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!

Last I heard, there were precious few waterbuffalo grazing the Highlands. :-> Not to worry: any mozzarella, especially if made with milk from grass-fed local cattle, is neutral for you. Easier and cheaper than ferreting around for imports ~ any road, my marching cry is "Support Local Farmers & Ranchers!" ;-D



We discuss a number of different kinds of water here: distilled, tap water, spring water, soda, seltzer, tonic, mineral water. Distilled water has specific applications (mostly for medicinal solutions), but is a processed product and contains no trace minerals, so I don't recommend it as one's sole source of drinking water. Tap water quality varies worldwide, and should be assayed on an individual basis. Spring waters vary, too, but are generally superior day-to-day "drinking buddies." The term "soda water" in the States traditionally refers to carbonated water that contains a bit of salt. Seltzer is carbonated as well, but is usually salt-free. Tonic water is yet another fizzy variety with the addition of quinine. And mineral water is such a vast topic, it has its own website! (Feeling bloated yet? :-D) High-solids mineral waters can provide significant dietary minerals and trace elements in the form our prehistoric ancestors prized. The "still" versions are perfectly acceptable for all types, while the fizzy styles confer their digestive benefits upon Os.



Lovely to hear from you, Dorell ~ I do hope this is helpful, and thank you for writing to me!

Hi there - A few questions from Scotland: My wife and I are trying to develop diets based on the program and we have read the recipe book BTD We would appreciate some help in identifying the status of some foods which aren't listed. Your feedback would be appreciated. Haricot beans Chick peas Also, is it ok to cook "avoid" foods together? for example, I'm an A and my wife is a B so could we cook chicken and turkey in one sauce or should avoid foods for different types be completely segregated? Thanks in advance Gil and Alison



Great questions! Haricot beans would fall under our "string bean" category ~ like the smaller "haricots verts," they grow in long pods and belong to the same family, although the Haricots you are familiar with are the mature bean out of the pod. Chickpea is also called garbanzo bean ~ ~ hmmm. I have a bit of bad news to go with that one. It's an avoid for everyone except type O secretors. sorry, wish I could do something about that one (for you, your wife and me altogether)! Perhaps cannellini, Northern beans or favas might fill the breach?



Some kinds of meat could be cooked together without harm to either party, but chicken is not one of them. Its lectin ("galectin" to be precise) sloshes out over everything. Only the egg of the chicken is spared this invasive pooker. However, if your wife cooked her beef with your turkey, your meal would remain A-edible: beef contains no galectin to wander through the dish, but rather is an avoid for As for reasons of protein concentration/digestibility. Same for beef broth: in small amounts, it won't mar your portion of the pot. Among the vegges, bean water is rife with lectin and should be kept apart. Save beef, other foods are best segregated. If you have any type AB children, please don't hate me for tripling the cooking chores! I don't make the rules, I only annoy people with them! :-}



My heart always beats a bit faster when I 'get mail' from the Celtic Nations ~ still hoping to find a note from Cornwall or the Isle of Man one of these mornings! Thank you all most warmly for stopping by ~~ Slán leat!