Suzanne Graham

You may remember that my Dad fell a few days before Christmas. He gashed one side of his head and bruised the other side of his brain. He has been making slow but steady improvements with his physical therapist. He still relies on the wheelchair for his primary means of mobility. He cautiously walks through the house with a walker for exercise. He does not want to fall again!

I spent three days with my parents visiting and taking him for a follow up MRI. I read more of the Menopause book while I was in the waiting room. Dr. D. talks frankly about conventional hormones, bioidentical hormones, and phytoestrogens. He has a preference for phytoestrogens because since they are easily broken down and are not stored in the body, they don't pose a cancer risk.

Isoflavones come from soy beans, garbanzo beans, and other legumes.

Lignans come from flaxseed oil and legumes

Coumestrans come from alfalfa and clover.

I'm doing ok on the lignans, because I use already used flax oil and flax seed. Since legumes were not emphasized on the regular Type O diet, I'm having to remember to eat them more often. I'm glad, because they make me feel full. Alfalfa and clover are both avoids for Type O, so where do I get coumestrans?

There are things I do not understand - The book says, "Many capsules heralded as super soys can do more harm than good. Eat your soy as food; don't pop it as pills." Does this mean I have to eat soy beans, or can I use soy powder?

Dr. D. confirmed something I read in another book about natural menopause remedies. While it is true that wild yam is chemically identical to estrogen, wild yam creams are not readily absorbed. He warns that some creams marketed as natural have synthetic hormones added to boost the potency. The advertisements for the creams are tempting, but I'm going to try eating my phytestrogens first.

I drifted off the Menopause Diet at my parents' house. My Mom has adapted to the basic idea that I don't eat much wheat, but I eat lots of meat, fruit and vegetables. I just did not have the heart to tell her that many of the vegetables and fruits she fixed are now avoids. I managed to stay pretty close to a good Type O diet, however.

I haven't had much time, so I'm still at the beginning of the Menopause Health Library book. One very interesting thing I read was this paragraph about sugar:

"Insulin and estrogen have a synergistic relationship. If your insulin metabolism is out of balance, you won't be able to achieve a balance of your other hormones. A woman who is insulin resistant will not find relief from hot flashes or other menopausal symptoms with medications or other herbal remedies, but she will certainly see her symptoms diminish if she controls her sugar levels."

This explains why sugar, maple syrup, and honey are now infrequent neutrals for me. I can live with that. I had the evils of sugar pounded into my head quite thoroughly during my health nut days. I ate almost no sugar at all for years. I have indulged in a little honey and maple syrup, since they were BTD neutral. Now they will have to be rare.

I wonder if the sugar content has anything to do with why some fruits like apples and grapes changed categories. No - I looked them up on the Glycemic Index, and they are both low GI foods. This is still a mystery to me.

Tonight I had eggplant and tomatoes. Afterwards I checked the food lists. Both of them are now avoids! Yikes, I must remember to check the list before I eat instead of assuming.

I have received many interesting letters about how some of you have dealt with menopause and dryness. I apologize for not answering yet! This is going to be a very busy spring for me. I want to keep blogging - though you've probably noticed I haven't been writing as often. Things will settle down this summer, and I should be more dependable again. Almost everything that is happening is good and exciting. I'll explain it all soon.

I've been dabbling around the edges of the Menopause BTD, asking lots of questions. Yesterday convinced me that I'm going to have to make a more serious commitment. Among the tissues that are drying out are my eyes.

Two weeks ago I had a sudden sharp pain in my right eye. It was very scary, because at the time my nephew was in the hospital with a critical cornea infection. I got into the doctor the next day. After looking at my eyes for a long time, he said I had several small scratches, and he thought it was the result of a virus. He gave me an antibiotic ointment and told me to come back in two days. When I went back, the doctor was very pleased. The scratches were almost healed. I continued the ointment for the rest of the week, and went back to my usual routines.

Saturday night I went to bed feeling perfectly normal. Sunday morning the alarm went off, I opened my eyes, and felt a sharp pain. Lubricating drops did not help. I started the ointment again, but it didn't help much either. This was even scarier than before. Not only did it hurt more, but I was concerned that the virus had relapsed.

