Greetings, Pam! One of the lovely things about the B diet is that you do benefit from certain red meats, but you need eat them only in small portions and infrequently. The frequency table in Live Right 4 Your Type gives minimums of 2 servings per week for B Asians & Caucasians, up to 4 servings minimum per week for nonsecretors ~ if you are Rh negative you'd add 1 serving to those minimums. These need not be all red meat: the neutral fowl turkey, ostrich and pheasant are incorporated therein as well. Does fish suit you better? Almost all of the commonest fishes are either Beneficial or Neutral for you, and those minimum frequencies run to only 3 or 4 times per week. The alternatives of beans, seeds and nuts for protein are least suited to your type -- the marked sensitivity of Bs to so many of the legume/seed plant lectins would severely limit your choices, and the protein assimilation from these foods in Bs is far from ideal. Yes, they'd keep you alive, but I hope you're more interested in optimal health, and healing of your conditions, than mere survival.

I have to comment upon your ob/gyn's recommendation: it is the classic one-type-fits-all approach. It applies beautifully to nearly 90% of the population (Os and As), but was never fine-tuned to the requirements of ABO-mediated biochemistry. I urge you to study the type B chapters in Live Right 4 Your Type and decide whether the advice your medical practitioners have given you in regard to diet (a discipline in which most of them have received less than 10 hours' of instruction) is based in actual knowledge of what will help YOU, or if it is mere hearsay based upon studies in which your unique makeup was not represented.

The Membrane Fluidizer Cocktail (MFC) is a tablespoon of flax oil, a tablespoon of lecithin, and eight ounces of the fruit juice of your choice, shaken or blended. It works so well for Peter's patients that he noted it in Eat Right 4 Your Type and Live Right 4 Your Type. The best way to see if it helps you is to try it. I suspect you'll notice some pleasant surprises!

Pam, I hope these thoughts will help guide your way a bit. Let me know if you have more questions! :-)





Hey there, Sharon ~ thanks for the big hug! Right back atcha, girl. ~:-D

If 5-HTP works well for you, it may be because you're a nonsecretor. Works wonders for us. You can up it to 150 mg twice daily, and see how your snooze project progresses! Tryptophan is so abundant in turkey (a goodie for Bs) that I'm sure you can supplement it without harm, and probably with excellent results. Don't forget to include a little real turkey now and again... especially homemade turkey soup with its broth, blah blah blah, you know my views on this!! ;->



I fully empathize with your squeamishness over ingesting hormones -- believe me, I've no love of such things. However, Peter recommends the melatonin for type B insomnia, and so I shall as well. You see, this is not forever. Menopause is not a permanent condition! LOL, thank God!! :-D So if you need it, do it, and no worries there.

Here's another tiny tip: add some MethylB12 (available in our online store), first thing when you rise in the morning -- an hour before eating. Try one cap, and slowly up it to three if needed. It helps regulate your cortisol "clock" in the morning, to encourage sound sleep at night.

Welcome to the BTD, Pam! I do envy you one-type households! :-)



1. Avocadoes are an avoid for type O secretors due to a lectin.



2. Ginseng, gingko and St. John's Wort are popular herbs which work far better for types A and AB than they do for Os. If you're using them for their anti-aging, cognitive enhancement and mood stablization properties, may I suggest the potent adaptogen Rhodiola Rosea (Russian Rhodiola, or Arctic Root), supplementary thiamine hydrochloride (vitamin B1) and L-tyrosine instead? St. John's Wort in particular isn't recommended for Os ~ it is an MAO inhibitor, and we have the lowest levels of MAO of all the blood types to begin with. Your husband may also benefit from a supp called 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan), especially if he is a nonsecretor. In the Store on this site, you can purchase Catechol, which is ideal for mood elevation in type Os, and contains several of the separate compounds noted above. I have to put in my classic plug for strenuous exercise here: it's unmatched for balancing type O mood swings, and is fully 50% of our health plan for very good reason. Those workouts not only build muscle, melt fat and pep up our digestion ~ they boost functioning of every organ system, including the endocrine (stress relief) and neurosystem (for that happy brain). end of lecture! now grab yer sneaks & GO! :-D



3. The main reason why pickles are a no-no is that cucumbers are an O avoid (one of the changes in the food lists since BTD). Check the TYPEbase 3® online database (also linked on our homepage) for food changes... and keep an eye on the Updates Page for any future additions or modifications.



