Andrea Cayea

My quest to genotype 50 people has been more challenging then I care to admit. I tried to put a few flyers around some of my local haunts but I did not get one call. So my new strategy has been to find people with large social networks (or big mouths) who need to lose weight or have expressed that they just don't feel good. My hope has been that one person would tell the next and they would come streaming in all wanting to know the secrets of their personal diet. It has not been that simple because many of my friends have given up on losing weight due to so many failed diets and being menopausal. Still I continue to bother them and have no shame in telling them that they need to shed a few pounds; that their future health and well-being is important enough to invest in.

My consultations with people go something like this...

First, I let them know it will take about 2 hours for the initial consultation. In the beginning I didn't tell people this and soon learned that they were, more often than not, stopping by between picking up kids and getting home to dinner. These distracted people are really hard to work with. I also realized some people need to know all the details while others just want the diet without the research behind it.
For those who want to know the whys and why nots, I have found Eric Morrison's blood type movie to be quite helpful. I can sit people down to watch the movie and know that in the end they have some basic understanding for the food choices. I have had a very good response to the video; two people actually watched it twice. Eric's “Explaining the Blood Type Diet” runs about 45 minutes so during that time I make a cup of tea for my guests to enjoy while watching, and then I get everything ready to measure and fingerprint them.

Once the film is finished I answer any questions and then take their health history. It’s interesting to see that many people don't really understand what diseases they have. I find many who are on blood pressure medication will deny they have high blood pressure because in some quirky way they consider it irrelevant if they take medication. They don’t realize that meds often only mask the disease. This is also common for those with high cholesterol who keep their condition under control with a prescription. Inquiring about their medications or the results of any tests they may have had is a good way to know their underlying health conditions.

Once I have their medical history I begin the body measurements; my husband Jeff helps me with this. I have a chair already measured that I know is 17 inches high so I always have them sit in that chair, it is my genochair. Standing and sitting height, weight (I let them write it down rather then say it), finger lengths, head measurements, waist, hips etc… Having witnessed Dr. D'Adamo and his team of interns measure people at the University of Bridgeport helped me understand the proper way to measure people, particularly leg bone length. I take all the information I need for an accurate Genotype and record it on a 5”x8” index card my husband created that contains data on one side and fingerprints on the other.

While I measure them I have a short discussion on what the measurements mean, this is often a bit abstract for most people. Getting them to understand how body measurements will somehow relate to the foods they can and can't eat is the most difficult part. They often look a little blankly at me, trusting that I know what I am doing. (I will mention Manning just incase they want to go look him up for more information.)
Once finished, our first visit is over.
In the beginning I used to figure out the genotypes of people and give them their diets all at the same time. But I have found that most people need some time to think through what we have discussed. The time between measuring and the receiving of their food lists helps them to prepare psychologically. It also gives me time to speculate what foods they might have questions about.

During the second meeting I go over the diet page by page. In this way I can address any initial concerns they have regarding its content. I like to show people the food on their lists that may not be familiar to them, so I make sure I have a few of those items around the house. I’ve even reached into my freezer to show them grass-fed beef or homemade flax meal bread. Samples sometimes become part of this second visit. O's always want to know where the bread is and A's want to see the fruit and vegetable list. Many A's have never eaten tofu or if they have it has only been served in some unappealing way. O's begin to freak out when they see the list of carbohydrates and wheat is in the red avoid section. This is when I begin to pull out bags of quinoa or millet to show them what they can have. Initially I was unprepared for the response of O's, thinking everyone would embrace the idea of not eating wheat, but the media has ingrained in us the idea that we can't live without wheat in our diets.

This sharing of information is the part of genotyping I enjoy most because I am able to impart years of food knowledge, both my own and from Dr. D’s work, with people. I send them on their way, knowing that in a few days they will be calling me as they wonder what ghee is, or how to buy fresh fish. And gladly I will be ready to share what I know.

When I told someone I was contemplating the start of a support group and possibly cooking classes so we can share our knowledge collectively,
I could see excitement in her eyes. At moments like those I know I am in the right place and doing what I love.

