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Blood Type Diet-Medical and Nutritional Experts Say it’s Hogwash

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on September 10, 2013

The Blood Type Diet wins the prize for the most nonsense of any diet out there. It was created by Dr. Peter D’Adamo, a naturopath and writer of the book, Eat Right for Your Blood Type. It has been followed by a number of Hollywood stars, but has been highly criticized by most physicians and dietitians/nutritionists.

Dr.’Adamo believes our blood group determines how our body handles different nutrients. He states that the each blood group has a substance that the body recognizes as alien and the substance reacts badly with certain foods that cause many health problems. By following a diet designed for your blood type, your body can digest and absorb food more readily causing you to lose weight. He believes that blood types evolved at different times during history and that we should eat a diet based on the types of foods eaten at that period of time when the particular blood type developed. Are you following this?
Blood Group O was the first blood type developed around 50,000 B.C. when our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. Since these ancestors survived, Type O Blood Type individuals should eat high-protein, meat-based diets in the 21st century. That also means that it would be harmful to the bodies of present day Type O individuals to follow a vegetarian diet. Even if they are ethically opposed to eating meat, their cultural background does not include meat products, or they are not accessible to meat products.

When our ancestors stopped hunting and gathering, they settled into farming communities and the Type A Blood was discovered. These ancestors did very well on vegetarian diets so that today’s Blood Type A individuals should follow vegetarian diets. Dr. D’Adamo does not make any mention of chickens, pigs, goats, or cows being on these farms. But, Blood Type B evolved around 10,000 B.C. when our ancestors left their farms and wandered around.

Dr. D’ Adamo feels that Type B individuals can eat a more varied diet including meat, dairy, grains, and vegetables. Most likely the meat was saved from the time of the Blood Type A period farmers who could not eat any of the chicken, eggs, ham, or beef that they may have produced. Blood Type AB developed over 1000 years ago when our ancestors made a transition to modern times. Type AB individuals can eat both a Type A and a Type B diet.

If you are still following this, we need to think about what type of diets people 500 years from now will be eating. Will there be the development of the FFPF Blood Type? People with this blood type will be advised to eat a fast-food, processed food diet and they will lose weight. But let’s stop. We have seen what eating a diet like this has caused. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. But, if you have followed the logic of this diet up to Blood Type FFPF, this is the only likely scenario. And we all know where that leads.
Fad diets come and go. Hopefully this one will disappear from the face of the earth. There will always be diet scams and those who will follow them. But the tried and true methods for eating healthy to enhance good health will still be there with new research to support the findings. Read our book, Too Busy to Diet” at www.toobusytodietbook.com and like our book on Facebook