Hello Heidi, I'm pregnant (8 weeks) and type A (secretor status not known). I'm taking a standard pregnancy multi-vit supplement plus acidopholus while I wait for Live Right 4 Your Baby and the D'Adamo type A pregnancy supps to be shipped over to me in the UK. But I'd really appreciate your advice on the following: If I am eating a healty diet AND taking supplements, can I overdose on certain vitamines and minerals? And could this be harmful for the developing foetus? The National Health Service in Britain does NOT recommend supps during pregnancy, apart from Folic Acid, as it's impossible to regulate what an individual is already getting in the diet and, therefore, determine what extra doses are needed. They claim supplementation COULD lead to chemical inmbalance and be damaging to the developing baby. For example, I just bought some nutritional yeast then realised that, combined with my daily multi-vit, I'd be getting excessive doses of certain B vits along with various others like potassium, sulpur etc. That's just an example - I could have chosen any food stuff. The prolem is, I'm not a scientist and I don't know what's dangerous and what's not. Yet if I stop taking the supplements, I might be missing out on other essential vits and minerals. It's really hard to know what to do. As you know, the first 3 months are crucial in the baby's development because it's making all the vital organs, brain, nervous system etc. The last thing I want to do is damage my baby because I ate too much of a good thing. What do you think? Also, could you recommend a good smoothie or snack I could make when I'm feeling queezy and the last thing I want to do is cook or eat. Thanks so much. Katy

Hello, Katy! For the most part, your diet should provide everything you need. Folic acid is a good addition, and for now I'd concentrate on the beneficial foods (all organic, OK?) emphasizing leafy vegetables, fish, nuts, beans, seeds and fruits. When you get the book, you'll have the full low-down on which herbs or supps are good for you, and which are to be avoided. For now, the low doses of your multi combined with the foods shouldn't do you or the baby any harm.

How about a cup of pineapple chunks, half a cup of strawberries & a half-cup of soft tofu? Thin with juice or water (makes a double batch)! :-D I think that may keep the queezies at bay!

My very best wishes to you and your growing babe, Katy! Drop me a line now & again, let me know how you're doing! :-D

Thank you for your reply to my question about my son. I am preparing my whole presentation to him, and I wanted to give you a little more information about his condition, which I just learned. He has a constant pain in the right lower abdomen, which has never been explained in any of his many tests. This shifts around. He wakes up with nausea and dry heaves. He has numbness in his feet, legs and hands, and sometimes a prickly numbness elsewhere as well. He is really thin--no muscles and no fat either. I have a feeling the B12 is going to help, and the other supps you mentioned as well. If the added info here seems to call for addtional suggestions, please let me know. Meanwhile I'm going to propose the first step of the probiotics, methylcobalamin, and Cortigard. And try to persuade him off of sugar and dairy. I did give him some sips of a fresh-sqeezed vegie juice I had, and he pronounced it delicious. Regarding the question on where to get pure and effective supps, I'll work up a list and send it! Cyndi

Great, Cyndi! You're making wonderful progress with him already. Nothing more convincing for newbies than great-tasting food ~~ I'm so pleased he liked that juice! I'll await your supp list! :-D

All my thanks for your daily answers. I am O, probably no- secretor, my children also. We are all the 3 ADHD, on the diet for 1 year, strict for me and a little less strict for them: my level of energy and attention is past from 20 to 50 %, what was already a big victory for me but there is still 50 % of deficit. I did not adjust either Candida. For my boys, I notice that they are less violent when they do not eat wheat and they digest better without milk. They take recently Ritaline because they have enormous problems of concentration and so big school problems. The encyclopedia is not translated into French ( will it be one day ?) so any protocol for the ADHD and the treatment of Candida is the welcome. One thousand thanks, Anne-Françoise.

Hello, Anne-Françoise ~ I'm sure the Encyclopedia will be translated someday, but in the meantime I hope you will pick up a copy of it and write to me with questions if there is anything you don't understand. The reason I suggest this is that there are three protocols for each of those conditions you are asking about. Each of the six protocols has several items involved, along with additional notes -- so it would be a very long answer for you, and I'm afraid I'd make an error somewhere in typing all the names and numbers!

