My Dad is a real Texas cowboy. He is also an electrical engineer, a classical pianist, a computer whiz, and a Biblical scholar (reading the New Testament in Greek). But he wouldn't brag about any of that, and he would be unhappy with me if I told you he is the most genuinely humble person I know.

I learned my love of the outdoors from my Dad. When he left the ranch to work for an electric utility in the big city, he wanted to spend his vacation time in the wild. Most of our family vacations were to national parks where we hiked and rode horses. Many evenings after dinner, my Dad, my sister and I would take long bicycle excursions always looking for parks or bits of land that hadn't been developed yet.

My Dad has a great love of learning. Every night at dinner he would ask my sister and me, "What did you learn at school today?" He expected an answer, and I began to see that even in a day I considered boring, I had always learned something. Often a fact my sister or I had learned developed into a family discussion around the table and ended with my Dad looking for more detail in the encyclopedia.

He cautioned me against going after change for the sake of change; however he is open to a new idea that has substance and merit. Most of my boyfriends had trouble holding up their end of a conversation with my Dad. I began to look seriously at the man who would later become my husband when he and my Dad both enjoyed talking to each other.

My Dad is a man of few words, but the words he says are worth listening to. I will emulate him just say: I love you, Dad.

My husband has been on blood pressure medication since 1989. He has been on cholesterol medication for a year and a half. When he went on the blood pressure medication the research at the time blamed salt for blood pressure problems. He agreed to try a low salt diet. His food tasted so bland that he was miserable. He decided he would rather take medication and enjoy his food.

When I started the Blood Type Diet a year ago I started nudging him in the direction of a Type A diet. He likes some of the foods I've added to his diet (especially soy cheese, lentil soup, nut crackers, and a multi grain wheat free hot cereal) He doesn't miss beef at all, and is glad I'm serving more fish. He's not ready to totally commit to a Type A diet, but freely admits that I've had wonderful results on the Type O diet.

A month or so ago he began to complain that when he stood up suddenly he got dizzy and light headed. He said that his blood pressure readings had been lower and wondered if that could be the cause. It was time for his physical, so he and our doctor talked about it. The doctor ordered blood work, and we'd been waiting for results.

Not only is his blood pressure down, his cholesterol reading is down as well. The doctor said to go to half the dose of both medications for 6 months, then come in for more testing. So I bought a little guillotine, and we're cutting his pills in half.

He won't give the BTD full credit, but he admits the BTD might be one of the factors that has caused the change. As for me, I will keep on nudging in a Type A direction.

Before I was sidetracked by my book, I had been experimenting in the kitchen. I put two recipes on RECIbase because they were enthusiastically endorsed by my family.

If you've read my blogs for long, you know that I like some greens better than others. Spinach and beet greens are my favorites, followed by Swiss Chard. Collard and turnip greens are good. Last on my list was kale. None of the family liked it, and I was the only one who would eat more than a token amount. Ever the optimist, I hated to give up on a food that was beneficial to Os and As. I can't remember how I first put black eyed peas, kale and onion together. It may have been randomly tossing left overs into a bowl for a quick lunch. They tasted good together. I waited a few days, cooked them together on purpose and served them to my family. I was hoping for acceptance - I got approval. Both my husband and son liked the combination. Glory be! My daughter only eats her greens raw. So she did not try the whole dish, but even she picked out some black-eyed peas and said they tasted good. I put the instructions on RECIbase under "Beneficial Veggie Trio." The only thing I wish I had included in the recipe is a note that you cook it in an 8 quart pot, not because it makes a huge amount, but because the kale takes up a lot of room until it wilts.

I had two zucchini bread recipes. I decided to see if I could adjust them to be acceptable for both As and Os. I wound up merging them, using what I thought was the best of both. The big adjustment of course was that both original recipes called for 3 cups of wheat flour. I had four kinds of flours in my freezer: spelt, kamut, rice and rye. I used 1 cup each of spelt, rice and rye. The texture of the muffins was very good: neither dry nor gooey. The rice and rye flours are beneficial for my As. The three flours are neutral for us Os. You can find them on RECIbase as Zucchini Muffins.

I'm still experimenting with a bread machine recipe for good sandwich bread. Spelt alone and spelt with rice taste good and work as a bread to serve with dinner. But they are too dense for sandwiches. My husband and kids eat a lot of sandwiches, and I want to come up with something all three of them like.

When my daughter was in first and second grades I tutored reading in her classroom. The teacher would send me in the hall with a group of struggling readers and they would tell me that they didn't like to read.

"I love to read," I would respond. "In fact do you know what happens? If I am reading a really good book, I can't stop. I keep right on reading. And sometimes we just have peanut butter sandwiches for dinner because I forget to cook." They would giggle, and someone would ask my daughter later in the day if it was true. It was!

Well, now that I know about the Blood Type Diet, peanut butter is no longer an option for me. But today I was totally caught up in a book.

The 8th book in Jan Karon's Mitford series came out last winter. I've been waiting for summer to read it, but when I went to check it out at the library, and there was a waiting list. At last it was my turn, and my son picked it up yesterday.

I started off being responsible: read a chapter, do a chore, read a chapter run an errand. Then I reached a point where I couldn't put it down. I let a load of laundry sour in the dryer. It's after midnight and there are still dirty dishes in the sink. I had a blog about zucchini muffins written in my head, but I never wrote it down. But, oh, it was a good book!

First a quote from my daughter. I bought a bag of Soy Crisps, and my kids finished them off in one sitting. My daughter said, "These are a bazillion times better than chips."

Now today's blog. Because I am a professional journalist, not a health care professional, I am very cautious about giving advice to people who write me with specific questions. Linda recently asked about an area of nutrition that I had dabbled in several years ago. After mentioning one book on the subject that I liked and one that I didn't, I got philosophical.

Before the Blood Type Diet, I was always reading interesting theories about nutrition: vegetarian, low carb, high fiber, no sugar, no salt, mega vitamin, herb, juicing, homeopathic, and on and on. The more I learned, the more confused I became. So much of the information was conflicting. Everyone had statistics that almost everyone benefited from their program.

What I like about the Blood Type Diet is that it explains why some things work for some people and don't for others. For example - I read glowing reports about echinacea, and bought some. It really helps my daughter get over a cold. It never did a thing for me. Dr. D'Adamo says echinacea is beneficial for As and avoid for Os. Another example - Lots of people swear by the benefits of apple cider vinegar. I like it and find it helpful. It does nothing for my husband. Dr. D'Adamo says vinegar is neutral for Os and avoid for As. I took Vitamin E for years - sometimes as much as 800 iu per day, because everything I read said it would help bleeding problems. Dr. D'Adamo says Vitamin E is good for As, but causes bleeding problems for Os. (I wish I could get my money back!)

I still read about nutrition. (I read a magazine from the Health Food Store today, while I was waiting for my daughter at the orthodontist's office.) But everything I read now is second place to the Blood Type Diet lists. I read an article about blueberries. They are beneficial for As and Os, so we'll all eat more of them. I read another article about men eating more tomatoes. Not my A husband! I'm trying to get him to eat less tomato. He can get lycopene from beneficial grapefruit. When I read a study that says 80% of people get great results I wonder what blood type the people in the 20% who don't get great results are.

The Blood Type Diet lists trump all the other lists.