Dear Heidi, Regarding question from Pat on 6th April 2003, I am blood type O, my husband is AB and we have 4 children. 2 sons are type B, 1 son type A and our daughter is AB. We have all had our blood type correctly checked and they are all our own children,what about that then!!! I eagerly await your comments or observations. Sorry about the loss of your Mum, lovely to have had the privilege with her for all those years and bet you benefitted from that,but still a loss. I am also very fortunate, in that my Mum who is 86 years of age and type A, is still quite active and we all benefit from her in lots of ways.Keep up the good work!Marie.

Type O Mom & AB Child? Beats me, Marie! I've put out a call to the experts, but no one has come forth with an explanation other than "hey -- test the kid again." Now you can turn to your daughter and say, "Heidi says you're not possible, dear. What do you think of that?" Maybe SHE can explain it! :-)

I wish your Mum continued best of health and exuberant appreciation of her family! thanks so much for your kind thoughts, Marie! :-D

Hello Heidi I am an aromatherapist and individually blend body care and therapeutic products to suit my individual clients' needs. I have been on the BTD diet for some three months and definitely feel an overall improvement. While making up some blends the other day it occurred to me that some of the ingredients I use, eg avocado oil, may not be good for some clients. Should I take into consideration the blood type of my clients? Looking forward to your response. Dagmar

Hi, Dagmar! We don't worry about the status of food items, such as oils, applied externally. The values listed assume those foods will pass through the alimentary canal. If any organic solvent is used in a compound used topically, in that case I'd watch for ABO-related avoids. It goes without saying that any individual may have particular sensitivities to topicals, but usually you'll find this is unrelated to ABO. Thanks for writing, and best wishes for your success! :-D

Is wheatgrass beneficial for type O blood? I understand that the grain wheat is not, but I was not sure about the green part of the plant. Are pinto beans beneficial for type O blood? In one book it say that it is, while another says it is an avoid. Please help me to understand which one it is. Thank you, John

Yes, wheatgrass/juice is good for everyone. Pinto beans are OK for type O nonsecretors, but avoids for secretors. :-D

Just a note for John with the type O wife who has anemia--has she been tested for celiac disease? Anemia is one of the major symptoms...sometimes it's the only symptom. Treatment is eating no gluten (avoid grains except rice)...a few in my family have this problem...good luck! Jennie

Thanks for that tip, Jennie! Hey, John! What do you think? :-D

Hello Heidi, I'm here to bother you again. I am an A secretor. My question is about stocks from avoid meats. I note that certain meats are A avoids not because of their lectin content but because we As don't have enough stomach acid to digest them. Examples are beef, duck & lamb. Is there any reason to avoid cooking with stocks made from these meats or more properly their bones, bearing in mind there will be little or no actual meat in them & whatever protein is there will be fairly well broken down? Love, Sarah B XXX

Ah, hello Sarah! That is my understanding of it, with the only addition that it might be best to skim the fat pretty aggressively. Enjoy! :-D

Hi Heidi, I'm concerned about this new illness - SARS, as I prepare to fly across the country to visit my son in 2 weeks. As an O non secretor, I'm afraid that my body will just let this germ right in, (as I don't have those 'guards at the gate' that secretors have). Is there anything I can do to protect myself other than wearing a surgical mask? Thanks, Bea

Hello there, Bea! I'd use Heallix at the dosage recommended on the bottle. This is just the sort of "public health concern" that Leo had in mind when he created it. Enjoy your trip, and no worries, OK? take good care, dear! :-D

Heidi - My husband & I just started this diet - I'm an A while he's a B. What is confusing me at this moment is that whole wheat is to be avoided and yet Puffed Rice cereal contains wheat flour and is alright. If a product contains "wheat flour" it's OK but if it contains "whole wheat" it isn't? Sandy

Hi, Sandy! Welcome, dear!!

Puffed rice itself is OK. If the product you're buying contains whole wheat -- first of all, that's a shocker ~~ never seen anything but plain puffed rice in big bags with nothing else in there, but anyway... that's a no-no for you two. First rule of the BTD: Read, Read, Read Those Labels. Second rule: you guessed it, same as the first one. Lots of tricky products out there, so plan for an extra half hour shopping, every time, just so you can check every ingredient! Once again, welcome, and please stop by with any Qs that arise!

