I don't live in the United States and many of the foods yu have listed in your books and website are not very common here. I'm type AB and I was hoping if you can help me with some foods typical for our country, but not mentioned on your list. I'd like to know if the following are ok to eat and perhaps one day you could add them on your website or the books because they would surely help many diet followers in Northern parts of Europe and Baltic: Meat: elk, reindeer (similar to moose and caribu, but European kinds) Fish: Baltic herring, there are also many kinds of sweetwater fish, but difficult to explain here and they probably don't even have English names Eggs & dairy: there are many domestic cheese brands, but I'm sure you have no knowledge what they are like Oils and fats: rapeseed oil Cereals: Rye (flakes, flour etc.) Bread: Breads made of barley Vegetables: swede I'm especially looking forward the answer about rapeseed oil because it's the most commonly used type of cooking oil here, I'd appreciate if you could answer about that one if there is no time to find answers to the others. Sirpa

Greetings, Sirpa! :-) Ok, let's take your questions in order:

Elk and reindeer: very similar to venison, so provisionally I would value them as avoid for secretor ABs and neutral for nonsecretors.

Baltic herring (Clupea harengus membras) is closely related to our Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus) and would have the same value as "herring" in the AB food list (neutral for secretors, beneficial for nons). In the case of other fish, do an internet search for the name by which you know that fish, and get the Latin name. Then go to the FDA Fish Name Search page, enter the entire Latin name and see what comes up. If nothing appears, enter just the genus (first) name, and examine the results against TYPEbase 3. I recommend the FDA pages because they list the common names by which we call the fish listed in the food lists.

Cheese? :-D I dunno! Try me! :-D Generally speaking, the fresh, soft, mold-free cheeses are neutral or beneficial for ABs, whether made with cow's milk, or milk from goats or sheep. The cultured dairy products, such as yogurt and kefir, are also good for you lucky folks! :-D

Rapeseed oil? We in North America call it "canola," and that's how it's listed in TYPEbase 3.

Rye (flakes, flour etc.), can be found by searching the database using the term "rye." Same for "barley."

The swede (or "Swedish turnip"), Brassica napobrassica, is what we call the rutabaga ~ it is a yellow-fleshed variety of our "turnip," a purplish-topped or all-white root vegetable.

To find "swede," just look for "rutabaga" in TYPEbase3!

Thanks for your questions, Sirpa ~ I hope these answers helped, dear!! :-)

dear heidi: hope you can help, I follow the diet 4 your blood type, take all suplements, did for 12 weeks the protocol for arthritis for AB, recently I was diagnose with spinal stenosis, a degenerative condition of the spine. Conventional treatments consists of bedrest and controlled physical activity, anti-inflamatory drugs, epidural steroid injections, I would like to know if you can recomend a natural alternative, how much and when to take it. I got the book for medical meditation that you recomend, take extra ara6, omegatentials and today going to acupunture to relieve pain. I wrote to you once on another subject and got a response right away. Dr. d'adamo is very lucky to have you in his staff, you do a wonderfull job, and like the way you write. thank you Luisa

Hello, Luisa! Oh dear, I'm so sorry you're suffering with this. The treatments you listed are indeed the standard allopathic actions, but I believe that if you can dose yourself regularly with quercetin and get a physical therapy program going, the diet and the meditations will let your healing proceed. Unless your pain is severe, do try to avoid the steroid injections especially -- and the quercetin can be taken at high doses without harm, and should do the job (or better) of the anti-inflam drugs. Acupuncture is a great treatment, not only for pain relief, but for re-balancing your energy and musculature. Use only the beneficial foods in the categories that contain beneficials for you -- and have a glass of black cherry juice daily to help dissolve the deposits. Keep up those kriyas! and I'm sending energy your way, dear! Let me know how you do, OK? I'd like to hear your progress!! :-)

Hi! I am a 43 year old AB+, and I am having a wee problem with green tea. It is supposed to be beneficial for ABs, but if I drink it without milk as one is supposed to do, my throat (and mouth to some extent) becomes very dry for several hours afterwards. Adding milk solves the problem, but I am worried that it might neutralise the positive effect of green tea. Can you shed any light on this? My second question concerns bananas; they are on my 'Avoid' list, but I love them and have never noticed any negative effect on my digestion. My first solid food as a baby was mashed banana, and they have always remained an important part of my diet. Could it be that I have become resistant against the banana-lectin, or should I stop eating them anyway? Thanks very much, John.

:-) hi, John ~ some foods just don't announce their "avoidity" to the body, and if it's something we've eaten since childhood, we might not notice some effects we've had all our lives! :-) Do a test for banana: eliminate it for two weeks, then on each successive day, eat two bananas, for one week. See if you are aware of any untoward reactions. For the long term, they should be avoided, but tests of this kind have turned up surprising results, so I suggest doing that "banana trial." About the green tea: how about some rice milk in it? The dryness may be connected to the brand you're using, perhaps? Have you switched around and tried different ones? I do recommend Mr Itaru's wonderful variety that is sold here in the Store, if you're game for a new one. Write back with more comments, please! :-)

In the book "Eat Right 4 your Type" it talk about how Blood type AB lacks stomach acid and how coffee is highly benificial to help in the digestive process. Yet both online and in the pocket guide coffe is listed as AVOID. Could you please tell me which is it. I could understand a typo in listing it in the wrong category but to expand upon it in the narative is another thing. I look forward to your response. Robert

Hi, Robert ~ The new research done between the publication of BTD in 1996 and the later books indicated that coffee did more harm than good for ABs, hence its changed status. Take a read through the Updates Page for more on the new listings. Many foods did undergo a change in status, as this was a brand-new science in 1996 and work has been done to refine the food values. The good news is that we expect little to no change in the current lists now, except to add new items as they are tested. Thanks for your note! :-)

I adopted the blood type diet in April this year,having experienced yet another spring of throat/ear infections and feeling pretty low. It was recommended to me by my husband's niece who told me that several people she knew had benefited from it. I am AB and found that some of the foods I love but had previously thought were bad for my weight control (peanut butter, lamb and porridge)were actually on my list! The hardest thing for me (being british) was giving up the good old cup of tea. However I have been virtually caffeine free for five months now (I have one cup of decafe coffee a day as well as green tea plus cammomile tea in the evening)and I no longer get the headaches that would plague me for 2/3 days and that amount of painkiller would help. My skin has also improved(I have suffered with Acne since pruberty and am now 47). Our close friends were so impressed with my improvement and increased energy levels that one of them has taken this on board (type A)and although I did not think she would be able to adapt to such a major change in her diet, she has, and is losing weight and experiencing increased energy levels. Her husband cannot believe the change and her work colleagues think she is "on something", I feel this diet could well spread big time if only us british could give up on our more traditional eating habits. I am very thankful for that conversation in April this year that started me eating properly. Had we not had a family occasion and all met up I might never have known about "eating right for your blood type." Andrea

Hey, what a great report!! Andrea, thank you so much for taking time to write to us!! Every culture's cuisine has a few stumbling blocks for new BTD'ers, but we persevere! so I'm sure your English compatriots will come round in their own good time as well ~ but it's good to know you're there nudging them along. Thanks again, Andrea! your multiple success story made my day!! :-D