Hi, I am not greatly educated on this system and after following the blood type diet for a while with some success I have tried to establish my genotype.  From the body measurements I seem to be a Nomad, however I am obese and have PCOS, insulin resistance etc which seems more in line with Gatherer profile.  My ring and index fingers on both hands seem to be exactly the same measurements or within a mm each way so I am a little confused as to how important this is in determining genotype.  What I suppose I am asking is, If I have most of the characteristics of Nomad ie shape, eye colour, hair colour, teeth, body length (im 5ft 9) etc but am plagued with obesity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, does this mean I am neither one or the other? Does the fact I have hormone imbalance from PCOS cloud the result, meaning that if I didnt have this condition I would have ALL characteristics of the Nomad. Im a bit confused.

It might be helpful to determine your secretor status.

Yes, the finger measure is important. Even if you were to get a SWAMI it would need the input to make the determination.

If there is a practitioner near you that you might see, it would make it easier for you as they would make the measurments and have experience in doing so.

Thanks for your advice.  I've actually just watched a video on how to take the measurements correctly and my ring and index finger measurements are identically the same on both hands, ie all 4 fingers measure 65mm.  I cannot afford a secretor test at this moment in time but will eventually get one.  Is it possible for Nomads (B+) to be obese and have hormonal disturbances such as PCOS? with this condition aside, all the other indicators lean far more towards me being of the Nomad genotype I feel.

What are the torso and leg measures?

You could be either Nomad or Gatherer. B's might also be Explorer.

One option is to try the Gatherer diet for a few weeks and see how you do. Nomad is similar to BTD for B.

try the palms up methode when taking finger measurements

here s a video to help

http://www.4yourtype.com/swamixp_video.asp

my lower leg and upper leg are both 38cm and I need to ask someone to help me re the torso measurements, however I did take my own measurements carefully, sitting in a chair with a tape measure from top of head to floor is 133cm and height of chair is 45cm.  I will need to work out the calculations when my book is delivered.  My mother is AB and father is O if that has any bearing.  Thanks for your advice, I think I will try Gatherer diet as you suggest.  On the blood type diet I don't always do that well on grains which cause bloating for me apart from brown rice and seem to fare better on veg, fruit, nuts and meat with regards to weight loss and energy levels. I have lost 4 stone using the blood group diet but it seems to have slowed down.  The one thing that makes me think I may be Gatherer is that normally weight loss is really difficult due to PCOS, however I must add that on the Blood type B diet, the weight seemed to come off without too much effort.

bloodtypediet@gmail.com will help you find a practitioner to run swami for you

or check out the practitioner registry

Did the palm version of measuring finger length change anything for you?  Sometimes it can make it easier to tell minute differences.  Also using a transparent ruler is very helpful.

I'm wondering how you measured your sitting height just by yourself.  I find that part of the measurement difficult (with that book balanced on top of the head), even when I do it for someone else.

My daughter is a B + non-secretor, as I am.  On the Genotype book diet, she measured out to be a Gatherer, but when she did the SWAMI a couple of years later, it classified her to be a Nomad, which changed her diet a lot.  And she is doing much better on the SWAMI than she did on the Gatherer diet.  Me - - I'm clearly and strongly a Nomad both ways.  Sometimes, SWAMI is the only clear way to go.

Thanks everyone for your input.

No matter which way I measure the 4 fingers they are all exactly the same length, is this unusual?  

Measuring myself sitting was difficult but i erected the tape measure before starting. Although my upper and lower legs are the same in length, overall my torso is longer than my legs but not noticeably to look at probably because I'm quite tall at 5ft 9 to start with.  Although I am big (17 stone) my waist is quite small in comparison to hips and i tend towards hourglass rather than top or bottom heavy body shape. Underneath my excess weight I have strong muscular shape which has become more apparent as Ive lost weight. All my fingers, apart from two ring fingers (whorls) have ulnar loops.

I have noticed that a few B blood types are non secretors, is non secretor status prevalent among this blood group?  I have yet to find my secretor status out but intend to.

I really need to become more acquainted by reading further to educate myself with all this, so will read the book thoroughly when I receive it and then return if I still can't deduce what I am.  

Quoted from Lloyd

One option is to try the Gatherer diet for a few weeks and see how you do. Nomad is similar to BTD for B.

I second this recommendation.

Thanks, I will try that.  I do feel I am a mix of both with a bit of Explorer thrown in lol.  Well I never did fit neatly into one category, being typically B!  