After church I called the ophthalmologist's office and spoke to the doctor on call. He said, "Based on what you're telling me, I don't think it was a virus. You wouldn't have gotten over a virus that fast. I think that you have very dry eyes. Your lashes are sticking to your cornea in the night, and when you wake, you are scratching your cornea. Use the ointment every 2-4 hours if you have to keep your eye lubricated. If you don't feel better by tonight, call my cell phone, and I will meet you at the office."

Wow - It has been years since I dealt with a doctor with that attitude of service! The more I thought about it, the more I thought he was right about the dry eyes too. Everything else was drying out and hurting, why not my eyes as well. My eye was slightly better by the end of the day, and much improved by morning. I guess I will have to start using lubricating drops morning and night.

If giving up a few more foods and adding a few unfamiliar foods on the Menopause BTD will keep be from drying up, I'll do it. It hurts to read today because the ointment floats around, making the letters swim. Tomorrow, I'm going to start reading the menopause book from the beginning.

I met a friend for lunch on Monday at a coffee shop. I had a delicious sandwich, without the bread of course. It was a grilled chicken breast topped with grilled bell peppers and tomatoes and topped with melted mozzarella cheese. It would have been all neutral for a Type O. When I got home and looked at the Menopause diet, I saw that the peppers and tomatoes were avoid; and mozzarella was neutral allowed infrequently. I feel like I'm starting over. I'm having to learn the rules again.

This afternoon I came home from school famished. I ate some pumpkin seed butter with carrots and rice cakes with ghee. Then I remembered to check the book. Pumpkin seeds and carrots, fortunately, have stayed the same. But ghee and rice cakes used to be neutral. Now ghee is beneficial, and rice cakes are infrequent neutrals.

When I first started the BTD, I asked "Why?" a lot. I wished the book explained why foods were classified in certain ways. As I followed the BTD, I saw it worked, and I came to trust the food lists. I didn't ask as many questions; I just stuck by the lists.

I find myself asking "Why?" again. Why are apples and grapes infrequent neutrals. Why did 7 types of mushrooms become beneficial? Then I ask myself a more important question. If the menopause diet works, and my dry, uncomfortable, painful tissues regain some of their moisture, will it be worth it. The answer to that question is a resounding yes!

I ordered my first book from Dr. D'Adamo's Health Library and it arrived yesterday. Suddenly I'm reading the explanations behind some of the super-beneficial food designations I've seen on TYPEbase4. I had all of the Type O secretor food designations memorized, but so many foods have changed, that I'm having to look everything up on the list again.

I did not want to write about menopause. First of all, it's a rather personal topic. Second, it's of no interest to any men or to women under 40. I'm going to give a little background on why I bought the book. From then on, I hope to focus on what I'm learning from the Health Library. That information would be just as useful if you were thinking of buying the books on diabetes, fatigue or allergies.

I was almost through menopause when I started the Blood Type Diet. I was fortunate. I had coasted through with warm flashes instead of hot flashes. I was a little more impatient, but I had no depression or any of the other psychological changes that frequently accompany menopause. Every time I talked with a struggling friend, I realized that I was blessed.

Then last year the lack of estrogen made my tissues dry out. My doctor uses the word atrophy, but dry more accurately describes what I experienced. I will not bore you with how I felt or what self measures I tried. If I had recognized that my symptoms were related to menopause sooner, I would have bought the book sooner. Perhaps then things wouldn't have gotten so bad. However, when I had two bladder infections in one month, I knew it was time to see my doctor.

I started the conversation by saying I did not want to do Hormone Replacement Therapy. To my surprise and delight, he agreed. He had recently read follow up statistics to the study about HRT and cancer, and he does not prescribe it except in extreme circumstances. He mentioned hormone cream, and then proceeded to tell me that while the risk was less than with oral hormones, there was a systemic effect and that the hormones did show up in blood tests. He said, before I prescribe it, you must be aware of the risk. He had another alternative for the bladder infections, which I am currently using, but I'm hoping that the specific diet for menopause will eliminate the need for it soon.