For type O, you can start with pycnogenol: 60-100 mg daily for 2 weeks, then 30-50 mg. Vitamin B6: 20-30 mg per kg of bodyweight. Calcium, 500-750 mg daily. Those are the adult dosages. Also, when you write back, let me know the ages of your children in order to figure out how much, and what, of all of it would help them. Best wishes to you and your kids, and please do write again! :-)

Hi Heidi! I'm still on the B vitamin/brewer's yeast roll, wanted to comment on the readers with heart palpitations & urinary tract trouble -- heart palpitations can come from a lot of things, but for me it's definitely linked to the vit B's. I also found internet info that vit B's can affect absorption of zinc & vit A, and deficiency of those two is thought to make the body lose the amino acid taurine through the urine -- and taurine plays a major role in heartbeat regularity. (I can't prove the B-zinc-vit A link, internet info is suspect to me, but it does seem likely since I know from better resources that B vitamin deficiency affects metabolism of protein, fats & carbs -- pretty much everything, and that would affect a lot of nutrients.) On urinary trouble, my old nutritional chiro said that is often linked to B vits, especially folic acid. Folic acid deficiency can lead to urinary tract irritation, contributing to UTI's he said. Also contributes to incontinence, because the irritation may be just enough to make you suddenly need to go when you don't really. So I'm still pushing the brewer's yeast for B vits. Though the rosacea I'm working on with the B vits just got worse again when my chemical burns got worse (chemical burns cycle, heal & then burn again.) But I'm still very happy, because the burns were much better than they have been, barely there a all -- I think my body can detox the chemicals through the liver better with the B vits, so they don't have to burn out through the skin. Rosacea probably won't go away til the burns finish & I can use the B vits for better things. Sorry this went kind of off the BTD subject! I am thanking you for your helpful column! And looking forward to my next batch of your molasses chocolate chip cookies! Yum. (o: Maia

P.S. -- Woops! When I said internet info is suspect, didn't mean you! Only resources where I don't know their information foundation & motivation. Woops! Foot in mouth!

Hey now! Don't start thinking I'm not suspect!! SUSPECT US ALL!! :-D

Thanks for your observations! They're such a wonderful contribution to the wealth of knowledge everyone is so generous with... it's a joy!! :-D

Heidi,thanks for your response about my wrestler son, Andrew. College wrestling weight classes range from 125 to 285, and the last weight below heavy-weight is 197, so Andrew is already above the next lowest weight class, and he is the only one who can go heavy on the team - they already have four 197ers. An 88-lb. range is huge, and obviously, the more muscle-weight (not fat) Andrew has, the better, since many of the wrestlers are at the top of their range. Andrew wrestled heavyweight as a high school senior weighing 215 and had a 45-3 record, but we worried about the risk from much heavier opponents, and his college coach wants him to gain, as well. Gaining weight is not the typical problem for wrestlers! I want him to gain it safely, and using the foods A's can eat. Is there any limit on the amount of protein he can ingest daily from soy, other beans, nuts, seeds,fish and poultry? He just burns energy at a tremendous rate, and really has to work at gaining - there is not an ounce of fat on him, now. Any daily tips you can give on diet will be much appreciated. And thanks for the creatine info! Kim

Ah! Thanks for that, Kim! Yeah, he's almost 40 pounds above the 197 level, so the idea of stepping down is a no-go. I was thinking that he'd be facing plenty of guys near the top of the HW range, and hoped to work him down to the next class for that reason, but that's OK, we'll move on! Wrestling success is as much skill as weight (a lot more, actually), so I'm sure he'll have a great season just with the better diet which you're doing such a great job promoting to him!

The only limits he should think about are proportional. Look at the portion/frequency tables and keep them in balance one to another. He'll be eating somewhat larger portions on a more frequent basis. For now, I'd add 50% to each portion, and spread the servings out into four to six meals. He'll want a good meal in the morning, a normal lunch, and decent-sized but not enormous dinner, but the snacks and shakes in-between (and one small snack or shake two hours before sleeping) will be part of the "spread." The idea is to avoid overstuffing him, but have him snack whenever he's hungry between meals. Every food group should get the same boost. The vitamins & minerals from veg & fruit are just as important to his muscle growth and stamina as the proteins -- they all work together!

