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Miranda Kerr. Jason Lee. Demi Moore. These are just a few of the celebrities who’ve credited their svelte bodies or good health to something called the ‘blood type diet,’ where dieters follow one of four food regimens depending on their blood type. Unlike some fad diets, the blood type diet is pretty nutritionally sound—no lemon water and hot sauce cleanses, no red meat bonanzas. Regardless of which blood type’s plan you follow, you’ll be eating lots of healthy stuff. And that’s why the diet ‘works’—not because there’s any merit to the idea that different blood types have different dietary needs.
What The Blood Type Diet Is
The idea of eating according to your blood type was popularized in a 1996 book, Eat Right 4 Your Type, by naturopath doctor Peter D’Adamo. The diet’s premise—that O, A, B, and AB blood types have different dietary needs—is based on the theory that the same genes controlling blood type also affect how we relate to and digest foods.
According to D’Adamo, people with type O blood “fare best on intense physical exercise and animal proteins and less well on dairy products and grains.” Those with blood type A “are more naturally suited to a vegetarian diet and foods that are fresh, pure and organic” (apparently, other blood types fare just fine with pesticides?). Type B’s—with their genetic roots in the Himalayan Highlands—should avoid chicken, buckwheat, lentils and tomatoes but eat lots of goat, lamb, mutton and green veggies. Those with AB blood should avoid caffeine, alcohol and cured meats and focus on foods such as tofu, seafood and greens.
D’Adamo even goes so far as to specify which types of physical activity are best for each blood type. Types O’s, for instance, should try aerobics, martial arts, contact sports and running. Type B’s should try hiking, cycling, tennis and swimming. Ultimately blood type, “with its digestive and immune specificity, is a window on a person’s probably susceptibility to or power over disease,” D’Adamo claims.
What Doctors And Nutritionists Say
I can only speak for myself. Before the Blood type diet, I had trouble losing weight and I was always sick . It got to the point where I was sure I would die. I won a weight loss a few years ago. He had us exercising hard and eating what is a mainstream healthy diet. I did get down to a size 12 but d I would still always get get sick. Discovered the Blood type diet and am still in awe to this day at the way I went down to a size 5 in such a short period of time and am rarely sick and no longer take any medication on a regular basis. I no longer exercise hard. I am keeping the weight off. When I stray from the diet, I pay for it. The wonderful thing is, all of the info is available for free on the forum. We are not pressured into buying anything. Who does that? I personally believe that anyone who bashes this has something to lose. Just my personal opinion.
Before the blood type diet (after trying many many diets) I weighed 372 3/4 lbs, was 5’2″ tall, had bronchitis many many times, CHF/hypoxia, several times (while in my 30′s) had many surgeries, bouts of depression ending up on SSI because of disabilities. I had pneumonia twice, I was diagnosed with COPD in the hospital in 1999, sent home with a concentrator, hospital bed, bedside commode, tanks of oxygen, had to have HHA/PT/OT, thought I was going to die. Had to get a walker, couldn’t hardly move. Found BTD and started eating correctly for Blood Type O,
Improvements: walking on my own, no more oxygen, no more OT/PT/HHA/oxygen or concentrate. I can stand to cook, clean, bathe, do laundry, walk, exercise. live life!
I have lost 132 3/4 pounds, and still losing.
IT WORKS!
My GP has been prescribing blood pressure medication for me for over two years. He does not offer any means to reduce my weight except the services of a bariatric clinic. The cirrhosis of my liver, the enlargement of my heart and my peripheral swelling are all from my obesity, he tells me.
According to the BMI chart I was beyond Morbidly Obese, but I am a big guy and used to everything not fitting. I lost 100 lbs in my mid-twenties and I losing weight again in my forties.
My BMI has gone from over 48 to under 40 by using a personalized version of Dr. D’ Adamo’s diet, and I am close to my GP being willing to cut down my blood pressure medication.
I have regained my strength and sense of purpose with the diet and hope to get rid of the pathologies before they become permanent.
Things are most obvious in the extremes. Being one of those extremes I expect that if you try the Blood Type Diet, you will find a beginning not an end. It is not the end of healthcare, but the beginning of a better way of life.
The diet is based on science and science is more embedded in it than any other “diet” that exists (up until now.) The idea that blood type and rhesus factor affect a person’s physiology (or vis-a-vis,) and even personality, is accepted in many parts of Asia (and has been for decades, if not longer.)