I should have started at the front of the book and read straight through, but I turned to the food lists first. There are some significant changes! Two new categories have been added: super beneficial and neutral allowed infrequently. The book says that neutral allowed infrequently foods should be eaten rarely, if at all. I noticed that sweet potatoes are still beneficial, but yams have moved to neutral allowed infrequently. In my grocery store, the words sweet potato and yam are used interchangeably. Fortunately the explanation under yam on TYPEbase4 cleared up this mystery. If you buy it in the US, it's almost certain to be a sweet potato and not a yam.

I love sweet potatoes. When I started the Blood Type Diet, I didn't mind giving up Irish potatoes at all, but I was relieved to read that sweet potatoes are beneficial. I probably eat them 2-3 times a week. I put them in the oven on a cookie sheet and bake them at the same time I'm cooking beef or chicken.

At dinner tonight I took a mouthful of sweet potato and it felt like a mouthful of steel wool. I spit out that first mouthful, and inspected what was left of the potato. Hard, stringy fibers were under the skin all the way around. I was able to salvage about 1/3 of the potato right from the middle.

I thought - what if that was the first sweet potato I had ever eaten? I would think sweet potatoes were terrible, and I'd never try another one. Fortunately I only get a bad sweet potato once every 4-5 years.

Something similar happened a couple of months ago with parsnips. I was slicing parsnips to steam them. I noticed that one had a different color running through the center. It looked sort of like a target. I didn't think anything more about it until I bit into one of those parsnips. It was as if there was a dowel rod through the center. It was hard as a rock. I have never had a parsnip like that before or since, but what if that one had been my first parsnip?

If you are trying unfamiliar beneficial veggies, and at first you don't like them - give them a second chance. It may be that you just happened upon a dud. It may be that you need a bit more experience picking out vegetables. (I'm more likely to get a stringy sweet potato with a long thin one than with a short round one. I'm more likely to get an apple with a rotten core if it doesn't have a stem)

It may also be that you need a little time to develop a taste for a new vegetable. Turnips and seaweed were that way with me. My first impression was very negative, but I'm glad I gave them a second (and a third) chance.

We have made it through the two days of a winter ice storm without losing our electricity. The weather is supposed to moderate by midday tomorrow, but tonight is the worst weather yet. If it was just a little colder, it would snow, and that would be fun. If it was dry, the temperature wouldn't be a problem at all. But it is 31 degrees and raining - a treacherous mix for cars, trees, and electric power lines.

I blogged last February about fasting. I just reread what I wrote, and I still agree with everything I said. Fasting does remind us that we are sustained not by "bread alone," but by the Word of God, and it helps us focus our thoughts on God rather than being distracted by daily routines. Fasting does level out my hunger pangs and make me more satisfied with three meals a day.

However, after several months, fasting every week became too taxing on my body. It's hard to explain, but as I approached the day, my body recoiled against the prospect of a fast. I became headachy and irritable in the afternoon. When I started regular fasting, the spiritual benefits overshadowed the physical deprivation. Gradually the physical discomfort began to cancel out the spiritual side.

I still fast, but not on a schedule and not for health reasons. When I have a spiritual goal in mind, my body responds very positively to a fast. But regular fasting is not for me.

I blogged last summer about bringing home an old hydraulic press juicer that my parents no longer wanted. I was excited about being able to make nut butters without oil, and about the advantages of pressing rather than spinning vegetables to get juice. After 6 months, I am about to sell the hydraulic juicer on e-bay and bring my old centrifugal juicer back in from the garage.

If I was going to drink juice every day, I would probably love the Norwalk juicer, but I like to drink juice on a whim. By the time I assemble it, make the juice, wash all the parts, and clean the bags, the desire for juice has dimmed. I can make nut butters with less oil than I do in my food processor, but I still have to add oil to make them creamy - even when I use 1/3 walnuts or pecans.

If you've been saving your money for a hydraulic juicer, think about how you plan to use it. If you drink juice every morning, you'll probably love it. If you plan to make and store lots of nut butter, it will probably be a good investment. For an occasional glass of juice, you'll probably be happier with a simpler juicer.

