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The basics
The Blood Type Diet was developed by Peter D’Adamo, ND, to improve overall health. According to Dr. D’Adamo, our ability to digest and process foods has evolved throughout history. As different blood types came into existence over time, our ancestors were eating and exercising in different ways. Now people with all different blood types exist, and those diets that were being eaten when each blood type emerged should still be followed.
Find out what your blood type is to determine which list of foods your body will be best able to digest and utilize.
Know your type? Read more about the history, theory, and principles of the Blood Type Diet in Dr. D’Adamo’s book Eat Right for Your Type. You can access the list of foods on Dr. D’Adamo’s Web site to find out what he lists as beneficial, neutral, or detrimental for your blood type.
More about this diet
The Blood Type Diet, popularized by the best-selling book Eat Right For Your Type by Peter D’Adamo, ND, is based on the theory that people with different blood types respond differently to specific foods. Dr. D’Adamo’s ideas are rooted in evolutionary history, and, specifically, the observation that different blood types (Type O, Type A, Type B, and Type AB) emerged as the environmental conditions and eating styles of our ancestors changed. Between 50,000 BC and 25,000 BC, all humans shared the same blood type—Type O. These early humans were skilled hunters, and thrived on a meat-based diet. The Type A blood type emerged between 25,000 BC and 15,000 BC, a necessary adaptation to a more agrarian lifestyle. Climatic changes in the western Himalayan mountains led to the appearance of Type B, and the blending of Type A and Type B blood types in modern civilization resulted in the appearance of the Type AB blood type.
Dr. D’Adamo believes that our ancestors’ successful adaptation to environmental changes hinged on the relationship between diet and blood type. As a result, he believes that the key to optimal health is to eat as our ancestors with the same blood type ate. For example, D’Adamo recommends that people with Type O blood eat a diet rich in meat and people with Type A blood follow a grain-based, low-fat, vegetarian diet.
In addition to eating specific foods based on your blood type, Dr. D’Adamo recommends that you engage in the same kinds of exercise that people were doing when the blood types emerged. So, Type O (hunters) should do vigorous aerobic exercises like running and cycling. Type A (settled farmers) should do calming exercises like yoga and golf.
In the Blood Type Diet, foods are divided into 16 categories: meats and poultry; seafood; dairy and eggs; oils and fats; nuts and seeds; beans and legumes; cereals; breads and muffins; grains and pasta; vegetables; fruit; juices and fluids; spices; condiments; herbal teas; and miscellaneous beverages. Foods in these categories are then labeled as “highly beneficial,” “neutral,” or “avoid” according to each of the four blood types. If you are interested in being even more thorough, you can order a test from Dr. D’Adamo’s Web site that will determine your “secretor status.” Then you can access a list of the foods for each type divided into “secretors” and “nonsecretors” to determine even more specifically which foods are highly beneficial for you.
Many people follow this diet to improve their overall level of health. Although weight management is not the focus of the diet, Dr. D’Adamo believes that weight loss is a natural consequence of following a diet tailored to your blood type.
Dr. D’Adamo has spent years researching the physiological effects of substances called lectins. Lectins are proteins found in many commonly eaten foods, particularly the seeds of leguminous plants; they can be absorbed intact from the digestive tract into the bloodstream. According to Dr. D’Adamo, certain lectins are incompatible with certain blood types. This incompatibility allegedly causes the lectin to attract and clump red blood cells, a process known as agglutination. Dr. D’Adamo blames lectin-caused agglutination as the origin of many common health complaints.
Dr. D’Adamo has tested most common foods for blood-type reactions. He organized the results of this testing into food lists that allow people to avoid eating foods containing lectins that are incompatible with their blood type.
Some physicians and nutritionists argue that Dr. D’Adamo’s theory about lectins lacks solid scientific support. These critics point out that the research that has been done on lectins has been performed mostly in test tubes. Therefore, it is not yet known what, if any, physiological effects lectins have in humans. Furthermore, many food lectins are destroyed by cooking and/or digestive enzymes, so many critics argue that the number of lectins absorbed intact through the digestive system is minimal. Other critics point out that Dr. D’Adamo’s emphasis on the ABO blood-typing system is somewhat arbitrary. In a book review, Alan Gaby, MD, points out that the ABO system is only one of many different blood-typing methods, and to date, more than 30 unique markers have been identified on the surface of red blood cells. Consequently, if Dr. D’Adamo had based his diet on a different marker, his diet recommendations may have been very different.
Most critics believe the diet is associated with no real health hazards. However, critics caution that people with Type O blood may increase their risk of heart disease by adhering to Dr. D’Adamo’s Type O diet recommendations. Registered dietitians caution against classifying foods into “good” and “bad” categories, advocating instead the idea that “all foods fit” into a healthy diet in moderation. Restricting certain foods or food groups altogether makes it difficult to eat the balanced diet that most health professionals recommend.
Although most critics concede that the Blood Type Diet produces weight loss in some people, they argue that this diet is merely a calorie-restricted diet. As with any other low calorie diet, weight loss is likely to occur.
Eat Right 4 Your Type: A Simple Guide to Eating Right for Your Metabolism by Peter D’Adamo and Catherine Whitney, London: Century, 2001.
Cook Right 4 Your Type: The Practical Kitchen Companion to Eat Right 4 Your Type by Peter D’Adamo, Catherine Whitney, and others, London: Century, 2001.
Live Right 4 Your Type: The Individualized Prescription for Maximizing Health, Metabolism, and Vitality in Every Stage of Life by Peter D’Adamo and Catherine Whitney, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001.
Dr. D’Adamo’s Web site:
www.dadamo.com
D’Adamo, Peter J, ND. Eat Right for Your Blood Type. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996.
Klaper, Michael MD. “Challenges to the Plant-Based Diet in the 90’s: “The Zone” and “Blood-Type” Diet Fads” located on the Web at www.earthsave.org.
Gaby, Alan MD. Book Review: The Blood Type Diet. Nutrition & Healing Newsletter. Phoenix, AZ: Nutrition & Healing, January 1998, pg. 7.
Copyright © 2007 Healthnotes, Inc. All rights reserved. www.healthnotes.com
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The information presented in the Food Guide is for informational purposes only and was created by a team of US–registered dietitians and food experts. Consult your doctor, practitioner, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications. Information expires September 2008.
