I have an analogy about avoids, that may be useful. Don’t take it too far! Dr. D didn’t say this. But it does give insight into how our bodies work. And it may help explain why some people seem to tolerate more avoids than others.

I’m back home from a week of travel – three days with my sister working on estate matters, three days with my daughter moving her things to next fall’s apartment. My sister’s Type O husband suffers from gout. He watches his diet carefully hoping to prevent an attack, and at the onset of symptoms he takes medication to stop the attack before it becomes debilitating.

He recently wound up at the doctor’s for a shot. He told his doctor that he didn’t understand why he was having the attack, that he had been very careful what he ate. The doctor asked if he had changed his physical activity recently. He said yes, he could think of several things, moving some furniture, running to catch a train, and walking more than usual.

She explained that physical activity can allow the crystals that cause gout to shake loose from where they have been harmlessly sticking and cause an attack. The crystals causing the current attack could have been formed when he compromised his diet weeks or months ago. The increased physical activity caused enough of them to break loose into his blood stream and cause pain.

I thought about the comments I’ve received from my recent blog about “just a little bit” of avoids. Some people cannot tolerate any avoids. Some, like me, can handle a little bit. Some, especially young people, may not notice any effect at all.

Fortunately, I don’t form painful crystals. But I’m wondering if the concept could hold true for the BTD. I never had trouble with wheat or dairy products when I was young. The problems started after I turned 40. Could I have been building up little bits of inflammation or irritation in my early years, and suddenly it reached critical mass in my body and the symptoms started? Even now, when I think I am tolerating a little bit of avoid, could I be accumulating toxins that in a time of physical or emotional stress will break out and cause pain?

The pathology of gout and the BTD is not identical at the cellular level. But I think an analogy between the two might be useful in understanding why some people respond to avoids differently than others, and why in times of stress I notice symptoms that don’t seem to correlate to what I have eaten that day.

We sang a little song when I was a child that went, “Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.” I love all of my old friends from where we used to live. But I am excited to be making new friends out here in the Hill Country.

Tuesday I met one of these new friends in town for lunch. She is a Type A and her husband is Type O. We had fun comparing the foods we are just naturally attracted to.

We had lunch at a tea room. They had several kinds of iced tea, but all of them were black tea based. They had three kinds of green tea, but all were served as hot tea. It may not be summery enough for me to enjoy swimming yet, but it is way too warm for me to enjoy hot tea. I must have looked really disappointed, because the waitress said, “I’ll bring you a pot of tea and a carafe of ice.” I chose green tea with passion fruit (super beneficial on both counts) Oooh it was good.

I tried something new at the fitness room. I do a program on the elliptical trainer that goes up and down in intensity. When I am on the low intensity, I take my hands off of the machine and work on balance and core strength. I know it is a good idea, because my muscles are really sore. Ouch!

Because I am in good health, I find that “just a little bit” of an avoid does not bother me. As I’ve said many times, I don’t eat avoids at home. But when I am at a friend’s home, I am a gracious guest. When I am in a restaurant, I look for the best choices I can find and do not stress over hidden avoids. . However in the last few days, too many “just a little bits” caught up with me and reminded me of why I have stayed with the BTD for seven years.

Last week I had “just a little bit” of cake. It was the social thing to do at the time. My weight popped up two pounds the next day, as it always does when I eat wheat, but I didn’t notice any other ill effects.

Monday my husband and I ate at a Chinese buffet. We love this restaurant because it is MSG free and the vegetables are fabulous. I stayed away from all of the breaded foods, but I know there were avoids in the sauces and melted cheese on one of the vegetables.

Yesterday I met with my book club. While I am the only one on the BTD, most of the ladies are interested in health. I have talked about BTD books, and others also bring in diet books and cook books. There are always healthy choices among the snacks. Yesterday’s hostess had lots of fresh fruit. She also had an egg casserole and cake. I stayed away from the cake, putting lots of fresh fruit and some eggs on my plate.