I have been nagging my husband Jeff to go to the doctor for a few months, he is very well at the moment but he has never had his cholesterol or blood sugar checked. Even though he tries to eat right I still feel it is important to have a blood work-up as a measure of his wellness. For months we were going back and forth about it, he just wouldn't commit to a time nor to a particular doctor. That was when Dr. D'Adamo mentioned on the forums that he would be working with some students at the University of Bridgeport, for $120 dollars you could see him his team of students. When I mentioned this to Jeff it was without hesitation that he said, "yes".

So Friday September 11th we headed up to Bridgeport for Jeff's well visit. As an added bonus my friend Claire joined us and had her own visit with the students and Dr. D'Adamo.

We arrived a few minutes early to the Health and Sciences building of the University campus. We waited in a very nice lobby that looked like the school had recently spent money on remodeling. In a few minutes a white coated student came down to personally welcome us. I was delighted to find that it was Julia, a woman my husband and I had met at the IFHI conference in June. She took us up to a well lit doctor's exam room with an exam table covered in white paper and plenty of chairs. Two more students Ann and Kia, greeted us in the room. They wasted no time in starting to gather data for Jeff's SWAMI. Ann took out her centimeter tape measure and began measuring Jeff"s head while Kia started asking him about his medical history and Julia kept track of all the information that was flying around the room. I was very impressed with how they worked as a team each participating equally but none taking the others role. They did a very thorough job of taking his history and when they didn't feel that he fully answered their questions they would gently prod him for more information. One particular issue that Kia kept asking about was what is called a trigger finger. For several years Jeff's fingers have been sporadically locking in place when he uses a knife or performs other tasks that require him to bend his fingers at a certain angle. He then has to pull the finger back into place, it is both painful and annoying. I just thought it was part of his body aging and any normal doctor would simply think the same, but we all know this was no normal doctors visit.

Once Ann completed the measurements she began to use two machines, one to test Jeff's breathe hydrogen and an electrical bio impedance monitor to measure ratios of fat, water content and a whole slew of other numbers about his body mass. I was glad that he did not test positive for hydrogen in his breath this meant that he did not have any signs of bacterial overgrowth in his gastrointestinal tract. The bio impedance monitor showed that he was overweight but well hydrated.

Once the physical exam was over they brought us to another room to wait for them. They then disappeared for a bit to meet with Dr. D'Adamo and go over Jeff's information to develop a plan.

A few minutes later the students accompanied by Dr. D'Adamo entered the room. Dr. D'Adamo greeted us warmly then grabbed the colored marker for the white board and like Harold with the Purple Crayon outlined a plan for O Gatherer Jeff. The prescription was some vitamin supplements to take care of his trigger finger, rosacea, and overall wellness. He also included a weekly exercise regimen of 30 minutes cardio and 15 minutes of weight training three times a week. The white board is a good idea because he moves fast, and I think if I didn't know anything about the Genotype Diet I might have missed some of what he said. Thankfully Julia was busy recording everything just incase we missed some important piece of information. He spent a few minutes answering some simple questions that we had and then was out the door to meet with the next patient, Claire.

The whole time Dr. D'Adamo was at the white board the printer was spitting out pages of Jeff's SWAMI. When it was done the team of students presented us with two binders one with Jeff's SWAMI and one filled with recipes. We were also told that in a week Ann would be calling Jeff to inquire about how the whole "Plan" was progressing.

Julia then escorted us downstairs to the lobby to make a follow-up appointment in three months to check on Jeff's progress.

When I arrived home I immediately ordered the supplements Dr. D'Adamo had prescribed. I think Jeff was most excited to hear that his trigger finger may disappear with daily use of one of the supplements recommended. I am anxiously awaiting them to arrive so he can begin this healing process .

Many of the patients I care for in the Endoscopy unit where I work have low blood counts and receive blood during their hospitalizations. Since these charts have blood typing slips on them, I always look to see if I can guess the blood types of the patients. I had a whole family of Warrior A's last week that pulled out their blood donor cards as I guessed their blood types. All three were tall men with long heads.

