Please , I know everyone is super busy at dadamo.com, but I would love to know more info about Colloidal Silver. I am a type O - and have had 2 major Bladder Infections in the past 1 1/2 years, it seems I may be suseptible- anyways, I am very sensitive to antibiotics, (everytime, i take a course- I get a cold, and a yeast infection)- ontop of that, antibiotics lower (almost negate) the effectiveness of the birth control pill-for me- I recently read miracle testimonies about Colloidal Silver- (a natural antibiotic?)- these women swear to never get another UTI- is taking this silver safe???? does it affect the "Pill", and how do I make sure to take the right amount ? (i had also read about the dangers of mislabeled amounts and overdoses of silver- causing the skin and nails to discolor? please shed some light on this if you can, thankyou! Cassie

Hi there, Cassie! Hey, you know what? You're no more sensitive to antibiotics than anyone else. They kill ALL the beneficial flora & fauna in the gut of everyone, leaving you open to infection again, to colds, and majorly screw up your digestion. That is why I ALWAYS recommend HEALLIX instead of antibiotics for colds & bladder infections. It contains IONIZED SILVER, not colloidal silver (which, as you noted, can build up in the body as "argyria," and produce that bluish skin tone). It also promotes healing with its FULVIC ACID component. Just take a trip over to that website, and read it all. The dosages are certainly safe.

By the way, do you follow the O diet at all? And have you pinned down what seems to be causing the UTIs in the first place? Thanks for writing, and please stop by again! :-D

Hi Heidi, This is my first time writing in. I have been on the diet now for just over 2 months and feel good with it but my weight has not budged. I wanted to ask you for any pointers or tips you might have to help me along.

I am 49 years old, A1 +, nonnie, NN. I take Taraxacum officanale, Bromelain, to help with scar tissue from C-sections and other injuries, and Methy12 plus. I also started Armour 2 months ago, 15 mg. And sublingual progesterone, Progon B, 2 in the morning and 4 at night. This seems to have really helped my migraines which come with my cycle, also got rid of the spotting, and I am sleeping better. It has even gotten my cycle back to being on a regular 27 day schedule. My hair falls out from time to time. Not at present but it has done so in past 2 months.

I am about 100 lbs. overweight. I stick to the A nonnie diet. Here is pretty much what I eat. Breakfast - Rice protein powder in cranberry juice (no added sugar) alternate high protein sprouted bread the other morning for breakfast with a bit of Earth balance.

Sometimes, often around my period, when I feel I need the extra protein, I will eat turkey in the morning.

Lunch - is leftovers from dinner either fish (salmon, cod or occasionally pollack) OR turkey breast slices or burgers. Sweet potato with Earth Balance, lots of green beans, carrots, celery, zucchini and yellow squash. Sometimes I will do greens like swiss chard or spinach when I haven't had my oil serving for the day.

As you can guess, as an NN I don't digest fats well and have many lipomas. I always use olive oil or Earth Balance. I am careful with eggs and soy because I am allergic (whole family has this issue). I do occasionally eat walnuts, pecans and raisins for snacks. I do eat beans occassionally - black beans and rice. I have a reaction if I eat too many beans/legumes. Everything slows down in my digestion and sometimes I even break out in little bumps in my mouth.

I also will get the little bumps in my mouth from avocado and banana. My whole family has this reaction to various things and 2 of my family members go into anaphalatic shock with peanuts.

I have been eating more fruit - pineapple, plums, watermelon, peaches, nectarines. I try to eat one yogurt (from cow's milk) per week but I don't do well with dairy. I used to eat whey protein powder but now just use the rice protein powder.

I take liquid vitamins and calcium.

Dinner - is either fish or turkey, whatever I didn't have at lunch with veggies. Green beans are one of my favorites, usually steamed. Sometimes fruit before bed. If I feel I need more protein during the day I will eat a protein bar, Vegan Organic Food bar, or have more rice protein powder.

I drink about 3 litres per day. Some more, some less. I drink one cup of coffee about every third day. Exercise - gardening and housework and walking. I have had no trouble with constipation or elimination, even before the diet. I do have sore joints and do not eat any nightshades including tomatoes even though they are neutral. I have been healthy and feeling good otherwise. But my weight has not moved up or down. I am still contemplating stomach bypass surgery but am in hopes that the diet will help me lose weight. Help!! Thank you very much. Roberta

Oh, Roberta, I'm so glad you wrote!! The Type A plan will CERTAINLY see you through to your weight loss goals, no worries there!

I want to talk just a bit about what your choices are. If it were the case that diet wouldn't change your weight, bypassing the food route would not change it, either. It would introduce a host of complications, though.