4. Hominy/grits is a corn product ~ nix on that one! :-}



5. Cilantro is listed as "coriander" in your book (separately in Live Right 4 Your Type), and is neutral for nearly everyone (beneficial for A nonsecretors).



Once you and your husband have adjusted to your new diet and activities, I doubt you'll miss those old avoids much. There's plenty of great food on our Beneficial and Neutral lists, so the key (here, as in so many things) is to form new habits to crowd out the ones we formed before. Drop me a line on how it's going for you two ~~ and thanks for writing, Pamela!!

Jacquelyne in the UK is working on a cookbook along BTD principles. She gently reminded me today that she’s had a handful of questions outstanding for some time now... :-} I know we have a multitude of readers from the UK, as well as fish, liver, curry & cheese fans either side the Pond, so, here we go!



Can I count sheep's cheese, yogurt, fromage fraiche, etc the same as for goat's cheese?

Certainly. Goat milk, sheep milk ~ the differences are so minor as to be insignificant when encountered by the human digestive tract.



Calve's liver appears in your lists but why has lambs' liver and that old favourite chicken liver been neglected. Should we all avoid? Also when you speak of curry powder are we talking about garam masala? And what are the ingredients. Over in the UK curry powder (I believe unknown in India) can consist of a whole variety of things. Please help!

If an animal’s muscle meat is neutral or beneficial for a given type, the organ meats thereof rate neutral or better ~~ due to the concentration of vitamins and other nutrients in that "fifth quarter" of the animal.

"Curry" has a place in the food lists because it is a spice combination found in every U.S. supermarket spice rack. The components tend to vary little from brand to brand, so the rating was based upon the standard ingredient list on the average product found in the supermarket. There is wiggle room, as you can see in the Live Right 4 Your Type lists, since some blood groups who do great with turmeric (the largest ingredient in most store-bought "curry powder") do far less well with some of the other ingredients, and vice versa. Yes, we are technically talking about garam masala, but truly a mild and middle-of-the-road commercial variety most commonly composed of turmeric, ginger, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, pepper, clove, cinnamon and garlic ~ and although you didn't ask this, we certainly do not mean "curry leaf" which I’ve seen in the UK but never here.



Can I assume that the listing for shrimp would also apply to prawns?

Sure. Shrimp, prawns... or "scampi" in Italy. All those little shrimp-similar crustaceans.



Me again, sorry! Does skate (order Rajiformes) or ray (order Myliobatiformes) feature in your testing? Or is this a fish only found in British waters? Can it be classified? Many thanks!

I’ve eaten skate in the U.S. (delicious!!), from New York to Florida. There are 20+ species swimming in our coastal waters, all loosely called "skate," most indeed belonging to the genus Raja. I’m sorry to report we have no listing for skate or rays, and I would not conjecture about them at this time as is sometimes my wont. Until they are tested and rated, they may be technically considered "neutral," and goodie for me cuz I adore them.



We have a fish in the UK called red mullet (or goatfish or surmullet), is this any relation to your red snapper? Then there is also grey mullet - is this what you call mullet in the Encyclopaedia?

Our "mullet" is Mullus auratus, also your "red mullet," "goatfish," and "surmullet." Same fishy. We, too, call it "red mullet," and that is what we most commonly see on our fishmonger’s ice-pile: plump little red-silver guys, perhaps five to seven inches in length. Your "gray mullet" is Mugil cephalus, a slightly larger and stouter creature (a bit rough-hewn round the head) sometimes called "striped mullet," and not as readily available here on the Eastern Seaboard – but any of the Mullus and Mugil genus can be considered identical to our "mullet" for rating purposes. Our red snapper is a much larger fish, genus Lutjanus ~ and several species applicable, depending upon which State one fishes from: the far western islands of Hawaii, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, the coast of North Carolina. They’re all red snapper to us!

