Blood type diet: like Astrology, but sciency!

Blood diet? Yes please!

Over the past few months, two completely unrelated people in my life both recommended the "blood type diet" to me. I shrugged it off both times as seeming like hooey, but upon reflection, when something gets thrown in my path from 2 different directions, doesn't it at least deserve a....blog post?

Off to do some internet thinkin'! A book was published in 1997 that stated if one were only to eat a diet that was tailored to one of four blood types that they may have, all the problems brought on by modern food would be resolved. According to Dr. D'Adamo, man has evolved over millions of years to their natural diets, and the blood types have evolved, too, shaped by these superior diets.

• Blood group O is described by D'Adamo as the hunter. He recommends that those of this blood group eat a higher protein diet. The group is alleged by D'Adamo to be the first blood type and to have originated 30,000 years ago, although research indicates that blood type A is actually the oldest.

• Blood group A is called the agrarian or cultivator by D'Adamo, who believes this type dates from the dawn of agriculture, 20,000 years ago. He recommends that individuals of blood group A eat a diet that emphasizes vegetables and is free of red meat, a diet more closely vegetarian.

• Blood group B is called the nomad by D'Adamo, who estimates this group to have arrived 10,000 years ago. He states that this type is associated with a strong immune system and a flexible digestive system. He also asserts that people of blood type B are the only people able to thrive on dairy products; this is contradicted by the fact that while people with blood type B tend to be from Asia (specifically, China or India), lactose intolerance is most common among people of Asian, South American, and African descent and least common among those descended from northern Europe or northwestern India.

• Blood group AB is described by D'Adamo as the enigma, who believes it to be the most recently evolved type and to have arrived less than 1,000 years ago. In terms of dietary needs, he treats this group as an intermediate between blood types A and B.

The hunter, the agrarian, the nomad and the enigma?

If you can dream it, Amazon has a book to sell you about it.

This sounds like astrology, not real nutritional science. From the BDT webpage:

The percentages (71-78%) of visitors reporting positive results are consistent across all the blood types. Type O (following a higher protein lower-carb diet) appeared as likely to report positive results as Type A (following a lower fat, plant-based diet) or types B and AB (following a more omnivorous diet.)

I don't doubt all the testimonials and statistics -- people probably are really getting healthier, losing weight and feeling better by changing their diet, the same way people see positive results from the stone age man diet, the master cleanse, and on and on. If you change your diet to eat better quality things with less calories, (regardless of high-protein, lower-fat, vegetarian or omnivorous labels) you'll lose weight and feel better. However, whether the underpinning of your new diet is based on strict scientific measures or funky assumptions about nomads and enigmas, the results are pretty much the same. Breaking out of old, life long eating habits and into new, challenging habits - that's the key.

This approach looks at food and eating as a strictly physical interaction, when in reality, it's so much more. Yes, we need food to survive, live and have energy, but that's like saying we need sex to procreate. Yes, it's true, but it's a little bit more involved and complicated than that. I imagine I could dismiss a great deal more of the diet industry with this brush. Dr. D'Adamo makes a big deal about how his diet is tailored to the "individual", but come on, he groups everyone into 4 huge stereotypes. If you really want to talk about the individual, how can you not discuss the emotional, rational and complex aspects of the individual's mind in how that person approaches their food?

On top of everything, the diet breaks down subcategories of each blood type by....ethnicity. I'm not even going to go there, other than imagine how a stand up comedian could riff on this bag o' turds called a diet. "Y'see, white people eat their spaghetti like this, but black people eat their spaghetti LIKE THIS!!"

VITE PEEPOL EET LIKE ZIS!

Reading through the message boards of the website, my feelings seem to be confirmed -- lots of true believers dismiss scientific evidence that there is no basis for their food belief system by countering that it works, therefore it must be true. It never quite occurs to them that it is working because they are doing something different, and not because of the over-weening assumptions of the good doctor.
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Kids today have no time for blues.

Holy cow, next week is weigh in! What happened to August? Where did the summer go? I guess this weekend is as good as any to try to start getting a handle on my weekend eating. Check out the "weekend report" at the far bottom.

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2432

Again surprised my weekly average is over budget, but don't feel bad about it. 80 cal a day is not that big a deal, even though it will add up, I also think the bike riding and the weight lifting might be revving up my metabolism a little. A lot? No. Eighty cal a day? Maybe. Adding 80 a day to the week and subtracting 1000-2000 from the weekend by cutting out binge behavior might be the way to go.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2250

Good eating day, body still recovering from the 120 mile ride the previous day, but I must have ate enough, because I woke up with normal hunger.

