I have started reading Eat Right For Your Type book. I am Indian with type O. We, Indians, make Daal made from Beans called (Tuver Daal). I did not find it listed anywhere in the book. Do you know whether it is Beneficial or not for type O? thanks ~ nalin



Hello, nalin! Various sources give tuver dal (also "toor dal") the meaning of: yellow split pea, yellow lentil, red lentil, or red gram. Most sources list it as either yellow split pea or red lentil. Between the common meanings used in Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and the various possibilities of what any single food might be, I am at a bit of a loss to advise you! :-} I will say that if by 'tuver dal' you mean yellow split pea, we have no rating for that food. Although its Latin name is pisum sativum (shared by the green garden pea and the snow pea (young pod)), it grows, looks and tastes quite different from those neutral-rated foods.



Click here for a great color photograph of the tiny yellow split pea among other well-known members of the Fabaceae family.



The shared Latin name is not at all unusual among various sets of the millions of beans, legumes & pulses! So, technically it is an "unknown," and may be considered neutral for you if you have no health complaints and do not wish to gain or lose weight. If it is a lentil, it is an avoid for type O secretors and a neutral for type O nonsecretors.



Thank you so much for your question ~ I learned quite a few Indian food names and recipes while I was at it! :-D

Dear Heidi. Thanks for your column. It seems to me that the chicken soup for A's of 7. October 2002 that you adapted for AB's on 27. December 2002 would be very useful as a "helping hand" from the freezer on busy days, of which I have lots and lots. I would be most grateful for your help with a version of the recipe for an O+ non secretor. Thanks. Nina



Hi, Nina! That recipe needs no adaptation for types O or A, whether nonsecretor or secreti-fied ~ it's quite wonderful for us, too. We O-nons do have many more choices than A secretors as to the item being roasted, but we can either choose a single bird, mammal or fish, or save bones from roasts of all kinds in the freezer until the requisite quantity has accumulated. Personally, that is my preference. If we've cooked up a huge turkey, that carcase drops into the stockpot on its own, but often I end up using frozen leftover bones from roasted lamb, beef, buffalo, venison, rabbit, chicken, etc. all stuffed into my 16-quarter. Many national cuisines have their classic stock recipes, such as the plain chicken "brodo" of Italy (one of many), or the beef/lamb/veal broth beloved in parts of France, or England's venison "game stock." So take a free hand with it all. If you have a trusted butcher near you, you can always arrange to get bones (from clean animals) on a weekly basis and roast them alongside other meats to beef up your store. Have him cut them up into four- or five-inch pieces for easier handling! Same goes for your fishmonger: arrange with them to pick up selected (non-oily) OK fish bones on a regular basis, which can be put right on the boil without prior cooking.



The only general tips to remember about making broth: *no crucifers* (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts), no dark leaf greens. No turnips or okra -- or beans or grain or dairy! If you haven't got roasted veg to go in, just put your bones in the water and add a whole chopped onion, a few stalks of celery chopped, and a couple of carrots cut in half, and anywhere from six to a dozen whole cloves of garlic. Pinch or two of sea salt per gallon. If you'd like a bit of herbiness, tie up a few bay leaves, with any fresh herbs you have on hand such as a sprig of oregano, thyme, basil, and a bunch of fresh parsley, in two layers of cheesecloth, and drop that in as well.



The ideal cooking time for big, heavy mammal bones is longer than for small fowl like the little roaster in the chicken recipe. In fact, once it's been brought to the boil and down to a steady simmer, I leave it on for twelve hours or so. At that point I add the squeeze of lemon, taste it to see if a bit more salt is called for, simmer one more hour, and take it off the heat to cool for half an hour before straining out and discarding the bones, herb bundle & veg. That's it! These basic procedures can be adapted for any blood type/secretor status ~ just choose among the proteins, veg and herbs beneficial for you! :-D

Do you have any idea about Honeybush tea? Cyclopia Intermedia, it is the latest traditional tea to emerge from Africa, like rooibos, and seems to be gaining in popularity. I wonder if it is safe for O's? It seems benevolent enough when ingested. And then there is a traditional Chinese tea, Chun Mee green tea, that has caffeine. I cannot find either tea on the typebase. Going onto cheese, how about bucheron bougnon? I think it is a goat cheese, but it tastes like cow brie. Have you tried goat brie, it's wonderful for type O's of French decent! David



Hey there, David! Honeybush tea we have no info on at all, other than what's floating around the Net. It's the old "unknown/neutral" story, you know the drill. About green tea: Chun Mee is absolutely fine. My favorite remains "Mr. Ito's" Shohokuen green tea/roasted brown rice brew available in the Store here. It, too, contains caffeine/theine ~ but this is a synergistic element in its antioxidant functions. Funny you should be asking about cheese, as just this morning I went down to Murray's Cheese Shop in the Village (pure torture for Irish O-nons) to pick up some mozzarella di bufala for Bryan, and I broke my cardinal rule against tasting. :-) Bucheron bougnon I haven't heard of, but goat brie I'd actually try to steer clear of. The mold & all! :-) Take care, lucky David! :-D

Dear Heidi: I just noticed that "Trader Joe's" pumkin seeds have cornstarch in them. I've been buying the David brand of roasted/salted pumpkin seeds since going on BTD, and their ingredient list is: pumpkin seeds and salt, but I've noticed that when I eat them, my blood sugar goes up to ~170, (I only can eat a few of them, they're so salty, and there are only 6 Carbohydrates in the whole bag.) Today, I tested them with a Diastix, (Dr. Bernstein says to use them to see if there's sugar in foods the diastix turned very dark green. That indicates very high sugar. Do you know how I could find out if they too have cornstarch in them? I don't see an address on the bag. It says trademark of ConAgra Brands, Inc. I'd appreciate any insight. THanks, Judy



Hi, Judy! Talk to the shop where you bought them, and ask for a contact for the manufacturer. If they contain corn starch, you might have that reaction just from that ingredient. ConAgra doesn't have any organic produce farms that I know of... I'd check to make sure they're organic as well. Take care, Judy! :-)

Hi Heidi, An issue came up that I didn’t know what to do about. I was at a friend’s house on New Year’s Day and was offered some black-eyed peas that were cooked with salt pork. I know you have previously written about the galectins from chicken sloshing out over everything in a pot, but since pork isn’t listed in the TYPEbase 3 database as having lectins, or more precisely galectins, is it OK to cook with pork for the flavoring as long as you don’t eat the pork? This issue does come up frequently when eating out. It would be good to know what the correct thing to do is. In case you are wondering, I did eat the black-eyed peas that were offered to me. I wanted to make sure I had good luck for the New Year ;-) In fact, I had two servings because they were really good and I wanted lots of good luck!!! Thanks, Don





The question of pork fat is one we really haven't addressed yet, Don! :-) The big worry about pork stuff is its ability to annoy everybody, no matter what blood type. While not a galectin thing, it is certainly an antibody thing. I'll see if I can learn more. And I applaud your two servings of black-eyed peas, since they appear to have made you extraordinarily lucky. In fact, an old friend of mine just popped in to ask:



"Is Don still single?"



drop me a note and I'll say more! ~~:-D