The Blood Type Diet Cookbook

foreword (#ulink_40de3922-e6c7-56d4-9fb8-eb7c9fa1bcdb)

This book has taken a long time to come to fruition. Over the years the idea behind it gradually blossomed, shaped by our observations of both gourmet cook books and health cook books. We felt there was a gap between the two aspects of eating – pleasure and health. We hope this book will bridge that gap.

Twenty years ago we were young mothers, each with three children, and in both our families one child had severe allergy problems. This motivated us to find curative solutions: one of them being nutrition. Our interest duly kindled, we went on to study nutrition (Karen) and gourmet cuisine (Lucy).

Shared passions have led to shared knowledge and during the past three years we have become increasingly interested in the science of eating according to one’s blood group. Members of our families, friends and patients have all been reaping the benefits of this fundamental research, brought to light by Dr Peter D’Adamo. The results we have witnessed have been truly amazing and we feel privileged to be sharing this knowledge and our experience through these recipes.

For the past four seasons we have regularly left our respective family lives for cooking sessions in the Loire valley. We spent time with the producers of goat’s cheese, we followed the aroma of summer strawberries to the fields where they were grown, we visited a small organic yogurt plant surrounded by big yellow sunflowers. We went completely over the top during the wild game season and marinated, stuffed and roasted everything from deer to partridges. We gathered fruit from the trees, little yellow plums to large pear-sized quinces, hazelnuts and walnuts. The days flew by in planning, shopping, researching, creating, measuring, cooking, writing, eating and sharing our food. We did it all ourselves and loved every minute of it.

Each season directed the choice of produce we used for our recipes as we feel nature provides chronobiologically what we need: in the summer friends gave us vegetables from their gardens, and in the autumn fruits from their trees and game from their forests. We believe in cooking with the freshest possible produce, using plenty of vegetables, fruit, free-range poultry, wild game (which by essence is organic), meat without hormones, wild fish if possible, herbs, spices and the finest quality oils.

Our recipes cover a wide range and include soups, salads, vegetables, goat’s cheese, fish, poultry and game, meat, tofu and tempeh, sauces, desserts, drinks, festive dishes, Christmas and basic recipes. Each recipe is accompanied by blood type recommendations and, where appropriate, scientifically tested and traditionally proven dietary information about one of the main ingredients.

Tempting as it may be to jump straight in and try the recipes, do read the following chapter on blood types first. This provides background information on the origin of blood types, how our blood type can affect our health and how it interacts with the food we eat. Food recommendations are also given and these are complemented by the food lists, which provide a further guide on what each blood group should and should not eat.

To get you started we have created one week of menus for each season and for each blood type. In addition we felt it useful for you to have seven days of menus appropriate for all blood types. This will allow you to occasionally feed all blood groups at your table. The menus can be found at the back of the book, along with the recipe list that allows you to tell, at a glance, which recipe is suitable for which blood type. And for anyone still unsure of the benefits of following the diet we have included case histories for each blood type – these real life experiences are from patients who have experienced the turnaround in health that comes with following the blood type diet.

We trust that you will get pleasure from shopping and choosing the freshest foods in your markets and stores, enjoy the cooking process and savour the dishes you create. Lastly we believe you should leave the table feeling well nourished but with no heaviness in the stomach, and safe in the knowledge that what you just ate is on its way to building a healthy body and balanced mind. Enjoying that light, healthy feeling is our aim.

Good health and happy eating.

Karen Vago and Lucy Degrémont

Paris, September 2001

While the authors of this work have made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this book is as accurate and up-to-date as possible at the time of publication, medical knowledge is constantly changing and the application of it to particular circumstances depends on many factors. Readers should always consult a qualified medical specialist for individual advice before making any changes to their diet. This book should not be used as an alternative to specialist medical advice. The authors and publishers cannot be held responsible for any errors and omissions that may be found in the text, or any actions that may be taken by a reader as a result of any reliance on the information contained in the text which is taken entirely at the reader’s own risk.

