I have just had a nasty shock!

Today we tested my husband's blood group. He thought he was 'O'. I thought he must be too, considering his choice of diet, his far better state of health compared with mine - doesn't seem to have anything chronic nor does he catch much in the way of viral infections. I have been a fan of BTD for ages, though not a 100% adherent... I am type A secretor.

Husband is also type A..... How can he be so apparently healthy eating so much meat and so little, almost no fruit????? while I am really bad with arthritis? I do wonder how reliable is the blood test as I am having real trouble believing it in his case? Even his smoking habit fits in with the description in the O section of LR4YT. Joyce/UK

Hi, Joyce! I just added "/UK" to your "handle," to distinguish you from another Joyce who writes regularly. hope that's OK!

I can hear that you're bowled over by the type results. Don't fret, you're not the only one to receive a shock like that. :-) believe me, it happens frequently.

The whole matter gets easier to comprehend when considering that everyone's different in how much abuse their bodies can sustain before illness shows. Some of us have been very sick starting in teenage years, due to just a few diet elements missing or incorrect -- others continue in apparent good health into their forties or fifties while seeming to thrive on avoids. I know 40-year-old nonsecretors with not a single cavity in their teeth, and 20-ish secretors with major dental problems.

While we can discuss the statistical likelihood of a blood group's susceptibility to certain conditions, we can't go backwards and guess blood type from diet-plus-apparent health. ;-) But -- if you're truly suspicious of the outcome of your husband's ABO test, and you've used the right (tiny) amount of water and checked it carefully against the chart of results, then it's worth either having him donate blood and request typing at that time and/or getting one more home test kit for him. It's important that you both feel confident that your results are iron-clad correct.

Best wishes, Joyce -- and let me know if I can help with the arthritis issue at all, OK? :-)

Hello again heidi! I sure hope you remember me, you saved my life and I wrote you a thank-you letter. Well, I am here to give you an update. I had gone down to 85 pounds remember? And then you told me to begin working out twice a week and the rest of the time, do some stretching, Well, I began with that for two weeks and trippled my portions and managed to stretch out my stomach and introduce foods that are on my neutral lists. And I gained weight soo fast. I am now at 105 and it has only been one month since I began eating more, and I haven't even eaten any grains yet, just a lot of fats and protein and vegetbles and all are mostly highly beneficial, I am afraid to add grains as I will gain weight way too quickly.

I now feel extremely weird, my metabolism has slowed down so much and I don't feel as good as I used to energy wise, I feel so heavy and I have slowed down a lot. But I still have bowel movements at least once a day, but it takes so much more food in order for me to feel full, and I cannot tell when I am hungry anymore, my routine has been tossed and turned lately and i think my sytem is confused, I feel like everybody else now, slower and I actually get tired at night, which is new to me and I don't walk as fast as I used to and Ii fall asleep anywhere.

I feell very bloated all the time and cannot fart anymore, when I workout, I feel dizzy all the time, afterwards and the next day, because of my slower metabolism. But I guess it is something I have to get used to since I have to gain weight right? How can I stabalize myself and feel good and gain weight slowly I am afraid to become obese, because in the book it says that people that become obese are the ones who have a history of following low calory diets.

And I am afraid that my body will never stop and I will always have to watch out for the number of calories I eat in a day. I feel like my hormones have been unbalanced and everything in my life is off now, and I have more hair on my body and i have caught a cold and I feel so big and heavy and I find it harder to concentrate and I want to know if I am going too fast, and some days I get really hungry and others not so much. I am off completely and feel bloated all the time. I only eat highly beneficial foods, but so much more!!! And I used to eat no fat for two years, I had not eaten fats and grains.

What do you suggest I do without taking any supplements or medicine, because i just want to live a normal life and not have to think about my system all the time and eat when I am hungry and enjoy my foods and my life. i want to be able to eat with everybody, normal sized meals, but I am afraid to gain weight so fast since I have been undernourished for 3 years. I smy body ever going to stabalize itself? I feel dissproportioned, my legs and chest have expanded but not my arms yet or my shoulder bones.

I am so afraid of weight although I know that a BMI of 20 is optimal. I have a BMI of 18 and have not have my period in over two years. What do Ii do from here. I workout four times a week now and do 35 minutes of cardio every time. But usually get pains in my shins. I feel huge and am having trouble dealing with the weight gain ing so quickly, imagine if I ate grains, what would happen, will I ever be able to eat grains again? Please help me if you can, you have been great help in the past and I thank you for it! Emily

Hello, Emily!

OK: Here is how you decide how much to eat now: just follow the portion/frequency tables in the book Live Right 4 Your Type. As a quick measure of how much to eat at each meal, let the total quantity of solid food at one meal be about the size of your fist. If you're having salad greens, naturally that will appear to be bigger because it's fluffed up leaves. ;-)

At the beginning, you were trying to overeat a little, in order to get a lot of good foods into your body to address deficiencies, and to get yourself used to not depriving yourself or going hungry. You've already accomplished that, so you're ready to begin eating normally now. Handful of vegetables, handful of proteins, and snacks in-between if you're hungry. Your body will take care of itself that way. just trust that process!

There's no need to add grains if you don't want to do so now. For the future, I think you'll be happy with the results if you limit grain to three times weekly at the most.