:-D

Dear Heidi, Still haven't taken time for the long question, but do have a short question arriving from your column today. You said salmon changed back to Beneficial, but is it still Neutral for O's (secretors and non-secretors)? I did check the Typebase, which still lists it as Neutral, but am a bit confused by the column of today regarding salmon. As always, thanks for your answers, and I do so enjoy reading your "stuff" daily, Abby



Allo, Abby! My understanding was that Sarah was referring to the drop in status for Bs and ABs to AVOID, but I think it would be clearer for everyone if I corrected that text to refer her to TYPEbase. done!! Thanks, dear! :-D

Heidi, I enjoy your information, and all the great people who write in with questions. Here is a recipe to satisfy the recent "crunchy pretzel" craving for Ruth. Preheat oven to 350. Stir one egg, a handful (about a cup, loose) of shredded mozzarella (I'm a B so I use mixed mozzarella and cheddar), and a tablespoon of olive oil (I actually haven't tried it with olive oil; I use soft butter, but olive oil should work), in a big mixing bowl. It won't look like much. Add seasonings to taste: I use parsley and basil flakes, but if you can't use cheddar, you may want something stronger, such as garlic, or salt, maybe rosemary. If you wanted something sweet, you could try diced dried fruit instead. Now pour 3 cups of puffed millet into the bowl. Puffed millet tends to fly everywhere so use a big bowl. Believe it or not, there is enough liquid in one egg and the oil to calm it down. Stir until it tends to clump. Spread it into a pie plate or similar size square pan. I use a glass one and it does not stick. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes before cutting or breaking into pieces. It will come out crunchy and chewy. It might make a good alternative pizza crust, too. I tend to eat the whole thing myself! Three cups of millet uses up the grain allowance fast, but it cooks down to less than two cups, so it can't be that bad... I've only found millet at Whole Foods, but puffed rice works, too, though it is less crunchy. I think the above ingredients are okay for all types (as noted). (Once cooked, the millet once again tends to fly about, so be forewarned.) Sandra

Many thanks! Sounds like fun with all that flying millet! :-D

I have a comment for Sarah (the one who asked you for Bryan's menu). I have found that making a chart to keep track of the portions and frequencies of the different food groups is exceptionally helpful to me (an A+ secretor). Without it, I would eat too much chicken and dairy and skimp on the beans, fruit, and fluids. I used a spreadsheet program to create a column for each food group (poultry, beans, nuts, grains, etc.) with the group name at the top and the portion size (e.g. 4-6 oz.) right underneath it. Then I left blank cells (boxes) underneath to indicate the number of servings I should eat. I grayed out the cells for "optional" servings. For instance, I can eat nuts 4-7 times per week, so the NUTS column has 4 white cells followed by 3 gray cells, for a total of 7 cells. Then I played with the appearance (using boldface type and heavier outlines) until it looked easy to read. I actually made two separate charts: one for foods whose frequencies are "per week" and another for vegetables, fruits, and fluids, whose frequencies are "per day." (I smooshed seven of these daily charts into one big chart and printed everything on one page so I need only one piece of paper per week.) Now I just print out a bunch of charts whenever I run out of the last batch. If this sounds too complicated, you could certainly make a chart on graph paper (or even plain paper) and make a bunch of photocopies. It will probably take a while to create a chart that you're satisfied with, and you might forget to use it at first (either that or you'll be worried that you've just developed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder!) but it's worth it to free up all that brain space that is currently dedicated to keeping a running tally of everything you've eaten this week! And it has certainly helped my compliance level to see in black and white where my consistent weaknesses are. Just thought I'd share my idea--and I hope the description makes sense. Hey, Heidi, is there any way I could share a visual of my chart so more right-brained readers can see what I tried to describe? --Sarah in PA

Hello there, Sarah! Most of us come round to making up some sort of chart to get things organized. That sounds like a great one! Feel free to email it to me (click on the "About" link at the top of this page), and I'll see if my limited graphics skills are up to the challenge. :-D

