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hardasnails1973
12-22-2007, 06:58 PM
"Eat Right 4 Your Type" - Blood Type Diet

The concept to "Eat Right For Your Type" - or "Blood Type Diet " is based on research conducted by Peter D'Adamo, ND, who claims that people fare better (including with weight management) when tailoring their diet to their specific blood types. He advises:

Type A types should basically stick to fruits and vegetables (high carbs / low fat). They have thicker blood than other blood types, a sensitive immune system, and should not consume dairy products, animal fats and meats. They are at a heightened risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer.

Type B types should consume a balanced diet (fruits and vegetables, grains, fish, dairy, meat, but avoid chicken). They have the best chance of bypassing or overcoming everyday types of diseases, including heart disease and cancer.

Type AB types should consume a mostly vegetarian diet, and only on rare occasions some fish, meat (no chicken), and dairy.

Type O types should basically stick to a high protein diet (including red meat), low carbs, and enriched with fruits and vegetables. They should limit the intake of wheat germ, whole wheat products, corn, and avoid dairy products and most nuts.

Type O types are commonly affected with hypothyroidism, high stomach acid (leading to ulcers), and thinner blood with greater resistance to blood clotting.

Additional research on blood types beyond the basic ABO group may be forthcoming in the future.

In support of his theories, P. D'Adamo proposes that lectins cause agglutination (clotting) of blood cells in an individual with the wrong blood type, and which in turn may create serious liver or kidney problems as visible under a microscope (lectins are sugar-containing proteins found on the surface of some foods that may cause various molecules and some types of cells to stick together).

He theorizes further that elevated urine indican levels - prevalent in many gastrointestinal diseases such as celiac disease, diverticulitis, pancreatic insufficiency, inflammatory bowel diseases and others - can also be attributed to specific blood types affecting the interactions of foods with intestinal bacteria, and creating polyamine abnormalities.

In addition, different blood types - according to P. D'Adamo - affect the body's secretory performance in respect to digestive juices, whereby a blood Type O for instance is capable of producing higher than average stomach acid levels, which could lead to a greater incidence of gastric ulcers.


How do different Blood Types compare as to various medical conditions?

There are some known blood type / disease-risk associations, such as pernicious anemia, diabetes, or certain types of cancer being slightly more prevalent with Type A compared to Type O individuals, while in contrast to Type A, Type O individuals have a marginally higher incidence of ulcers / H. Pylori infections. Types O and B also have greater susceptibility to infectious diseases such as scarlet fever, cholera, typhoid, or the bubonic plague, while Type A shows greater susceptibility to the smallpox virus, and it is more prone to blood clotting. Blood-sucking insects (that
carry diseases) prefer Type O blood.


How does that help doctors and their patients?

Unfortunately, it doesn't. For instance, gastritis modestly prevails in blood groups A and O, so with more than 80% of the world population being part of the A or O group, not only would it be impractical or pointless to suggest dietary changes for preventative or therapeutic purposes, but what should the recommendations be? Since there is such a wide variety of possible causes for gastritis, there are no universal therapeutic or dietary solutions that can be safely applied to such a large percentage of
the population. The same circumstances apply when trying to formulate diets around blood types for any other medical disorders, as not one single disease is exclusive to one particular blood type.

Ever since first becoming aware of the "eat-right-for-your-type" proposition, I was as curious and intrigued as many other researchers and practitioners to clinically apply those theories by comparing patients' blood types to their medical disorders - looking for trends or a pattern.

It quickly became apparent that high blood sugar, high blood pressure, or high stomach acid types shared the same blood groups with those exhibiting low blood sugar, low blood pressure, or low stomach acid. As expected, the same applied to people with a lifelong tendency for weight gain, weight loss, nearsightedness, farsightedness..., as well as other "hyper" versus "hypo" conditions.

So the verdict on a blood type / disease connection hasn't changed from a "reduced resistance"to some diseases noted by the scientific community all along.


How do different Blood Types compare to a patient's chemical / nutritional profile?

Since the "eat-right-4-your-type" concept mainly focuses on dietary lifestyles being matched to blood groups, it would stand to reason that blood types should match the chemical and nutritional profiles of an individual - sort of like the Metabolic Typing of patients - where diets are adjusted according to someone's biochemical or genetic make-up.

Unfortunately, there is no practical or clinical match whatsoever - just like eye color and hair color are not a practical or clinical indication of a person's present or future medical risks (other than those with blue eyes or red hair being more prone for sun damage). Years ago, plotting the Biorhythm of an individual was another popular concept that had its followers track someone's physical, intellectual and emotional well-being (to identify critical days), although this method equally lacked scientific support.