13 tips for a healthy body

1 Breathe in clean air. Oxygen is our first nutrient.

2 Drink plenty of natural or filtered water.

3 Eat according to your blood type.

4 Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit.

5 Choose organic meat, where available.

6 Choose wild fish rather than farmed fish as much as possible.

7 Avoid eating in a stressful situation. Wait for a calmer time.

8 Chew your food well. Deal with each mouthful before adding another one.

9 Add supplements when appropriate to deal with a deficiency, a health issue and for prevention.

10 Give priority to managing your stress level. If necessary consult a nutritional practitioner who can help strengthen your adrenal glands.

11 Exercise both in and outdoors.

12 Live with happy thoughts.

13 Each day allow yourself quiet moments on your own.

the four blood types made easy (#ulink_c31b5b73-6d85-5643-836a-06e3bb24b02b)

One of the most important aspects of health is the food we put in our bodies. Until recently, recommendations for food choices have mainly been based on the nutritional content of foods: how much of a particular vitamin or mineral does it contain, what is the fibre content, are the essential fatty acids unadulterated? Another trend has been to point an accusing finger at meat, whilst encouraging a greater consumption of grains. In my practice as a nutritionist, I have seen many type O patients for whom this type of macrobiotic diet has been a catastrophe. Relief was their understandable reaction on being told that not only was it okay for them to eat meat, but necessary if they wanted to be in good health. So should we be vegetarians or carnivores, follow the macrobiotic or paleolithic diet? What about the Mediterranean way of eating? However, the answer to the question of which diet suits us lies in who we are and not in what the diet is. What we eat interacts with each of us in a very particular way and that relationship is governed by our genetic makeup.

A food is not healthy or unhealthy per se. It interacts with us in a healthy or unhealthy manner. The work of Doctors James and Peter D’Adamo has enabled millions of people around the world to experience this. Peter D’Adamo has done a colossal job of furthering the findings of his father, Dr James D’Adamo: namely that your blood type (O, A, B or AB) is the key to what you should eat.

How Did These Findings Come About?

Dr James D’Adamo, a naturopathic physician, observed that while some people did well on the typical vegetarian diet recommended in renowned European health spas, others did not. Following this initial observation he spent many years trying different diets on each of his patients until eventually he surmised that there must be something in our blood that determines what we should be eating. Little by little, food choices according to ABO blood typing became obvious. Those with blood type A, it seemed, benefited from a virtually meat-free diet with protein provided by soya and fish, while Os did well on a meat-based diet that avoided grains and milk products. These findings set the stage for his son’s later scientific scrutiny.

Peter D’Adamo, a naturopathic physician in the making at that time (1980s), took advantage of university requirements to undertake research – and naturally he chose his father’s field. What he was looking for was any information that could connect blood types to certain diseases, and if such information would give any weight to his father’s ideas. Sure enough there it was. The prevalence of stomach cancer in blood type A was related to low gastric acid. This could explain why As should avoid meat – they did not produce enough gastric acid, which is essential for the complete digestion of animal protein. There was also relevant information on blood type O. This blood group is more prone to gastric ulcers – a condition usually caused by a highly acidic environment in the stomach. As James D’Adamo had discovered years before, Os could and should eat meat because they have the necessary acidic environment in the stomach to digest it properly.

This was just the beginning of the ongoing research into the relationship between ABO blood types and disease, and how selecting the right foods and living the right life can protect you.

Human Evolution and Blood Types

The four different blood types, O, A, B and AB, didn’t appear on earth all at the same time. The first three are a product of human evolution and the latter the consequence of As and Bs intermingling.

Man as we know him today appeared on this planet around 40,000BC, in eastern Africa. A branch of anthropology that investigates humankind’s biological differences has concluded that our ancestors and the first men on earth, the hunter-gatherers, were blood type O. All mankind at that time, and for approximately the next 20,000 years, had the same blood type. Around 20,000BC a combination of increased population and depleted hunting grounds forced the hunter-gatherers to migrate to western Africa and the Asian and European continents. As our hunter ancestors adapted their diet and lifestyle to a different environment, their body also underwent a radical change. A new blood type appeared in response to a new man: the farmer. He cultivated grains, reared animals and lived in communities. Type A evolved from type O.

