Heidi, I was re-reading the following Bladderwrack information on the website tonight and came across something concerning herpes. NAP Knowledge Base - Fucus vesiculosus " Bladderwrack" Fucus vesiculosus: Anti-microbial Activity The fucoidan found in bladderwrack inhibits the growth of many unfriendly bacteria and viruses. Some of the viruses this compound is antagonistic to include herpes simplex virus, human cytomegalovirus, and human immunodeficiency virus. Bladderwrack has been found to agglutinate the cells of several strains of Candida. Bladderwrack also has a toxic effect on some strains of E. coli and all strains tested of Neisseria meningitidis.

Do you think this info would be useful considering the recent herpes topic? Don

I sure do, and thank you MOST kindly, Don, for this very timely reminder!!:-D

Hi Heidi ThanK you very much for that A metabolic protocol!!! I searched the database but could not find anything in answer to this question - can A's use grapeseed oil??? I saw this oil for the first time on SA supermarket shelves this weekend and due to the fact that grapeseed extract is supposedly good to take, I was wondering about the oil. Currently I use olive oil only. Thanks a million!!!

Second question - I asked in a previous message about the use of Fucus Vasiculosis (hope my spelling is correct) for A's as it is mentioned in LR4YT as a lectin blocker for A's. (Which I was very glad about, because I cannot order Deflect etc over the web and this product is available here in SA). Maybe you did not see this question in my previous message, but I was hoping that you could clear this up for me as in the column it is only mentioned as being good for the O group! Yet - it is mentioned in the book under the chapter dealing with the A group. Thanks - hope you can help me with this and thank you for the time and effort you put into answering all my questions - much appreciated! eurika

Hi there, Eurika! Nice to hear from you again!!

Here's a November 2002 OTD column on grapeseed oil. ;-)

Fucus vesiculosis may be used by all types! See Don's post just above for some of its magnificent qualities. :-D I wonder if you noticed in my original reply to your NAP supp question that forms of payment other than credit card might be used -- I understood that was the obstacle to your ordering them online? Just a reminder that a quick email to NAP would answer that question for you, if you're still interested. Blessings, dear, and keep smiling!! :-D

Hi, Heidi. I wish I could cheer the recent posting for Sunspire carob chips, since I've been looking for compliant chips for years. However, here are the ingredients, posted at S'spire's site. Looks like an avoid to me (an O secretor). Whole grain malted barley and corn, fractionated palm kernel oil, carob powder, soy lecithin (added as an emulsifier). Lisa

Hello, Lisa! I thought Conrad might be referring to something similar to the red bagged "Unsweetened Carob Chips" rather than the green bagged "Vegan Carob Chips" (the product whose ingredients you listed). The "Unsweetened" ones in the red bags contain dairy -- but his source is a bulk product, so not sure they're the same at all.

Did you look into the unsweetened carob chips Nina mentioned? the ones by NOW called carob drops? I guess I will have to go back to my old HFS and get their source for their bulk unsweetened carob "drops," which look like flattened little chocolate kisses -- I remember that they contained no sweetener or dairy. Will report back when I can, don't give up hope! :-)

Dear Heidi, On the "egg" issue, thought I'd pass on some info I recently read on a leaflet I got at my health food store which was put out by a French organic foods company.

1. Never wash an egg - it destroys the "cuticle" which protects the egg against bacteria.

2. Take eggs out of the refrigerator one hour before you are going to use them (this is for better taste).

3. Ways to verify that the egg is fresh: A) break it into a plate, and if the yellow is well-round like a ball and the texture of the white is somewhat dense and does not run too much - it is fresh; Place the egg in a glass of water. If it floats in a horizontal position, it is very fresh. If it becomes semi-horizontal, it is a week old. If it floats in a completely vertical position, it should not be eaten.