I used to love bran muffins, back in my health nut days. The first books I read emphasized that the typical American died didn't have anywhere near enough fiber. In addition to switching to whole grains, the authors suggested adding wheat bran to recipes. I had two really great bran muffin recipes, and I baked them often.

Of course 25 years later when I read Dr. D'Adamo's books, I realized that while I did indeed need plenty of fiber - wheat bran was the wrong kind of fiber for Type O or Type A. Sigh - the bran muffin recipes gathered dust.

Friday morning I decided to make Rice Bran Muffins. I used my 2nd favorite recipe, substituting rice bran for wheat bran. The batter was a little thin, so I added some soy flour. I put them on the table for my As to taste test. My daughter, who likes fruity muffins, chewed thoughtfully. "They're good," she said, looking at her Dad. "But they don't have a lot of flavor, Dad will probably add honey."

My husband took a bite and smiled. "I like them," he said, and he proceeded to eat a dozen mini muffins. I tried them for a snack later in the day. They really were good. They have the same flavor as a bran muffin, but they're not quite as course.

Here is my 2nd favorite Bran Muffin Recipe.

1 ½ cups rice bran

½ cup juice

½ cup sugar

1 1/8 cup flour (I used rye)

1 ¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

¼ cup oil

1 cup soy milk

1 egg

Combine the rice bran and the juice. Set it aside. Combine the dry ingredients. Add them and the oil and egg to the rice bran. Add the soy milk slowly. You may not need the full cup. Bake in muffin tins at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

I'm not the only one in my family who thought Christmas break was too short. Strong son spent most of his holiday finishing a correspondence course and filling out graduate school applications. He enjoyed some fun moments, but didn't get to totally relax the way he usually does on holidays.

For his last night at home I tried a recipe for turkey cutlets that Vickie posted on the Forum a while back. It was unanimously declared a winner - and it's not often that all four in my family reach that kind of agreement on a new recipe.

I don't do much frying, so I browned the cutlets briefly in light olive oil, then baked them in the oven. When I processed 6 rice cakes, I had way more crumbs than I would need for the coating. So instead of mixing 2 pieces of compliant toast into the meat, I mixed about 1/3 cup of the rice cake crumbs. I was out of mushrooms, and I couldn't decide between parsley and cilantro, so I used both.

I served the cutlets with sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and grapefruit.

Here is the original recipe:

6 rice cakes 1 pound ground turkey

2 pieces of compliant toast 1 tsp. parsley or cilantro

1/4 teaspoon ground clove 1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt Ghee for frying

10 - 12 baby portabello mushrooms



Pulverize the rice cakes in a food processor. Place in a shallow bowl.

Process the toast in food processor, and put in medium sized bowl. Stir nutmeg or clove and salt into the bread crumbs. Wash and remove stems from the portabello mushrooms. Process the mushrooms in the food processor until fine. Add mushrooms, cilantro and ground turkey to the spiced bread crumb mixture. Form patties from well mixed meat mixture.

Beat egg in shallow bowl. Dip each patty in egg, then in rice cakes powder.

Place patties in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to set the coating.

Heat ghee over medium heat and fry patties about 5 minutes per side

I had my annual physical this week. When the doctor listened to my heart he said, "Your heart rate is nice and slow. Do you exercise?" I said yes, and he asked what I did. I said that I loved to run, but I only let myself run one day a week. He raised his eyebrows and asked why.

I said, "I love to run, but I've known too many people my age who have ruined their knees by running too much, so I only run one day a week." I went on to say that I do something almost every day. I swim, I bicycle, and I walk with my husband."

"Well," he said, "It's certainly working." I did not remind him that I was Type O, and strenuous exercise is beneficial for me. I've mentioned the Blood Type Diet in years past. He can't deny that I'm in good shape and obviously doing something right, but he can't admit that it has anything to do with my blood type.

I spent most of today sitting in a meeting, so I need to get some exercise tonight. My son is reading, so after I post this blog, I think I'll spend some time on his rowing machine.

In my last blog I wrote my observation that wheat makes me gain weight, and dairy irritates my stomach. While I wrote that blog, I was at my computer burping and wishing I had not indulged in a cup of eggnog two days in a row.

