Well I’m O+, didn’t read the book, believe that there are some merits for general guidelines to specific bloodtypes, BUT this book is like comparing the Atkins diet to the T-Dawg or Fat Fast. It doesn’t compare. period.
“Well geez…let’s see - avoid junk food, eat virtually all whole and natural products, and voila! feel and function better”. It ain’t the diet in question, rather it’s the restriction and the daily conscience of what you are eating.
According to the diet, I am told to avoid diet coke, oat flour and oatmeal, cottage cheese, whole wheat bread, and smoked salmon. Let me just say that I have had unbelievable success with just rolled oats as my sole carb source AND I eat low-fat cottage by the pound. Did I mention the 3 diet cokes per day.
My energy levels go through the roof on a breakfast of Quaker Rolled Oats…might not taste great, but if that ain’t right for my blood type, I don’t know what is!!!
Boogabrain: Thanks for the input. A few more questions, if you do not mind: first, what kind of fruit do you put in your smoothies, since type O’s are to avoid blackberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, oranges, and strawberries. Second, am I correct in saying that since pasta is a derivative of wheat that it is in the “foods to avoid” category? How about green beans and snap peas? Are they in the “foods to emphasize” category. I have run a search on eating for your blood type and have just come up with small tables that show a few of the foods to avoid as well as those to emphasize. If you could answer my questions and post a more extensive list of the two categories of foods for the type O, it would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!
Mike the Libertarian- I’d like to apologize for what I posted earlier. You definately can conceptualize rudimentary molecular and cellular biology. In response to what you stated regarding membrane proteins not effecting operation of red blood cells, I’d like you to consider the following:In 1945, Dr.
William Boyd of the Boston University School of Medecine made the discovery that lectins, the proteins which interact with glycoprotein, oligosaccharide or glycolipid residues on the cellular membrane, agglutinate (or clump together)the red blood cells of one type, but not another. Specifically, the study concluded that the lima bean lectin agglutinates erythrocytes of blood type A,but not in types B or O. Since this study, confirmation on dozens of other agglutinating lectins, from wheat germ to beef, have been done… all with the same conclusion. So what do these membrane proteins, or lectins, do? Obviously they interact highly in blood chemistry, not, as you suggest, just sit there and look pretty.
I’d also like to respond to your best argument… that “the proteins involved
in digestion, absorbtion, and energy production are 100% identical in people of
differing blood types.” You know what? To a degree, you are actually right. You just do not grasp the bigger picture. You see, rare is the individual who actually has a fully functioning digestive system. Most people have fallen victim to health problems that have, no doubt in my mind, contributed to the ability of lectins wiithin food to enter into the the bloodstream. These problems are: hydrochloric acid and trypsin deficiencies, especially problematic amongst Americans, which leave the body in a state where it cannot possibly digest protein properly, and “leaky gut” syndrome. This particular condition is where undigested or even partially digested protein molecules “leak” out of the gastrointestinal tract and into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, agglutination occurs. Further, Hydrochloric acid levels are known to vary by
ABO blood type. Evidence of this is extremely clear as type O’s are 67 percent more likely to suffer from stomach ulcers than other blood types. But, then again, what the hell do I know? I’m obviously a fucking moron who knows
nothing of rudimentary molecular and cellular biology. And, since you “rubbed my nose in my own shit”, I can’t help but wonder if the undigested food lectins in my fecal matter would agglutinate if they entered into my bloodstream intranasally? But, since I Eat Right for my Type, I don’t think that would
happen. Please tell me if you gain weight as a result of reading my argument.
Booga, that was a great response! I’m very interested to read the ongoing debate between you and Mike the L - if he responds, that is. You guys obviously both know a lot more about cellular biology than I ever will, and it’s nice to have a little mini-seminar here on the Forum.
I have a question for you, if you don’t mind. You stated that most people, especially Americans, can’t digest protein properly. I’ve suspected that this may be a problem in my own body; do you have any suggestions about how to correct the situation? Thanks for sharing your knowledge, man.
