OTD 8-Month Report ;-D

I've been taking a New Year's stock of how far we've come! ... and how far behind I am. :-} From 2002, there are roughly 200 questions-in-the-queue for Os, 60 for As, 40 for Bs and 5 for ABs ~ with a few O-queries dating from {cough} JUNE, I just discovered. So, in order to address the backlog in an organized fashion, this week started with a four-part roundup of the general questions. Today's column is the first of a rotating schedule of roundups of the blood-type-specific questions for each type. In three weeks, I'll begin doing multi-type "potpourris" again for the Jan/Feb questions, so that we'll be all caught up & breezy by March 1, 2003!

READY - STEADY - GO!

Hi Heidi My question is about weight loss. I have been on an O (secretor) diet for 2 weeks - and I have lost 7lbs. My weight has previously been steady at 11 stone for years. Whilst this may be desirable for some people - I am already at the threshold of my BMI (body mass index) - and don't want to lose any more (I am a 6 foot, male). A typical day for me is: Breakfast: walnuts, blueberries, pumpkin seeds, rice milk Mid-morning: Can of sardines Lunch: 6oz fillet steak, sweet potatoes Mid afternoon: Mango Dinner: 6oz Cod, spinach, rice I feel so much better on the diet: energised - and my skin is very clear now. I don't have the surges and drops in blood sugar that I used to have - so I feel much more stable. Are there protein drinks which I should take (the kind that body builders use) - and could you recommend one? I already have a supply of Peter's bars - and I'm starting to eat one a day. Any advice gratefully received. (Maybe my natural metabolic rate is very high)! Regards, David.

Ah, my dear, what some wouldn't give to have your problem, eh? :-) Seriously, at six feet and 154 pounds, you didn't have the 7 pounds to spare. I'm sure you're an ectomorph with a light bone structure, but I think a weight-gain routine is called for. The key for you is weight training, and the gain will be slow but steady if you engage in two heavy workouts every week -- one on the upper body and one on the lower. -- Or investigate www.superslow.com and get hold of a video or instructor if you can. You should see a pound gained every week or two. Eat when you are hungry, and add the following smoothie sometime after your supper, but at least two hours before sleeping: two hard-boiled eggs, one tablespoon olive or walnut oil, two tablespoons flaxseed ground and soaked in a bit of water for 15 minutes, a cup of fresh or frozen fruit/berries of your choice, two tablespoons nutritional yeast, and two tablespoons of nutbutter. Blend it up, and add ice cubes and/or spring or mineral water to adjust the consistency as desired. Tweak the ingredients to taste! And keep me posted!

I'm an AB & my husband (who has recently started the diet) is an O with several questions. 1. Lemons vs. oranges ... are oranges acceptable if one is on aciphex(he's on aciphex for aspirin damage to intestines ... aspirin a day because of recent diagnosis of a heart arrhthymia (A-Fib or A-Flutter)? 2. Sprouted breads (like sprouted sourdough that contains wheat gluten)? 3. Oats, oat bran for an O not concerned w/ weight loss (but is currently taking aciphex for the aspirin damage)? 4. Turkey bacon & turkey pepperoni? 5. Apple juice is an avoid for O's ... how about apples freshly juiced in our juicer? Thanks very much!!! Tricia

Hi, Tricia! 1. Oranges are no good for him. Grapefruit or lemons are both much better. 2. Sprouted breads are fine as long as the grains are 100% sprouted -- no whole wheat or corn! 3. Whole, cooked oats are fine, but I wouldn't challenge him with any oat bran products. 4. He'd do better on fresh, uncured meats for the time being. 5. Apples will be OK for him, and the fresh juice is great, but do dilute 1/2 and 1/2 with pure water, to buffer the effects of the sugar. :-)

i have just bought one of dr. adamo's books and i am fascinated by this approach to health and weight loss! prior to discovering this very interesting information, i was on a low carb, high protein diet which appeared to be working for me. i am type 0 and some of the foods in dr. adamo's book are high in carbs (especially the fruit)and frankly, i am very hesitant to eat them for fear of gaining the weight back that i have recently lost. could you please advise how carbs figure into dr. adamo's plans? thank you! Kim

A great way to really understand the basis of these diets is to read Live Right 4 Your Type, then read it again! Those vegetables and fruits are absolutely essential to good health. Start out by staying with your current high-protein/low-carb plan but eliminating the avoids for Os. Then introduce the beneficials from the fruit & vegetable lists that you don't normally eat. Go at your own speed and keep an eye on your strength, skin and the scales... I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised! good luck, Kim!