After I posted the blog, I took two bladderwrack and went to bed. I knew my chances of waking in the night with an upset stomach were pretty high. To my delight, I slept through the night and woke the next morning feeling great.

Bladderwrack is one of the main ingredients in Deflect for Type Os. I've never tried Deflect. I figure that if I don't eat avoids, I don't need a supplement to counter act the effects of lectins. I still think that is the philosophy that will do me the most good in the long run, but it is nice to know that 2 bladderwrack will give me relief the next time I'm trapped into eating dairy, or the next time I yield to holiday traditions.

I've learned something about being a Type O. In order to share it with you, I have to make a confession. I broke my own rule about no avoids at home, and I've had a cup of eggnog two days in a row.

Nearly 4 years ago, I had indigestion that was getting progressively worse and was not responding to any of the usual GERD medications. My doctor did an upper GI scope to make sure something serious was not going on, but all she found was inflammation. In what I believe was a providential way, I found the Blood Type Diet. In a week I was off of all medication and I was free of pain. During that first year, I gradually lost a little more than 10 pounds.

I have noticed over the years that whenever I eat wheat, my weight goes up 2-3 pounds for 3-4 days. That is good motivation for staying away from wheat! I've also noticed that if I eat peanuts, I get really sleepy. I had never tried to analyze what was the main culprit for the GERD. It was enough for me that it was gone for good.

I love eggnog. Usually my Mom has eggnog for Christmas. I drink a little glass at her house, and that satisfies me. But this year with my Dad's injury, she didn't buy eggnog. I bought some for my family and myself. Yesterday I had a cup, and today I had another cup. It was delicious. But within an hour of drinking it yesterday my stomach was churning, and within a hour of drinking it today I had the first GERD symptoms I've had in years.

So it looks like dairy avoids are what cause my stomach problems. The funny thing is that I eat feta cheese and mozzarella cheese (both neutrals) fairly often and have never had any trouble with either of them. That gives me renewed confidence in the accuracy of the food lists.

Here is the rule I've followed for years. I don't eat avoids at home. In a restaurant, I don't order avoids, but if something comes with a sprinkle of cheese or a little wheat I don't worry about it. When I am a guest in someone's home, I turn down avoids as much as possible, but I'd rather eat an avoid than ruin a friendship. My eggnog fling is quickly over, and it's back to the lifestyle that makes me look and feel the best.

The past two days have been very stressful. On Thursday we took my Dad to the doctor. The doctor was thorough and thoughtful. His assistants were kind and patient. However the whole experience reminded me how cumbersome and bureaucratic health care has become. If anything could make me more committed to preventive health care and the Blood Type Lifestyle, this would do it.

They had told me that an aide would come to the car with a wheel chair to get my Dad. We called when we arrived in the parking lot, but 15 minutes later no one had come. My husband had to go roust the aide out of a visit with her friends and make her find a wheel chair. The doctor wanted to redo one sonogram test to convince himself that my Dad had not had a stroke. That was probably a good idea, but the sonogram technicians had no idea how to get a man out of a wheelchair and onto the table.

The doctor was willing to authorize a handicapped-parking permit for my Dad. But there were no applications in the office. One person at the county court house told me that I could get a permit if the doctor wrote a prescription. While my husband and Mom waited with Dad while he got blood work, I raced across town with the prescription, only to be told at the courthouse that the doctor had to sign an application. By the time I got back to the office with the application, the doctor was at lunch. By then I needed some lunch too! It was bad BTD planning to leave home for a doctor appointment at 9:30 without snacks!

When we finally got home at 3:00, my Mom and I were exhausted, but strangely enough Dad was energized. After lunch, he decided to see if he could operate the wheelchair by himself, and he could. He spent the rest of the day wheeling up and down the hall getting on the computer in one room and looking things up in files in another. I had an e-mail from him yesterday, so he must have been strong enough to get himself from the bed to the wheelchair. I have much to be thankful for!

