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Eating for your Blood Type...does this really work?

By November 17, 2009 - 2:45pm
 
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I have been following the Eating for your blood type these past few months..seems to be working pretty good..I am Type O Pos. and in reading about Type O's I am finding very interesting information, just wanted to see if there is anyone else out there that has heard of this.
for example I read this...from Michael Lam, MD, MPH (www.DrLam.com)

The initial weight loss on the Type O Diet is by restricting consumption of grains, breads, legumes, and beans. The leading factor in weight gain for Type Os is the gluten found in wheat germ and whole wheat products, which interferes with insulin efficiency and slow down metabolic rate. Another factor that contribute to weight gain is certain beans and legumes (lentils and kidney beans) contain lectins that deposit in the muscle tissues making them less "charged" for physical activity. The third factor in Type O weight gain is that Type Os have a tendency to have low levels of thyroid hormone or unstable thyroid functions, which also cause metabolic problems. Therefore it is good to avoid food that inhibits thyroid hormone (cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, mustard green) but increase hormone production (kelp, seafood, iodized salt).

Because of the high acidity stomach, Type Os should eat fruits of alkaline nature such as berries and plums..
Type Os should severely restrict the use of dairy products. Their system is not designed for the proper metabolism. If you are a Type O of African ancestry, you should eliminate dairy foods and eggs altogether.

very interesting....
Christina

Add a Comment3 Comments

Hi Christina, I am 16 years old and am a fellow O type, as is the rest of my family. I have been brought up being very health concious and training myself to eat appropriately for my blood type.

Dietwise I am extremely strict and do not eat:

Dairy Products - I substitute with oat milk (not rice milk as it has too much sugar)

Wheat, Yeast and Gluten - I substitute that with kumut or rye bread, sometimes flat rice wraps, rice flour.

Cane sugar - I will always use rice syrup instead of sugar - even in cooking. because it is very low in even natural sugar, and is digested as a food.

I eat a lot of meat, having protein for every meal, but I have a very low fat level in my diet, cutting off most of the fat off my meat & boiling my mince (most people will not have to go to these extremes, but I have a dodgy liver as well) I do this as well as a low carb diet.

I make sure when I excersize, it almost kills me :P I excersize hard and frequently, having 3 days breaks in between in every week (I am on a body-buiding routine) O's need to excersize hard, unlike A's who can do a light walk and get the same resault.

This post is very good & fairly informative, the only thing I can fault you on is on the eggs, I disagree with the comment that O's should avoid eggs as:

Eggs are protein-rich, low in sodium, and contain vitamins and minerals. Some people think eggs are high in bad cholesterol. Cholesterol is actually not a fat. It is a waxy, fat-like substance produced by all animals, including humans. Cholesterol is needed for many bodily functions and serves to insulate nerve fibers, maintain cell walls and produce vitamin D, various hormones and digestive juices. Cholesterol is produced by the liver.

There is a difference between dietary cholesterol (the cholesterol you consume in foods like eggs) and blood cholesterol (the cholesterol in your bloodstream, also called serum cholesterol.)
and because of this view that people have, they will cut out the yolk (which they think will be high in bad cholesterol) but the yolks are the highest source of vitamins in the egg:

With the exception of riboflavin and niacin, the yolk contains a higher proportion of the egg's vitamins than the white.

All of the egg's vitamins A, D and E are in the yolk.

Egg yolks are one of the few foods naturally containing vitamin D.

The yolk also contains more phosphorus, manganese, iron, iodine, copper, and calcium than the white, and it contains all of the zinc.

Thank you for the post.

-pej246

March 18, 2011 - 12:39am

The blood type diet recommends different dietary restrictions and ideal food groups for different blood types based on ethnic heritage. The basic premise is that the different blood types have evolved from different ethnic groups of people. If each blood type eats a diet closer to those ancient people then they will be healthier and experience less dysfunction.

I think the important thing with any diet or style of eating is that it works for you. Not all diets work for all people, but if the blood type diet works for you and you feel good eating those foods and avoiding others, that is great!

November 22, 2009 - 10:39am

Christina,
Does this diet talk about the mechanisms behind how the different blood types are effected by different food?

From my basic understanding, the differences between blood types are the type of protein (antigen) that are on the surface of your RBC (red blood cells).

So...
Blood type A would have the A-protein in their RBC
Blood type B would have the B-protein in their RBC
Blood type AB would have both the A- and B- proteins in their RBC
Blood type O would have neither type of protein in their RBC

So, I am curious how this eating/diet method explains the relationship between the specific A- and/or B-proteins found in the RBC, and their relationship with food?

November 17, 2009 - 3:05pm
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