This unit does out-patient blood transfusions as well as endoscopies because the volume of endoscopic procedures has been dropping. Doctors do more and more in the office. In order to make money the hospital accepts short term patients to make up the short fall. These "out patients" (they come in and go out) receiving blood are cancer patients. Each unit of blood takes about 3-4 hours to be transfused so we get to know the patient pretty well over the long days. Many of these people come week after week for blood, usually until they are too sick to come in or die. It is sad when they stop coming and it often takes me and my co-workers a few weeks to realize that the person is gone. However, new patients replace the old ones and the cycle continues.

This week I had a women come in who had stage four ovarian cancer, she was very frail. She needed to receive only one unit of blood and because she was frail I ran the blood over the full 4 hours. Her sister, (I'll call her Sue) and husband were by her side the whole time, holding her hand and encouraging her to drink small sips of fluid. I started a conversation with Sue and asked her some basic questions about herself and her sister's illness. She described how her sister had a swollen lymph node that on further investigation turned out to be stage four uterine cancer. Her sadness about her sisters illness was evident in her voice and posture.

I could see from the blood I was giving her, that the patient was blood type A. I suspected that she was a Teacher genotype and as I touched her fingertips, I could feel that she had very low fingerprint ridges. I also thought that possibly her sister shared her same blood type.

I gently asked Sue, "Do you eat soy by any chance?" She said, "I have it everyday."

My interest was peeked. "What type of soy do you eat?" " Oh I have soy milk everyday in my cereal."

I asked her if she ate tofu or tempeh? She said, "Yes, I eat those too."

I then asked her if she knew her blood type? She said that she was an A.

" I'm an A too," I said.

I asked her if she had heard of the Blood Type Diet?

"Yes, I have, I keep the book on my coffee table. You know my family and friends think I am crazy. I don't talk to anyone about how I eat. They all have something to say about it."

I smiled and knew exactly what she was talking about, at that moment we spoke the same language. Our relationship became deeper, we were two A's sharing a common experience, the Blood Type Diet. Just by having this information I suddenly understood her better.
We talked about Dr. D'Adamo for a few minutes and I told her about his latest book the Genotype Diet, she hadn't heard of it but promised she would read it.

When our 4 hours together were finished, I pulled the IV from her sisters arm and gently held pressure to the wound. Then Sue lovingly dressed her sister for the ride home, we talked briefly about hospice care. I knew this was the last time I would see them.

One last time I encouraged her to make sure she ate her soy. She smiled, and knew exactly what I meant.

Please be aware that I can not contact you if you leave a comment here asking questions, I have no way of getting your contact information. My personal email is Yippycayea@optonline.net

I am not sure if you are familiar with the story of the Navy's Flight 19, for me it is not only a tragic tale of human error, but at a deeper level, one of trust .

The story:
Flight 19 consisted of five naval planes and 14 naval and marine corps aviators (five pilots, the rest radiomen or gunners). The planes were Avengers--large, single-engined torpedo bombers used in World War II. Four of the planes were piloted by student pilots; the fifth was piloted by Navy Lt. Charles Taylor, who was the experienced officer in charge of the training flight.

All 5 planes and the men in them were lost due to Charles Taylor's errors in navigation and lack of trust in the radio broadcaster. It has taken sometime for the US Navy to decide what the cause of the failure was. But recently blunders by Taylor have come to light.

The mistakes are amazing, but they do explain what happened, unlikely as it was. They include: (1) getting lost in the first place, after taking over from a student pilot; (2) mistakenly thinking he knew where he was when he didn't, and broadcasting that he didn't need help; (3) thinking he was in the Florida Keys when he couldn't possibly be even after ground radio told him of his error; (4) causing the flight to proceed on a generally north easterly direction, and causing the flight to sometimes change direction 180 degrees back and forth; and (5) refusing, despite repeated requests, to change Flight 19's radio frequency to the more audible emergency channel.

Sadly these were young men who trusted Taylor and lost their lives because of that trust.

In the world of nutrition I see parallel misconceptions...
1) Getting lost in the first place. Many of us are lost in a world of one size fits all diets that just don't work.