Racer- don’t worry… I didn’t forget about you… I actually sent a list last night of over 500 foods that you can and cannot eat, but I think it was too long. Try this… the Eat Right 4 Your Type has an “orginization”(hint, hint) which has a site here on the web… look under resources, then under food lists, and you will find a link to Steve Shapiro’s site where you can find all sorts of goodies. But to get through that door, you need a key… the key is “protein”…(another Hint, Hint) You’ll find the breakdown to more foods you knew existed.BTW, I like pineapple/blueberry, pineapple/cherry, and peach/anything smoothies…mmmmm… Oranges are on the avoid list, but that is because they react too acidically in most type O’s. I eat 'em, though…I’ve tested how foods react with me by using litmus paper on my tongue or in my urine to see where my pH levels are… that way I know how certain foods react. The list of foods is a great “blueprint”, but not absolute dogma as to what you can and cannot eat. If you need anyhting else or have any more q’s, I’m more than happy to answer 'em if I can…
Chris, thanks for the props, bro… I believe the best way to digest protein properly is to make sure you are eating the right kind of protein! Did you ever see that Home Improvement episode where Tim puts a jet engine into his washer/dryer? It washed the clothes much faster, but eventually the thing broke down because it wasn’t compatible with its source of power. If you are type A, for example, you definately will produce less HCl than a type O, therefore you would want to go easy on heavy meats (meats require more acid to break down properly) The other possibility would be to ingest enzymatic tablets (HCl with pepsin would be good for meat)You could also eat more enzymatic foods… like pineapple… So, I’d reccomend that you find out your bloodtype (if you don’t know it already)… then decide if you could handle doing without certain foods…or at least less of them… If there is no way you’d do without whey or meat, for example, then I’d suggest that you try the enzymatic route.
Here’s a thought guys. So what if any of what the author of the “Eat Right for Your Type,” claims is true? It is only indicative of general tendencies. First of all, I think D’adamo’s theory of different blood types is totally bunk, BUT even if it wasn’t, it doesn’t necessarily say anything valuble about what you as an individual needs to eat. There is a great deal of individual variability that defy generalization. For example, many studies have shown that people of West African descent have higher percetages of fast twitch muscle fibers than caucasians. Does that mean that if you are black, you should automatically train in such a way that benefits people with fast twitch fibers? What if you are an exception to the rule? Plus, the difference between the two population groups is only a few percentage points, so what value does that have for the individual? So, if you are not a type O, on average you produce less HCl than type O’s, but what does that say about how much HCl you as an individual actually produces? Who knows how much HCl is actually needed to digest meat anyway? Maybe only 1/2 the amount is plenty enough. I just think D’adamo is another quack out there trying to make a buck off the gullible public.
These are the standard studies that Eat-Right-for-Your-Type fundamentalists quote when backed into a corner. But rather than supporting the absurd claim that one’s optimal diet depends on one’s blood type, they serve only to illustrate extreme gullibility of those who follow such idle fancies.
None of my arguments were addressed by Booga, so I will essentially summarize them here with occasional reference to the studies he quoted.
(1) Even if it were possible for food to affect the operation of red blood cells in a way that depends on blood type, this would leave 99.99% of the other cells in the body unaffected. Red blood cells cary oxygen and carbon dioxide. They do not digest food, they do not absorb food, and nor do they create energy for other cells. Consequently, there is no possible way for one’s optimal diet to depend on a supposed interaction between food and red blood cell membrane proteins.
(2) The membrane proteins associated with the A and B blood types (AB is a combination and O lacks both proteins) are neither channel proteins nor receptor proteins; consequently, they cannot affect the internal operation of red blood cells in any way. If the study Booga quoted was true, then the aggregation was caused by cross linkage between red blood cells, mediated by the membrane proteins. In other words, the lectins got ‘snagged’ on the blood cell type proteins, causing them to clump together (no doubt the original study said as much, although I do not have access to material that old).
So in summary, if food could alter the behavior of red blood cells based on type, then digestion, absorbtion, and energy creation would still remain unaffected; but food cannot alter the behavior of red blood cells, since the membrane proteins responsible for blood type are neither channel nor receptor proteins. Therefore, in all cases, the Eat-Right-for-Your-Type theory is complete and utter bull, worthy only of contempt and scorn.