Just because a medical doctor or nutritionist disagrees with the protocol listed by D’Adamo does not deem it “not beneficial” or scientific hogwash. These two professionals in particular are trained in such a way that is usually very “cookie cutter” and dependent upon pharmaceuticals for total health and wellbeing.
I go to the medical doctor. I am given a pill. The same thing happens with millions of Americans. No attention paid to the underlying cause – just mask it with a pill, then that pill with another, and so on and so forth.
I have been on several of the popular diets. None have helped me eliminate proton pump inhibitors, allergy pills, inhalers, etc…etc…etc…like D’Adamo’s.
If people don’t want to “buy into” what this is all about – that is their business. But…he’s been on to something and this something can revolutionalize the way Americans see food.
Melissa
I’ve experimented with the blood type O diet/theory for about a decade and it has proved itself over and over to be true. A thin small-boned child I became a fat teen and young adult, the struggle was just endless. Only D’Adamo’s books have explained my numerous health/weight problems. When I am compliant I am thinner, have better mental clarity and my digestion is perfect also.
The title says it all
Followers if BTD are Happy
Those whose livelihoods feel threatened are not!
My first thought when reading this article was: just what has conventional nutrition ‘science’ done for us lately? We are epidemically obese, cancerous, arthritic and if you believe the drug companies and the MDs they own, we should all be taking their extremely lucrative high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol drugs.
I have a better idea: let’s assume that the human species would not have even survived this long unless it had the ability to heal itself under optimal conditions. The blood type diet represents the optimal human diet. Whole foods that were part of your ancestor’s diet. The very foods and substances that helped create the DNA you possess. How much more personalized can you get?
My personal anecdotes for finding great value in this lifestyle are numerous. Reflux, arthritis, bad skin, digestion issues, food allergies, hayfever, weakness, chronic bladder pain, menstrual cramps, heart palpitations, high blood pressure and even an attempt by my MDs to diagnose me with Multiple Sclerosis. All obliterated by the blood type diet. The kicker is that I was a vegan for almost a decade and it didn’t mke me healthier except for some weight loss. I still had all those issues. By nixing a few foods that were antagonistic to my blood type, O, such as potatoes, corn, wheat, most dairy and tomatoes, I am symptom-free and in excellent health.
This is the real deal. Even if it threatens all you base your career on. It is highly irresponsible to pan the very thing that could save your patient’s lives.
I practice this diet for health, not just weight loss.
I think what upsets those who espouse other diets is that this diet is not a cookie-cutter system that can make money for someone who is promoting a quick fix. We are all so complex, that there can never be a single diet for all of us. Of course, there are basic principles, like clean food(no additives), etc.
Within each blood type, there are variations, but if you just try the basics, most of you will have dramatic results. If you are a vegan O, get back on meat, etc. & ditch the wheat. If you are an A who loves that red meat, learn to do without it as well as dairy.
On my diet list, there are various vegetables & fruits, but I don’t agonize if there is a seasonal fruit not on my list that I may eat once a year.
In general, try the diet & see if it helps. Do the main things & see what happens.
The web site gives great info & the best message board(forum)on the internet.
All I can add is that I’ve been following Dr D’Adamo’s BTD since 2005 and feel better and better as the years go by. I’m healthier & fitter than many people my age and that applies to my husband too!! It suits us and I think that people should look into this whole way of eating, not just dismiss it as another trend. THIS ONE IS HERE TO STAY!!!!
Here we go again, someone stating that there is no scientific evidence when they themselves have not done their own research. There is lots of scientific evidence, Dr. D’Adamo just didn’t put that in his book, which he wrote for the greater audience. Most people wouldn’t understand all the science behind it anyway, so why put that in the book? The book is in easy language for all to understand. Why don’t you do a bit more research into Dr. D’Adamo’s research?
You’ll find out there is science behind it and why not try it for a month? You’ll find out for yourself that it works. This diet is not just about losing weight (like every other “one size fits all” diet out there) it’s about getting rid of diseases and ailments.
This way of life has done miracles for me. At 46 I am healthier then I have ever been and people think I am ten years younger. 6 years ago before I started this diet everyone thought I was in my 50ties. Really try it for a while, you’ll feel great!
