hello- I have been using the blood type diet for approx 4 yrs with great success. My blood type is A, and in Jan. I switched to the geno diet. I must say that the experience has not been good. I would hve considered myself to been in good shape, I eat great healthy and excercise almost 4-5 times a week. Since Jan I have had an eruption in the corner of my mouth that tingles. It is now after 5 months looking better, but the area remains sensitve. Now for the 3rd time since the end of April I have a itchy red rash on my face. It seems to last for 10 days, go away for a couple of days and then its back. Nothing I do seems to help, any suggestions?

The eruption on your mouth sounds like symptoms of the herpes virus. You can get this confirmed by your naturopathic or conventional doctor. As a short term measure the amino acid lysine can often help with the symptoms of active herpes infection. Long-term you should get your naturopath to address the focus of infection, which can be anywhere in the body.

You told us your blood group but did not say whether you are a secretor or non-secretor, and what your GenoType is - Teacher, Explorer or Warrior - all these make a difference to the detoxification process. When starting the GenoType Diet if you avoid the black dot foods for some time this will enhance the body's detoxification process. Sometimes detoxifying can bring on a healing crisis, which can take many forms depending on individual circumstances.

hi tom! i'm writing an article for teenagers, and am giving a very introductory picture of the blood type diet. can you give me a brief description of how, if at all, your rh factor affects your metabolism or food choices? it would really help me (and the readers)!

thanks so much,
adina

In the Rhesus blood group the main antigens are C, D, E, c and e (capital letters and lower case letters are different antigens). The Rhesus antigens come from two adjacent gene loci, the RHD gene which encodes the D antigen and the RHCE gene which encodes both the C and E antigens. There is no d antigen: Rhesus "d" signifies the absence of the D antigen (the RHD gene is usually non-functional or null), and that person is described as Rhesus (D) negative. Similar to non-secretor status, Rhesus negative is traditionally a "recessive" phenotype, which means in practice that if an individual has no functional Rhesus (D) genes, they are classed as Rhesus negative, but inheriting at least one Rhesus (D) gene will give that person the Rhesus (D) positive phenotype. The Rhesus negative phenotype is generally less common than Rhesus positive. Unlike the ABO blood group antigens, the resulting Rhesus blood group antigen is limited to the red blood cells.

Rhesus D incompatibility is best known as the main cause of newborn fatal blood reactions in the children of Rhesus negative women. Lesser known associations with the Rhesus blood group system are Natural Killer Cell (immune system) activity, transport of ammonia in the kidney and susceptibility to urinary tract tumours, myasthenia gravis, ovarian cysts and tumours, and spinal osteochondrosis. Offspring of a Rhesus positive mother may be more prone to hearing loss.

The question of Rhesus blood group significance is often asked in relation to the Blood Group Diet, but the Rhesus factor takes on a new and greater significance with The GenoType Diet: Rhesus negative phenotype can make a difference to individuals in both systems.

In Live Right 4 Your Type, individuals with Rhesus negative phenotype will find that there are specific recommendations for frequency of eating certain food groups: fewer portions of grain (blood groups A, B and O), fruit (blood group A), and more protein (blood groups B and O).

For an individual's GenoType, being Rhesus negative can mean the difference between being one GenoType or another. The GT4 Explorer is often Rhesus negative, which can change the entire diet and lifestyle advice for that individual.

Here are some questions about food status:

Dr. Tom, Hi
I'm a non-secretor O+, MN, Lewis a+ b- which I have recently found out and am still trying to digest (in more ways than one.) My question: what about goji berries (aka ninja berries, wolf berries, lycii berries)? I like to mix these with chocolate nibs for a quick snack. Any thought? Thanks, Jenn

and:

I am type A. I have been drinking Kombucha tea for quite some time. Is this good for my type?
Stacy

Both goji berries and kombucha are unlisted for the blood group diet, which means that they can be treated as neutral until further information is available. If you find out your GenoType and look in the GenoType Diet book or website you will find that your favourite unlisted foods and drinks may be listed there as a superfood or as an avoid!