On The Diet with Heidi Merritt

Some quick and varied Q&A:



Hi Heidi... Nice to "see" you again. Now that the new meal replacement bars are here...is there any way of figuring out servings of what food type are in them?? I'm thinking of portion control as prescribed in LRFYT. (grains, dairy, etc.) Linda



The bars carry that information on the label, and we'll soon post it in the ABO Bar store pages for reference before buying. They were designed with blood-group protein/carb/fat proportions in mind, so I think you'll be pleased!



I am a Type A non-secretor. In ERFYT I noticed that Beta-carotene was listed as an AVOID for Type A. In the 2002 product catalog of The Blood Type Store I find Beta-carotene included in supplements formulated for Type A. Could not find Beta-carotene in the errata page or the database. Please advise re: Beta-carotene and Type A. Thank you. Richard



Some recommendations have changed since 1996, and can be found in detail in the >Encyclopedia.



I would like to point out a discrepancy involving the book "Eat Right for your Blood Type" and the booklet "Eat Right:Type AB". In the book the list of foods says coffee is "beneficial" but the booklet puts coffee in the "avoid" list. Please help! I dont know whether to drink coffee anymore... Also, the book Live Right for Your Blood Type puts pineapple in "beneficial" at one page (for blood type A and in another column pineapple is listed as "neutral". I hope you can help to clarify these queries. Thank you. -alina



Pineapple has two listings: one for the whole fruit, one for the juice. The coffee status is an update ~ a refinement to the original findings. It's still a rather new science, but we expect more additions than changes from here on in. Thanks for your patience!



I am Type A and am confused as to being told on one hand - during dtox followed by candida cleanse - I was totally not to eat peanut butter - now the cleanses are finished (successfully) I am on Type A plan and peanut butter is supposedly highly beneficial - please can you clarify which this is for me as I am trying to follow this plan to the letter. Is it because of the preservatives they put in peanut butter and if so, would organic, no preservative peanut butter exist. Thank you. Hilary



I can confirm that peanuts are beneficial for type A. Organic peanut butter can be found in health food stores nationwide ~ Marantha is one of many well-known brands. Talk to the manager of your local shop!



I heard that the good bacterias in yogurt is good for you. I'm a type O. Can I have soy yogurt? It's not a dairy product. Thanks. Carol



Sure ~ just remember to check the ingredients of anything you buy, to guard against avoids and make sure it really is what it says it is. Bear in mind that if you are a nonsecretor, soy is an avoid.



I have read two of the eat right books, and cannot find if psyllium fiber is an avoid or neutral for group O. Thanks, S.



Psyllium isn't recommended for Os. Instead, get some flaxseed (brown or gold) and grind a tablespoon or two at a time in an electric coffee grinder. Whole flaxseed keeps a LONG time in the fridge.

One of the readers offered this account, and since I am asked so often about the procedure and what to expect, I imagine there are many folks who would be interested in reading it.

To me, it is more an object lesson in belief systems than anything else, but it certainly describes a not-uncommon outcome of this particular surgery.

Dear Heidi,

I know of a middle age person who weighs 200 lbs. and had a gastric bypass 5 weeks ago.

For 2 weeks PTA, this person had daily epigastric pain lasting 1 to 3 hours. They finally went to the E.D. and were treated for dehydration and sent home.

The next day they went to their surgeon's office and was admitted to the hosp. There they subsequently started having bright red blood emesis and stools. They were scoped and an ulcer was visualised and cauterised.

They continued to bleed so they were scoped again and a clot was moved and the splenic artery started spurting out blood. They were taken to the O.R. for emergent surgery and revision of their gastric bypass.

Two other surgeons were called into the O.R.. They ran out of O, RH- blood so this person received O pos. blood for 24 hours. Their SBP was in the 60s and 70s despite massive fluid resuscitation. Their cardiac monitor showed runs of nonsustained SVT and VT.