Al peer reviewed studies have “biases”…this is why they all have a
“conflict of interest page” I’ve seen in my practice fat “type O” vegetarians lose weight quickly on the blood type diet after introducing meats and nixing the grains
What a flimsy article, with its false comparison between celebrities and nutritionists. The blood type diet has lasted because it really works, as evidenced by the huge number of followers and the substantial scientific research that exists, but which you didn’t bother to investigate. This piece was a cheap rehash of objections that have long ago been discredited.
In the mid 90s I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and then thyroid cancer. I was really sick with the colitis and was for a while virtually living on Ensure. A friend told me about Eat Right for Your Blood Type. I read through the section on Type Os and I was hooked. It’s made a significant difference in my health.
People who criticize the science haven’t looked deeply enough into Dr. D’Adamo’s on-going research and practice. Do yourself a favor and spend some time on his website. There’s a wealth of information there and healthy discussions on the message board by followers and newbies just asking questions. http://www.dadamo.com
Try it yourself and see if it doesn’t make a significant difference in your health and well-being.
Those who say “there’s no science behind the Blood Type Diet” haven’t done their research. True, there isn’t much science in the 1996 book, but take a look at his website and his newer books, especially the textbook! The comment about “no peer-reviewed studies” is also true. Those studies haven’t been done YET due to lack of funding.
What we have so far are lots and lots of anecdotes. Type A’s doing better when tey cut out red meat, while type O’s doing better when they add in red meat and cut out wheat and corn. This is not a simple matter of “whole, natural foods,” it’s about individuality. Dr D’Adamo’s newer research goes beyond blood type to refine these individualized diets even more, first with Genotype Diet (6 diets, based on blood type and other factors, not blood type alone) and then SWAMI (computer program that computes a personalized diet for each individual.)
I can add my own experiences to the growing list of anecdotes about this way of eating. My fibromyalgia symptoms are greatly reduced when following my personalized eating plan. My type O daughter is much more even tempered when avoiding wheat; my type B son has the same experience avoiding tomatoes. I’m also losing weight, but that’s not the focus of this way of eating. The goal is good health.
And, for the most part, we focus on the good foods we CAN eat, not on the restrictions. We eat lots of turkey, beef, fish, brown rice, and a wide variety of vegetables. I bake spelt bread. My teenaged daughters bake all kinds of goodies with spelt or rice flour. We are NOT deprived!
Your considerations above are yours to have but for me the question of what diet plans to follow is not a discussion to be had. It is always The Eat Right 4 Your (blood)Type, also known as the blood type diet, or the updated GENO Type diet/ lifestyle plans.
Dr. Peter D’Adamo has guided me to healing life long pain and real suffering. His informative books and suggestions have made the differences between trying every this or that pill or trying endless supplement to no avail. Running from Doctor to Doctor asking for help was the norm for many years. I spent 100 000 out of pocket trying to get well with few if any results…. until… I read Peters first books and followed what just made sense every which way. I could feel the differences within days. In the years before I was exposed to 168 x rays for my stomach and intestines never showing any culprit sufficiently enough to cure my agony. My joints and neck got the same treatment to the same results of continued pain and suffering, stiffness, and weight gain, destruction of liver and kidneys from painkillers.
After I picked up first to the last copy of Dr. Peter D’Adamos books every few years, I no longer needed such test, nor ever paid for faulty medical advice again. Gone where the wrong advice, gone where the pills and gone was the agony. My health improved to where today I am worried that I might outlive my money.
The adjustments made from one book to the next all have their place. While Dr. D. is capable of writing Medical School textbooks, he is brilliantly capable of writing books for every day people with everyday illness concerns. He is a prophet of things to come and while in his and my lifetime his teachings may never become ‘mainstream’ he will have saved thousands of lives for the health and cost savings he afforded those who would try his suggestions…
AND for those who are open minded, the price of blueberries and walnuts going up years ago, after he touted them to be healthy, is the best way to ‘see’ that HE is influencing shopping habits. Doctors worldwide are afraid to say they are learning from their patients, but many have along the way by having seen their clients getting better WITH proper FOOD alone.
You see, his suggestions are based on individual needs and he adjusts for enough individuality that when a person is ‘testing’ his theories on them selves, they soon find that Dr.D. was right all along.
While he sells supplements he is the first to tell you that few need to be taken for more then one to a few month. The books are affordable and available free in Libraries. His Videos on line are ‘simple’ enough to be understood be people the world over. Am I a follower… you can be sure nothing pleased me more today then to let you in on my affordable health plan… He saved me and my health insurance many thousands of dollars, and I feel great!