I know several people who've had this surgery, and besides the complications, their weight gradually crept up to what it was before. It's always our diet interacting with our biochemistry that *causes* the extra fat storage -- that cause is not addressed by the surgery, and is still at work unless it is addressed. In addition: unfortunately, even if you find their work ineffective, surgeons give no refunds. :-(

Right now, your body is healing. You've adjusted a number of things just two months ago -- the thyroid hormone replacement, the progesterone, and starting the diet. It's my long experience with type As that their bodies require a somewhat longer time to adjust to new circumstances and "show" results than other types. NEVER think that this plan will not work. It most certainly will. At this time, the protective energies of your body are going into repairing those areas which it, in its infinite wisdom, has decided need attending to right away. Don't despair! There are beneficial changes taking place at this very moment. Be comforted and assured that they're happening. Any and every difficulty which appears to be your lot due to family history is about to change entirely. You are the beginning of a new history.

I have just a few suggestions for you right now. You're doing a splendid job with your diet, and I have just a couple of ideas which will support what you are already doing.

Look into a yoga class, or tape, or meditation instruction. Right now, do a few minutes of alternate nostril breathing just before dinner -- just go to the bottom of this page and enter "nostril" in the search form. You'll find the instructions there.

As a general note: NEVER GO HUNGRY. Always have a little something to eat whenever you feel like eating. Snacking between meals is actively recommended for type A weight loss.

Consider using green tea. I can't say enough the taste of Mr. Itaru's tea, sold in the Store here. One to three cups daily does marvels for type As, as a powerful antioxidant as well as a weight loss aid. It can be any fresh green tea you like -- it will still do the job.

For breakfast, I'd use a good organic raw oatmeal to make cooked cereal, daily. I'd add to it two tablespoons of freshly-ground flaxseed, soaked for ten minutes in a little warm water (four or five tablespoons) to make a "gel." Drizzle some vegetable glycerine on it -- or, if you don't care for sweet breakfast, stir it into fresh fruit juice or just glug three or four tablespoons of it daily as "medicine." It does wonders for the nonsecretor metabolism!!

Next, for dinner: be sure to get a big salad of raw veg, such as lettuces, escarole, dandelion, onions (red are very tasty raw), slivered carrots and celery, broccoli sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, any other B or N veg you'd like to put in there. It's great just dressed with a drizzle of lemon or lime juice and a nice grind of sea salt. Stick to the white fishes generally for now, and the light meat of chicken or turkey.

Can you tolerate miso well? A tablespoon in warm homemade chicken broth is a wonderful way to start or end the day.

Even though you don't suffer from constipation, I would still suggest adding PolyFlora A and ARA6 -- along with Cortiguard. You would not need to take them forever, but they are the cornerstone supps for weight loss.

Does your liquid vitamin contain zinc -- hopefully 25-50 mg? And does your calcium contain a balanced spectrum of magnesium, boron, etc.?

As to water, just drink 1/2 ounce per pound of body weight. I assume you will need about one gallon daily, so adding one liter to your current intake is all it would need. Give each liter a little squeeze of lemon juice or tiny pinch of good gray sea salt. This strategy alone, added to what you are now doing, will get you where you want to go. ;-)

Finally, put the scale away for one month. Instead of weighing, pick a time each week to measure your waist, hips and top of thighs, and keep a record for comparison to the next week's readings. If you prefer weighing, just establish a visiting schedule with the scale -- say, every Monday -- or monthly, two days after your period starts -- and record the results. When it's not a "weigh" or "measure" day, forget all about it! Imagine how you will feel and look in a brief six months' time, and enjoy the anticipation!!

Roberta, I am convinced you're going to see astonishing success with this plan, and I'll help in any way I can to support and offer whatever I can along the way. Stay in touch!! :-D

Hello, my name is Sally and I am a Type B, just starting out on the diet. I am having problems with the grain / bread section of the diet. It seems that a lot of labels do not say if the grain is sprouted or not. In Eat Right for your type page 157, WASA Bread is recommended. The only WASA I can find is crisp bread, ie Fiber rye, however it contains, rye and sesame seeds. Is it the company WASA that is referred to or another type of bread? What kind of Bread: When you are at a subway or a general sandwich store, I am at a loss as to the type of bread to ask for, please give me some suggestions?

Cereal: I have been eating Go Lean by Kashi. I find it fills me up like no other cereal on a small amount. However, I am not sure if this would be on the diet due to it containing soy protein , corn bran….etc.

2) Arrowhead mills - makes spelt flakes and I assume they are ok, however, is a very light cereal.

