The Body's Life Force

When I first started seeing my nutritionist, Jeanne, she told me that despite the fact my blood panel had come back within normal range, she believed that I was anemic (due to my cranial injury). To remedy this she recommended the "Eat Right 4 Your Type" Diet detailed in a book with the same title.

Now my mother has read about or tried most every alternative health diet, treatment, etc. so I wasn't surprised when she told me she had not only the Eat Right 4 Your Type book, but the companion recipe book as well. (Mom's always on the cutting edge.) I was somewhat familiar with the tenets of this diet, but I reviewed them in earnest after Jeanne asked me to use the diet.

The premise of the Eat Right diet is that each of the 4 blood types requires specific nutrients in order to efficiently fuel the body. Since blood is the "life force" of the body it's necessary to ensure that it is kept at peak quality. The author of Eat Right, Dr. Peter D'Adamo, explains the background of each blood type and then specifically details foods that will either benefit or harm each blood type. (Dr. D'Adamo appears to be an evolutionist but the rest of his research is very good. As in most cases, you have to take the good and leave the bad.)

Dr. D'Adamo's belief regarding the importance of tailor-made diets is best expressed by a quote on his web page: "Everything the experts tell us about diet is aimed at the whole population, and we are not all the same." -The Scientist, Sep. 22, 2003. This is exactly what I experienced when my blood panel came back "normal". Although my blood was within the normal range for a "typical" woman of my age and stature, it was not within my normal rage and thus Jeanne determined that I was anemic.

In each of the 4 blood type chapters of his book, Dr. D'Adamo breaks down foods according to whether they are "highly beneficial", "neutral" or "harmful" to each type. While I don't strictly adhere to every rule Dr. D'Adamo presents in his books, I do believe that the basic principles are sound. I have found that when I stay within the boundaries of the diet, I feel much better physically; my energy level is much higher and I'm not as susceptible to illness. Foods that are harmful to certain blood types result in weight gain, lethargy and disease. This is due to the fact that the blood has to work overtime to compensate for the lack of nutrition it has received from the food while it is also trying to clear the "poisonous" effect of the food. (The food is not in itself poisonous but over time it has a deleterious effect in the body if it is not nutritionally beneficial.)

My blood type is O-positive. According to Dr. D'Adamo, the O blood type is protein dominant. This means that we do well when our diet consists mostly of red meat, fish, and some foul (and within each category there are beneficial and harmful meats). O's should also eat a diet that is heavy in dark green vegetables. Grain and dairy are extremely harmful and can cause a host of health issues if consumed on a regular basis. In fact, my physical therapist, who also practices the diet, told me that when O's eat dairy or grain, they get little "crystals" in their joints that result in stiffness and eventually arthritis. The other 3 blood types have specific needs as well but some have it much easier than others. For example, AB has a very tolerant digestive system -- they can eat most anything and their blood will utilize it. A's can eat more dairy and wheat.

The O diet is probably the trickiest to keep here in America, due to the eating habits common in our country. Americans' diets consist of mostly grain and dairy (bread, cereal, milk, cheese, pasta, etc.). The O blood type would do very well on the Asian diets that are rich in fish and leafy greens. It makes it more challenging when shopping and cooking to find alternatives to the staples of the American diet. Dr. D'Adamo has some great suggestions in his books for meals centered around each blood type. But for the most part I've had to read other nutrition and health books on alternatives for such items as wheat and dairy. For example, instead of eating wheat, I eat spelt bread or Ezekiel bread. Both can be found at any health food store and are much healthier.

The Atkins Low-Carb craze was beneficial for the O blood types but once again you face the fact that each person is unique. The Atkins Diet is another fad where everyone jumps on board before examining whether it is right for their particular body. Diet fads eventually peter out because many people fail to see results, mostly due to the fact that they have subscribed to the latest craze instead of finding a diet and exercise regimen that suits their individual needs.

In addition to eating the right foods for your type, it's important to properly combine your foods at each meal. I know several people who have lost a lot of weight by simply combining their food correctly. (I think Suzanne Sommers wrote a diet book about food combining a few years ago.) Food combining is the belief that when you eat certain types of food together, your body cannot digest them properly and their nutrients end up being wasted. For example, eating wheat grain (a carbohydrate and sugar) with protein is very hard for the digestive system to break down and absorb. The body attempts to break down the heavy protein and is forced to store the carb/sugar (as fat) while it deals with the protein digestion.

I have noticed that when I eat rice with protein (steak, chicken) I get indigestion. This is probably because my body cannot handle the digestion of two such disparate types of food at the same time. Sandwiches (a staple of the American diet) are probably the worst culprits in poor food combining. Do you know how sandwiches were invented? Back in the 1700's, when the Earl of Sandwich was gambling, he would sit at the gaming table for hours without meals. One day he sent his menservants to get him 2 slices of bread, meat, and cheese. Thus made the sandwich. The Earl did this so he wouldn't get his cards greasy and he could stay at the gambling table for extended lengths of time. The sandwich was named after him in 1762.

I found this story fascinating. We should ask ourselves whether we want to mimic the eating habits of a man who allowed his love of gambling to trump concern for his health. Every day we learn more and more about how complex the body is and how we can better care for it. Throughout history humans have picked up bad habits (such as conventional sandwiches) but as we learn more, we should be open to new (or traditional) ways of doing things. I believe that as we examine our modern "healthcare" system we will begin to realize that traditional healthcare, abandoned for conventional medicine, holds the answers to our current healthcare crisis. As Dr. Jelstrup says, we have the best emergency care in the world but the worst health-maintenance in the world.

I'm relieved to announce that after following the blood type diet, and doing some other things to build up my blood, I have brought my blood quality back up to normal. I plan on following the basic principles of the Eat Right 4 Your Type diet for the rest of my life and highly recommend that others at least read the book to better understand how uniquely God has designed each of us.