Disease Prevention, Weight loss & Eating for Your Blood Type

Your blood type is one of the keys to your body’s immune system. As a result, it’s a defining factor in your health profile.

Knowing your blood type may be an important mechanism for understanding how your body reacts to food, disease, stress and bio chemical changes.

 

In Peter D’Adamo’s book (Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type) he identifies your individualized diet solution to staying healthy, living longer and achieving your ideal weight based on your blood type. There are 4 blood types (A, B, AB, and O. He richly shares his research on all of them.

 

What you may not have known about your blood type.

In human blood there are two types of antigens and antibodies. The two antigens are antigen A and antigen B. The two antibodies follow in similar fashion and are anti-body A and anti-body B. These antigens are present in our red blood cells and the anti-bodies are in our serum. As a result, all human beings are classified or segmented into 4 groups: those with antigen A, those with antigen B, those with both antigen AB and those with neither antigen which are considered the O group. Your blood type is the classification of your blood based on the presence or absence of antibodies.

Your blood type antigen serves as the chief executive officer of your immune system creating antibodies to ward off dangerous invaders. When an antibody encounters the antigen of a microbial invader there’s a reaction in the body. This reaction is called agglutination. This is the process in which the antibody attaches or glues itself to the viral antigen. This makes the viruses, parasites (or whatever bad guy) stick together and clump up so the body can dispose of it. Because blood type antigens are everywhere they influence how our body reacts to everything – especially the food we eat.

One size does NOT fit all blood types.

What’s good for one blood type or one person is not necessarily good for another. We all know people who are strict vegetarians and thrive on that diet while others swear by a Paleo low-carb plan.

Researchers found that individuals with certain blood types may be at higher-risk for particular diseases. For example, people with blood type O (like my husband) have a lower risk for heart disease but high-risk for developing stomach ulcers. If you asked him about this he would probably claim he has a lower risk of heart disease because of the amount of exercise he does and that the higher risk for developing stomach ulcers is because he is married to me LOL.

In contrast, people with a blood type of A may not have the same heart risks but they have higher risk of microbial infection’s. Another interesting fact is that people with a AB and B blood have much higher risks of developing pancreatic cancer than the other two blood types.

People with different blood types react to stress differently as well.

Blood type A people have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their bodies and produce more in response to a stressful situation than those with other blood types. This was highly disappointing to me!.. but it did explain a growing mid-section in times of stress!  In contrast people with type O blood have the fight or flight reaction to stress that results in overproduction of adrenaline compared to the other blood types. It takes type O’s longer to recover from a stressful situation because it is more difficult for the body to clear adrenaline.

Good News.

Peter D’Adamo’s research uncovered a few more deliciously beneficial facts ….  like red wine is good for type A’s. A glass of red wine every day is believed to lower the risk of heart disease in both men and women.

This makes me happy. Being Italian, with blood type A and enjoying my occasional glass of red wine now I have a good reason to indulge without guilt. It’s proven to be good for us!!!  The best news, however, is that coffee is beneficial for type A’s! Yeeha!  Allegedly, in moderation so I may have to work on that part but it increases our stomach acid and has the same enzymes as those found in soy. Who knew??! The suggestion was made to alternate coffee and green tea for the best combination of antioxidants and benefits.

Type A individuals allegedly flourish on vegetarian diets too. This means foods that are fresh, locally grown and organic. This is stark contrast to how type O’s should eat.

My husband is a type O. he loves his protein and D’Adamo says type O blood should rely heavily on high protein diets. So, if you are type O eat a lot of poultry, fish and vegetables and go lightly on beans and dairy. It’s also recommended that they avoid caffeine and alcohol and smoked or cured meats. Just the coffee and alcohol part made me glad I wasn’t a type O.

Type B blood: avoid corn, wheat, lentils, tomatoes, peanuts and sesame seeds. Apparently, chickens also problematic for you too. The author encourages you to eat green vegetables, eggs and certain meats.

Type AB blood: D Adamo found should be focused on tofu, seafood, dairy, and green vegetables. Apparently, you have a low stomach acid and should avoid caffeine and alcohol. (so sorry my friends!)

Blood type B: have a robust immune system & a very tolerant digestive system. They seem to be able to avoid degenerative diseases better than other blood types. That’s powerful info! You do well with moderate physical exercise.

While you can’t change your blood type you can use the knowledge about its nature to implement changes to your life. The book presents countless stories of chronic conditions such as asthma, headache, heartburn, and bloating that were reversed and healed.

The book even suggests supplement recommendations based on your blood type. For example, type A people should have a goal of strengthening the immune system, include rich cancer fighting antioxidants, prevent infections and enrich cardiovascular function. At first glance, this seemed sensible for anybody’s diet but when I read it in contrast to a type O there were a few things that really did resonate.

Another example of seemingly good advice for type A blood was staying away from potatoes and tomatoes. Knowing myself, I do tend to react when I eat a tomato or potato. I didn’t really know why. I figured it was a food sensitivity. The book clearly states that blood type A’s are very sensitive to the lectins in domestic potatoes & tomatoes. It’s suggested that we stay away from them. This could help explain why when I can eat a potato & it works like aa sleeping pill lol. My brain shuts off and I’m ready to fall asleep!

We (type A’s) should also avoid tomatoes cause their lectins have a negative effect on our type of digestive track. Broccoli however was highly recommended for its antioxidant benefits and ability to strengthen the immune system and prevent abnormal cell division. A few the other vegetables that were listed as excellent for type As are carrots, collard greens, kale (yuck), pumpkin and spinach along with yellow onions. I do love my onions.

So the bottom line is this… Eating a diet based on your blood type O, A, B or AB may indeed help you to trim down and get healthier. At least that’s the idea behind Peter D Adamo’s research and book. There were countless accounts of people who benefited with disease remission, weight loss and more energy. So, what do you have to lose? Explore it. This could be your Shangri-La.

And if you’d like a health coach to help you navigate the way through the various diet options and your health goals … just ask Mama Frat.

March 26, 2017

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