I am about to begin the Type O diet. i am a very obese diabetic (Type2) male in my early 40's. Apart from sticking to the diet can you give any advice to supplements I should take with the diet. I currently use multivitamins with Iron once a day. Mark

A warm welcome to the BTD, Mark! I'd recommend only the PolyFlora and ARA6 at this time -- for better digestion and strengthened immunity. It's best to keep things simple when you're starting out, especially since the diet will work swiftly to start resolving the diabetes and get the weight loss going, all on its own. I hope you enjoy this plan! Don't go around hungry! Eat as much as you want at the beginning ~ it will make it easier for you to adapt to the new foods. As time goes on, you'll find you need less food. Do drink plenty of pure water between meals. And ride herd on your sugar levels, because your need for insulin may start falling away pretty quickly. Let me know how you're doing!! :-)

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I'm a O Blood Type and I would like to know if Salami is alright to eat?

Angelien

Hi, I am from group O and I want to know if I can eat turkey ham. thanks in advance, Stephanie



Prepared foods like salami, turkey ham, etc. are OK if all the ingredients are neutral or beneficial -- and look for "organically fed, free-range," etc. Keep in mind, though, that most commercial brands of sausage, salami, faux bacon, and so on are made from lower-quality meats and other iffy stuff. Most salamis and sausages contain at least some pork. If the turkey ham label has a five-by-five inch list of unpronounceable chemicals, I'd steer clear of it. On the other hand.... Holidays sure put on the pressure, don't they? :-D If it's a once-a-year indulgence, aw, heck: go ahead! :-)

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I have been on the diet for about 5 weeks now. I was diagnosed with diverticulitis, and had to change my eating habits drastically. I have never felt better in my 47 years of life!! I am an O Type individual, and cannot have dairy products. My question is, where do I get the calcium from instead? One more comment. After I finish a meal (taken from BTD book), I am never content. I always feel that I want something else, and I go looking for more food. I don't have that satisfied feeling that I used to get. Please help.... Therese

:-) Great news! SO pleased you're feeling good! I love hearing these success stories ~ folks, diverticulitis is just one item in the long list of illnesses that respond best to Food as Our Medicine!!

About the hunger after meals: it takes some weeks or months for your metabolism to be weaned away finally from the need for wheat/corn/dairy. The further away your previous diet was from the protein/carb/fat proportions in the O diet, the more cravings and odd hungry spells you'll have. How to shorten the process? Snack on meat, eggs, fish (all best with some fat & vegetables), nuts, seeds, and make sure each meal has adequate fat and salt. Still hungry? Wait half an hour, then eat a little more.

It is also possible that your BTD diet is too high in grains for your particular system and may be triggering that 'need something else' feeling. Take a look at Live Right 4 Your Type and note the new portions/frequencies for each food category. For the veg & fruit lists, these should read "per day." Live Right is a great update to the entire BTD paradigm, and has a wealth of new information.

Calcium? Here's a tidbit from an October 6 column, in response to an O woman with similar concerns:

"O's don't benefit much, if at all, from the calcium in dairy, anyway. Our systems resist it immunologically, and the assimilation levels are typically extremely low compared to our type B and AB sisters. The Phytocal-O available on our site is an excellent supplement, with proven high absorption. Also, there is a list of foods high in calcium in Peter's Calcium From Almonds page. Greens, tahini, almonds, blackstrap molasses, etc.... lots of great food sources for you!"

I would add that broth made from the roasted bones of meat, fowl and/or fish is a perfect mineral pick-me-up for Os. I always keep at least six quarts in my freezer, and replenish it with new batches a couple of times per month. It's the ideal soup base ~ and delightful as a winter beverage with some cayenne, garlic, and nutritional yeast added after heating it up. Keep your protein intake optimal ~ it stimulates intestinal alkaline phosphatase, which helps assimilate every bit of calcium you get. Hope this helps! :-D