Here’s a nice portrait, with measurements, of the fish I see everywhere here in the Northeast: ~ Lutjanus campechanus, on every NYC menu!



I thought that porgy (neutral A/O and beneficial B/A was the same as scup (neurtral O/B/AB and avoid A) according to various websites and yet there are different in the Encyclopeadia. The name Stenotomus chrysops seems to point to both. But my real question is - is this fish (or one of them) any relation to the UK Bream as I have never seen porgy or scup over here? Many thanks

"PorGEE, I’ze your woman now... I is, I is, and....".. whoops, slipped into a Gershwin moment there. Here’s our humble "porgy:" Chrysophrys auratus which our government would like us to call "squirefish" and which everyone calls "porgy" anyway. It is, for us, a Pacific catch, reaching so far west in its range that it has managed to pick up the nomen Australia Red Seabream ~ but has not, I fear, reached so far as your eastern shores! Never eaten one, sorry to say, and from its demeanor I'd wager we're neither of us missing much. Now, your S. chrysops IS our "scup" ~ wish I had another attractive pic for your comparison, but it is not such a large-scale food fish here (where all these delightful food ratings were born) that the FDA site would waste bandwidth on its image. :-> I strongly suspect your "bream" is our "Atlantic pomfret" (or just "pomfret" or "bream") ~ Brama brama ~ sounds like bull but it ain't. Oh ~ and we’re so special over here in the Colonies that we have a "Pacific pomfret" as well: Brama japonica. Whole lotta fishin’ goin’ on! But of course all this is of little help to you, since I’ve no snazzy pic to offer nor any rating for B. spp. Another neutral international fish for the record, and who can say we might not benefit from a bit more neutrality in this tumultuous world of ours? :-D

Jacquelyne, thank you for your questions... and the reminder! :-> Best of luck in your work, and DO keep in touch!! :-D

Several readers have expressed an interest in home-cultured foods and have requested references on how-to and what-to-do-what-to, etc. ;-)

One approach is the use of kefir-grains. I suggest a thorough reading of "Dom's Kefir In-Site" pages, linked here and here. The process sounds quite complex at first glance, but is quite understandable and doable after a few passes through the text and a couple of test batches at home.

In the beginning of January, 2001, "Marlese" posted to the old message board some tips on cultured nuts/seeds she'd picked up in Natalie Cederquist and James Levin's book, Vibrant Living. I would also suggest taking a look at the book, since she mentions there are a number of different kinds of foods used in their recipes. I've reproduced her post in full here below:

Cultured Live Food Recipes: LONG

Posted By: Marlese O+

Date: Wednesday, 3 January 2001

Claire West asked for these, but I thought other people might be interested, so I’m posting here. I’m going to post the original recipe, and then each blood type can feel free to substitute avoids with HBs and neutrals. Cultured live foods have living enzymes, airborne lactobacillus, and lots of other good stuff. It’s also good for people who have difficulties digesting nuts because the culturing process breaks down some of the proteins and fats and pre-digests the food to a degree. I’m very allergic to nuts, but have absolutely no problems eating them this way. Except that they’re still fattening. Very fattening. It’s easy to overeat them in this form, but they do have nice milky feel which us O’s can miss sometimes.

I got all of the recipes from Vibrant Living by Natalie Cederquist and James Levin. When I was eating raw, I would use recipes from this book when I started getting bored. As an O, I simply couldn’t thrive on a vegan diet, and wasn’t willing to eat raw meat (except for ground beef, of course). But the raw movement has come up with lots of nice ways to eat seaweeds, fruits and veggies without destroying their benefits by cooking them. I’d recommend the book to anyone and am grateful to Claire for making me dust it off. I had forgotten some of this great stuff.