In the enclyclopedia, page 475, the cardiovascular protocols for type O says take L-Carnitine, 50 mg: 1-2 capsules, twice daily. I asked at my HFS and they didn't think 50 mg. was correct. Is the 50 mg correct? Or should it be something different? Help! My blood pressure is up and I need to get it down before my next visit to the doctor or he will insist I take blood pressure medication. In addition to the advised protocols for hypertension I am trying to lose some weight and to walk more. Thanks for your help ^heidi^. Anita

Hey there, Anita! Yes, that's the protocol. Get as close as you can to that dosage. Don't let your doctor insist on drugs -- instead, use Phil's oatmeal plan: one serving every morning, and see your doctor after two weeks. Do get out there and walk, dear!! It is SO wonderful for everything that ails ya! And it is a great mood-enhancer! Keep with it, and drop me a note on your results!! :-D

Hello. I have just started on the food plan. I am O+ (not sure about secretor status, not even sure yet what that is or if it is all that important to know), have been living a mainly vegetarian life for years, but now am trying to switch to the O plan completely. I love rice 'milk', and am happy that is okay for Os to drink. However, the only rice 'milk' we have here in Finland, where I live, has safflower oil ... and I noted that the book said to get rice 'milk' without safflower oil. How strict is this? If I cannot get rice 'milk' without safflower oil, will it really do a lot of bad for me to drink the stuff with the oil? Thank you for your reply. Carol-lee

Carol-lee, that is quite OK right now while you're getting adjusted to the new diet. It will not do a lot of harm, but try to (1) find another brand in a different store or online, or (2) get a recipe for making your own -- there are numerous ones online, just go to www.alltheweb.com/advanced and search for a rice milk recipe. You can use a little olive or flax oil as an emulsifier for small batches of the milk! In the meantime ~ take a look at our "Getting Started" page, and congratulate yourself for taking the leap into a new, healthy lifestyle!! :-D

I am a Type O blood type. I cringe a bit when I think about eating red meat. I cringe because I thought red meat is not good for the colon. What is your take on this? Thank you so much. Patti

:-) Hey there, Patti! Well, red meat is not good for everyone's colons, but it is good for ours. :-) We are speedy flesh-food digestion machines (;-)), so take a good read through Live Right 4 Your Type and study the references given ~ see what you think! :-D

dear heidi, please could you help?i am o type.i've been a vegan since last year & felt well & felt it helped with my ongoing weight loss(take supplements)but since january my weight loss has been minimal.my tummy is bloated,only very occasionally it hurts.my toilet habits have become erratic(between 0-2xday).i have avoided wheat,dairy, yeast,since may 2000.6 weeks ago i started the blood type tentatively, all i eliminated was oats in 4 weeks i lost 6lb.since i have reintroduced fish/meat my tum is rock hard & i put on 2lb.i went to my dr's who said i had IBS.he has given me fibregel to take.is it ok? he said it had baluga husk in it which they always give to IBS sufferers.he poo-poohed the BTD diet when i tried to explain it to him.he said i was in danger of becoming obsessive & that he had seen many people who were sufferers of fad diets.i told him i believe this not to be a fad diet & recommended he read LR4YT.Also,that i feel eating correctly has helped me,ie;when i originally eliminated dairy produce may 2000 i didn't need my inhaler after 3 days!giving up wheat alongside the weightwatchers points programme has helped me to lose 7 1/2stone.giving up yeast has helped me to mostly control my candida problem.unlike grapefruit diets or cabbage soup diet which my dr did himself!)i told him i wanted to not only lose weight but i wanted to be well inside.i personally want to find the root cause rather than treat the symptoms after all a diet's for life not just for christmas!but he was still very negative & dismissive.i can see i might have IBS considering my change of diet but want to know if it will settle down,can i do anything else to help it(already doing linseed).the nutritionist in health food shop advised me not to take kelp tablets but i've forgotten why.should i start taking them?please help me i'm at my wits end,thankyou debs:< ps when i went to your scottish website & read about the secretor test it sounded very complicated & was worried if i were to pay all that money for it & didn't do it properly it would be time,money wasted & health compromised please could you advise me how you do it.also is it really necessary to find out about rh-/+ or is blood type/secretor enough?also i've still not been able to get my head around the intracellular/extracellular water retention ie that comes with melon,please help me. your advice is greatly appreciated. regards debs.x