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Blood Groups: Type O Type A Type B Type AB
Global Distribution 62% 21% 16% 1%
Europe 45% 42% 10% 3%
Africa 68% 17% 12% 3%
Arabia 34% 31% 29% 6%
East Asia 32% 30% 28% 10%
India 37% 22% 33% 8%
America(US) 46% 40% 10% 4%
American Natives 98% 1.7% 0.3% 0%
Austrailian Aboriginals 69% 30% 1% 0%


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Of course there are people who claim that since following the "eat-right-4-your-type'' recommendations they had lost some weight, or otherwise felt better, however when asked about any specific changes made, they invariably consisted of lifestyle changes that are universally considered to be beneficial -regardless of someone's blood type - such as cutting out junk food, and/or eliminating foods which either cause, or have an unfavorable impact on specific medical problems one is suffering from.

hardasnails1973
12-22-2007, 06:59 PM
The decision to increase certain foods, or to eliminate food sources that someone has an intolerance

or allergy to (dairy, wheat, eggs, meat, nuts, seafood, certain fruits or vegetables...) will definitely have

a positive impact on someone's health and is clinically necessary and important, but the need to do so

has mostly a genetic basis and has nothing to do with blood types A, AB, B, or O.



Some patients' medical complaints improve, or completely clear up after avoiding dairy products, or

other suspect foods such as wheat, shellfish, nuts, etc., however this happens with all blood types -
not just certain blood groups as claimed by "eat-right-4-your-blood type" proponents - so subsequently

this does not support, but rather discredit the "Blood Type Diet" concept.



The notion that individuals with certain blood types suffer from specific medical problems (i.e. "Type O

is commonly affected with hypothyroidism, high stomach acid [leading to ulcers], and thinner blood...")

is incorrect -- there is a major difference between a "risk factor" or "reduced resistance" and actually

suffering from a disorder. Many conditions change over a lifetime, but would have to remain fixed
according to the premises of the "Blood Type Diet."



Fluctuating nutritional requirements as a result of aging also invalidate "eat-right-4-your-blood type"

concepts, where a blood group-specific lifestyle is supposed to be maintained throughout a lifetime.

For instance, a lot of changes take place post middle age. Along with the usual hormonal slowdown,

an individual's stomach acid, potassium, or zinc levels frequently decline, while phosphorus and/or
sodium levels tend to increase - independent of dietary intake or blood type.



These chemical changes may result in elevated blood sugar, water retention, or high blood pressure,

and despite being Type O, may require a reduced intake of meat and other phosphate sources, and

a higher intake of dietary or supplemental potassium and zinc. One could consider another Type O

individual who has been enjoying and tolerating a high protein (red meat) diet all his life, and who eats

E.Coli-contaminated hamburger, ending up with kidney damage. Obviously, his blood type is still Type

O, but unless he changes more to a "Type A Diet" now (more fruits, oxalate-free vegetables, low purine

diet), he will either soon encounter his first gout attack, or worse, he'll be soon on dialysis.



In a Type O female who was previously hypothyroid (supposedly being prevalent with Type O), the
menopause-related hormonal changes now trigger hyperthyroidism as a result of naturally declining

estrogen and manganese levels. To continue thyroid-stimulating strategies as per "blood type diet /

eat right 4 your type" guidelines in this and other countless examples, instead of following proper

medical procedure, could have disastrous consequences.



================================================== =========



Blood Types don't change, so recommended Diets according to the

"Eat right 4 your Type / Blood Type Diet" concept remain fixed and

don't change either, however many medical conditions change over

a lifetime, and as a result require a change in medications and Diet.



================================================== =========



Now when considering the proposed link between Type O and higher stomach acid levels -- it would

certainly help if the people who come up with these novel ideas actually took the time and measured

stomach acid levels in those with different blood groups so they could speak from experience instead

of simply making things up while writing a book. Not only are high and low stomach acid levels found
with every blood type, but low levels commonly outnumber high levels, with Type O being no exception.



At the same time, the question of whether someone is better off following a mostly vegetarian - rather

than a mixed diet, should be equally based on an individual's biochemical make-up or organ functions

- which are ultimately affected by any such diet - rather than on blood types (where Type A is supposed

to avoid animal products). There is nothing worse than seeing a protein-starved, iron-deficient, and
anemic patient who was made to believe that following some ancestral, prehistoric diet outlined in a

book would resolve all of one's medical complaints.



Health problems are not predetermined by blood types; only the reduced resistance to some diseases

can at times be attributed to a particular blood group. The ultimate Achilles heel of the Blood Type Diet
lies in the fact that most medical conditions have a genetic basis that can be equally affected by trauma,
pathogens, medications, toxic exposure, and many other factors. This alone would quickly negate Peter
D'Adamo's "eat-right-4-your-type" proposition if at birth, his blood type hypothesis was indeed valid. ¤

Headdoc
02-02-2008, 01:19 AM
HAN, this has been around for several years. I don't think there is any support for the theory. Surprisingly, controlled studies would be easy to design around the concept.