Heidi, Thank you! For the food storage modifications. I have been trying for weeks, but couldn't figure it out. That one month kit is for one person. Highly Grain based. I will take it from here and send back the smaller kits FYI. I have a question in relation to the ER4YB in the 4th Trimeseter guidelines. (I am way past that, He is 16 months now, but still nursing, only started solids recently). The Super diet-Says Ben veg 3-4 times Weekly and greens 2-3 times daily=4 servings of veg a day- Shouldn't it be 5-7 (O Sec). I need about 2000 calories a day- Is this the lower number of servings or Higher or in the middle? Thanks for all of your help again-You are terrific. Angel



Here you go, Angel! And by the way, I go by the servings listed in Live Right, so that's the source to use. :-D

I would like to respond to Angel’s food storage dilemma. My husband (O non-secretor) and I (A secretor) are familiar with the program she mentions. Since our diets are so diverse, it’s been a very challenging adjustment in regards to time, money and energy. I don’t have any great general plan for BTD storage but I can offer you recipe ideas for O non-secretors using home storage in addition to Heide’s recommendations. First, a #10 can holds about 12 cups of spelt, and the same is true for Kamut berries. For vegetables and fruits, we use a lot of dried, frozen and canned items like pumpkin (great for puddings), mushrooms, onions, garlic, spices, herbs (like basil, oregano, kelp, etc.), pineapple juice and chunks. My husband has a favorite breakfast drink that I fix for him. I use two cups frozen blueberries (16 oz.. bag = 4 cups, and is a great food storage item if you have a freezer), soaked in two cups pineapple juice, (we even use the pulp that sits in the pineapple juice can); 1 can of pineapple chunks & juice; 1 large unsweetened can of pears; 6 ripe bananas (if there’s a sale I buy a lot of them and freeze the ones I don’t use, right in their skins). Then I add 2 T. or more of Harmonia Deluxe, (about 2 bottles of it lasts over a month). I have to divide the ingredients to blend two batches in our blender. It makes about 6 to 7 tall 16-oz. glasses. For Kamut ginger molasses cookies I grind about 2 to 2 ½ Kamut berries, enough to make 3 cups of flour which is what the recipe calls for and makes enough cookies to last him 2 weeks (3 a day). So a #10 can of Kamut lasts close to 3 months with just this recipe. He feels satisfied and happy and has lost about 15 pounds since last November, and in spite of the holiday goodies he finds hard to resist. He shot an elk last December and skinned and dressed it himself, and cut it up for jerky, steaks, & stews. I’ve made stew out of it using enough meat, dried veggies, broth, kelp, spices, herbs & beans to make lunches for 5 to 6 days, just cooking it all in the crock pot. I’ve just had to do a lot of experimenting with old recipes, buying storage items that are compatible with his diet and have on hand ready to use. The good thing about it is that I can rotate all these items and not just let them sit on the shelf. The “egg” issue is another problem we’ve had to deal with, since eggs don’t store for long term, but I use them a lot in his recipes. We belong to a natural food coop where you can get almond butter cheaper than at a HFS, and I read somewhere that you can substitute ¼ cup of almond butter for an egg. We also have a #10 can of powered whole eggs (96 eggs worth, to feed the whole neighborhood) which we have on hand for emergency reasons. Also, the Shelton turkey chili and Shelton broth cans from the coop, along with 5- pound cans of chicken go a long ways to stretch a meal. We plan to do some rainbow trout fishing this summer for immediate use and freeze the rest. My diet needs differ so significantly from my husband’s that I find it is easier to have my own individual menu plan rather than combining foods that we both share AND like, which are very few. However, I will not elaborate on my menus since I’ve taken so much time and space already. Hope this helps some. Sorry this was so long. Susan

That wasn't long, it was detailed & fascinating & very useful! Thanks so much for posting it, Susan! :-D

Hi Heidi, I want to share my source for vegetable gylcerine with you. The company is Azure Standard in Dufur, Oregon, www.azurestandard.com. They sell veg glycerine in pints ($4.25) quarts ($6.50) and gallons ($18.00) and they ship UPS. This company carries many natural products and I order from them monthly. I called before I ordered for the first time and their product is food grade. Hope this helps people who have a hard time finding this product. Karen



Wonderful! I see I'm going to have to put up a Veg Gly resource page! Many thanks, Karen ~~ I'm sure others are thanking you, as well!! :-D