re my prev message.the contents of the fibregel(trademark fybogel) is ispaghula husk.is this ok for o types.also the contents include aspartame (avoid) & potassium chloride(?). there were a choice of orange or lemon flavour & i deliberately chose lemon as orange is an avoid.however is this stuff ok.my doc said give it one month and then he may do tests,please help,sorry to be a pain, regards debs.



Hallo, debs! Your doctor deserves a kick in the bum. Please don't tell him I said that, it won't do a bit of good. ;-D Ack, please don't take that yucky aspartame and husk business. First, go to the bottom of this page and enter "joachim." You'll find on that page a protocol for colitis, which should help you within a couple of weeks. When you re-introduce meats, start taking pancreatic enzymes (from your local supp shop) before each meal. Third, the instructions given with the secretor test are very specific. Just follow them, and you'll get the correct results -- it is a nearly 100%-reliable test. While it's rather minor in the scale of things, the Rh type is useful in determining portions of meat and grain. If you'd like to get yours, the regular ABO test (the card) gives Rh as well as ABO type. And the beneficial melons tend to increase water WITHIN your cells (intra) and decrease water BETWEEN your cells (extra), also known as edema and bloat! Thanks for your message, dear, and keep in touch!!

Dear Heidi, I started the O blood diet about 4 months ago (after 4 years of being vegan) to see if it would cure my terrible digestive troubles and I have had a miraculous improvement - no more bloating or acid reflux etc. I have also been gradually loosing weight, which in my case is actually quite unwanted as I was very lean to begin with. I haven't been eating much red meat but I'm getting through about 500g of chicken and fish a day with lashigs of flax/olive oil (+ veges, nuts, fruit etc). Do you have any thoughts on how I might be able to gain about 12kg. Thankyou for all the time and energy you devote to OTD. louke

Dear louke! Another type O with what many would consider an enviable problem! :-D See the first message on this page, from David ~ I'd say you can get that 12kg on in about two months, so keep working it and don't give up!! I'm so pleased to hear your fabulous results! It took me only six weeks to gain the 8kg I needed when I first started this plan, but once your regimen is in place you'll forget you ever had a weight problem. Heigh! Ho! Let's Go!

:-D

Hi ^heidi^! You're writing a great column! Hope you're doing well over there! I'm an O (likely secretor) with 2 questions because I'm wanting to go camping. Do you have any great O camping food ideas? Meat & veggies are hard to bring unless dried. And I'm allergic to nuts. The other question: I'm looking into pemmican -- the recipes I'm finding are a mixture of dried beef, dried fruit, & fat (either beef fat, butter or soynut/peanut butter). They all say to store in a cool place and it will keep for months...But it might get hot where this O goes camping. (Northwoods!) Do you know if pemmican would really keep on the trail? Would appreciate anything you know that would support this ever so much healthier O in getting back to the woods! Thanks Muchly ^heidi^! (o:

Well, for NEXT summer's camping trips (lol!), yes, pemmican is a wonderful food and it keeps quite nicely on a weekend or week-long trip. Get hold of A.D. Livingston's Jerky (The Lyons Press), and a dehydrator for whole fruit, whole veg AND meats. Dried plums and a bag of dulse are O-camper essentials. Oh, how i miss camping!! Plan now, and you'll be stylin' when the warm weather comes round again! ;-D