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Hello Heidi. Your column is fascinating, entertaining, and helpful. My husband and I are both Type O. He has recently been diagnosed with elevated blood sugar. Diabetes runs in his family. I am trying to encourage him to avoid sweets and starchy vegetables like potatoes and corn, but what about fruits? He loves fruit and we eat lots of bananas, mangoes, prunes, cherries...all beneficial for Type O. But they are also high in sugar, and I'm being told he should eat only those fruits lower on the glycemic index, such as melon, berries, apples, plums, etc. What do you recommend? Thank you. Nancy

Hey there, Nancy ~ I'm deeply pleased you enjoy the column, and you're a sweetie with those compliments! :-) The sugars in whole fruits are a very different metabolic story from refined sugars and flours. They are digested far more slowly, not to mention that fruits/berries have an abundance of proanthocyanadins and other beneficial elements which promote a healthy body. If he sticks to the O diet, including the allowed fruits, he is not going to progress into diabetes! It seems clear that his family genetics are telling us loud & clear that they are far better suited to a low/no grain or refined sugar diet. I assume your husband closely monitors his blood sugar; I suggest he test these foods himself. If he finds that the lower-glycemic fruits serve him better at this time, there is no harm in skipping the others until his metabolism has normalized (which it WILL! :-)). Another idea: get his secretor status with the saliva test sold here in the Store, and fine-tune his program with Live Right 4 Your Type's modifications and the protocols in the Encyclopedia. I have a suspicion he's a nonsecretor... write back & let me know how he's doing! :-)

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I'm also responding to your comments about bowel elimination. The most I have ever been able to accomplish eating for my O blood type (as if this is some kind of contest!) is one comfortable and consistent movement of my bowels each morning. (And it doesn't float!) I include two tablespoons of ground flax seed in my morning smoothie of raw fruits and soy or rice protein, Ezekiel bread, lots of fresh and dried fruits and vegetables, salads, nuts, seeds, brown rice, beans, and LOTS of water, along with daily meat, fish or chicken. I also take the prescribed supplements and Type O probiotic, and get regular exercise. My health and weight are both excellent. I don't know what else I could/should do short of taking some kind of intestinal cleanser. You may not want to publish this letter, but I hope others will respond and there will be more information provided on this subject. Thank you! Nancy

LOL! what a contest, eh? :-D Nancy, I hereby bestow my seal of approval on your stools! ;-) Your health and weight being excellent, and your energy obviously high, I'd say you're doing everything right, so don't let my "bowel thesis" worry you. It's a good guideline, but taking into account people's natural metabolism, size, amount of food eaten, etc., one's mileage will certainly vary. The BTD is a great intestinal cleanser, and is evidently doing its job just as it should for you. :-D Thanks for your note, and for the smiles! :-D

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I'm trying to follow the BTD diet here in South Africa, and I have to say that I'm having a fair amount of trouble obtaining a lot of foodstuffs and ingredients. I'm a type O, and I really have 2 questions - firstly, I have read that tapioca starch can be used to bind certain gluten-free flours for baking, and yet I can't find any reference to it in the "cook right" book, or on the website. Is it acceptable for type O's? Secondly, what's the verdict on passion fruit (passiflora edulis)? I have a vine in my garden, so I eat them all the time, but I'd like to know if I'm doing myself any good or not. (seems a pity to waste them though!!) Thank you for your time -- Lisa

Hallo, Lisa ~ Tapioca is on TYPEbase 3®! Just go to our homepage at www.dadamo.com and look down the center column... click on it, and enter your search term. However, there's a little trick to getting it to work: remember to hit the 'search' button -- the "enter" key does not work on that page. You'll find it!

Wow, you've brought back memories with your question about passion fruit... I use to grow them as well, both edulis and alba ~ never got more than a one-inch fruit from my edulis vine ~ too far north, I think! :-) ~ but I ate them anyway! And such gorgeous, unique flowers.... I loved all the oddball florals, like green hollyhocks and blue roses. Wormwood in the herb patch, because of a poet who once said he took a tea of it each morning so that the rest of the day would taste sweet ... Even grew a 'moon vine' ~ pure white flowers that opened in the moonlight ... *sigh!* Anyway, we have no listing for passion fruit, so it can be considered a neutral for everyone! Hoorah! ~~:-D Enjoy them, dear, and think of me! ;-}

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thank you, all...

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