The ABO blood system has been shown through molecular studies to have evolved over 5 million years ago when all human ancestors were hunter gatherers and in fact there is over 30 blood types(how many different diets does D’Adamo recommend?).People with differing blood types have been shown to be vulnerable to diseases.However those diseases are mainly infectious.The example you used about type O’s having more stomach ulcers was misleading on account that H.pylori(one of the many organisms capable of causing gastric ulcers)more readily infects O blood cells in the stomach(H.pylori and the other organisms have exteriors which are invulnerable to HCL,HCL has nothing to do with stomach ulcers). The agglutination of certain blood types due to lectins only occurs in-vitro(this is one means that blood banks use to determine blood type).The only place lectins have been shown to work in humans is in the gi tract.The reason they only agglutinate in-vitro is because they are destroyed through cooking and or our digestive system and as a result don’t get into the blood stream.Any food that was not digested to the point where its absorbable through the gi-tract(whole lectins)is either broken down by bacteria or shit out.If intact lectins made it into our blood stream we’d all be dead of strokes or some other cardiovascular event. Leaky gut syndrome is preposterous.If whole proteins including lectins got in our blood streams we’d be dead of anaphylactic shock or as i mentioned cardiovascular disease.
Hey Booga, should we also eat like chimps? I mean if our digestive systems haven’t adapted enough from our ancestors’ diets, as you suggest, then why would they have not adapted since man evolved from monkey? Would an all bananna diet be most beneficial?
Upon reading the recent posts I’ve decided to take this discussion to a much higher plane. You see, whenever I make an argument and cite facts from the realm of materialistic, or natural, science, these points which I have made are countered by other “facts” brom the 2 mikes. Obviously, this will continue infinitely as making observations from the perspective of materialistic science has its obvious limitations. To the experience of soul, of which I am here speaking, these limiting conceptions appear like a reflecting surface which the human soul must place before it; while natural science itself is like the picture, made manifest with the mirror’s help. Any attempt to treat the limiting conceptions themselves by ordinary scientific means is, as it were, to smash the mirror, and with the mirror broken, natural science itself dissolves away. Moreover, this experience reveals the emptiness of all talk about ‘Things-in-themselves,’ of whatsoever kind, behind the phenomena of nature. He who seeks for such Things-in-themselves is like a man who longs to break the looking-glass, hoping to see what there is behind the reflecting surface to cause his image to appear. The science I would like to introduce this forum to is a higher, more advanced science. It differs from materialistic science, which trying to find answers through is like a dog chasing its own tail. The higher science I speak of is called Goethean science, developed by Johannes Wolfgang von Goethe and perfected by various individuals after his death. In a future message (whenever I have more room and time!) I’ll talk about the aspects of Goehtean science and its applications for the blood type diet, as well as other things relating to bodybuilding and nutrition…
In other words, you’re fucked and you know it, but instead of admitting it you’ll just go deeper into your fantasy land where mythology is treated as fact, and science is ignored.
Hey, Boogabrain, I can’t help but chuckle a bit about your philosophical musings. Goethe was a philosopher was he not, not a scientist? Of course philosophy comes from the Greek words philo and sophis–translating into love of knowledge, so some would argue that the distinction is invalid. I am interested in what you would have to write. If only for the sheer entertainment value
kirk…I heard that, bro! I’m laughin’ my ass off and studying for my Anamtomy and Physiology exam at the same time…Seriously, though, despite this being a very heated post, it’s nice to see you guys not just throw personal rhetoric at each other (and each other’s mothers) but have some science and research to back up your comments.
I’m interested too, Hyok. But I’m sure that he’ll have something really good to say because Booga’s obviously extremely intellegent. Oh, and I did a search on yahoo and found out that you are right and wrong. Gotthe was most famous for his philosophical literature, but Goethe was also a scientist. Here is a quote about this from one of the sites I found:
Goethe himself in fact saw his principle contributions to culture as being in the area of science. He authored many works on science, notably The Metamorphosis of Plants and his Theory of Color. Goethe stressed that one had to start with the actual phenomenon, and that it impossible to divorce oneself from participation in nature, contrary to the method of contemporary science. As a generalization, it could be said that he was one of the first holistic thinkers, in the modern sense, to emerge in western culture.
