BR: Introduce yourself!

PB: Hello Cocky, Sorry for that, if you were in Australia you would understand me apologising. It’s actually a common form of greeting when talking to a caged Cockatoo. Right that’s out of the way. My name is Paul Buckless and I am a 51 year old married man living in Tasmania, Australia. Emigrated to Australia with my parents in 1970 and moved to Tasmania to live in 1990.

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

PB: I was concerned about some general health issues which mainly revolved around digestive problems and lethargy.

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

PB: Yes there are a couple of health concerns. My Mother suffers with Multiple Sclerosis and has done since the late 70’s. She is still partially mobile although she broke her leg in a fall earlier this year which slowed her down considerably. My Father, Brother & Sister have all suffered the pain of Kidney stones at various times in their lives. Thankfully I have never had this problem. My Sister who is 38 had a heart scare earlier this year which appears to have been a stress related problem.

BR: How did you find out about the blood type diet? Was it through friends, colleagues, health practitioner, or other?

PB: The Naturopath I went to when I was dissatisfied with my Doctor first put me on to it. In the end I think I was teaching him about it more than him helping me. He did say he wished all his patients would embrace the idea as fervently as I had.

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

PB: Pretty much cold-turkey. I was already vegetarian and had a very supportive wife, so the changes weren’t to dramatic. More a case of fine tuning really.



BR: How long did it take to notice change in your body (mentally and physically!)

What kind of changes did you experience?

PB: Physically it was a matter of weeks. I noticed an immediate improvement in my digestion which was one of the reasons I had gone to a Naturopath in the first place. It probably took close to 12 months before I realised that I had experienced a remarkable improvement in my energy levels. Mentally I feel alert and bright, although some may disagree.

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

Health problems like losing weight, or what?

PB: As I mentioned, as a vegetarian I found it fairly easy to get started. I don’t know how I would have gone if I’d been other than a Type A because my reasons for being vegetarian are no longer purely based on a healthy diet. The longer I’ve gone without meat the more established my thoughts and feelings on vegetarianism have become. I started the diet as a natural adjunct to a homeopathic treatment recommended by my Naturopath.

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

PB: My parents didn’t understand my becoming vegetarian initially although they have come to terms with it. I haven’t really tried to explain the BTD concept to them. My wife was totally supportive and follows BTD as well.

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

PB: Just the two. I am Type A and Sue, my wife is one of the poor minority Type AB. We combine beneficial and neutral foods for us both and if I want something that’s an avoid for her I have it on my own. Sue’s biggest gripe with BTD is the lack of beneficial vegetables and fruit that she can eat. She thinks it’s time Peter did something about it J

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

PB: It’s easy at work as I’ve always taken my own lunch. Eating out has been a problem all our married life. Sue has a number of foods that will trigger migraine and we have always had difficulties so we don’t eat out now at all. On the road I always pack something to eat and something to snack on. We usually take 3 – 4 day holiday breaks and this allowed us to pre-prepare foods to cater for Sue. Nothings changed really, now we prepare foods to cater for our blood. I don’t know what I’ll do in future if I have to travel any great distance or for any length of time. Fortunately Tasmania is so compact that three or four hours will get you from one end of the State to the other.

BR: Looking at your diet: what was easy to integrate into your basic diet, what still gives you problems?

BP: The change in leafy green vegetables was probably the hardest. Eliminating green and red cabbage, Chinese cabbage etc. all of which we grew in our garden. The first winter was tough because I had all of the above planted in the garden and it was too late to plant many replacements like Kale, Collard and Chard. We did get a few in though and pulled out and composted all the avoids. I don’t think there is too much that gives us problems now.

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?

PB: I actually mentioned this in my blog of June 11th. I only see my Dr now when I need a follow up blood test for my Thyroid, he does know of BTD and he now knows how much I believe in it. My Naturopath has retired and I have maintained the treatments he recommended and I am now pretty much self treated.

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?

PB: I take Homeopathic medicines in liquid form. Kelp for my Thyroid and a pre and post digestive aid for my digestion. These contain a blend of herbs including Gentian and Angelica. The more I understand about the Type A physiology and the problems we have with digestive acid convinces me that the medication is right for me.

BR: The country, city, village you live in: Is it a problem or not to find the organic foods you need?

PB: Devonport in Tasmania is a City of approx. 25,000 residents. The organic food issue is a difficult one here. The relatively small population base for Tasmania (485,000) means that we are restricted in a lot of choices. A lot of the economy is rural based and we are a large producer of vegetables for the Australian market. Unfortunately this market is dominated by multi national food companies who are looking for the quickest way to make a dollar. Having said that there are plenty of niche re-sellers of organic produce but the quality nor pricing is not what it should be. We grow a good deal of our own vegetables and a little fruit all of which is organic.



BR: Paul, I want to thank you agreeing to my request to have your story published in my column, next to the daily diaryblogs in the Blogger department. Mike Staffieri was the first blogger in my column...Paul, I really enjoyed your Rye-Speltbread you published in your blog... Super tasty bread.. I added some oregano to it... Real Italian flavour...I hope you will treat us to many more tasty contributions in your blog.I enjoy your down-to-earth blogs very much!!Take care and stay well..