Best of luck, Kim, and please keep us posted on his progress over the summer!! very exciting! :-D

Hello Heidi! It's Yelena again. (I am B+ secretor). Doctor Adamo writes in his book that one should not use the protocols from the book without a help of a naturopathic provider. Is it possible for you to forward the below information to Doctor Adamo, so that he can either correct it or perhaps I should make an appointment with him. I need to know the total costs and how many visits I need because my insurance does not cover any alternative medicine, just as it does not cover my ancologist and the ancological center too. Below is some details on what is going on with me. Following the protocols without professional help is too complicated a procedure, and probably not effective. I can be contacted by e-mail: fisher@escape.com. I have been on a ABO diet since November 2002. Unfortunately I have also had a continuous stress during all this time. Apparently I was unable to contain the stress. The surgery is a result. Funny, just a month before the surgery I had a physical exam, and my physician have not noticed anything wrong. My diagnosis was "Sarcoma of the stomach with metastases in uteris and pancreas". The surgeon has also removed a gallbladder, half of the stomach, uteris and a piece of pancreas. During the surgery they have used a local chemotherapy in the abdomen, but only for a short time. This week they want to start a introvenous chemotherapy. After the surgery my hemoglobin level was at 8-25, (with normal range 13-35). We are using 5 protocols from the book. I take: chemotherapy protocol: bupleurum (620 mg capsule once a day), Itaru green tea, probiotic; surgery recovery: plantain (790 mg) once a day L-Arginine (500 mg) once a day zinc 25 mg once a day Vitamin C from Rose Hips (do not take it because the stomach can not take anything acidic) Bromelain 500 mg - do not take because feel pain from it; cancer prevention: coQ10, 50 mg x 2 day Liver Support: Beet Root 100 mg Licorice Root from a capsule Yelena

Hello, dear Yelena! If you made an appointment with Peter, you'd be waiting for a very long time -- perhaps a year. Do call the phone number for the clinic, and see if Doc Bron can see you soon. The clinic info and address/phone are located on this page, linked as "Clinic" at the top of the home page. The phone number is 203/ 348-4800. They will explain the costs involved, and let you know how you can send your records and the report above to them. Love to you, and warmest best wishes!! :-)

Hello Heidi, Thanks to Glenn for posting the updated information on the pathology lab in Melbourne-I've made an appointment for the secretor test as I'm like a dog with a bone, and want to make sure that my intuition is matched by science. Next, I've just enjoyed reading about the mitochondrial DNA links from each of us back to a single past gggggreat grandmother (Prof Bryan Sykes,"The seven daughters of Eve" and wondered at what point in this scientific journey does Peter's work intersect with Sykes? Also,I've looked at Peter's module on gene theory and anthropology and it seems to imply a different hypothesis than the one in his printed books where you get the impression that the A and B mutations happened fairly recently in response to dietary changes in the landscape, while in the module the implication is that the ABO genes have always been with us. I know you have touched on this in past letters, so hope you can update me. Thanks for your reply about the volume of drinking water.I am experimenting to find the right balance between good digestion and acceptable micturation keeping in mine that as I am an A and really don't do much sweaty exercise and it is coming on to winter here, my water requirements could be less than prescribed. Salut- Jenny

:-D "acceptable micturation," eh? :-D I admire your elegant locutions, dear! By the way, over a couple of weeks' time of increased water intake, the micturation frequency will fall back to pre-super-hydration levels. ;->

I've not read that book, but Peter does give some timelines in BTD which may aid you in discovering the answer to your question. It also gives a simplified version of the ABO developments (types "arising" at various times) in order to communicate the basic idea to a wide audience. The rigorous answer is, yes - they've always been with us. Mutations are (or were) constantly in the works, however, spurred by the necessity of adaptation to new climates and foods. Many thanks for writing, Jenny!! :-D