4. Guidelines for using eggs based on their age/freshness are: A) can be used raw up to a week old; poached or fried up to 2 weeks; C) scrambled or omelette up to 3 weeks old; D) hard-boiled or ingredient in a cooked dish, up until 4 weeks.

I have used fresh, organic eggs without any problem raw in steak tartare, etc. without any ill effects for years. Now, it would seem to me that there is a small problem with the idea of checking the freshness by putting it in a glass of water, when one is told not to wash the egg! Guess I should ask about that next time I'm in the store - or call the company and put it to them.... Anyway, I think that you are correct in what you say about buying only known quality organic, free-ranged eggs. Don't know if this is worth printing, but thought I'd pass it on - you know how the French are about there food! a bientot, Abby

:-) Hey, VERY useful tips, Abby. Thanks so much for putting them all under "one roof" here.

By the way, commercial egg washing is quite different from just dropping it in water right before using it, so no worries there. AND, factory egg producers in the U.S. routinely wash their eggs (you can really tell with the white ones, whose shells have no surface texture and begin to look more translucent than opaque) because the various "committees" have decided it "works." ~~:-E Something on the order of how well that apocryphal committee succeeded in designing a horse....

;-D

Regarding Salmonella and raw eggs. I note your recipe for Mayonaise calls for lemon juice. Lemon juice is an antiseptic. We need a biochemist to tell us if that is sufficient to kill Salmonella.

But the main thing to consider is time spent unrefrigerated. Salmonella grows. A minor exposure from an egg crate becomes worse if the egg or mayonaise is left out at room temperature.

I love fresh-brewed iced tea. After a Salmonella scare in southern California, many restaurants replaced it with fake tea. In that case, the problem was inadequate cleaning of the tea urns from one batch to the next. Food safety practices require tea to be thrown out every few hours. I know Jack-in-the-box dumps theirs every six hours and cleans the urn. Their tea always tastes fresh and they emphasise food-safety (handling, if not dietary).

I have always wondered if the antiseptic/antibiotic I put in it (sugar) is of any value. And how many other things have become tradition because of their safety value? We know that the closer a people live to the equator and hot climate, the more antiseptic spices they use.

A famous Salmonella outbreak was traced to contaminated marijuana by the CDC. I couldn't say whether it should be kept refrigerated.

Bottom line, it may be all around us, but we have natural defenses and some common sense ways to reduce the risk. Sandra

~;-> Incisive points, Sandra.

Local traditions vary greatly. For example, my English friends are mystified by the American habit of refrigerating eggs. Well, one practical consideration may be their climate in contrast to ours (or, our many climates, including desert and subtropical). Another element coming into play may be the average size of the Yank's fridge compared to the Pom's. ;-> I don't refrigerate mine because (1) they are fresh and unfridged when purchased, and (2) once removed from the fridge, the condensation forming on the egg breaches the cuticle and porous shell, which sort of defeats the contemplated sanitary purpose of fridging them.

I guess the moral of the story is not to put your marijuana in the same cupboard where your eggs go? ~;-D Seriously, I want to encourage everyone to focus on obtaining nasties-free food at the source -- but I understand the concerns many have over the salmonella issue generally, so I hope everyone learns as much as possible, then does what he or she feels is most sensible to do. Best wishes to all, and thank you again for your thought-provoking message & dry humor, Sandra! ~;-D

Aloha Heidi, My wife and I searched everywhere for that magnesium reference and all we could find was a reference about manganese on pg. 89 of BTD. My mistake and I apologize for that. An update on my tinnitus research; I did my tests and my thyroid came out low (average of three days was 97.3 for my temperature) and I do have alot of the symtoms for low thyroid. So I'm off to do the protocals in the Encyclopedia, thanks so much for the thought that it could be a thyroid problem. I'm excited to get started and by the way, negative on the cancer, yeah hoo! Being I'm an "A" secretor, that's a relief. Carl R.

Hey there, Carl ~~ That's so good to hear about the magnesium thing, thanks VERY much for getting back to us on that one!