AM SNACK: 5:30am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 10:30am, fage whole yogurt with agave, vanilla and almonds, 310 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, falafel, chicken soup, health salad, 600 cal
A new lunch! Bought a bag of kosher frozen falafel balls from my local supermarket, matched it with a frozen Tabachnick soup (my dad was a fan) and added cabbage salad. Yes, mostly pre-made,  but convenient and relatively healthy, and within my calorie budget. Hopefully this will make it easier to skip McD's on Fridays....

Was a good lunch, but couldn't help but let the noodles in the soup bug me. This weekend, gonna make some real-ass soup for the freezer, with no refined silliness. What should I make? Chicken soup with proper stock and shiritaki noodles? Split pea with proper lardons of bacon? Hmmm, needs to be relatively high taste and lo-cal, but not a blender soup, save that for the winter....

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, hummus, 180 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 8:45pm, shirataki noodles with shrimp, mushrooms, butter and dried herbs,  600 cal

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, Frito's, 300 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 2,350

Good weight session in the morning.

AM SNACK: 4:15am, iced green tea, 0 cal

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2:  9:45am, steel cut oatmeal, 350 cal
Measured the oatmeal for the first time in a while, found this batch to be more calorie dense by 1/3. It always varies because of how much water is absorbed vs evaporated.

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken meat balls, steamed string beans, mushroom taktak, pickles, 580 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, 100 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, Subway 6" veggie burger sub, chips, diet coke, 760

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, Frito's, 300 cal

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BIKE CREDIT: 710
WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2650

AM SNACK: 3:15am, caffeinated granola bar, iced green tea, 440 cal

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2:  fage whole yogurt with agave, vanilla and almonds, 310 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken breast, roasted brussel sprouts, bombay potatoes, 820 cal

PM SNACK: 4 pm, momma salad, 100 cal

PM SNACK: 5:15pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 7:30pm, broiled flounder, quinoa, 530 cal
My asparagus that I bought on Saturday went funky. Booo!

EVENING SNACK: 7:45pm, Frito's, 300 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:45pm, Cheeto's, 600 cal
Doubled up on cheetos busting my budget, but I was exhausted and hungry. I briefly worried this was the beginning of a bing, but I was satisfied after it, so I guess it was appropriate and needed.

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THURSDAY COUNT: 2470

Ug. Was so tired last night I forgot to make team for the morning. Had an interview in the afternoon so had to skip the poppa salad. Rare date night with B, went to an upscale pizza place.

BREAKFAST: 7am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2:  9:45am, steel cut oatmeal, 350 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, chicken sausage, roasted broccoli, quinoa, 680 cal

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, momma salad, hummus 180 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, asparagus appetizer, burrata pizza, +/- 800 cal
Pulino's burrata pie is very sauce heavy and cheese-light. Even though I ate the whole 12" pizza, definitely left me feeling lighter than if it was a marg. Their asparagus was nicely seasoned, but mine is more enjoyable.

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, Frito's, 300 cal
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FRIDAY COUNT: 2,440

Indulged in some ice cream with my family and some relatives, but was able to keep it under control and felt good about it. Easy to skip the chips after, as I put myself to bed early to get an early morning ride in the next da.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/ginger/cayenne/cucumber juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2:  7:45am, fruit smoothie, 410 cal

LUNCH: 1pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, health salad, 590 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, hummus 180 cal

PM SNACK: 4:45pm, poppa salad with miso tahini, 100 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, challah grilled cheese, corn on the cob, vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce (+/-1000 cal)

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WEEKEND REPORT

My first weekend report! I will still continue to eat freely on weekends, BUT without any binging. By reporting the details of one day (with honesty but with out measuring, except for binge-worthy foods) and just honestly asking, "did I go out of control?" for the other. Let's see how it goes, shall we, all near-0 people who read this far down?

SATURDAY (1160 cal bike credit)

AM SNACK: 2:30am, unsweeted iced green tea, caffeinated granola bar

BIKE SNACK: 4:45am, granola bar

BREAKFAST: 8am, BLT on a bagel, homefries, diet coke

BRUNCH: 11:30am, half a cuban sandwich, chorizo & potato hash, diet coke

PM SNACK: 2pm, peanut M&Ms (300 cal) 

DINNER: 6pm, small portion of vegetable lomein, shrimp toast, BBQ ribs, wonton soup

EVENING SNACK: 8pm, more peanut m&ms (+/-600 cal)

SUNDAY

Ate a bit too much, but did not binge on anything.