On The Diet with Heidi Merritt

I am sure that blood-type eating assists digestion. I find it hard to believe that it renders other digestive planning of no use. Let us consider a meal of mashed potatoes and meat. If some digestion of protein is to take place in the acid stomach certainly the presence of potato will not help the achievement of the proper acidity. OK---the body will muddle through and get the job done to some extent but if we are trying to optimize digestion why introduce this complication???----even if it is done every day all over the world.

Hi, Ralph! nice to hear from you! If my failing memory serves, you're type B, right?

The nice thing about Peter's blood type books is their emphasis on accessibility to the average person facing this science for the first time. You're right: the meat-and-potatoes (or -rice, or -bread, or -pasta) meal is on every non-vegetarian restaurant's menu worldwide, as well as being the convention for most home cooks.

Not only is this the customary meal plan in well-fed households, it is also a stomach-filling strategy for the poor. Small amounts of expensive meats, fowl or fish can make a satisfying meal if stretched with starch.

You're also perceptive in noting that protein digestion (supported by a more acid digestive environment) is not necessarily aided by the presence of foods which are better assimilated in a slightly more alkaline mix. This seems to vary widely by individual, with some reporting greatly improved digestion through separating starches from flesh foods, some who find that vegetable starch (even from potatoes) -- as opposed to grain starch -- is fine with meats, and others noticing little difference.

Anyone consulting a naturopath versed in ABO lore will come away with a far more specific set of recommendations than a popular health book could provide, naturally. For instance, an Indican test will disclose how efficiently your particular digestive system is doing its job. That's not a test we can perform at home. However, Peter's books clearly mark out the head of the trail, if you will, for the average reader. The journey itself can involve many byways, the choice of which is up to the goals and abilities of each person on the journey.

By following that path, other needed adjustments naturally make themselves known to us. It's been the experience of hundreds I've heard from... including myself.

However, in fairness, I think this calls for a column on classic food-combining this coming week. I hope to enlist the aid of some old friends! Stay tuned!!

ACK!!!

~ I have noticed so many discrepencies comparing Cook Right and Blood Type O Food, Beverage & Supplement Lists that I wonder which to pay attention to when I am shopping/coking. A few examples:- goose is N in Lists and A in Cook Right; Quail is A in Lists and N in Cook Right; Sunflower Butter and Sunflower Seeds are A in Lists and N in Cook Right; Ezekiel Bread is N in Lists and HB in Cook Right; Oat Bran and Oatmeal are N in Lists and A in Cook Right; Brussel Sprouts and All Cabbage are N in Lists and A in Cook Right; Bananas, Blueberries, Mangoes and Guava are HB in Lists and N in Cook Right; Strawberries are N in Lists and A in Cook Right; Kiwi is A in Lists and N in Cook Right; Cinnamon is N in Lists and A in Cook Right etc. etc. These are all foods I enjoy so I am not sure whether to avoid them or treat them as food should I follow the diet. I've come up with these discrepancies and more just casually scanning the books. Any Suggestions?? Doreen

~ I am Type O and have BTD, CR4YT, and Blood Type O Food, Beverage, and Supplement LISTS from ER4YT. So far, I have found two foods - squid (calamari) and quail - that the 3 books (and the TypeBase 3 Database) disagree about as to whether they are neutral or avoids for Type O's. I'm wondering where the definitive list is (if one exists) so that I can know for sure how to categorize those foods (and any others that may have been listed incorrectly). I am not super-strict about following the diet myself, though I am more so for my 18-month-old son (per Dr.'s recommendations). P.B-B.

Ladies, thank you for voicing the concerns of a great many people! Here's the situation:

Eat Right 4 Your Type and Cook Right 4 Your Type are now most valuable for the explanatory texts and recipes, rather than the food lists. Those lists have been updated too swiftly over the past seven years to keep reissuing updated books -- one of the inescapable facts of life in publishing.

(1) If you know your secretor status, then use Live Right 4 Your Type with an eye on the update page, OR the online database. These are the correct values by secretor status.

(2) If you don't know your secretor status, and don't plan to do so, then use the individual blood-type lists. The "little books" are based upon the current knowledge, designed along secretor lines (who comprise nearly 80% of the population) -- and adjusted somewhat to eliminate the worst avoids for nonsecretors, to be on the safe side. That is why their values do not identically correspond to any of the other books. They are a general-purpose guide, developed because of popular demand, and highly effective in that capacity.

Let me offer some solace: the first five years after the publication of Eat Right saw voluminous new discoveries about ABO-mediated food interactions. The food lists were in a constant and unexpected state of upheaval. Items were being added, consolidated and modified at a stupefying rate. At this latter day, things have settled down considerably! We maintain food value updates on this site in the update page and TYPEbase3®, and will continue to do so. The current rate of change, however, has slowed to sublight speed.