Can your DIET/ LIFESTYLE plan assure the same for you?
I am a healthy person whose weight is excellent and I am following the newer version of Dr. D’Adamo’s diet, The GenoType Diet. Why, you might ask, is a person who is healthy following this diet? I am trying to avoid the premature significant heart disease that dominates my family history.
Obviously, the folks who wrote the article did not do even the most basic amount of research on the diet. Dr. D’Adamo’s diets are based on the theory of lectins causing damage. Lectin theory is not new. For me, this diet makes much more sense than all of the one-size-fits-all diets out there. In fact, I believe that this type of personalized medicine is the wave of the future. Yes, the diet is healthy and recommends organic fruits and veggies, grass fed meat and wild caught fish, which is great. However, a personalized diet is a far more advanced concept than putting everyone on the same diet and then wondering why some people do so well and other people do so poorly.
I have been on the blood type diet for eight months. Better health and some conditions have improved greatly and some are a thing of the past. My belief is that unless one has actually compliantly participated in this new approach to lifestyle and eating, the words spoken and/or written about the blood type diet are just conjecture on their part. How scientific is that! In the course of my life, I have come to see that people have some deep fear of what they do not know and understand, this being no different. And “those” who “think they know and understand” don’t want to have egg on their face and be gracious to forward thinking. They prefer to be stuck where they are and unfortunately those that believe them are also.
We are talking food and exercise here, a concept backed by science and in fact people have chosen to be guinea pigs for any number of causes, so what could be the harm in giving this an honest try? My family and friends who are
waking up to this new lifestyle are being rewarded ten fold! I believe in the freedom to be my own person, think for myself, and experiment with my approach to life which has always been heavily focused on health through nutrition. Dr. Peter D’Adamo is a very forward thinker, his work is backed by science and proof. What more do we need? Less doubting Thomases me thinks and more willing to explore the progressive world of the blood type diet.
Have you read the books? There is page upon page of scientific evidence that support the BTD. In fact it is the science backing up this diet that convinced me to try it. You claim it works because it is tailored around “healthy” foods that are not in the typical Americans diet. Well for years prior to the BTD I was a “clean” eater, consuming 90 to 95% fresh organic foods and maintaining a slim figure. I also didn’t feel as healthy as I knew I could be. Then I stumbled across the BTD and Genotype diet…….perfecto…I feel better than ever! Come to find out that some of the “healthy” foods that I was consuming were like poison to my blood type. I have cut out the foods that don’t work well with my genetic make up.
The result is clearer skin, more energy, loss of cravings and an overall feeling of wellness.
Maybe you should read all the books and give it a try!
I am on Dr. D’Adamo’s newer diet, The GenoType Diet, but I followed his Blood Type Diet for years. I was morbidly obese and have lost 88 lbs and kept it off. I am in very good health and I totally credit the Blood Type Diet and GenoType Diet. I therefore, really resent certain statements in your article, such as and in particular the following:
“According to D’Adamo, people with type O blood “fare best on intense physical exercise and animal proteins and less well on dairy products and grains.” Those with blood type A “are more naturally suited to a vegetarian diet and foods that are fresh, pure and organic” (apparently, other blood types fare just fine with pesticides?). ”
Who said anything about other blood types faring just fine with pesticides? Certainly Dr. D’Adamo NEVER said or implied anything of the sort, yet your little quip there leaves the impression that he did. There are several other little blanket statements woven cleverly throughout this article that are designed to discredit the Blood Type Diet. The main point you seem to try (unsuccessfully, as far as I’m concerned) to make is that, well, of course people do well on the Blood Type Diet because it is a healthy diet, and therefore the fact that people do well on it has nothing to do with the diet itself. Again: says WHO? Says you? And you know this HOW? I’ve been on plenty of other “healthy” diets in my day and NOTHING worked for me until Dr. D’Adamo’s diets because they are tailor-made to work in tandem with my innate genetic hardwiring. Therefore, when I eat foods that work in harmony with my personal “specs”, every system in my body is balanced, and that biochemical balance means that I can sustain this for a lifetime, as I am satisfied, energized, steady, focused and HEALTHY. So, true, it works because it is a healthy diet: but the specifics of the theory ARE why it is a healthy diet, it doesn’t just happen, accidentally and through no “fault” of Dr. D’Adamo’s, to be a healthy diet! It is a thoughtful, customized, whole foods diet tailored to each individual’s needs.