The Blood Type Diet Cookbook. Lucy Degremont

restoring adrenal health and assisting fat loss and muscle gain.

       Constance

      Blood Type A

       Age 26

      I have always struggled with my weight. Since adolescence I have tried various diets that have worked to some degree but I have never found anything that seemed right for me. I can compare this to a key trying to find the right lock. Sometimes the lock seems to be the right one but it is never the perfect fit. With this way of eating I have finally found the right key. I have learned to listen to what my body has to tell me. With this way of eating (I use this phrase because the word diet has rather restrictive connotations) I have experienced a heightened sense of well-being. I had acne and lots of bloating after meals or in hot weather. After certain meals I would become apathetic and want to sleep. I also had tendonitis in my knees that didn’t respond to medical or alternative treatment. After several months of this new way of eating all my problems gradually disappeared.

       Heart Disease

      Take care of your heart and arteries. In mainstream medicine elevated cholesterol is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. If one looks more closely one realizes that heart disease is not necessarily linked with elevated cholesterol. Studies have shown that not everyone with cardiovascular disease has a high cholesterol level. According to research into blood types and heart disease, blood types A and AB tend to have higher cholesterol levels than Os and Bs. Elevated cholesterol levels therefore seem to be more of a risk factor for heart disease in As and ABs than Os and Bs. Here is another one of those blood type links that could explain the partial success which the official “good for your heart” diet recommendations have in reducing cholesterol levels and heart attacks. These recommendations are close to what type As should be eating, so As will have good results with such diets. One of my patients who is an O was put on a diet of beans, grains and little meat. Her blood cholesterol level jumped from 199 to 233 in less than 2 years. After 5 months of following the blood type diet for type O and eating red meat and hardly any grains or cheese her blood cholesterol dropped from from 233 to 171. The reason I mention this type O patient here is because she was eating a type A diet although she is an O. The diet that enabled her cholesterol levels to drop was the diet appropriate for her blood type and not the generally accepted cholesterol-lowering diet.

      Following your blood type A diet will help you reduce your cholesterol levels if they are high. Legumes and lentils, vegetables (artichokes, carrots, beetroot, garlic, onions, leeks), fruits (apples, avocados, grapefruit, pineapple), fatty fish with their beneficial oils (mackerel, sardines, salmon, tuna, herring), soya bean products, brown rice and oats, olive oil, walnuts and almonds – scientific studies have shown that all these foods lower cholesterol levels. Even if your levels are normal, you will benefit from this diet as it will prevent cholesterol levels from rising. You may eat eggs; although they do contain cholesterol they have never been shown to substantially raise cholesterol levels. High levels of cholesterol mainly come from the fact that our body manufactures it from sugar and synthesises it from fats. Some of us are better at this than others, As and ABs for instance.

      Another factor in cardiovascular disease is the thickness of your blood. Around 80 per cent of strokes and heart attacks are due to a blood clot. Blood type A has more active blood clotting factors than type O, so As should eat foods that have been shown to help control blood clotting. Garlic is a very important one. Crush raw garlic in your salad dressings and use lemon juice instead of vinegar; the crushing and the acid from the lemon juice help release a substance called ajoene, a very potent anticoagulant. Onions are another amazing food that can neutralize blood clots, while fatty fish contain compounds that have anticlotting properties. And the good news for all wine lovers is that drinking one glass of good quality red wine with your main meal will help prevent blood clotting. Resveratrol – a substance produced by the fermentation of grape skins – has been shown to prevent blood platelets from clumping together. You can also drink red grape juice, but you will need three times as much to get the same benefit as one glass of wine. Another important drink is green tea, which contains a clot-dissolving compound called catechin. Finally, include olive oil and fresh pineapple in your diet as they have been shown to protect the arteries.

      If you include all of these foods in your everyday diet you will be giving your body the best chance of long-term good health.

       Cancer

      There is a clear association between blood types A and AB and cancer. Certain inherent factors in blood type A make this blood type friendly territory for the development of cancer. When cancer cells develop in As they tend to be accepted by the immune system as friends instead of being fought and killed. Of course there are many other factors that come into play but following the blood type diet can play a powerful part in avoiding cancer.

      Apart from the foods that have been shown to be protective against cancer in general and even help prevent the spread of cancer, Dr D’Adamo’s research has discovered some foods that are specifically beneficial for blood type A (and AB) in the fight against cancer. Snails – the kind you eat in France in a parsley and garlic sauce – contain a lectin that has anti-cancer properties specially suited to type A (and AB). This lectin has anti-cancer activity towards breast cancer cells. Shelled, unskinned peanuts offer the same benefits. Lentils, the common domestic mushroom and the grain amaranth are also recommended for their anti-cancer effects.

      Soya has been shown in many studies to protect against cancer, and is specially well suited for type As (and ABs). Among other foods that are highly recommended are fruits and vegetables. They contain nutrients, phytonutrients and fibre that have been shown to have these protective effects. Eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables can cut your cancer risk in half. The general recommendation is to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day. In this case more is better.

      Garlic and onions have been shown in studies to contain substances that prevented laboratory animals from getting cancer – even though they were exposed to potent carcinogens. Green vegetables such as spinach, kale and broccoli are packed with anti-cancer substances that are not destroyed during cooking. Grapefruits and lemons – the whole fruit, including the pith – also have a collection of anti-cancer compounds. One of the best ways of benefiting from all the goodness of these citrus fruits is to add them to your freshly-juiced vegetables. Leave the thin yellow skin on the lemons but remove the coloured skin from the grapefruit. Pineapple is well known as a digestive aid but less well known for its anti-cancer properties. The enzyme bromelain in pineapple appears to activate the immune system to help the body combat cancer cells. Research by Dr Taussig in Hawaii has shown that pineapple inhibits the formation of tumours. Legumes, a beneficial food for type A, also have anti-cancer qualities.

blood type b: general food recommendations

      This blood type, the third to have appeared on earth, is thought to have developed from the earlier blood type O after migrations to the Himalayan regions and later to northern China. The eating habits of these early migrants included meat and fermented milk products. Today, blood type B is the lucky one when it comes to milk products. However, giving you the green light to eat milk products does not mean you can go overboard with full fat cheeses – practise moderation.

      In many Asian and African cultures dairy foods have not been part of the diet for generations. If you are a type B who belongs to one of these groups, you may need to introduce dairy products gradually and include a digestive enzyme containing lactase in your diet.

      Your body likes meat, fish, dairy products, legumes, nuts and seeds, grains, vegetables and fruits – as long as you choose the right foods in each group. In other words your blood type enables you to eat foods from every category, quite unlike Os and As who are restricted in certain categories. However, there are some meats, fish, legumes and grains that you should avoid.

       Meat,