This science is reaching its maturity, and the confidence level in every food value has risen significantly. Future changes will be very few -- more along the lines of specific values for previously unlisted foods. I hope understanding the road we've travelled has helped to restore your confidence, as well!

Welcome! I'm glad you asked this question, because the vast majority of people who follow the blood type diets are faced with the same task: plan it, shop it, cook it. A scattershot approach is fine, but... what if I'm eating too much of some things and not enough of others? what if I get home from the store and can't make a single meal from everything I bought? It can seem pretty complicated at first. For O nonsecretors, nonsecretors in general actually, we have no sample menus ~ but here's a way to make up your own.

Live Right 4 Your Type provides guidelines for portion quantities and frequency. Because we all have different favorite foods, health concerns and available time/energy/money for shopping and cooking, the best approach is to use those guidelines to make up your own meal plan. I’ll use the example of a type O nonsecretor, but everyone can benefit by using this process. You set up a structure you can depend on (helpful for forming good habits!) then fill it in as you go. It also makes it a little easier to get back on the diet if you’ve crashed & burned along the way. There's plenty of room for new foods -- and the occasional slip-up! :-}

First, devise a weekly “big picture” to work from. I started by listing the food categories down the left side of a page, then entering the weekly frequencies of each category to the right, multiplying “per day” frequencies by 7 in order to get a consistent total. Remember that in the case of fruits and vegetables, the frequencies listed in Live Right should read “per day” rather than “per week.” Beneficial vegetables can be used without limitation.

Then, pare it down to likely meals over the week. For me, I started with:

* 2 portions meat/poultry on weekdays

* 1 portion fish 3 times on weekdays (as fits in)

* 2 eggs, one fish and one portion meat/poultry on Sat & Sun

* 1 portion beans per week (optional, in place of one poultry)

* Handful of nuts or 2 T nut butter per day

* Unlimited beneficial veg & vegjuice per day

-- and/or 2-3 neutral veg & vegjuice per day (salad 3x/wk)

* 2 portions fruit a day (in winter, Proberry syrup 1 T/day)

* oils as needed (salad dressing 3x/wk)

For each of these eight “diet sections,” run through the food lists and jot down a few items you’d like to have in the coming week. Now you’ve got a shopping list.

Note that although technically we’re allowed up to three portions of grain, two servings from the milk and yogurt list, and one of cheese, I don’t include them in my planning because they’re not ideal foods for my type. They’re also notoriously difficult to completely avoid at a restaurant or party. So, I use the Convicted Food rule: rare outings in return for good behavior. If I find myself in a situation (traveling, holidays, you name it) where dairy or grain has slipped in a few times in a row, or if something I’ve eaten has triggered cravings, I consider the food an Escaped Convict and put it away accordingly for a good long time. There are only six grains that even rate “neutral” for O nons, so don’t feel like an alien if you find you’re better off without them altogether. You'll have a lot of company.

While our food choices seem terribly restricted when surrounded with carb-heavy supermarket aisles and Vegetarian! All Soy! No Fat! advertising, I’ve found there’s plenty to eat. There’s one single avoid for us in the whole meat/poultry list, to start with. Only 11 avoids appear in the 80+ seafood entries. Adding only the vegetables, fruits, nuts... suddenly we have hundreds of choices, many of which will do you more good than all the medicine in the world. If it helps boost your enthusiasm, think of all the stuff we can have that nobody else can eat!! Frankly, I’m sort of grateful for my food list, even for the challenges it sometimes sets for me.

If you look carefully at my little food plan, you’ll find evidence of a Type A nonsecretor in the house. I eat more turkey, chicken and the occasional OK-for-A-non bean dish than I would in an all-O household. If you live alone, or with others of your own polymorphic persuasion, the food plan doesn’t change much but the ease of shopping and recipe choice does.

The main thrust of the O-non diet is meat, fish, vegetables, nuts/seeds (and fruit in the summer). For a type A, it might be the same in reverse order with the addition of more beans and grain. For Bs and ABs, dairy can play a greater part. Let the seasons be your guide to some extent. Try to keep an eye on what’s fresh from the local producers. (I note you're in a farming area ~ these are general recommendations! :-)) Look into community organic food co-ops, visit websites like eatwild, and see if someone not too far away is raising something you want. You’ll be getting more nutrition for your dollar, and new confidence in the kitchen, as well as the satisfaction of supporting your local hard-working organic farmers and ranchers.

This plan confers treasures upon those who follow it. We’re doubly encouraged to try things we’ve never had before, expand our involvement in the basic ecology of food and people, and do more home cooking (quality-for-quality, it’s cheaper in the long run). Over time, the avoids you long for now will elicit a grimace instead of a drool. I think the key to enjoying the O nonsecretor diet is to let its balance take you where it wants you to be. It’s a good place. Give it time, and let your beliefs and habits change gently according to the evidence of your sharpening senses. It WILL become effortless... I promise!