I'm type O (with green eyes, so probably non-Secretor?), and with a bit of experimenting, I've found that wheat and corn can literally switch on and off what feels like arthritis (joint pain and swelling in about half the major joints of my body -- notably the ones I've abused over the years).

I feel great when I'm "being good". At 50, I feel and move better than I have since my early thirties.

But I have not been able to detect such strong effects from other "Avoid" foods. So, I wonder if there might be a hierarchy of "badness" among the Avoids, and if that might be fairly consistent for most people within a blood type. Is this a valid assumption, and where might the info be? I don't find it in any of the books or in the typeBase.

I mean, how much bad can I be doing myself by having a Mineola tangello every day when they're in season? YUM-alicious! If a credible source were to say that I'm doing such'n'such damage, every bit as bad as the wheat and corn, then I'd give up the Mineolas in a minute... not happily, but I would, honest. :-) Thanks for any pointers or insight, Kevin M.

Hi, Kevin! ;-> I sympathize with your mineola jones. They were my very, very favorite citrus fruit -- HOW I adored them. I ate well more than my share, and with great delight. I think they were on my top-ten 'boo-hoo list' when I first started the diet. Now, they're a beautiful memory from days gone by. Haven't had one in seven years. To tell you the truth, I hadn't thought about them in quite some time, 'til you mentioned them.

OK -- Here's one word which I know will spark your memory: polyamines. Check the reason given in TYPEbase3 for orange avoidance, I believe it's there. Polyamines are the reason we Os avoid oranges and their hybrids. You can't feel them in your joints -- they disrupt the intestinal balance directly. The only sign you might perceive immediately is a smell in the stool. Know how a puppy smells, or a newborn baby? That odor, peculiar to very young animals, is related to their abundance of polyamines.

Baby critters need those polyamines, which are growth factors of a kind. Adults are best avoiding the 'polyamine avoids,' since they contribute to growths of kinds unwelcome to us.

By the way, if you are anything but button-busting healthy, I suggest finding out your secretor status through the salivary secretor test. The 'green eyes, reddish or brown hair' was something Peter posted when he found a significant correlation between that coloring and being a secretor. Of course, the exceptions charged writing in, describing themselves as blonde & blues, secretor ... or green-eyed redhead nonnies. Kind of like saying, cats have fur. OK, but the first person you'll hear from is the proud owner of a Chinese Hairless. :-D

Besides, the coloring/secretor status correlation isn't determinative ~ it was just a finding after the fact. Be safe & sure: get yer secretor status, and doncher come round here negotiatin' 'hierarchies of avoids' 'n such wit me, boy! drop them luvverly mineolas, 'fore'n ya getta growth to remember me by! ~~;-D

Affectionately,

A.U. thO'Riti Ve[]source