Eating For Your Blood Group

The Blood Type diet, the brainchild of Dr. Peter D'Adamo, a naturopathic physician, builds on the work of his father, James D'Adamo, also a doctor of naturopathy. The senior D'Adamo believed in individual nutritional requirements based on genetic history of blood type. If lectins, diverse proteins occurring abundantly in foods, are incompatible with your blood type, they agglutinate blood cells in certain bodily systems such as kidneys, liver, brain or stomach. These lectins cause the cells to clump together and be targeted for destruction as if they were foreign invaders. Though many testify to being helped by the Blood Type diet, MayoClinic.com reports this way of eating is unproven by scientific studies: "There's no sound scientific evidence that the so-called blood type diet is any more effective or any more beneficial for weight loss than is any other diet," says registered dietitian Katherine Zeratsky.

Type O

In Peter D'Adamo's book, "Eat Right For Your Type," he calls type O the original blood type of hunter-gatherer societies. Type Os are meat-eaters, thriving on lean beef, lamb, turkey, chicken and fish. They should eat dairy sparingly, avoid grains and consume a large variety of vegetables and fruits. Os should avoid the following foods if they desire to lose weight, due to their inhibiting thyroid hormone or slowing metabolic rate: wheat gluten, corn, kidney beans, navy beans, lentils, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and mustard greens.

Type A

Type A evolved as the culture moved from hunting and gathering to a more agrarian society. As became the first vegetarians, surviving best on vegetables, tofu, seafood, grains, beans, legumes and fruit. For weight-loss purposes, they should avoid meat, dairy, kidney and lima beans and wheat. Many of these foods are poorly digested by As and end up being stored as fat or interfere with digestive enzymes.

Type B

D'Adamo calls Bs the balanced omnivores. They have the most flexible dietary choices of all the blood types, and are the only one that can enjoy a variety of dairy foods. Although meat is allowed, Bs often do better with lamb, mutton or rabbit than beef or turkey. Chicken contains a blood agglutinating lectin in its muscle tissue, and is not allowed. Turkey or pheasant may be substituted. To avoid weight gain, Bs should not eat corn, lentils, peanuts, sesame seeds, buckwheat or wheat. Most of these hamper metabolic efficiency.

Type AB

The most rare and recently-evolved type, AB emerged from the blending of type A Caucasians and type B Mongolians. Type ABs have the low stomach acid of type As, causing them not to metabolize meat well. They should eat it sparingly and avoid smoked and cured meats altogether since they can cause stomach cancer in people with low levels of stomach acid. Like Bs, they should avoid chicken, and find lamb, mutton, rabbit and turkey beneficial choices, as well as most seafood. Soured milk products like yogurt and kefir are good, as are many vegetables and grains. For weight control, they should not eat red meat, kidney or lima beans, seeds, corn, buckwheat and wheat.