For two days I have felt like Rolly in "1001 Dalmatians". He was the puppy who said over and over, "I'm hungry, Mother. Really I am."

I have NOT been hungry for donuts or ice cream. I remember sugar and carb cravings, but I haven't had those since I became established on the Type O Diet. I have NOT been hungry for protein. That happens from time to time, usually after a meal in a restaurant where they serve small meat portions and assume you will fill up on bread or order dessert.

I have been hungry for good Type O stuff like black eyed peas and bananas and cooked greens and walnuts and parsnips. I've eaten big meals and numerous snacks. I just haven't felt full.

This afternoon I decided maybe I was really thirsty rather than hungry. I have been drinking my quota of water, but maybe I need more fluid in the summer. I had a glass of pineapple juice (with plain gelatin) and later a glass of cranberry juice (with glutamine powder).

Right now the frantically hungry feeling has gone, and it's time to go to sleep.

When I was in 2nd grade I found out I was allergic to chocolate. I continued to eat a little chocolate here and there until I was in college, when I had such a bad reaction that I gave up chocolate for good. In my 20s I found out that caffeine made my ears ring. Nerve deafness runs in my family, so I gave up coffee, tea and sodas. Because I don't eat those foods and I never smoked, I had great looking white teeth - until recently.

A month or so ago I started noticing a brown stain on my lower teeth. I thought, "Oh no! What is the BTD doing to my teeth?" A little detective work led to a simple solution, which I will share with you in case you face the same problem.

I buy nuts from bulk bins in my health food store. Walnuts, pecans, and almonds are favorite snacks because they are filling and easy to carry anywhere in my purse. When I get near the bottom of a big bag of walnuts or pecans, there is a lot of dust mixed in with the nuts. Some comes from the shelling process, and some is little bits of the nuts themselves that flake off in the bags. When the dust starts to get in my way, I pour everything in the bag into a colander and let the dust fall into the sink. As I searched for the reason behind the stain on my teeth, I realized it looked just like the stain that the nut dust leaves in my sink.

I had always thought whitening toothpaste was just a sales gimmick, but now I needed it. I found one that was made with baking soda and peroxide. I use it once a day. In addition I occasionally rinse my mouth with ½ peroxide - ½ water. The stain responded quickly, and is now barely visible.

Since I brought up the nerve deafness, I will add that while eliminating caffeine has kept me from the aggravation of ear noise, I do have a noticeable hearing loss. It is a hope and a prayer that strict compliance to the Type O diet might slow or halt the deterioration of my hearing.

Some of you have asked why I don't use ghee instead of butter. The answer is that I do use my own version of ghee, but I call it butter because my family doesn't want me embarrassing them by blurting out "Pass the ghee," when we have company for dinner.

Way back in the 70s health food advocates knew that margarine, with it's hydrogenated oil, was bad for you, but the medical community was still pushing margarine over butter. I came across a recipe for a buttery spread using butter and safflower oil that was lower in saturated fat than butter, but no chemicals or hydrogenated fat like margarine. I made it for years. Often when the menu was planned for a gathering of family or friends, someone would say, "Have Suzanne bring homemade bread and that butter of hers.

The BTD brought that to a screeching halt. Butter was a Type A avoid; safflower oil was a Type O avoid. The first time I made ghee, I realized it was just the fancy melted butter that they serve with crab or lobster in seafood restaurants. But when I put it in the refrigerator, it turned hard as a rock. This was not a practical butter substitute.

The second time I made ghee, I mixed it with olive oil the way I had in my old recipe. I got comments like, "Why is it a funny color?" "It doesn't taste the same," and "What are those specks in it?" It took several more tries, but I now have a recipe that spreads like margarine, tastes like melted butter, is easy to measure for recipes, and melts quickly on vegetables.

I start with Dr. D'Adamo's instructions for making ghee. You can find them at this link, or put the word ghee in the search engine at the bottom of his column.

http://www.dadamo.com/ask/ask2.pl?20033602.txt

Strain the ghee into a container with a cover. I have a porcelain covered metal bowl with a plastic lid that works great. I'm sure Tupperware or Glad Ware would also work. I strain with a metal strainer. A coffee filter or cheese cloth might even be better. Straining removes the blackened salt and milk solids. If your family isn't squeamish about specks, you could skip the straining.

Stir in ¼ cup light olive oil for every stick of butter you used for the ghee. If you used 1 lb of butter you would use 1 cup of light olive oil. I use 3 sticks of butter, so I use ¾ cup of light olive oil. Light olive oil does not distract from the buttery flavor of the ghee. Extra virgin olive oil, which I use for everything else, has a strong flavor that over powers the butter, plus it gives a slightly green tint.

Refrigerate the buttery spread and use it exactly as you would soft spread margarine.

Today several families went out to eat lunch together to celebrate a victory at a swim meet. The restaurant is known for hamburgers, grilled chicken sandwiches and salads. Though I had never eaten there before, that choice was fine with me. I usually order a hamburger, discard the bun, and see what side order I can substitute for fries. However as I studied the menu there were no other side orders. That meant my lunch would just be a hamburger patty with one slice of tomato and a piece of lettuce.

When it was my turn to order I thought, "It can't hurt to ask." So I said, "You have a grilled chicken salad on the menu. What I would really like is a salad with a hamburger patty. Can you do that?" She thought a minute and said, "How about if I order you a small salad and a side hamburger patty?" That fit into the parameters of her computer ordering system. It was fine with me.

Following the BTD in a restaurant often isn't easy. Some restaurants are more rigid than others. But it can't hurt to ask. You might end up with a delicious lunch.

It makes me think of Jesus' words "You have not because you ask not." I am convinced that God cares about all the decisions I make; the small ones as well as the big ones. I don't wait for a crisis to call on God. I am glad that He is active in the everyday affairs of my life.

I guess people don't like to donate blood on Mondays. Our local blood bank sends a thank you letter to all who donate blood that includes blood type and cholesterol level. But if you donate blood on Monday they send you a complete Cholesterol Lipid Panel. Two or three times a year I donate blood, and I try to do it on Mondays. I have lab reports in the medical file going back to 1995.

I donated blood on June 16, and my cholesterol panel arrived in the mail today.

Drum roll please.

With the exception of one report in 1996, this is the best cholesterol report on file!!

Total cholesterol - 193

Triglycerides - 44

HDL - 82

LDL - 102

Ratio - 2.3

Remember - These numbers are after a year of eating hearty servings of beef or lamb daily. These numbers are after a year of generously putting butter and olive oil on my vegetables. These numbers are after a year of (almost) no wheat.

There could be a subjective element to the fact that my stomach feels better on the Type O Diet or that I have more energy. But a lab report is totally objective. No question the Type O Diet is right for me!