I read Dr. D’Adamo’s book, Eat Right for Your Type, about 15 years ago and thought “Hmm maybe there’s something to this.” Although at the time I didn’t know which blood type I was, I looked through the different types and when I saw the O type I said “hey that’s me.” I fit that blood type perfectly – I need meat to thrive, I have hypothyroidism, don’t process grains or beans very well, wheat makes me gain 20 pounds, and although I don’t do well with really vigorous exercise, moderate exercise on a regular basis is crucial for me.
I had been exploring natural and holistic health for about five years at the time, so I had already tried numerous healing diets like the vegetarian diet and the macrobiotic diet. Both of those diets made me very sick. They increased my Candida problem, exacerbated my hypoglycemia, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, triggered my sugar addiction made me so weak and fatigued I couldn’t stand up and brought on anxiety and depression. So I learned very quickly that those diets were not for me.
As I experimented with different healing diets over the years, I discovered that the diet that made me function most optimally and relieved symptoms of low blood sugar, cravings, depression, anxiety, fibromyalgia, fatigue and Candida was a diet that was high in meat and low-carb vegetables. I simply can’t function if I don’t eat meat three times a day because my blood sugar will not stay stable and my Candida flares. Grains, beans, potatoes and any high complex carbohydrate make my fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, migraines and multiple chemical sensitivity ten times worse, and they make me depressed, anxious, weak, sluggish, slow cognitive functioning and gain weight.
So when I found Dr. D’Adamo’s book I already knew which diet I needed for my body to function optimally. Since I fit the O type blood characteristics so well, I just assumed I had O type blood. I took the book back to the library and although I never faithfully followed the O type blood diet, that is the diet that my body gravitated towards the most.
Years later I decided to take a closer look at the Eat Right for Your Type diet and see if it really had any merit. At this point I thought, “geez I should get my blood tested and see if this theory really holds any weight,” so I ordered two blood test kits from Dr. D’Adamo’s website – one for me and one for my son.
When it arrived, I took the blood test and to my complete shock and surprise, it told me that I was not an O blood type. It said I was an A positive. According to Dr. D’Adamo, the type A blood person does best on a vegetarian diet. I simply couldn’t believe it. I thought I must have done something wrong when testing and so I used my son’s kit to retest myself. However, it too said I was an A positive blood test. I was flabbergasted, because I really thought there was some truth to eat right for your blood type theory. I know without a doubt that I can’t function on a vegetarian diet, so the Eat Right for Your Type is not an accurate and reliable tool for me.
The reason Dr. D’Adamo’s book seemed to make so much sense to me is because his theory seemed to offer a good explanation of why there’s such great variance in why some diets work for one and not another. However, it appears the blood type diet is surely not the “be all and end all” of determining which diet is really best for your body. There are other factors that determine which foods you should be eating.
In more recent years, through my studies I came to understand that there are many other factors that explain this variance, like genes, environmental toxins, adrenal fatigue, overgrowth of unfriendly organisms and nutritional status. I personally believe that nobody should be a vegetarian and meat is essential to the human body.
I have been on the healing path for a long time and I know what my body needs, I must listen to what it tells me. So, why does the Eat Right for Your Type diet seem to work for some people? As I see it, it is because it eliminates all refined, processed and junk food. It is a step up from what most people are eating on a daily basis, which will indeed promote better health.
My experience is a good example of something that I often teach on this blog and site, and that is that you must listen to your body and there may be pieces of truth in a variety of healing diets, theories and approaches, but the ultimate authority is what your body tells you. Theories should be used as guides, but not Gods.
On the other hand, I have come to believe that the Paleolithic diet is the diet that is the healthiest diet for all human beings. I encourage you to learn more about it. In my opinion, we all need meat, but the amount of meat you need varies. In the Paleo Diet, by Professor Loren Cordain, he states that in general a little more than 50% of our meal should consist of meat. Some people need a little more than that and some people need a little less, depending on their genetics. The rest of the meal should consist of low-carb vegetables, nuts and seeds. None of us are genetically designed to eat grains, potatoes and legumes, although some people may get away with it if they have a strong constitution.