It was another 5,000–10,000 years before another blood type made its appearance as an evolutionary step from the original blood type O: type B. This appears to have been the result of hunter-gatherers migrating from the heat of eastern Africa to the cold conditions in the Himalayas, where Bs are thought to have evolved. These people were either nomads roaming the country to conquer better lands or farmers working the land they had settled on.

Blood type AB, only about 5 per cent of the world population, is the result of marriages between blood type A populations and blood type B populations. This blood type seems to have appeared not much more than 1,000 years ago.

What does all this tell us? Simply that blood groups are not arbitrary – they appeared as a direct response to man’s physical and nutritional environment and those early blueprints laid down for each blood type continue to have relevance to this day.

Our Blood Type is Part of Our Identity

Genetics have a lot to say as to who we are. The environment in which we live, our lifestyle and our thoughts may be even more important, but our blood type is part of our genetic design and cannot be ignored. The way we plan our life in terms of nutrition, exercise, thought, stress management etc. will make our blood type friend or foe. In other words, if we follow the recommendations that enable our body to positively adjust its biochemistry, we are likely to benefit from vibrant health. On the contrary, if we make choices that disrupt our metabolism, clog up our system with toxins and make our cells stick together, we are heading for trouble.

Our blood type gives information to our body, telling it how to react when confronted by a host of circumstances such as stress; invasion by viral, bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections; or food entering the body. Psychologically and physically each blood group reacts differently to these influences: a specific food can be beneficial or detrimental to our health depending on whether we are an O, an A, a B or an AB; an infective agent will have something to hold onto depending on our blood group; our susceptibility to common diseases or more serious ones is linked to our blood group; the means by which an O will lose weight is not the same as for an A.

And this isn’t anecdotal information. Much of this information can be found in scientific literature. Dr D’Adamo has referenced over 1500 research studies to back up his work.

My Personal Experience with the Blood Type Diet

As a nutritionist I ate, for many years, what I considered to be a very healthy diet – at least I thought it was. I was cutting down on red meats and increasing fish and poultry, replacing wheat with other grains such as rye and spelt (in bread), eating rice, quinoa and millet. I made the effort to cook lentils and pulses. Instead of cow’s cheese I would eat goat’s and sheep’s cheese and yogurt. I was taking plenty of supplements, as well as digestive enzymes. Yet despite all this I still struggled with my weight and had trouble with my immune system during the winter.

Then one day I came across a paragraph on “Blood type and diet” in Dr Ralph Golan’s book, Optimal Wellness. This very briefly described Peter D’Adamo’s work, and to me it sounded so right. Being an O, something deep down in me had always resisted becoming a vegetarian. I just instinctively knew I needed animal protein.

I applied the little I read in Ralph Golan’s description to myself and soon began to feel the benefit. Suitably impressed, I put into practice the advice in Peter D’Adamo’s book. The result? I moved onto a higher level of health. Being blood type O I had permission to eat meat, which I love. Unfortunately I had to give up cheese (which is particularly difficult when you live in France). Os can only have a small amount of goat’s and sheep’s cheese (I was still eating too much). Grains are to be avoided and I can attest to that. Whenever I was tempted to eat normal wheat bread or even too much spelt bread, I immediately felt the difference – a heaviness set in and I put on weight. That was when I first started the diet – I now know what to do to feel good, be healthy and lean. If I am tempted all I need to do is remind myself of how good I feel and, more often than not, following the blood type diet takes precedence over the indulgence. Although it took a little time to adjust to some of the changes, I now positively enjoy the many beneficial foods that are suitable for my blood type.

Since discovering Peter D’Adamo’s book, I have introduced his findings to my patients and continue to do so. To me, the most convincing evidence that there is truth in the blood type diet lies in my own experience and the results my patients are getting with this method of eating.