The concern about obesity and its associated risk factors for hypertension and cardiovascular diseases is not something new to the public. Today, even cancer, leukemia, diabetes mellitus, acne, stroke and osteoporosis, which were once upon thought to be the jargons of the medical sciences, are becoming the centre of attention for people from all walks of life. Why such unprecedented blooming interest, you may ask? The simple reason being that human beings are fear of death - a issue still considered taboo to many, but a definite fact that all beings that live must endure. Perhaps death may not be an issue after all. It may be the long term or possibly a life-long physical or emotional sufferings that are the most difficult to counter. Nevertheless, with the intervention of various technologies, medical sciences are gradually progressing into a wonderful breakthrough. Many diseases primitively thought to be the play-of-the-devil are evidently proved otherwise and several terminal illnesses have been successfully treated with only simple involvement of certain tools. How about prevention-wise?
While there is still no scientific prove about the existence of an elixir of life, many regimens from different schools of thoughts are promising ‘eternal’ health with strict adherence. There are various articles about the magnificent power of evening primrose oil and that of fish oil, saw palmetto, glucosamine, coenzyme Q, etc., but what that caught my attention most was an article about eating according to the blood type. I have come across similar diet regimens and their associated risk of diseases with different astrological Sun signs, a notion I take for the mere pleasure of reading but will not indulge into it seriously since astrology is not a true medical science. But when a diet design is connected to the well-established ABO blood group system, it suddenly resonated to me again and again that I should take a quick look at this article. After all, we are what we eat. I, having known my blood type already may as well know what’s best for me. I’ll definitely do not want to eat something that’s not coded for in my genes.
The blood type diet actually revolves around the evolutionary history of how different blood groups came into existence with time and that we should adhere to the types of diet intended for that time that coincide with the blood group. Dr. Peter D’Adamo, author of the best selling book Eat Right For Your Type declares that our ancestors were all type O skilled hunters that thrived on meat based diet. They possessed genetic memory of strength and endurance from the high protein diet. By 25000 B.C. – 15000 B.C. type A blood type emerged when people started to learn the techniques of crops cultivation. These so-called cultivators emphasized a diet free of red meat with preference for vegetables and more calming exercises. As climatic changes in the western Himalayan mountains progressed, blood type B appeared. According to Dr. D’Adamo, type B are nomads with strong immune and flexible digestive systems. They are the only ones who can thrive on dairy products. Blood type AB on the other hand, is the most recently evolved type and stays intermediate between blood types A and B in terms of dietary needs. The key to optimal health here is to eat as our ancestors with the same blood type ate and engage in the same kinds of exercises they did.
Dr. D’Adamo related his research based on the effects of lectin, a type of protein found commonly in eaten foods, particularly the seeds of leguminous plants. According to him, certain lectins are incompatible with certain blood types and this incompatibility causes lectins to attract to and clump the red blood cells through a process called agglutination once they are absorbed from the digestive tract into the bloodstream. Since lectins react differently with each ABO type antigen, there is a need for a selection of different foods for O, A, B and AB blood types to minimize its reactions. Henceforth, Dr. D’Adamo divided foods into 16 categories with 3 types of labels – highly beneficial, neutral and avoid, according to each of the 4 blood types for reference.
Another interesting point is that type O people are blessed with strong stomach acid and enzymes, thus they are able to metabolize almost everything. On the other hand, if a blood type A individual who already has thick blood is consuming food incompatible with his blood type, the blood will eventually become even thicker due to the agglutination effect and hence a risk for hypertension and heart disease. This phenomenon is rarely observed in type O since they start out with the thinnest blood, and if any agglutination takes place, the blood will not thicken to the extent experienced by other blood types. Nevertheless, with improper dietary intervention, people of all blood types will eventually end up with diseases – the risk being higher for types A and AB in the short run but longer for people with types O and B. Since our blood groups were already determined at the time of conception and cannot be changed, we may have the privilege to live a longer and healthier lifestyle if we can change the way we eat.
Does this mean that a blood type O person should include meat in almost all of his meals and engage in vigorous exercises like running and cycling? How about the risk of cardiovascular diseases and renal failure with a high protein diet? Are there any clinical trials to support such claims? Unfortunately, Dr. D’Adamo’s statements lack solid scientific support with no comparative clinical trials on the efficacy of his regimen. His research on lectins was done in vito and nobody guarantees similar results physiologically in the real humans. Moreover lectins are destroyed by cooking or digestive enzymes and the amount of lectins absorbed intact through the digestive system is minimal. Furthermore, to design a diet based on the ABO blood group system alone may sound quite naive since there are more than 30 unique markers identified on the surface of red blood cells. Phylogenetic studies of human and non-human ABO alleles on the other hand showed that A gene was the first to evolve although O blood type is common in all populations around the world, another notion that disproved Dr. D’Adamo’s theory.
Nevertheless, the decision is yours whether to believe it or not. I personally feel that there are to a certain extent some controversies in the world of science as new discoveries begin to surface. For instance, we were once told that unsaturated fats are better than saturated fats and now both of them seem to be bad for health for one reason or another. From another point of view, Lingzhi and aleo vera may be a good source of remedy but they sometimes failed just because different individuals react differently with the same substance. Similarly, drug A may be efficient in alleviating your illness but it may not be a magic bullet to another patient. By the way, there’s a connection between different types of ABO antigens and the preference of certain bacteria and virus on eliciting infection. In a nutshell, I strongly believe that there’s a connection somehow, perhaps a different type of relationship not similar to that of Dr. D’Adamo’s but in terms of dietary-wise, I feel that moderation in all types of food is the key to good health. What do you think?
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