I thought I was compliant until I took my first bite of the eggs. This was more like French toast casserole. It was layers of white bread with eggs and cheese in between. There was also a layer of sausage hidden on the bottom.

Last night my stomach was gurgling. This morning my weight is up again, and my stomach is not happy. I have that heavy, burning feeling that I lived with for more than 10 years before I found Dr. D’Adamo’s book.

I will be ok. After I post this blog, I’ll fix myself some ginger juice and water. Today will be a beneficial only day, and by tomorrow morning, my stomach will feel right again. The weight is water weight and it will vanish as suddenly as it appeared as soon as the wheat is out of my system.

I still believe that people are more important than things, and that “just a little bit” of an avoid is better than ruining a relationship. This experience, however, was a good reminder, that even the “little bits” are causing inflammation, and that the cumulative effect over several days is not good.

Our son was home for six days between a Texas internship and his last mini-mester of physical therapy classes in Kentucky. Oh my we had some great conversations. His insights into health care were far beyond his 25 years. It was also fun to cook a roast and have someone to share it with.

DD’s last final was on Thursday. She packed up and came home as quick as she could, so she could see her brother before he flew out Friday morning. We had about 15 hours all together and we made the most of it.

My husband and kids conspired to celebrate Mother’s Day early. We drove into Austin to a restaurant called Threadgills that is known for its vegetables. When DD and I looked at the menu, we knew we in trouble. There were way too many delicious choices. One thing we liked about their menu was that some of the vegetables had symbols beside them. The symbols indicated which vegetables were cooked southern style with salt pork and which had a dairy sauce with cheese or milk. What a BTD friendly idea!

DD ordered a vegetable plate with turnip greens, black beans, and asparagus. I ordered a chopped steak with sweet potato fries and broccoli. We divided all of the vegetables in half, except for the sweet potatoes. So I got to try five vegetables and she got four. SS ordered meatloaf with Creole sauce. I got to sample that as well. Everything I tasted was wonderful.

Today our son unofficially receives his doctoral degree. I say unofficially, because he still has one more set of classes and one more internship before he can take his boards. Today is the ceremony where he shakes hands with the UK president, but Monday he goes back to class. As much as I would like to be there, he strongly discouraged us from making a long and expensive trip for one day. He said, “I’d rather have a nice family dinner in August when I’m officially through.”

So we celebrated Mother’s Day early, and we will celebrate Graduation late. It’s not the timing that’s important. It’s the happy time that the family is together.

On the way to my husband’s family reunion, we spent the night with one of my roommates from college years. Alice first read about the Blood Type Diet in one of my Christmas Cards. One year I mentioned that after the BTD had solved years of stomach pain, I was blogging on the D’Adamo website. She says that she got a copy of the book, but gave up because the diet looked too hard.

However, her Type A mother was also having stomach trouble. Her doctor, like mine, performed lots of tests and came up with no answers. The medication he prescribed made her worse and not better. Alice and her Mom went to a health food store to see if there were supplements that might help. The owner said, “The first thing we need to know is her blood type.” That’s when Alice remembered my success with the BTD. Her mom started the diet and bought some supplements. It worked. Her stomach pain vanished, and stays away as long as she eats right.

When Alice told her I was coming to visit, her Mom said, “Yes, the gal that saved my life.” Oh my! I’ve never saved anyone’s life before. Of course it wasn’t me. It was the wonderful way that God made our bodies, and the wonderful research done by Dr. D. I was just the conduit.

Alice claims that she is marginal about the BTD, but she and her husband fixed a fabulous dinner that was perfect for both Type Os and Type As. He grilled steaks, chicken breasts, onions, and pineapple outside. She fixed green beans, carrots and salad with homemade dressing. For dessert she had oatmeal cookies made with spelt flour. It was a feast.

We had so much to talk about – our children and friends from long ago. Many roommates get together and talk about those things. But Alice and I have equal fun talking about what we eat and how our faith has grown.