3) Health Valley - makes real oat bran almond crunch, I am assuming this too is ok, however, the calories are very high. Would you please provide a list of companies and the name of the products that you would recommend for bread, cereals, pasta, grains for type B. I am finding this quite confusing as products have a lot of ingredients, they do not specify if they are “sprouted”. Additionally are there any products for meals on the go you would recommend that could be readily purchased? Is there a product resource list available by blood type?? Thank you sincerely Sally

Hi, Sally! A very warm welcome in!! Don't worry, dear -- you're going through the worst part of the adjustment phase right now. You'll soon have "done your homework" and be settled in with the products that you can depend upon. We all go through it! The beginning is the worst!

If your bread, crispbread or cereal contains any avoids (anything at all from corn, for instance), then it is an avoid.

It would be impossible to list brands of OK cereals and breads, because there are simply way too many -- more arrive every day, including additional varieties/flavors of each brand. What we all do is check the ingredients against our food lists. You will find it much easier if you disregard Eat Right's listings of brand name products -- just go by the separate ingredients and compare them to the food list's separate items. We don't count calories, so putting that aside is a very good idea right at the outset. Just observe the portions & frequencies -- and for that purpose & for quick reference, the updated short food lists are available in small pocket form as the Blood Type B Food, Beverage & Supplement Lists. It is a GREAT shopping list!

Welcome to the BTD, Sally! It will TRULY get much easier as time goes by -- checking ingredients really does become second nature in no time at all. Thanks for writing, and please let me know if I can help further! :-)

Oh, and I have one question of my own: peanuts count as nuts, right? Not legumes? Just checking, since the implications are significant for me right now in terms of frequency.

By the way, that hummus recipe is SOOO delicious, and FILLING, too (hooray!)--even though I reduced the tahini and olive oil to 2 tablespoons each so I could eat the whole thing at once! There's just one problem--it turns out that the baby is ALSO sensitive to sesame seeds! He got an eczema-like rash in the creases of his elbows and knees after I had eaten sesame seeds a few days running. ARRGH!! On the bright side, he doesn't seem to react to any other seeds or nuts.

So, are there any good-tasting substitutes for tahini in hummus? I tried just leaving it out, but I was ravenous again just one hour after eating an entire recipe of hummus (minus tahini) with a handful of brown rice snaps, a handful of baby carrots, and a whole can of no-salt-added corn. I know I could just experiment with the recipe on my own, but I prefer to start with something that someone else knows/thinks tastes good and then modify it! I guess that attitude is a holdover from my finicky childhood. Oh, drat--this post got long! How did that happen? And I was going to be so good and keep it short, because we're all going out to the local farmers' market before it closes. YUM!! Thanks again for your helpful insight! --Sarah in PA

Hi, Sarah!! Yes, peanuts are considered "nuts" for the purposes of portion & frequency in the diet.

And Yes, there's a fine substitute for the tahini -- you might find it even more tasty. Use slightly thinned (with water) peanut, almond, pumpkin seed or walnut butter, in the same quantity. They each impart an ever-so-slightly different taste, but they're all wonderful, and fill the role of tahini perfectly while you're nursing. ;-) enjoy, my dear!! :-D

Dear Heidi, just a quick question: if red wine is beneficial and white wine neutral, how about rose? I really like my rose in the summertime! Marieke (A+)

Hi, Marieke! It would be neutral, as long as it's just wine, no additives. enjoy! :-D

Hi Heidi, How's it going? I just found your answer to my question today so just ignore the message I sent yesterday (silly me), sorry about that. I have another question anyway - When I do the two day gallbladder flush for my liver, not knowing my secretor status should I assume that I'm a non-secretor and drink grapefruit juice instead and if so is there anything apart from grapefruit juice that would do the job, because I tried grapefruit juice (the red variety) for the first time yesterday and can't see myself drinking it for a whole day - yuck!! And when I do the first day with the juice should I eat be eating anything or is it just juice I should be having. Thanks in advance!!! Chantelle

Hi, Chantelle! Going pretty good here. Hey, I despised grapefruit juice when I was a kid, but over time (and effort) in following the diets, I came to actively love it -- so give it a chance and I think you'll find you warm up to it as I did. The bitterness is offputting at first. Ask your friends & neighbors where to get really good sweet red grapefruit? You may have gotten a bum one! OH, and if you're drinking the canned or bottled variety, that stuff can taste awful. The real fresh-squeezed juice should be used for this purpose.