I returned home Thursday night with my family to find a whole different set of stresses. It wasn't that there were an overwhelming number of things to be done, but it seemed as if there were problems with everything I tried to do. The lady at the post office didn't like the envelope I wanted to mail, and made me buy one of the post office envelopes. The copier at the bank was broken, so I had to make two trips. After a series of those events, I was ready to explode or cry.

My daughter said something that made me realize my sense of humor was missing. The stress of the past week had depleted my ability to deal with daily difficulties. I recognized that what I needed was protein - not just a normal Type O amount of protein, but a lot of protein. Within a half hour of an hefty serving of meat, my mood was returning to normal. Today I feel much better, and I'm even optimistic about dealing with the lady at the post office after I finish this blog!

I am again thankful for the knowledge of my body that I have through the Blood Type Diet. Without knowing that I needed protein, I could easily have lapsed into anger or depression.

I would say that all of my Dad's speech difficulties have gone away. His mind is as sharp as ever. Though his right leg improves every day, it is still painful and weak. We have an appointment with his doctor later in the week to get his stitches removed. I hope by then his leg will be considerably stronger, but if not, we'll explore options with the doctor.

My husband and children have arrived! It is wonderful to see them, and wonderful to have their support. My son worked last semester in the physical therapy department at a hospital. He has been invaluable in showing us how to operate the wheelchair and how to get my Dad safely in and out of it.

In addition to their enthusiasm they brought favorite Christmas movies. Tonight we sat around the tree - including my Dad in his wheelchair - and opened presents.

While it was just my Mom, Dad & me in the house, we ate a Type O diet - vegetables and meat. Now that the rest of my family is here, my Mom is bringing out the treats: pizza, fried oysters, cherry pie, cheese cake, turkey & dressing. I said no to pizza, but I ate a ton of oysters. As I did on the cruise, I'm limiting myself to one dessert a day.

We walked two and a quarter miles briskly tonight. I wrapped my husband's leg weights around my wrists to make the walk a little more strenuous. Some of our talk was serious, but most of it was optimistic and cheerful.

I have been careful today to eat right, knowing that I'm under a lot of emotional stress. It has been an avoid free day. My Mom and I ran some errands late this afternoon, and we could see dark storm clouds moving from the north. When we got home, I went for a quick run. It really felt good to pound the pavement and get my heart rate going. I made it home before the cold raindrops started.

For the past two weeks I have heard news reports that ended with, "and that's the real meaning of Christmas."

One of them said miracles were the meaning of Christmas. I feel like I've been watching a miracle unfold in front of me the past three days. If you saw my Dad tonight, you would think - Oh, he is so weak and so helpless. But if you had seen him Thursday, or Friday, or even this morning you would think - It's a miracle how he has improved. But miracles are not the meaning of Christmas.

I've heard at least a dozen times that family is the real meaning of Christmas. Being with my Mom and Dad, trying to help them overcome my Dad's injury has given me a new sense of family this Christmas. Being miles away from my husband and children is not fun, still it has made me appreciate my family in a fresh way. But family is not the meaning of Christmas.

My Mom had planned to decorate the house after she and Dad returned from their trip. But he got hurt, so the tree remains untrimmed. That's ok - decorations are not the meaning of Christmas.

Some say that giving is the real meaning of Christmas. Fortunately all my shopping was done before my Dad fell. So there are gifts under the tree for everyone (except my sweet niece - her gift must still be on a boat somewhere between the US and Europe). I've learned a new perspective on serving as well, which is just another form of giving. My Dad needs help to do basic things that he has always been able to do for himself. I'm glad I'm able to serve him. But giving gifts, even giving myself, is not the meaning of Christmas.

The meaning of Christmas is found only in the baby Jesus. All babies are miracles - but Jesus was not just any baby. He was God himself who became flesh and dwelt on earth. Jesus' family was not just any family. His mother was a virgin who found herself pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, rightfully distressed to find that his fiancé was pregnant, was told by an angel not to be afraid; that this baby was Messiah, who would save the people from their sins. The only fancy light that first Christmas was the star over a stable, which was certainly not decorated in a festive way. No amount of giving on our part can compare to God who "gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

While I have been typing, the computer clock has turned over another day. It's Christmas Eve. I wish you all a Merry and Meaningful Christmas.

