BR: Introduce yourself!

SC: My name is Sarah Chetah, I live in the Westcountry in England. I am blood group B (secretor status unknown at present), I am 47, married for 24 years and have 3 children (2Bs and 1O) and 2 grandchildren (both Os). I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers all As. My husband is O.

BR: Can you give us a bit of insight into why you started the blood type diet?

SC: I have always battled with my weight. A friend told me about this 'diet' that her friends at work were on. My actual response at the time was "oh! whatever will they think of next, what a load of rubbish"!! Two months later my eldest daughter commented upon my increasing visits to the bathroom. Soon after this I was in a book shop with time hanging heavy, I glanced up and saw ER4YT, as I knew my blood group I casually opened the book at 'my' page and started to read. I could not put the book down. The small paragraph identifying the phlegm for Bs had me hooked - as I have suffered all my life from this.

BR: Are there any diseases that tend to run in your family?

SC: The family as a whole have all been prone to 'allergies' for as long as I can remember. My mother and older sister both have a Thyroid deficiency, my birth father died of heart disease in his early 50s, athletes foot on the soles of the feet is a common family complaint. Both my maternal grandparents died of cancer.

BR: How did you get started? Was it gradually, or did you opt for the cold-turkey-version?

SC: The key word here was Slowly. I stopped eating wheat straight away. The other avoids were more difficult, some that gave me an unwanted physical response were very easy to eliminate such as corn and tomatoes, but I have to admit that the foods with 'hidden' consequences have been far harder to conquer, but after my last brush with avoid foods that left me feeling very poorly, both physically and mentally, I know I shall never knowingly deviate again. I have recently started to follow the recommended daily/weekly frequency and portion size (larger end of the scale to start) in a bid to lose weight - I am confident that I will lose weight. My downfall to date has been being able to eat within the beneficial and neutral food lists in quantities, especially cheese and milk without feeling ill. I have found that I become unwell if I do not eat substantially from the vegetable lists on a regular basis though.

BR: How long did it take to notice change in your body (mentally and physically!) What kind of changes did you experience?

SC: The most remarkable difference was being truly AWAKE - something that I had not experienced for a lifetime. It is just wonderful to go to bed tired and wake up, and actually be awake. Every day prior to this was a struggle with a tangible fog that prevented me from functioning. I never wish to feel tiredness like it again and with this eating plan I know I never will. I do not recall how long it was before I 'woke up' but I think it was a gradual awakening over about a month. Within a week the desperate, instant burning diarrhoea was considerably better and is now non-existent. The fact that the ache in my bones and hands was caused by tomatoes is something I still find hard to get my head round. I experimented with this result 3 times before I could believe that a simple food could have an effect as specific as that. The athlete's foot on the soles of my feet began to clear up spontaneously; my skin, and especially my scalp, stopped itching. I no longer get hives behind my ears or down my spine. My sense of taste has improved over the months and I no longer hanker after foods I would once have considered 'staples'. PMT is almost a thing of the past, the hot flushes are completely gone (except when I have eaten 'off plan' and then only mild), my periods have returned to that of pre the birth of my third child. I am no longer bloated. Mentally I am more alert, calmer and a very much happier person. I know I will continue to feel better and better now that I am "fine tuning" my eating plan.

BR: Was it easy to get started? Or difficult? What was your main purpose to get started?

SC: After the initial elimination of wheat from my diet gave me such huge health benefits I just knew that eliminating the other avoids would probably make me feel even better - and they did! I also wanted to lose weight, I did lose 12lbs initially which has stayed off, I now want to lose the remaining 42lbs - with the feeling of wellbeing the plan gave me weight loss became a secondary issue to that of feeling good! I have found the transition from my old eating habits to the new difficult in a lot of ways as I love food, but I have eaten "off plan" for the last time. Each month gets easier and easier. I am now far more organised in the kitchen, with shopping and with cooking.

BR: Your family, how did they react to your following the diet?