If your shins are hurting, use a rowing machine or bicycle for cardio instead of a high-impact activity. Get plenty of rest, and schedule some time for walking in a pleasant place, just to look around and enjoy being alive. :-)

Let me know how you do, OK? take good care, dear! :-)

Hi Heidi! Have a couple of questions for you, just waiting for you to come back! In my BTD book p. 287, Dr D'Adamo says "I have found that the herb collinsonia (stone root), which is used to treat swelling problems, such as varicose veins, also helps sinusitis..." It makes me wonder, is that implying that varicose veins, and maybe spider veins too, can be an inflammatory/histamine issue?

I read your back columns where you talked about strengthening vein walls with collinsonia, only I've always assumed the weak veins had to do mostly with lack of exercise/circulation, maybe liver congestion. But if weak veins might be associated with inflammation, it would make so much sense because my histamines are too high -- I have the rosacea, allergies, sinus swelling & spider veins.

And also, I'm wondering if the collinsonia might then be good for the swelling/inflammation of rosacea? Mine's better but still could improve. Somewhere you or the Dr. said collinsonia helps swelling of "some" tissues, but didn't specify which. I'm going to try the collinsonia and see about the rosacea, but I wondered if you knew. I also need to exercise, which will make the rosacea worse, unfortunately, but maybe that will help eventually too. Thanks Heidi!!!:oD! Maia

Hello, Maia! Well, spider veins and rosacea -- and sinus swelling -- are definitely inflammatory issues. Collinsonia canadensis (stoneroot) is helpful where there is swelling of sinus tissues -- such as hemorrhoids or recurrent nasal sinus problems -- if taken over a period of time (results are noticed in two to six weeks). However, I'm not sure that it works exclusively (or primarily) through addressing inflammation -- whatever its action, it seems to direct intercellular fluids away from those tissues, much to the relief of the sufferer.

For spider veins and rosacea, I don't think stoneroot is the answer. Of course, the cause of the inflammation is what I'd focus upon and try to remove. Second, I'd eat quercetin like candy. :-> Third, the good ol' water with salt &/or lemon, daily and lots of it. I would also certainly do a course of Heallix to make sure no bacterial or viral agent is involved.

Can you tell me more about what you've tried, and what you think's going on with it all? You always have such a great grasp of the details in these matters, so loose 'em in my direction and we'll put our heads together about it. Thanks, dear Maia! :-D

Hello Heidi, and thank you very much for answering my question last week, about my 7-year old son (A neg.) with Asperger Syndrome and a weak stomach. Since then, I’ve bought the Encyclopedia and am reading it cover to cover.

I just made a connection: when my son was 5 months old, he was hospitalized for a vesicouretheral reflux and was put on antibiotics for over 7 months. Could the effects of those antibiotics still be felt today, almost 6 years later? Before my son’s hospitalization, he showed no symptoms of autism, by the way. They started immediately after – both my husband and I noticed a marked difference – our son lost his sweet temper overnight, it seems – but at the time, we attributed this to the trauma of being poked and prodded for days on end.

I will be ordering the PolyFlora-A, PolyVite and Phytocal as you recommended, and will keep you posted. Thanks again! Signing myself Marie-H., as there are other Maries writing to you.

Marie-H, I think you're brilliant. YES, the long-term antibiotics could certainly have been involved in your son's mental changes. Go to your favorite websearch engine and use the terms "gut brain" and "ganglia." Have a good read. You'll see how spot-on your theory is.

When his gut environment was compromised, he probably got the triple whammy of leaky gut, poor digestion (not only physical discomfort, but lack of proper nutrients reaching his tissues since little or no beneficial bacteria would be present), and neurological challenges due to the "gut brain's" exposure to the wrong or inadequate foods at that time. In addition, I know how much I abhor the idea of being kept in hospital and being poked & prodded, so I can imagine he was pretty fed up with it, too. ;-)

The reason the effects you see now could have been triggered by the antibiotic therapy is the timing of that therapy -- his very young age and the development of his intestinal tract at that time. Now that you're aware of what happened and what's needed, you can start supplying powerfully healing foods and supps to him.

Thank you so much for writing, Marie-H ~ please keep in touch!! :-)

Glad you are back up to speed. Always enjoy your wisdom insight and humor. Possibly this next question is one that Dr. D should consider answering because of the scientific nature of any research and references in this regard.

I have donated a fair amount of blood over the years, nearly 10 gals. Although the blood banks do not worry about the quality (All they want is the donation) does being on the BTD enhance the value of the blood I/we give? Is it apt to be more beneficial to the recepient and more conducive to regaining good health?? My own gut feel is that the answer would be in the affirmative for I spiritually feel that when I am feeling good that those energies flow with the donated blood. I highly value your opinions Heidi but would like a response that I can show my medical friends with appropriate back-up.

Further, what about the flip side of blood transfusion. Is it possible that blood with the wrong lectins, etc could slow down healing or cause side effects, etc. This may be a subject Dr. D and you may not want to respond to and if so I will understand especially in view of our disputatious environment. Thanks for the consideration, Conrad

Hi, Conrad! I understand that donor blood is screened for certain viruses and other established health hazards, but I am quite sure it is not tested for the presence of agglutination, or for other less-than-ideal byproducts of the donor's food choice and digestive efficiency. Whatever fat/mineral/protein imbalances may be present at the time of donation would be present when the blood is transfused -- and I can imagine this process might have some effect upon the health of the recipient. I conjecture that a stellar batch such as the gallons you've donated would have some effect upon the ultimate recipient's health as well.

However, you're really asking for one of the doctors to respond, so I hope that one of them might see this question and consider writing a reply. Do submit it to Ask Doc Bron as well, OK? quite a thoughtful theory you have there, Conrad -- thanks for sharing it with me! :-)