And WHOO-HOO on the cancer test -- I expected no less, of course!!! I'll look forward to hearing how the protocols go for you -- ain't it great to find a good avenue for investigation (in this case, the thyroid)? Keep me posted, and keep SHINING!! :-D

Heidi- Love your column and I find it very helpful, I have only been doing the BTD for 2 months now and love it. I have already lost 5lbs and am starting to feel much better. However, I am a little confused and hope that you can clear up my head for me. In the BTD book it states that we should avoid Whey, but we can have yogurt. I was always thinking that Whey was the yellowish liquid that forms on the top of yogurt. Am I correct or have I just gotten my wires Crossed. Oh, I'm an A+, don't know the secretor stuff.

Also, I have a very versatile home with 3 different types in it, A, O, & B. Cooking for everyone has become quite a challenge, but we're getting through it. Would buying the Cooking Right for your Type help in this?

Oh, yeah, one more question.... I made the Quinoa Applesauce cake out of the BTD book, but instead of maple sugar i used Stevia and the cake was very bitter. Not even my 2 year old would eat it. What did I do wrong? Was it the Quinoa or the Stevia? Any suggestions on how I could sweeten this cake without killing my family? Thanks for your column and all your help. Sandie :0)

Hey there, Sandi -- SO nice to hear you're prospering, and bringing your 3-type family right along with you! Well done!! :-D

Whey is the liquid portion of milk, which is separated from the solids (the curd) in, for example, butter and cheese making. Whey can be concentrated to a powder, at which point it is sold as the "whey protein" supplement, and used as an ingredient in some food products. In fermented products, it can be yellowish -- and that is indeed what you're seeing floating atop your yogurt. ;-) That doesn't mean the yogurt is an avoid for you. It's the concentrated "whey" we'd like you to avoid -- both as a supplement and as a product additive. The whey on your yogurt is a naturally-occuring byproduct of the yogurt-making process, and presents no problems for you.

Cook Right would probably be a great help to you! Bear in mind that since the food values have been expaneded and changed somewhat since the publication of both Eat Right and Cook Right, you will still want to check the ingredients of each recipe against your family's various food lists. This goes for any other cookbook or online recipe collection you come across as well, and it does become second nature after a while. ;-) I've found that having on hand a few huge, dependable cookbooks is the best way to go -- dishes you'd like to try can usually be adapted quite neatly to your household's ABO types.

Sorry about your poor little cake!! :-( Stevia can be quite bitter. It may be a matter of how much you used -- a little goes a very long way. Another OK-for-all-types sweetener is blackstrap molasses -- but if you'd like something which closely approaches the taste of plain sugar with none of the metaboic drawbacks, try some vegetable glycerine. There's lots of info on it in these column pages alone, so if you're interested just go to the bottom of this page, enter the search term "glycerine," and read from the bottom UP. ;-) Veg gly substitutes for sugar at about 1/2 the quantity. So, 1/2 cup of it will equal one cup of sugar. It's really a godsend, especially for multi-type cookery.

You're doing a FABULOUS job, and I salute your determination & good cheer! A winning combination... :-D

Hi Heidi, I just thought I'd drop by to say hi and to tell you how great I feel, just "grooving" ( as Nina said) along here in my nonnie world.I just got home from my chiropractor checkup, and my neck is holding up great now, 4 months without requiring an adjustment. I'm doing more and more work and exercise, and just enjoying life with my kids and my crazy standard poodle, Gretchen,and my garden ( just picked a beautiful turnip for my lunch with greens and all with my lamb burger and onions and garlic, yum!) On my way to the gym now--while kids are in piano lessons--isn't life grand?? (Just telling you this because you helped me alot getting here; thanks...) Suzanna (AB/Non)

Oh, sweetie, what a lovely update!!! How very considerate of you to pass it along so we all might enjoy your blessings! {{Sigh!}} Marvelous! and a wonderful gift -- thank you!!! :-D