My Dad fell on Thursday, cutting his head and losing quite a bit of blood. He was mad that EMS took him to the hospital, and even madder when a CT scan showed a bruise on his brain. It was everything my Mom and I could do to persuade him that he needed to stay in the hospital overnight. Once he submitted to being admitted, he became very lethargic and slept most of the day.

Today we took him home. He is much improved over yesterday, though in a way the improvement makes me sadder. His mind is going 90 miles an hour. He has all sorts of things that he wants to tell us. But his speech is labored and slow. He can't get the words to come out right, and it frustrates him terribly. His legs are very weak. He was so chipper in the car on the long drive home, that Mom and I both thought he'd be able to get in the house with a walker. He could not. Fortunately one of their neighbors, a strong young man, came to our aid.

I'll be with my parents for at least a week. That means I'll be separated from my husband and children. We all agreed that it would be best for them to follow through with the Christmas plans we had already made. I know it's the right decision, but I do miss them, especially at this time of year, and especially when my Dad is struggling so.

I knew I would need a beneficial lunch, so I rummaged through the refrigerator looking for stuff I could quickly throw into a bowl and take with me. I found steamed broccoli and ground turkey. I chopped the broccoli and tossed it with the turkey in olive oil. I also found a sweet potato. It was cooked really soft. I pealed it, mashed it, and put it in with the broccoli and turkey. It looked totally disgusting, but surprisingly it tasted good. The potato and oil sort of formed a sweet creamy dressing for the broccoli and turkey. I doubt this combination will ever turn up on a menu in a gourmet restaurant, but if you're in a hurry for something beneficial, you might like it.

My husband and I had something to celebrate; so a few days ago he took me out to a nice steak and seafood restaurant.

I ordered a sirloin steak. Normally it would have come with salad and a baked potato, but the menu had been changed to potato and broccoli. Curious, I thought. At that moment my primary concern was the potato. Fortunately they let me substitute roasted vegetables, which turned out to be delightfully seasoned onions, peppers, carrots and squash. It was a delicious and very beneficial meal.

Later I started thinking about the broccoli and wondering if putting cooked broccoli in place of raw salad was because of the increasingly frequent news reports about e-coli in raw produce. Two national restaurant chains have received really bad publicity, after customers got sick.

Last night we were all Christmas shopping and ate dinner at a cafeteria in the Mall. My daughter picked a piece of spinach out of her salad and asked, "Is it really safe to eat this?"

There is no doubt that raw foods have more vitamins and more enzymes than their cooked, frozen, or canned counterparts. However, it would only take one experience with e-coli or any other digestive bug to quickly wipe out all the benefits.

Mike and I lamented a year or so ago that about the only vegetable you can get in the currently popular restaurants is salad. They mostly serve sandwiches or pastas or potatoes. Very few offer any vegetable beyond lettuce and it's accompaniments. If restaurants become skittish about raw produce and stop serving salad, what will the Type Os do?

I almost ended my blog with that last question mark, but I feel compelled to add one more thought. If you only buy organic, and only eat in organic restaurants, do not kid yourself that you are safe. Because of the nature of organic fertilizers, improperly washed organic produce probably carries a higher risk than improperly washed commercial produce.

I got a flu shot on Friday. I debated a long time, but in the end decided it was the right thing to do.

My history with flu shots goes back to the mid-70s when I first started working. My employer gave free flu shots to all employees who wanted them. Free sounded good. The shots were given on a Friday. On Saturday and Sunday ran fever and felt terrible. After 2 years, I thought, "Why am I doing this? I might as well get the flu if I'm going to run fever and feel terrible. No wonder they give their free shots on Friday. I lose my weekend with side effects and have to go back to work on Monday."

So I stopped taking flu shots for many years. Most years I did not get the flu, though occasionally I did. Five years ago - Darling Daughter was in 7th grade - the flu hit our community particularly hard. DD was sick for nearly a week. My son swam the regional qualifying swim meet with the flu. My husband and I both had it. The next year, we all got flu shots. It was another bad year for flu, but my family stayed healthy all winter. Not only that, I learned that the new vaccines only make your arm sore - no more fever and flu-like symptoms.

