Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables helps you stay healthy, and choosing several fruits of different colors boosts your vitamin and mineral intake. Peter D'Adamo, a naturopathic physician, recommends choosing fruits based on your blood type instead. His Blood Type Diet provides a list of good fruits for blood type O, but following the diet may not be a healthy choice. Talk to a doctor about your fruit consumption and the Blood Type Diet before changing your eating habits.
Diet Features
D'Adamo bases the Blood Type Diet plan on his theory that your blood cell proteins and evolutionary history influence your ability to digest foods. In evolutionary history, hunter-gatherers had type O blood. Their hunter-gatherer lifestyle determines the types of fruit that are supposedly beneficial for modern type O individuals. Eating the wrong type of fruit causes your blood proteins to react badly with the fruit, according to D'Adamo's theory. No scientific evidence supports these claims.
Fruits to Eat
The Blood Type Diet recommends that type O individuals eat foods with an alkalizing effect, meaning they raise your body's pH to make it less acidic. This supposedly improves digestion and gastrointestinal health. Good fruits for the diet include blue, purple and dark red fruits. Prunes, plums and figs are considered acceptable. You may also eat grapefruit, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries if they do not cause gastrointestinal upset.
Fruits to Avoid
The Blood Type Diet meal plan forbids type O dieters from eating certain fruits. Melons, such as honeydew or cantaloupe, contain relatively high levels of mold which supposedly cause allergic reactions for type O individuals. Blackberries, oranges, coconut, tangerines and rhubarb are also forbidden on the Blood Type Diet.
Expert Insight
Mainstream health professionals do not believe the blood type diet has scientific merit. No scientific studies demonstrate a link between blood type and ability to digest specific foods. Eating at least two servings of fruits each day is important for adults, but choosing blackberries, oranges or tangerines will not negatively impact your health. Discuss your fruit intake with your doctor to make sure you get enough.
