question: Hey! In two different books (Eat Right 4 Your Type), we noticed oatmeal was under "avoid" for Type O, and under "neutral" for Type O in the other book!! Is oatmeal "neutral" or "avoid" for Type O? Also, is sourdough bread okay for Type Os? Thank you so much for writing me back!!! I appreciate it!



answer: Hi! Oatmeal is a fairly innocuous grain, and is positively helpful for most blood types. For type Os, secretor status comes into play. O secretors can eat oats, but should in all respects abide by the portion/frequency tables for grains found in Live Right 4 Your Type. O nonsecretors should avoid oats in any form.



Both sourdough cultures and baker's yeast are OK for all types. However, the other ingredients come into play when deciding if the final product is good for you. Breads made from amaranth, kamut, millet, quinoa, rice, rye, teff or 100% sprouted flour of any kind are fine for all type Os. Secretors have a slightly wider choice. If you are facing health challenges, it is wise to find out your secretor status by Lewis type testing (blood) or saliva testing (kits available through North American Pharmacal).



The place to go to find out a food's updated value is TYPEbase3®, linked here and from the home page, www.dadamo.com. This is where we maintain the authoritative food values list, so if you're wondering whether food XYZ is OK for your type, check TYPEbase3®. Remember to hit the "search" button on that page... hitting your keyboard's "enter" key will not bring up the answer to your query.



more on the nonsecretor equation tomorrow...

Yes, it's tough to find commercial milks and condiments which aren't laden with one no-no or another ~~ if you don't make your own. Nonsecretor Os have the worst time of it in the middle supermarket aisles, but everyone faces this challenge. Following the blood type diets means we end up purchasing more whole foods for preparation at home than we used to... or at least choose very simple dishes and eschew most sauces when eating out or buying prepared food.

Some brands of soy milk, for example, have been reported as having organic ingredients in a soybeans-and-water only formula. However, a recommended national brand can actually vary in ingredients from place to place, and the formula can be changed from time to time without notice. Several people ran into this problem with one brand's Ezekiel 4:9 bread. There are avoid-free varieties among brands of soy milk (Westbrae Natural, last I checked), ketchup (Muir Glen Organic), etc., but not necessarily for nonsecretors -- so it comes down to what the product actually contains when you buy it at your local store. Read every label, even when you've bought the same product before.

This is the main reason why we have milk and condiment recipes in RECIbase and scattered through the archives. A websearch can turn up loads of adaptable recipes, as well. I make salad dressing about twice a month, with fresh organic ingredients, and it takes five minutes and far less money than an off-the-shelf product. It is not complicated to make soy, rice or almond milk in small amounts, to be consumed within a few days. Mustard and mayonnaise are simple and quick to make, and last for weeks. While it can be difficult at first, persistence pays off in the quality of your food and the enjoyment of preparing and eating it. Adapting recipes can become second nature after a while, and a great source of pleasure. You may discover a culinary talent you never suspected! And over time, your collection of tried-and-true recipes will grow, and provide the basis for more experimentation. It's all a matter of getting started. :-)

Hello, dot! The only cactus in the food lists currently is "prickly pear" which covers the entire Opuntia genus of cacti, comprising approximately one dozen different species. Both the fruit and the branches (the fat cactus-y looking "pads," sometimes sold under the name Nopalito) are edible, but all are avoids for type B secretors and nonsecretors. If you find an edible cactus which is not a member of the Opuntia genus, we would consider it "unknown," and therefore neutral for purposes of the BTD ~ but be wary of untoward reactions, OK? :-)

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I am type B and would like to know about these foods from India. 1) Black gram (Urad) 2)Pompano and King fish 3) Moringa Oleifera also called as drum sticks 4)Cutlass Bean 5)Red gram 6) gourds like snake gourd, bitter gourd 7) Sorghum 8) cluster beans 9) Colocasia Kindly tell us about these foods. If you don't have the info,can you test these foods? I will appreciate your input. Thanks, Smita

Hello, Smita ~ We have no values for most of the foods you mentioned, meaning they have not been tested. They can be considered "neutral" if you are in good health and do not need to lose weight, but use them very sparingly if you are trying to resolve a heath condition.

Pompano and sorghum can be found in TYPEbase 3® ~ just type in the food name, and remember to hit the search button, not the "enter" key. :-)

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the doc says in his eat right 4 your blood type, for B+, don't use club soda. it seems to work for me. any specific reason? thanx. blessings, dennis

Hi, Dennis ~ In the updated books, type B secretors are to avoid it, and it's neutral for B nonsecretors. In the TYPEbase 3® database, club soda is listed. The remarks for B secretors: "Inhibits proper gastric function or blocks assimilation." ;-)

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i am female 60 years old and type b+ blood i was under the impression that i could eat ordinary potatoes ie! white or red etc!in your book page 268 live right for your type that as a non secretor potatoes are an avoid for me please tell me it is an error as i have always eaten potatoes and to my knowledge they have not done me any harm i love them!!!! with thanks MMcC

Hi, Mary! sorry for the shock... The new books are an update & improvement over BTD from 1996, and I wish I could say it's an error, but it is the correct new listing. Good news... tomatoes moved to neutral for you... ? :-)

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I am blood type B and my husband is blood type A. Ezekiel bread and Essene bread are on both of our highly beneficial foods. I just looked up the ingredients in these two breads and noticed several ingredients were in these breads that are on our avoid list. Can you please explain why we can eat these breads if there are ingredients, such as barley, kidney beans, pinto beans, lentils, buttermilk, wheat flour, which are foods that we are to avoid. We are adhereing to the diet solutions according to Dr. Peter D'Adamo in his book Eat Right 4 Your Type. JoAnn

Hello, JoAnn ~ It is paramount for all of us to read the labels of products before we buy them, as you have discovered! The Ezekiel 4:9 bread in the food lists refers to a 100% sprouted, yeasted bread with no dairy, whole bean or wheat flour. Food for Life makes a fine one. Essene bread, again, is a 100% sprouted grain bread which may include fruit or nuts, or be only sprouted grain & water. Good hunting!

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Thanks for all the positive info on vegetable glycerine! Now, how do we convert recipes, i.e., 1/2cup of honey equals how much glycerine? One cup of sugar equals how much glycerine? Happy Holidays to everyone! carolyn(0+)sec

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Two questions about Vegetable Glycerine. Apparently it is not a carbohydrate, but instead an alcohol. Does this mean it has no calories? Or for calorie-sake is it essentially counted as a carbohydrate? What is the equivalency for using in recipes? In other words how many tablespoons of it equals some comparable amount of sugar? I'm very excited about this because it gives me something sweet, which is rare besides fruit and because it is available in a variety of sizes at my local Whole Foods Market. I get the largest size! I have added a dash of it to my smoothies and it really does help. Tom Tom Type O-Non Secretor

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You might add to your Glycerine discussion that Whole Foods and others may not stock it next to the sweeteners, but rather in the skin-care section. S.

Hi, veg-gly fans! Yes, I've always found it in the skin-care "oils" section. Calories? No idea! Certainly far less than sugar, if it is susceptible to the "calorie" scale at all. I've no idea how to convert it for recipes calling for sugar, except to test the taste of sugar in water to an equal quantity of vegetable glycerine. Use the amount that makes best taste-sense to you, since the flavor does not change when cooked. It's not a delicate or difficult-to-handle ingredient. Do a little experimenting, and enjoy! :-D

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