Basic Sun Almond Seed Cheese

½ c raw sunflowers (if subbing, use lean seed like pumpkin)

1 c raw almonds (if subbing, use richer nut like pine or filbert)

2 c clean (spring or filtered) water, or Rejuvelac (recipe below)

1 teaspoon(t) white miso

1. Grind the nuts into a powder (I use Vitamixer but blender might work), toss in water and miso and blend till mixed.

2. Pour mixture into a glass jar, cover with a towel, and let it sit on your kitchen counter for 8-20 hours. The longer it sits, the more of a sour flavor it gets. I like 10 hours.

3. If you used a regular blender, there will be "whey" on the bottom and "cheese" on top. Just scoop off the cheese and store in fridge (to make it even thicker, line a mesh colander with cheese cloth and let sit draining over a bowl in your fridge for a day). If you used a Vitamixer, the whole thing will be a softer sort of cheese.

Dream de la Cream (holy cow, does this live up to its name)

1/3 c raw macadamia

2/3 c cashews

½ c almonds

1 c clean water or Rejuvelac

Same as steps 1-3 above, only don’t let it sit more than 8-12 hours. This is a more delicate mix, probably because of the higher fat content, which will spoil if left out too long. But it’s delicious.

Seasoned Nut Cheese

1 c almonds

1 Tablespoon(T) nut butter

1 T Golden or white miso

¼ c chopped onion

1 chopped garlic clove

2 t umeboshi plum (I’m not sure if this is OK for O’s, but I don’t add anymore. Can substitute a pinch of sea salt)

optional: herbs like basil, oregano, cumin, dill, dulse etc. Fresh is best, but in a pinch, can grind dried herbs in mortar and pestle first to release flavor.

1. In glass jar or bowl, cover almonds with water and let soak overnight (8-12 hours) on your counter.

2. Drain almonds and toss into blender or Vitamixer with the rest of the ingredients.

3. Pour into glass container, cover with towel, and let sit on your counter for 6-10 hours.

REJUVELAC—stinky and hard to get right, but it has tons of B vitamins, enzymes, lactobacillus and lots of good stuff. Some people even claim to like the taste. Weirdos. I think it’s good mixed with other stuff like cold soups or juices. If you use it to make seed cheese, they culture a lot faster.

½ c wheat berries

6 c clean water

optional: ¾ c raisins

1. Soak the wheat berries for 24 hours.

2. Sprout the wheat berries for 2 days.

3. Toss sprouts in blender with 1 cup water and chop to break them up. If you’re using a Vitamixer, resist the temptation to blend; CHOP ONLY. If you’re going to add the raisins, now’s the time to do it. The sugar helps the taste and fermentation process. Add another cup water and blend a bit more.

4. Pour the mixture and 4 cups water into a large enough glass jar, like an iced tea jar, cover with a towel, and let the whole thing sit on your counter for 3 days. Stir it twice each day.

5. At the end of the third day, it should smell sour like lemons and sauerkraut. If it smells bad, DO NOT DRINK IT. That means that the unfriendly bacteria have taken over. This is what makes it difficult to make. There are so many variables over a three day period that it’s hard to control each batch. I spoiled my first few batches, so don’t be discouraged. I think everybody did. If the batch is good, it helps you detox and aids in food digestion. Start with 1 cup a day and work up slowly from there (don’t rush because you’ll detox too hard).

6. Strain off liquid and store in fridge for up to 2 weeks. There are lots of recipes for using this stuff, like blending it with fruit into smoothies. It’s kind of bubbly and mixes well.

7. If you want, you can take the strainings from the last batch, add 6 more cups of water, and let it ferment for 3 days, stirring twice a day like before. The second batch is lighter in taste.

I hope these suggestions get the home-cultured-foodies off to a great start! and, thanks, Marlese!! :-)