Dear Heidi, I was perusing the site and found the following among the recipies: Fruit Cobbler Special. Can be used by All types. Description Wonderful for fruit and dessert lovers. Category Desert. Ingredients 1/4 stick margarine or butter according to blood type 1 cup flour (if wheat free, add 1-2 tsp. xantham gum) 1 cup fructose 1 tsp. baking powder (Featherweight or Rumford) 1/2 cup soy milk or regular milk according to blood type 4 cups canned peaches or other fruit according to blood type 1 cup water 1/2 cup fructose. I believe, it could be inadvertently, that this site puts some readers into ABO compliance error by not monitoring what ingredients are advocated in some recipies. I hope this small alert helps. Regards, Kasia

Hello, Kasia ~ Those recipes were submitted by readers, without our review as you noted. Many of them date from very early on in the website's history -- 1996 or 97 -- even before the time when gums were discovered to be troublesome, and long before the publication of food lists for nonsecretors (making both regular milk and soy milk avoids for some Os, for example).

I would hesitate to undertake a project of bringing every single recipe into compliance, not only because it would entail making each recipe to ensure the changes worked (!!), but I prefer having the entries show as they were submitted. However, I'll look into getting a more noticeable general statement on those pages, to remind everyone to check ingredients as they go. Thanks very much for your note, dear! :-D

Hi. I am wondering if the black spots on sweet potatoes contain mold. These spots are visible by peeling back the skin on a sweet potatoe. Though sweet potatoes are listed as beneficial (for O secretors anyway), they appear -- and taste --distinctly moldy at times. Thanks in advance for clarifying this issue. Nadine.

Hello, Nadine! Brown spots are common on sweet potatoes, especially after cooking when the sugars partially carmelize under heat. Black spots which smell and taste moldy, however, aren't what I'm used to seeing. Molds are killed in the baking or stir-frying process, as they don't like heat, but I think you're getting sweet potatoes which have not been stored in an adequately dry environment before marketing. They should be firm and smooth-skinned, no soft patches, when you purchase them. Have a nice talk with your produce manager if the product tends to be below-par. In a similar vein, I had the very devil of a time getting decent onions or garlic for two solid months until just recently. Damp, damp, damp. Let me know what transpires, Nadine, and thanks for writing! :-D

Dear Heidi, Everyday I read your columm. I'm 43 years old female and my blood type is A+. I live in Lisbon the capital of Portugal. I started about two months ago the blood type diet and I noticed that I feel better when I eat the beneficial foods but sometimes when I'm invited to eat at friends house or restaurants I just eat all the wrong food and afterwards I feel the bad consequences in my body. I have a bad problem with constipation, I know I include lots of fiber in my diet and I also drink enough liquid, I have the encyclopedia and it seems that psyllium fiber is good for me, I have taken the Solgar brand before and I must say that it helps just a little can you suggest some other supplements that would help me solve this problem. Thank you so much. Ana Bela

Greetings, Ana Bela! Welcome to our group!! Both psyllium and flaxseed (linseed, two tablespoons ground & soaked in some water for 15 minutes) are helpful for type As with constipation -- also, drinking at least four liters of water away from meals (with a pinch of sea salt added to each) daily will boost your digestive speed and efficiency. Have warm lemon water in the morning and evening. Another great thing to use is freshly-juiced vegetable and fruit juices -- they work beautifully!

The experience of eating the wrong foods and feeling the results is what most of us go through, especially at the beginning. This is your body's way of contributing to your ongoing education! ;-) You've already discovered that this diet is right for you, just by your reactions to the beneficial and avoid foods. Stick with it, and be gentle with yourself when you slip here & there. You have many happy surprises in store! Keep in touch, Ana Bela! :-D

Hi, Janet here from Donegal. Just received my tablets last week which you recommended, I had to order from America in the end. Still taking them and waiting for the miracle, but they say patience is a virtue. I am very strict on the diet now except for the lapse on sugar occasionally, just need to find some time to make some sweet treats with the veg.glyc., for when that urge sets in. I know in the book it suggests to eat some protein but I find that it is after my main protein meal that I get this real urge for something sweet. My legs feel like collapsing everytime I walk up and down the stairs, my eyes still burn with tiredness.

Don't know if you can answer this one but if my husband and myself are O does that mean all our 3 children must be O.

However, my questions are not to do with me: A friend told me yesterday that the 2 doctors in my local clinic, and their wives, one of them also a doctor, are doing the Atkins Diet as a trial and checking their cholestral, etc. I read somewhere on this site a comment in response to the Atkins Diet but cant find it. Also I looked for a brief summary to print off of the LR4YT diet, but cant find it, I thought it was on the home page. I would love to give this info to them and ask them to consider assessing this diet when they are in the mood!

I have a friend who I do reflexology and reiki for who suffers with migraines, and gets quite sick with them. I have got her to start the diet a few days ago, she is an A. I was looking up migraines but I couldn't find anything specific to A's. Have you any advice for her. I seem to have a problem when I key in any searches, including food values, they always say no known listing. I have to look through all lists.

Also my sister-in-law is pregnant, due in June, and a type A. I have just encouraged her to start the diet. She has epilepsy and not on any medication but has had a few little trances. She doesn't get the full blown fits. I have tried to find info on this site but can find nothing, also nothing in the encylopedia. Have you any advice for her also. I enjoy following your column everyday.

