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Blood Type Diet
Blood type diet theory first surfaced in 1996 after Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo published
his book ‘Eat Right for your Type’. Naturally the book was a large success and
eventually made it onto the prestigious New York Times Bestseller list. This
is not surprising seeing as just about every new diet fad book to hit the shelves
is at least given a chance by those determined to lose weight and be healthy.
Here’s how the diet works:
People should eat food that is evolutionarily appropriate for their blood type.
For instance, those with O type blood require more meat in their diet due to
their historical position as the hunter-gatherers. A type blood owners are often
described as docile vegetarians who require less meat in their diet, but more
fruits and vegetables. Finally B type blood owners are considered omnivores
who are able to digest dairy better than their other blood type counterparts.
Much of the scientific base of Dr. D’Adamo’s diet by blood type is rooted in
the action of lectins. These are proteins found on the surface of certain foods
that can cause certain kinds of molecules and other types of cells to stick
together. D’Adamo blames these lectins for everything from cirrhosis to kidney
failure and even death in some extreme cases. He argues that many of the negative
effects of lectins result from it making the muscles less alkaline and therefore
hindering peoples ability for physical activity.
What does this mean for your blood type diets? Well, unless you are a type
A blood owner, and few of us are, then you’ll be eating a lot more meat. This
is a trend that we have seen in most of the fad diets that have sprung up in
the last 10 years. The Atkins diet and the Zone diet both preach a similar dietary
change, but for different reasons.
This is good news for the North American dieting public who generally love
meat, but have been told for years to avoid large portions of it. Is this a
way for people to rationalize their meat eating, or is it that we have finally
realized just how slow the evolutionary process actually is, and that we should
eat like our ancestors?
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