SC: They thought I was mad! Then they began to see the 'new' healthier me. My demand for instant access to the bathroom has brought sighs of relief from everyone. My husband says I am much nicer (I believe he means calmer and more rational!). My eldest daughter (married with 2 children and living away from home) switched from white supermarket bread to homemade Spelt bread - her stomach problems have gone.

BR: How many blood types are there in your family? How do you manage?

SC: I am lucky that I have to prepare food for only Bs and Os. I have introduced more meat of better quality for my husband and try to get him to cut down on wheat. Even seeing the difference in me does not give the family as a whole the impetus to follow suit.

BR: Is Eating Right 4 Your Type easy or difficult when you are at work, at a restaurant or on the road?

SC: I have found it very limiting and usually eating 'off plan' has occurred when I have been out for a meal. However, I have discovered that most establishments will cater for 'special' diets and allow me to make a meal by taking one or two options from several different meal choices. I now take my own packed lunches to work, as buying things out can be a real hazard.

BR: Looking at your diet: what parts were easy to integrate into your lifestyle, which still give you problems?

SC: I had no trouble with any of the basic foods in the diet - I liked them all. I try make the majority of my meals by using foods from the Beneficial lists, I think it is now 50/50 for Beneficial and Neutral. Eliminating some of the avoids was difficult - tomatoes had always featured on a daily basis, chicken 3 or 4 times a week. I had always enjoyed eating the fat off all meats. Dispensing with pork and pork products was extremely hard, bacon was the hardest but I have at last conquered this one as well. Pop corn, sweet corn, cornflakes etc featured strongly in my pre-plan days and I did miss them.

BR: Do you get support from your Medical Doctor? Could you convince him/her of the positive impact of the blood type diet on your health?

SC: I had consulted my doctor about the awful constant tiredness but my children were young at the time and he put it down to being a mum. The diarrhea was investigated during the initial phase but nothing found, and it did seem to clear up some for a short while - probably when I was on yet another diet. I have not been to see him for a year now - the last time was when I developed asthma from household sprays (gone completely by avoiding antagonist substances and breathing exercises from my Yoga). I have always found him to be very supportive and suspect he would be prepared to look at the plan.

BR: What kind of medication did you take for overcoming your health problems? And how is your medication-intake after having started the blood type diet?

SC: I never took anything except one course of asthma inhalers which I used for 2 weeks only.

BR: Is finding organic foods difficult where you live?

SC: I am able to buy meat from a local butcher; fruits and vegetables are available locally without any problems.

BR: Are there any other experiences you had following this way-of-life, you want to share with us?

SC: The longer I follow this plan along with the evidence I have gathered from my own failings, just continues to strengthen my belief that this plan is the way forward not just for me but everyone if only they would give it a try! My eldest daughter and husband have always disliked potatoes and would groan when jacket potatoes, cheese and salad appeared on their plates while I, my son and youngest daughter all salivated - it now makes perfect sense. I could never understand how anyone could not like potatoes! For years I tried the ‘Slimming World’ diet. The ‘Red Plan’ made me feel physically sick. The ‘Green Plan’, I now know to be responsible for keeping me a prisoner of the bathroom, as I ate loads and loads of pasta! I talk about this plan as often as I can, to anyone who will listen. I have sent copies of the books to friends and family and frequently lend out my duplicate copies to people who agree to 'have a look'. My brothers and sisters are all As. My mother AB, my father I do not know. My elder sister has suffered for years with serious abdominal complaints, thyroid deficiency, extreme tiredness, bloating, pale blotchy skin etc. After my 'cure' I enthused so well the plan that she decided to give it a try - all else had failed. The difference in her in staggering - she is like a new person. Two stone lighter and still losing, she has colour in her face and looks so well. She has energy. She enthuses about the plan to her work colleagues and friends, the same as I do. My other siblings are still on-lookers. I am delighted that I am a B, the other blood group plans just do not appeal to me. But if I were different then maybe they would appeal.

BR: Sarah, you had the same experience when first reading Eat Right 4 Your Type as I had. ‘This is MY diet!’ ‘Eating Right’ is just the answer for everybody, once they are ready to get started. Getting started is essential in personally experiencing big changes in mental and physical health. Sarah, thank you for your open interview!