A couple of years ago, I was given this book
And I was intrigued, but didn’t get into it until about a month ago when my cousin Charlotte had an appointment with the author. After telling me about it, I decided to crack open this book and see what it had to say. In this post, when I say “diet”, I am referring to what I eat, not going on a diet. I’m not big on those.
The premise is that your blood type comes from where your ancestry is focused and that type dictates your dietary needs. Different blood types (and sub types) have different chemical makeups and therefore are compatable with different food and drink.
I know my blood type from when I donated blood a few years ago, I am A+. A types have low stomach acid, so meat doesn’t digest well. Other things for As to avoid: dairy, anything with vinegar (ketchup, bbq sauce, etc), oranges, tomatoes among other things. Some seafood is okay.
As I was reading through what I should and shouldn’t eat, I realized that I already stay away from a lot of those things. I’ve already discussed that I don’t eat a lot of meat because it upsets my stomach. I rarely eat oranges, and I’ve noticed that tomato sauce really throws me for a loop some days… which is really convenient when you’re married to an Italian.
As far as drinks go, As are not supposed to have anything carbonated, not even seltzer. Yikes. I drink those flavored seltzers like its my job. According to the diet, all I should be drinking is water, green tea, coffee, and wine. A glass of red wine a day is actually recommended, because As are more prone to heart disease, as well as other diseases.
One thing I really do NOT agree with on this diet is that As are not supposed to do rigorous physical exercise. This takes out running, lifting, anything that really stresses your body. Everything is supposed to be yoga, tai chi, etc. Apparently there is an elevated stress level in As and doing the former exercising heightens it even more which is not good. But I have to say, I never feel as good as I do after a big run or a tough weights session!
I decided to try it out for a week, really strictly. There are claims that if you stick to your blood type diet, you will drop a bunch of weight. I don’t care much about that, I’m just always looking to get through the day without an upset stomach. I did notice that I felt fuller longer and I did feel great. I did not lose any weight. I actually yo-yo’d between a couple of pounds.
Here’s a sample of a couple of days:
Day 1. Water with lemon; oatmeal with almond milk, maple syrup, and blueberries for breakfast. Green smoothie after the gym. An A-friendly salad, a piece of spelt bread, and a soy yogurt for lunch. An apple, peanuts, and a green tea for snack. Quinoa, kale, tofu, PB, honey for dinner. Felt full all day.
Day 2. Lemon water; apple, peanut butter, spelt bread for breakfast. Almond milk + molasses post workout. Iced coffee with maple syrup and soy milk for snack. Salad with: cucumber, celery, mint, feta, lemon; spelt bread, strawberries at lunch. Apple and peanuts for snack. Dinner from Life Alive and a daily cleanse tea for dinner. Felt full all day again.
So those two days went great. Until the next day when someone at work had lobster bisque. I wanted to take it from her and dump it on myself. That night I went out to dinner and got a veggie burger with no cheese, and mustard on the side. ALL I WANTED WAS SOME BARBEQUE SAUCE AND CHEESE. You can see where this was going…
As with everything I do, trying to do this all or nothing stopped working for me. I did come across info that people who are going through a very strict cleanse should be eating 90% good for their blood type and 10% anything else. And for regular maintenance, its 70/30 or 80/20, I can’t remember. Me doing 100% wasnt’ even right!
So while I have noticed a big difference in my stomach when I cut certain things out of my diet, I don’t feel that way about everything that’s on my “do not eat” list according to my diet. I try keeping things out for a few days, and if it works for me and my tummy, its out for good. I now sweeten my coffee at home with maple syrup and use soy milk in it. I’ve continued to eat meatless 5 days a week. I cut out all carbonation (even seltzer… mostly… sad), and don’t eat oranges any more. But over my dead body will I give up barbeque sauce!
A last interesting thing about Blood type… supposedly it has something to do with your personality. There are all kinds of sites to look this up… here, for example. A’s are introverts, thoughtful, sensitive, good listeners, and not CEO types, but lead in other ways. That sound like me although I’m not sure I’m an introvert. It also says we are bad sleepers… NOT true! I sleep like the dead!
So there you have it. If you’re interested in more info or what you could be eating that you shouldn’t, check out the official site for Eating Right for Your Type. In moderation, it has definitely worked for me, you just have to figure out what works for you!
Have you ever tried eating for your Blood Type? Would you?
This is very interesting!
The book and research are really interesting, actually. Its a whole new take on eating. It just is a pain sometimes when you go out to eat and have to pick apart your food!
This is quite an interesting concept and I’ve never heard of it! Definitely going to research this. I never follow diets but I’m a little intrigued.
My mom and I did this diet years ago and I think there is a lot of great stuff in that book. It totally makes sense, we should all eat a little differently depending on our blood type because that’s fundamentally who we are. I think you’ll really like it!!