After 4 days, they were finally able to come off the ventilator and the first words out of their mouth was what a great surgeon they had because this surgeon was able to save their life!!! How thankful and appreciative they are for this great gastric bypass surgeon! I didn't say this but I was thinking they wouldn't need to have their life saved if they never had the gastric bypass surgery in the first place!

This "gastric bypass person" who came in "dehydrated" has now gone 4 days with out any nutrition(only received regular i.v. fluid). I asked the surgeon about giving them some nutrition and the reply was, I'm not feeding them thru a groin line and the gut isn't ready yet.

This person is so weak they can barely breathe and the pain and suffering they have gone thru is UNREAL!!!Other than being over weight this was a healthy person before surgery.

I don't understand how anyone in their right mind could ask to have a gastric bypass surgery. I have followed the BTD diet for several years and have never been healthier!! I eat all I want and never go hungry and my est. body fat is 20%, I'm female. I turned to the BTD because I was over weight and my healh was deteriorating. I can never thank you and Dr.D'Adamo enough for all the help I have received. Please sign this anonymous, for confidential reasons.

Thank you, dear! I know people who've had this surgery -- because they wanted to "eat what they want." The thing that never occurs to them is that eating what they want created the excess weight... and continuing to eat what they want will return them to their former state, except that now they'll have the complications of major surgery to contend with as well.

The BTD changes what you "want to eat!" That, to me, sets it utterly apart from any other diet program. In addition, it solves the weight problems while sneakily working behind the scenes in a multitude of other ways -- so while you're slimming and trimming, you feel marvelous -- and keep discovering little happy "side effects" as time goes on.

Worth mentioning, and passing on to others! :-D

I am a Type A and would like to know what to eat to gain weight. I have always relied on dairy products (ice cream, cheese etc.) to maintain my weight (I have always been underweight - 5'5" 105-110#). What would be good to eat between meals? Laura

Just following your A diet should normalize your weight. Eat your full quota of acceptable grains and fish/fowl. A couple of tips: eat in a relaxed frame of mind, chew thoroughly, and relax a bit with some soothing music after your meal. Yoga is great for harmonizing your endocrine system, calming your digestion, and encouraging development of active body mass. The Pilates system is a fine method to build muscle on those delicate bones of yours!

In the book "Complete Blood Type Encyclopedia" on p. 582 there is listed Wild Yam (Dioscora) being beneficial for Type O, but it does not say anything about the other blood types. I am an A non-secretor and I would like to know if the wild yam is a neutral or an avoid. I would also like to know the answer for the other blood types for this supplement. Thank you so much for your time and effort. Marilee

I don't have an authoritative value for wild yams as such, Marilee. All I can offer is that "true yams" are an avoid for all type As ~ beneficial for Bs and ABs ~ and neutral for Os. Wild yams and and the yams in our food lists are both Dioscorea villosa. Therefore, the values for both must be identical. :-}

I am a B+ nonsecretor diagnosed with invasive breast cancer 11 yrs. ago. Strong family history on both sides. Soy and peanuts have anticancer properties but i do not eat them because they are avoids for me. Should I eat them anyway as being cancerfree is more important than my weight! Also I quit eating flaxseed oil in my MFC because of its high linoleic acid content which I understand to be a cancer promotor.. Again not what I want to do. Confused as many doctors advocate flax. Please help me to understand what is best for ME. Thank you for your time. Jean

Unfortunately, the benefits soy and peanuts confer on type As don't extend to Bs and Os -- quite the opposite. Soy has been shown to impair Bs' immune defenses by reducing B antigen levels. Instead of peanuts, use Peter's Aromastat supplement to block aromatase levels and inhibit early cancer growth. Also, please consider adding flax oil back into your diet. Here's a link to Peter's Ask Dr. D. on flax. I hope you have purchased the Complete Blood Type Encyclopedia, as it is full of detailed information and protocols concerning cancer. Best of health to you, Jean!