Hi Anemone
Well I am a bit of a chameleon and never did well on the regular GTD
- I HAD to have a swami  and even with the wami I can change genotype
I reccomend that BIG time.

What I love about the swami is that I got all my dairy back again.
I am not a gatherer but I do carry extra weight( but not as much as I did 10 years ago)
and tend to do better on a lower carb higher fat diet.

Hi Henriette

Yes I seem to not really fit one specific genotype.  What confuses is me is that with my condition, PCOS, I tend to have imbalanced HDL/LDL levels and therefore a part of me is really put off eating fat and dairy and part of me wonders if I did go all out on this diet whether it would actually improve those levels.  I was put on Metformin about a decade ago and about 3 years ago decided to come off them and go for the more natural approach and with the BTD lost about 4 stone in about 9 months which is usually impossible with my metabolism.  I feel if I didnt have this condition I would be sure that I am a Nomad due to characteristics, physical features.  This condition makes me more the Gatherer type, however if i can reverse the condition which I slowly am doing, maybe my natural state  is that of the Nomad.  Time will tell.  Things are never simple being a B lol  

Well
can tell you that when I was a low fat vegetarian I had really weird unstable periods( sometimes 26 days- sometimes 40 days
and high LDL

as well as all kinds of nasty side effects  

Today I eat lots of eggs, butter,full fat dairy, cheese as well as veggies  and meat/fish etc...
but almost no grains( a little spelt and oat) and very little sweet things
and my blodpressure is low, my cholesterol is great  and
my period is regular  = actually I wanted to have another baby and my hormones are as good as a women in early 30ties.

I am still 10 kg overweight
- but I used to be 35 kg overweight so that is an improvement.
Fats ( the right ones do not make you fat but excess of wrong carbs and sugars will !
and they have a huge impact on PCOS.
As a B it is especially important to avoid most of the polyunsaturated oils; margarine and veg. oils.
white rice, white flour etc.

BUT please dont fear fat

I think I would try a Gatherer diet ( maybe keep some of the b dairy

Thanks, that's really useful to know.  

I have started just eating brown rice and oats only occasionally as sometimes they bloat me.  I've started eating a lot of lamb as its something I've never really ate much of throughout my life as it is expensive.  The other meats are difficult to get here.  I never cared much for chicken so that was easy to give up.  It will be interesting to see if this makes much of a difference but Im noticing more and more that grains don't really do anything for me and i prefer to eat sweet potatoes as a carb.  I'm also learning to do without sauces and condiments and only use EV olive oil and herbs spices.  The simpler but more natural my diet is the better I feel and yes I agree too many processed carbs and sugar are bad.  

I currently eat about 4 servings of fruit a day, I'm wondering whether to replace that with more veg.

Despite it being difficult sometimes I do quite like the challenge now of trying to get as healthy as I can  

4 servings of fruit is an awfull lot even without pcos. I would cut down to max 2 and mainly  low gi like berries, melon and maybe apples and pears.
No tropical fruits.

You can also eat neutral meat like veal, beef and turkey as a B

veal/beef are superfoods for me and turkey diamond.. so I get more variety.

Take care

You basically have four choices:

1) Get a SWAMI and have your diet personalized just for you, getting rid of all the guesswork. This is by far the *best* option, but if you can't afford a secretor test right now, then you probably can't afford a SWAMI yet either.

2) Keep on following the blood type diet. You know you're a B, but you can't be sure of your genotype.

3) Follow the Gatherer diet, since you seem to have "Gatherer issues" right now- you could always switch to SWAMI or another GTD later if your needs change.

4) Follow the Nomad diet.

I have just completed all the in depth analysis and measurements etc and I am a Nomad  .  Physical symptoms had made me feel I was more like a Gatherer but as for all the measurements I am typically Nomad underneath all the padding lol.  Also, the category I fitted into makes me Nomad regardless of secretor status and although I will get tested for that at a later date, I am happy to go fully with the Nomad diet and see how I do.

Welcome!    The Nomad diet is wonderful!

Thanks Victoria and yes luckily most of the foods on the list and diamond foods I love, in fact I dont think there is much I will miss on the avoid lists, except sugar as I do like chocolate but it is listed as an avoid  

I do have one query, if some foods on BTD cause agglutination or negative effects, why are they allowed in some genotype diets?  Surely agglutination/blood sugar probs etc occurs in a blood type regardless of genotype, otherwise the BTD seems to be cancelled out?