Heidi, The type O lists paperback book for vegetables shows a separate daily frequency for cooked versus raw. However, in LR4YT the vegetable frequency chart is separated by beneficials versus neutrals, not cooked versus raw. Are both books correct in how they show the frequency for the vegetables category? Which way of looking at vegetable frequency is more important or do I need to figure out a way to combine the two different methods? Thanks, Don

Naw, don't sweat it. Eat as much raw veg as possible, and cook the rest. We do encourage a high quantity of raw food, but the important things is to use the diet to your benefit ~ just do your best! :-)

Hi, Do you recommend the "lecithin and flaxseed oil drink" for blood type "o"? Thank you. Best Regards, Chuck

It is perfectly fine for everyone, although it does spectacular things for Bs. Adjust it to beneficial for you through your choice of fruit & oils. enjoy!

:-)

I am a Type O positive. I suffer from proteinura glumerolous nephritis and in October it started affecting my blood pressure. I have been on the type diet about 4months and my BP meds has been reduced from 10 mg (altace) to 1.25mg. I started taking ARA6 about a month ago and finally my lab work showed a SLIGHT improvement I also took 1 bottle of Deflect. I started taking Quercetin for my horrible sinus allergies but I think it was giving nightmare but I continued with it. Also my Blood pressure started escalating again up to 140/98. I took Nitricycle (3 caps 2x daily)for a few days but I am wondering if it is safe to take with my BP meds. I desperately want off my BP meds Any other suggestions to help my condition is much appreciated. Thanks Bertha

Bertha, try a serving of oatmeal once per day, and have your BP tested in a couple of weeks. Nitricyle should not interfere with your medications, but general worry over the supps may slow your progress a bit. Stick with the oatmeal, and the ARA6, and write back to let me know how you're doing!

I am a type O and have justed started to use the Blood Type diet. I use Revival Soy Powder in a drink that I make with pineapple juice, pineapples, and flax seed oil. I am menopausal and have found that the soy protein has made this transition so easy as I never have hot flashes or night sweats. I drink this combination almost every day and was wondering if this was the best way for me to start my day? Many thanks, Cheryl

If it works for you, stick to it! In that case, I'd minimize beans in the rest of your diet, as type Os don't really need them as a nutritional element. Let me know how things go as time goes on, OK? ;-)

I am wondering if the polyamine levels in canned fish such as sardines, mackerl, and herring are high enough to avoid. I know fresh fish is recommended. Also, are black peppercorns ok for type O's even though ground black pepper is not? Chris

Canned fishies are fine! Don't forget the canned pink salmon with skin & bones ~ it is wild fish, therefore healthier than the farmed varieties, and makes a wonderful "fish loaf" with Ezekiel crumbs, lemon, egg and parsley. Whole peppercorns ground over your food is O-K. :-)

I am on your diet,but befor I heard about it,Iwas takeing some,NEO FLEX ADVANCED JOINT SUPPORT FORMULA,AND SOME CORAL CALCIUM for arthritus,it semed to be helping so I am still takeing it. I am type o,since I have been on the diet I have lost 30 pounds and feel much better,I got 4 your type basic packs my knee is much better but still has a problem,I was wondering if takeing the recomended dodage if there is any danger of over doing it I was intending to keep takeing the calcium supliment.I am 81 the Doctor I went to for a lot of those years retired,and the next one got sick and quit his practice, the one I am going to now is not very receptive to what Iam doing ,I have not needed a doctor much all my life ,maney of my friends that have are dead so I am my own ginney pig , I got all your books but I have not had time to obsorbe them yet , I`ll take full responsibity if you could give me any warnings if need be I would appreciate it.I CHECK MY BLOOD PRESURE AND HEART RATE EVERY FEW DAYS SEEMS FINE,GOT ENERGY SO i AM KEEPING BUSY. warren

Aw, heck, Warren. I'm supposed to give YOU advice?? Seems to me we should set up a column so people can ask YOU questions!! ~:-D

There's no danger of overdoing it with your supps as you've described them. Add some olive and/or walnut or flax oil, and put a little into some carrot juice ~ shake it up and enjoy. It might help loosen up that knee while you're waiting for the Deflect to work its wonders. It's such a pleasure to hear from you! Have a great time with the new diet, and don't be a stranger, OK? :-D