I was convinced. I would get a flu shot every year. Then came the winter of the flu vaccine shortages. We were made to feel guilty because if we got flu shots we would be depriving someone who needed them more. I didn't get the flu that year, and the pattern was broken. My husband went back to getting them, but I couldn't psyche myself up to volunteering for a needle stick. Besides, I was on the BTD by then, maybe that would protect me.

This year flu is ravaging our school already. Friday we put out the last issue of the newspaper before Christmas, and only half of my class was there to help with distribution. DD said, "They're dropping like flies!"

She began early in the week bugging me to get her a flu shot, saying "I don't have time to be sick!" It was a lesson in the inefficiency of bureaucracy, but at last I got her an appointment for Friday afternoon. On the way, she asked if I was going to get a shot, too. I said yes, I said no, I said yes, I said no. I finally decided to do it. If flu is bad in December, this could be another really bad year. We will be spending time with family in the next few weeks, which will include tiny babies and octogenarians (those at greatest risk) as well as toddlers (germ carrying machines). I don't want to catch it, and I don't want to spread it.

So I rolled up my sleeve and got the shot.

When my husband and I married 30 years ago, the country was in the middle of a cultural shift. Our generation was much more casual because of the influence of the hippie movement, but like so many brides and grooms, for weddings, we reverted to the traditions of our parents. So I registered for and received fine Wedgwood china as wedding gifts. I remember with a smile inviting friends for dinner and setting the table with my china, only to have everyone, including my husband wear blue jeans.

I hardly used the china when our children were young, but in recent years I've begun to get it out at holidays. I've noticed some of the pieces were cracked. It seemed impossible; they sat untouched and protected in a china cabinet. At Thanksgiving when I found a beautiful china casserole dish broken in half, I contacted Wedgwood.

What I found out is so frustrating. I should have been washing my china twice a year even when I wasn't using it. China (at least china made in the 1970s and 80s - my mother and her generation's china seems to keep quite nicely in a cabinet) likes water, and it will spontaneously break if it gets too dry. So today I am washing what is left of my china.

What, you ask, does this have to do with the BTD? First - if you have china, wash it occasionally even if you don't use it. I wish someone had told me this 10 years ago.

Second, there's an allegory here. There are physical laws that govern how our bodies work. Knowing your Blood Type and eating accordingly are among those physical laws. For the first 49 years of my life, I didn't know anything about the Blood Type Diet, (just like I didn't know that my china needed moisture), but that didn't keep the laws from impacting my body. All of the avoids I was eating were causing damage (fortunately damage that was more reversible than cracked china!) Once I found about the physical laws and began to change my behavior, my physical health improved dramatically.

Here's the point - I thought I was taking care of my china and taking care of my body, but I was wrong on both counts. My good intentions did not protect either my china or my body. I only hope that the changes I am now making in my home management are as successful as the BTD changes I made 3 ½ years ago were to my physical well being.

I was at the fish counter and to my delight saw wild caught salmon for about the same price I usually pay for farm raised. I bought the biggest piece they had.

After I cooked it, I knew why the price was so low. I think it had been used as a training tool at a fish filleting school. There were bones everywhere. It took the joy out of eating the salmon, because we had to pick through it so carefully. In addition it was dry and tough, not moist and flaky.

I hate to admit it, but though I occasionally get an outstanding piece of wild salmon, as a general rule it is not as tasty as farm raised.

That is not the case with hormone free chicken. I much prefer the taste of hormone free chicken over ordinary grocery store chicken. I buy hormone free chicken almost exclusively. Frankly, I can't tell the difference between natural beef and the more processed variety. Since my health food market puts their natural beef on sale on a regular basis, we eat natural beef most of the time.

But salmon is giving me a problem. It is hard to justify paying 3 times the price for fish that doesn't taste as good.

I've never tried a hormone free turkey, but my health food market ran a promotion during November. Each time I shopped I got a coupon. I saved enough coupons to get a free turkey. I'll be roasting it for Christmas. I'm just hoping it will not turn out to be a "tough old bird."