2)Mistakenly thinking he knew where he was when he didn't, Many of us think that we can figure out how to find health and weight loss for ourselves, then we realize that it is nearly impossible to make sense out of the contradictory information we hear and read.
and broadcasting that he didn't need help; Taylor thought he could do it on his own, many of us do the same, and end up failing, and blaming the diet not the dieter.

(3) mistakenly thinking he was in the Florida Keys when he couldn't possibly be, and even after ground radio told him of his error; I see this all the time on the forums, people ask a question get an answer that is is not what they want to hear and many times they can't accept the truth so they continue to decide on their own truth. I call this selective hearing.

(4) causing the flight to proceed on a generally north easterly direction, and causing the flight to waffle back and forth People who start in the right direction but then begin to veer off in another direction. Often losing site of what they were looking for in the first place.

(5) refusing, despite repeated requests, to change Flight 19's radio frequency to the more audible emergency channel.In spite of repeated signals from their bodies that their lifestyle is not working, they fail to change who they ask for help. Relying on faulty information.

When the truth challenges our belief systems it is never easy.

One of the things with the D'Adamo diets is that they do challenge many mainstream ideas about food and dieting.
How do you trust someone when everything you have believed about food is challenged?

It is difficult for some people to trust Dr. D'Adamo, letting go of years of following "one size fits all" advice requires trust. For me once I accepted that he knew what he was doing with my BT A Warrior body, I was able to embrace my foods and find peace of mind and health. I don't want any of you to get lost in the storm and go down because of lack trust like the young men of Flight 19 did. Trust is needed to practice this way of life, it is needed when one moves from the BTD to the GTD and then again when following an individual SWAMI.

I encourage you to put trust in Dr. D's work. I know you will not be disappointed.

What an amazing conference Martha and Peter held in Norwalk, CT. With the assistance of their wonderful staff they made this delightful weekend a mix of fun and work. I had to laugh at Martha, Peter's wife and time keeper, as she flashed signs to let him know that he only had minutes left before a break. The energy that is expended at these things is enormous and the fact that Dr. D'Adamo makes himself available to conference attendees for personal face time is extraordinary.

I connected with a few friends and made some new ones that I hope I'll see again over the years to come. One friend I ran into was Pat, a fun woman I met in Tennenesse last year. She is a person of great wisdom who has a desire to share her story of how the genotype diet changed her life. Speaking with her, you'll find her enthusiasm infectious as she talks about her diet and her favorite diamond foods. One combination she shared was to dip broccoli in molasses. Boy, is that good! She also told me of her personal goal to just get people to know their genotype and their diamond foods. What a great goal, I loved the simplicity of her message.

After the conference in TN I came away with a sense of urgency regarding the message of the blood type/genotype diet. I wanted to be just like Larry ( call it Larry envy). I wanted to hold classes and get groups together just like Larry does in TN. In short time, however, I found that I am not very good in front of groups of people. At the close of this IFHI conference I felt that same urgency of the message but recognized that my method needed to change to fit my personality better. Well, after talking with Pat I realized all I need to do is offer to measure people, tell them their Genotype, share the information and let them figure it out. Some will be intrigued enough to try it, at least for a few weeks, but ultimately it is solely up to them. Presently my goal is to measure 50 people, a goal I have already begun but will report on at a later time.

At the conference one of the practitioners, an ND, was talking about how a doctor in Conn. was looking for someone to do the SWAMI on his patients in his office. Wow, was all I thought as my mind exploded with the possibilities of something like this. I think I would like that role in a doctors office. I would have access to all the lab work to enter in the SWAMI, and the patients history. Plus you could do all sorts of teaching with people. What a tool that will be for his patients to have. I have great respect for this physician who is willing to pay someone to do this for his patients. He surely must be an unusually person.

I am also thinking of going to school in 2010 to get a Masters degree in Nursing Education. NYS has scholarships available because the growing demand for educators is so great. I would have to teach in a college after I graduate, but what better venue than to talk to young people about individualized nutrition and the Genotype diet.

Always love to hear about you and your personal goals so why not leave me comment here and I will post them.
A special note to Eric the GT Teacher who I met in Tenn. and again in Conn. I am working on changing my photo on this blog,