Hello, Cheryl! Good question! Barley malt (the sweetener; that’s its common name), is the avoid. Whole barley and sprouted barley or ‘malted barley’ (the whole grains or flours) are neutral for ABs. On product ingredient lists, the sweetener will appear as “barley malt” and the OK stuff will show up as “sprouted barley” or “malted barley,” or the flours made thereof. Sorry for the confusion! :-}

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The best grapeseed oil available is expeller-pressed. If you find an organic brand, please let me know and I’ll publish it here ~ I’ve yet to find either grapeseed or rice bran oil, domestic or imported, from an organic producer, and those are the oils whose high smoke-points make them safer choices for high-heat cooking. Organic wine makers would be the logical place to start to find organic grapeseed oil, but I suspect their output is not yet large enough to support a commercial oil-pressing endeavour. Same for organic rice farms, but check into it for yourself if possible. There’s no ABO rating for grapeseed oil at the moment, so it may be considered neutral for all types for now. A note: if your walnut oil is unrefined (a few high-end companies like Flora offer it), it should be used only in low- or no-heat applications ~ salad dressings, or a drizzle on already-cooked food. Same goes for all nut oils, like macadamia or almond, and seed oils such as safflower or flax. By the way, sesame oil has a smoke-point near that of olive oil (325 F or lower), and is an avoid for ABs, so make me happy and stay away from that one? After all, you’ve got peanut oil, you lucky devil! Even better, look into soy oil ~ it has the highest smoke-point of any oil on your neutral & beneficial list. :-) I’m going on a bit long here, so let me refer you to a basic reference for oil composition and great details: the CYB Edible Oils Site. Enjoy!

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Well, Shani, the more listed avoids you’ve been eating regularly, the more spectacular your progress will be when you get fully on the AB diet! So I want to hear you thank that chicken for how great it makes you feel when you stop eating it. :-D The food lectins for specified items do not change from location to location ~ however, named foods (beans and fish especially) may be confusing due to the U.S. terminology we use, or missing altogether from the lists because of the item’s rarity or general unavailability here in the States. This problem shouldn’t arise as much for you in Canada as it does for folks in – say, China, for example ~ but if you find unlisted foods common in your area, drop me a note and we’ll stumble through it together! I’m batting a pretty high average for fish, and our readers haul me up on the bean issue when I need it. Keep in touch!!

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Oh, drat. This is a complex issue, on which I’m truly not professionally equipped to comment and as well severely prejudiced in favor of abolishing inoculations altogether except in cases of specific and extreme risk. Let me set aside my personal feelings and relate to you what our Blood Type Encyclopedia (page 454) has to say: “Blood group AB has a relatively [compared with the other ABO types] poor ability to generate antibodies against any of the influenza viruses.” So I have to say, if you decide you are at risk, do get that flu shot. If you do so, plan ahead to embark upon a program of taking Probiotic-AB and ARA6 every single day thereafter; the toxins and potential digestive imbalances created by the action of the influenza vaccination should be dealt with immediately for your greatest health and comfort. As my personal opinion only: if you are solidly on the AB diet and in good health right now, get a bottle of ProBerry3 from our store here and take it according to the package directions, every day till Spring is sprung. Include ARA6 to motivate your intestinal health and feed those vital flora and fauna, and eat your beneficials all winter long ~ with special emphasis on hardy greens, turkey, coldwater fish, eggs, oils, yams, and tempeh. Immunity resides in your gut, and we want those wonderful creatures to be happy, happy, happy. If you’re in the U.S., visit www.heallix.com and spring for this expensive but nearly miraculous compound. A little goes a long way, and nothing’s nicer than knowing you’re safe from viral and bacterial infection. Good health and a flu-free winter to you, Karen!

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I'll paraphrase my column from August 12: The coffee status is an update ~ a refinement to the original ratings, based on new research and made possible by further work on secretor and nonsecretor reactions as well as other recent developments in this field. Peter decided that when considering all the new data together, coffee’s known detriments to your type have now been judged to outweigh the benefits – thus, the rating was adjusted. This is still a rather new science, but we expect more additions to the lists than changes from here on in. Thanks for your patience, and take a look at all the marvelous coffee substitutes on the health-food market that you can have & I can’t! Kaffree Roma and Teechino in all its varieties come immediately to mind, along with Raja’s Cup (a potent cup of antioxidants that we ALL can use). Your wide choice of grains means nearly every coffee sub you see will be OK for your type, and don’t forget roasted dandelion root ~ it’s lovely made into a tea that does yeoman service as a coffee-ish drink. Read the labels and pick a tasty one that will help enhance your health!!! _



Hi, Pamela ~ I can’t recommend coral calcium, for reasons I went into in the column on October 22. Your AB diet is “secretly” supporting an ideal acid/alkaline balance in your body, so stick with it. The Phytocal-AB product sold here on this site is the one type of calcium supplement I can wholeheartedly endorse, not only for the care taken in gathering its elements, and the high absorption factor of its ingredients, but most of all for the crafting of the supplement to suit AB biochemistry – including their generally rather low comparative stomach acid levels. A friend of mine credits the addition of Phytocal-AB to his diet for the remission of his intractable prostate cancer ~ I can’t say for certain that this happened as he described it, but it’s worth a mention here if only as an anecdote. I hear a lot of them, and the general trend leads me to believe that any AB concerned about their calcium intake will be well served by the supp Peter made just for YOU.

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Type ABs ~ Want to see more columns about youse guys? WRITE IN!! :-) I’m running mighty low on AB questions! I'm sure there are plenty of ideas you have on topics of interest to those rare birds among us! Gimme ‘em.

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