I find it very encouraging to hear everyone telling their trials and tribulations, thank you to them. I hope to send in some good news of my own soon. I would love to find out more about the courses you will be running, will they be announced on the website? Regards, Janet

Hello, Janet! You're probably having high-carb withdrawal, due to your dietary changes away from sugar and grains. It is pesky and horrid but does pass, leaving a healthier metabolism better keyed to run beautifully on the kinds of foods you're best suited to. And if you can resist the sweets now, the process will be over with sooner! ;-) small comfort, but there it is.

If two parents are type O, their offspring will always be type O. Lucky you! ;-) Some have three and four types to shop & cook for, a severe test of commitment I'd say!

In the News & Profiles section on the homepage, right under the Today! section, there is a brief comparison of three diet plans' success with ITP. The Atkins diet is mentioned there. Peter hasn't done a specific critique of that diet, but a brief way of describing the main point here is to say that one size does NOT fit all. ;-) There is a summary of the book Live Right 4 Your Type linked under the Library section on the home page -- and you can pull up lots of simple answers to common criticisms of the BTD by going to the home page and using the Search link at the very top, using "critic" as the keyword.

If you're having trouble with searches, you may be using more than one word. They work only with single-word terms. For instance, go to the bottom of this page and enter the word migraine. There's quite a bit in this column alone. Then do the same search in Ask Dr. D and Ask Doc Bron -- or, once again, use the main search at the top of the home page. Peter's column contains a half dozen articles referencing epilepsy -- just use that term in the Ask Dr. D. search. Cortiguard (specifically, Bacopa monniera) has been shown effective against epilepsy, so there's something she could start with right away.

The IFHI Conference at the SouthWestern Medical College (there was one this past February, and will be another in February 2005 to my knowledge) offer the only certification-track courses of which I'm aware for people who aren't, for example, matriculating naturopathic medicine students. Do keep your eye on the front page here, as we never know what will develop next! ;-) thanks so much for writing in, Janet, and keep those reports coming! I always look forward to hearing from you! :-D

Heidi, I am a 50+ African American O+ Secretor who started the diet about two months ago along with my husband who is also O+ secretor. Presently I take Glucophage and Pravachol. Is there anything you can recommend to replace these medicines gradually? I will follow your advice. Is the O blood type predominant for African Americans? Thank you for your column. Angie

Oh, geeze, you lucky one-type-family people!! *sigh!!* ;-D Identical types, actually -- Rhesus, secretor & all! And both on the diet! hoorah! That's a mighty good job you did when you chose your spouse!! :->

If you want to wean yourself from those two drugs, I'd suggest the following:

(1) Eliminate grains and refined sugar from your diet. I know there are some neutral grains for Os, and secretors are allowed some sugar and molasses, but to get your blood sugar levels where they belong, and especially since you are one of the "original" type Os, I'd take those items out of my diet for the time being. There is absolutely nothing your body will miss from eliminating them.

(2) Use vegetable glycerine as a sweetener. Not only does it do the sweetening job beautifully in every application, but it actively stabilizes carbohydrate metabolism rather than swinging it around as sugar does. For more information, have a look here , here, and here.

(3) Chinese Red Yeast Rice works better than the statin drugs for lowering cholesterol, and it does so safely and swiftly. I wouldn't buy the standard brands in the health food store -- the only source I recommend is the China Red Yeast Rice official supplier. Each batch is assayed individually, and a copy of the government-certified summary document is included with the order. Remember to use the telephone number (in New Jersey) under the "Contact Me" link if you have any questions, and that is the number I used to place my orders.

(4) Water! Drink at least half your body weight in ounces each day. For example, I weigh 128, so I drink at least 64 ounces (a half gallon) and often more. Very important: this should be pure, clean water or spring water (not distilled), and to each quart, add 1/2 teaspoon of gray sea salt. To avoid diluting your digestive juices when you've eaten, drink it at least 1/2 hour before and an hour after meals (for type Os).

I do not know the mechanism of its effectiveness. I can't explain it. It's more than just fending off dehydration. Water itself is perhaps the most powerful healing substance known to all of medical science -- by the way, it has electrical properties the physicists still haven't quite figured out. This technique alone has cured some people of diabetes II. So... drink that water, dear!

(5) If you're interested, pick up a copy of the Eat Right 4 Your Type Complete Blood Type Encyclopedia. It contains protocols for over 300 conditions, among them hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes & related disorders.

OK! Just following these suggestions should put you in wonderful state in short order.

As to the predominance of type O in African-Americans, I'm sure it's at least at the 45% level, and could be much higher (I'd suspect it is, but I've no hard figures-- Perhaps one of our readers has some recent statistics to share with us?) Among Black Africans native to Africa who have never emigrated, it is probably over 80%.

Thanks for writing in, Angie, and please keep in touch with reports, questions, whatever you'd like to offer!

;-D

I am type A, undergoing radiation for colorectal cancer. Because of severe reactions to the radiation (diarrhea, rectal ulcers) I must have food with no fiber. What foods in the A diet would be recommended? Lin

Hello, Lin -- I'm sorry you're going through such a rough time. Fowl and fish contain no fiber. Most people who must follow a no-fiber regimen do best getting a juicer which produces fiber-free juice. You can juice vegetables and fruits, and obtain the benefits of all the water, vitamins and minerals, and trace elements of the whole plants without the fiber. You'd want a "masticating" juicer rather than a centrifugal one. Consult your local health food store for advice on brands which remove all fiber -- they'd be most likely to recognize what you need and where you might find it locally.

I would avoid grains and nuts for the time being, since grains with all the hull and seed removed will create a paste in your digestive system -- the last thing you need right now. The fish or chicken, along with fruits and vegetables, will not create that problem. And do take some beneficial oils each day, as long as your doctor or surgeon approves.

Best wishes to you, and please keep us posted on how you do? :-)