over 80 lbs since July and my body fat went down 12 % just in the last 3 months when I not only reduced animal protein but virtually eliminated it except of a small amount of fish once or twice a week for dinner. There is no doubt that I am building muscle without ingesting large amounts of animal protein.

I may be the exception to the rule of the Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type program. What I would concur with is that everyone is different and that there is no one size fits all that works for every one. Maybe we just need to find what is right for us. Me personally, I am not sure that it makes sense to me that blood type is the determining factor in what to eat and what kind of exercise we need to do but I guess everyone needs to do whatever makes sense to them and whatever works for them.

 

[rjroubi]

I guess, I just don't think it's all that complicated. The studies are really out there but people just don't want to read or listen to them (otherwise we wouldn't be such an overweight, unhealthy nation). We really do know what's basically good for us...we just choose not to eat it (we'll take the cookie instead) or pick some fad diet that we can't stick to. It's human nature. Anyway.....

I don't think anyone says it better than Michael Pollan, " Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

 

[cindi1]

To Cindi1

I will have to get the references together over the weekend and post. There is a recent study by researchers that did an entire study on lectin theory and bloodtype.

If you go onto medline and type in blood type, disease, you will get 100,000 articiles.

Thanks for replying! I'll go check out medline.

Good discussion here - it's very interesting to hear people's differing points of view.

 

[hiitdogs]

I guess, I just don't think it's all that complicated. The studies are really out there but people just don't want to read or listen to them (otherwise we wouldn't be such an overweight, unhealthy nation). We really do know what's basically good for us...we just choose not to eat it (we'll take the cookie instead) or pick some fad diet that we can't stick to. It's human nature. Anyway.....

I don't think anyone says it better than Michael Pollan, " Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

I totally agree, the studies are out there but most of those books don't get a lot of attention because they don't promise a weightloss of 15 lbs in 14 days or sometime outrageous like that. What most people forget these days it's not about losing weight, it's about being healthy. If you eat healthy and don't overindulge (even in healthy food ) the weight will come off at a healthy pace and more importantly it will stay off.

Missy, I am not sure if I am misreading or misinterpreting it but you said that you went almost vegan 3 years ago with the exception of cheese and later on you said that you eliminated dairy products on your own without having heard about the blood type diet 5 or 6 years ago. I am just wondering if the culprit on your almost vegan diet was that you are - as you said - lactose intolerant and cheese was a still in your diet. Just a thought.

That being said, I hear a lot of criticism about my whole and raw plant food diet and get slapped with studies that "prove" that vegetarians get sick more often, etc. If you take a closer look at most studies it is isolating one component of the diet and then interpret it to achieve the favored outcome. Of course if we eat mostly processed food and simple carbs like white flour, white rice, vegan cookies, well, yeah we eat vegetarian but it doesn't mean we eat healthy. Many vegetarian and vegan foods are as unhealthy as other processed foods.