The first day is just juice and water, no solid foods. If you just cannot thole the grapefruit, use red watermelon (again, juice it up fresh at home). Is it in season there now? Heck, do you even HAVE red watermelon there?? Listen, if I'm all wet on this, just send me a list of fruit you CAN get fresh there in mid-winter, and I'll see what I can devise!! Bless ya, dear! :-}

Dear Heidi (and Elizabeth), What amazing readers on this list! I am curious about adrenaline and blood type O's. Elizabeth said " My 80-year old aunt has congestive heart trouble (which she defies!) and high cholesterol. I suggested pantethine, which I believe you have mentioned. As an O, I take it for excess adrenaline, but among its effects is lowering cholesterol (and not damaging the hdl/ldl ratio in the process). " What would you suggest to a blood O-, secretor, MM to lower excess adrenaline and occasional anxiety? Thanks, Karen O

Hi, Karen! I would definitely say EXERCISE (of the vigorous type) is by far the most effective approach for lowering adrenaline and preventing anxiety attacks. A regular program means a few days per week -- which addresses the problem in the way it's meant to be addressed, and which has other lasting benefits. It's what the body needs, and the perceptible adrenaline over-abundance is the message intended to communicate that need to you.

For Os wishing to reduce adrenaline rushes, I would suggest taking a supplement like pantethine, Catechol, even Cortiguard (much of what seems like an adrenaline surge may be a high cortisol output -- this product is helpful for ALL types) ONLY if a regular strenuous exercise program has not been effective within a couple of months, OR for people who are absolutely physically not capable of exerting themselves at all. thanks for your question, Karen!! :-)

Hello Heidi - thanks for responding to my note. My friend, Bill, is quite typical of lots of people I have come across - while he can understand the reasoning behind the BTD diet and other complimentary medicines, he always reverts back to the traditional doctors and allows himself to be used a guinea pig. I am only guessing, but I believe that the thought of changing his lifestyle appears too difficult and popping pills is just easier. Very frustrating! I would love to hear your words of wisdon on how to sway people like this as I feel quite frustrated having to watch them become more unwell. Like my father, a long term smoker, who told me recently that there is a great new pill for the lungs so he has taken up smoking again !!! even though he has water on the lungs. Looking forward to your words of wisdon. Kindest Vicki

Hi, Vicki! In both Bill and your Dad, it sounds like your suggestions are meeting with a firm resistance to change. They are clinging to a comfort zone enabled for them by "pills" and "doctors." All I'd have to offer in this situation would be the effects of the poisons, the benefits of the beneficials, and the example of myself (and others). It seems you've offered all that admirably. If someone who is already ill does not feel moved to make changes, sometimes the progress of the illness will so move them. Be prepared, though, for their decisions to remain incomprehensible to you. :-)

Perhaps Bill trusts his doctors, and lumps this plan in with "quacks." Maybe he thinks he'd have to change his lifestyle entirely and immediately in order to use the BTD, and feels that's a huge and unpleasant task for such unknown, "uncertain" results, whereas the "idea" of doctors is a "certain" one for him and gives him comfort. That comfort, if it's based on a true faith in his doctor's ability, is a healing component in itself. However, it might help to assure him that the diet can be approached slowly, and taken at his own speed.

If Bill got rid of just a couple of major avoids, he'd soon see for himself the remarkable and undeniable results. He might also save a ton of money on doctors and drugs. Of course, if "it's all paid for by the insurance," most people will choose to go that way unless they are personally convinced they're being robbed of life. And they've been stripped of so much money over their lifetimes, nearly everyone puts cheapness at the top of their criteria for everything -- food, supps and medical care included. Right now, his treatment may seem "free" to him, whereas changing foods and buying better quality items looks like a dubious expense. If, however, he's at all willing to pay something and take MORE pills, DEFLECT could give him a taste of the improvements he'd have by following the diet.

And your Dad is plain in love with smoking. Like an impassioned suitor, he will be blind to his beloved's faults, and will welcome ANY means to overcome any obstacle to being in 'her' company. ;-) Since he's at least open to the supp side of complementary medicine, you might suggest that he get a mini-trampoline and bounce gently on it for five or ten minutes daily. The bouncing could reverse the course of the emphysema which is about to make his life a nightmare -- IF he stopped smoking for good as well. As it is, it will slow the course of the disease. And he might be open to using Respiratone -- it has definite healing and rejuvenating effects on lung tissue. As I say, approach people through whatever "door" they leave open for you. Sometimes it more like a cramped crawlspace than a door, but at least it's an opening! LOL!

I think you've done a lot, Vicki. These guys sound pretty intelligent and aware of their options. If you find a way to make the suggestions I noted, and then just stay available to them in a friendly fashion, I can't see what more you can do. I just hope you can 'detach' from whatever decisions they make, once you've extended your knowledge, caring, and openness to them.

VERY best wishes to you and your curmudgeonly guys, and I send you my gratitude for this humanitarian work you're doing. Be well, and know it! :-D