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Blood Type, Nutrition and T1D

Bluemarine Josephine

Well-Known Member
Messages
259
Location
Northampton
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Hello my beautiful friends! I hope that you are all very well!

Have you ever heard of the Blood Type Nutrition?

In theory, knowing our blood type is an important tool for understanding how our body reacts to food, our susceptibility to disease, our natural reaction to stress, and so on.

The theory suggests that individuals of certain blood types may be at a higher risk for certain diseases; studies have found that people with blood type O have a lower risk for heart disease, but a higher risk for developing stomach ulcers. People who are blood type A have higher risks of microbial infections, but Type A women experience a higher rate of fertility. Other research has found that people with type AB and B blood have a much higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Type A people naturally have higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their bodies and produce more in response to stressful situations. On the other hand, people with type O blood, have a 'fight or flight' reaction to stress which results in the overproduction of adrenaline. It takes type O’s longer to recover from stress because it is more difficult for them to clear the adrenaline from their bodies.

People of different blood types have different gut bacteria, in fact, certain bacteria are 50,000 more likely to turn up in people with one blood type or the other. This originated from our ancestors whose digestive tracts developed to accommodate one type of diet over another. For example, the microbiome of certain people developed to break down carbohydrates much more efficiently (blood type A). People lacking this ability (blood type O) tend to store carbs as fat.

As a result, a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition does not work.

Are you familiar with this theory?
May I have your thoughts please?
Thank you all!
Have a great day
Regards
Josephine
 
Hi @Bluemarine Josephine would you mind posting the source of that information in your post? Some of it seems to be, erm, well, a little unusual...
 
Hi @Bluemarine Josephine I read a book with similar info - Eat Right For Your Blood Type. I'm not sure if it was exactly the same as what you're talking about as it had less about gut bacteria.

I thought gut bacteria were more affected by birth conditions and early feeding, and subsequent diet.
 

Hello Azure, thank you for your reply.
Have you foolowed this diet at all? What did you think of it, please?
 
1abRat said:
Over-simplified twaddle IMO

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3893150/

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2013/05/22/ajcn.113.058693
Click to expand...

Hello 1abRat and thank you for your reply.
I do understand where you are coming from however, I have seen diabetics (many in our forum) who follow diets that are totally condemned by our nutritionists... and, still, these diets work very well for some of our diabetic friends.
What I mean is, I wish to explore the dietary options we have (and see if they work or not) and this is why I request for information/ideas of the basis of other's experiences.
 
Bluemarine Josephine said:
Hello Azure, thank you for your reply.
Have you foolowed this diet at all? What did you think of it, please?
Click to expand...

I read the book a while ago, and I was in two minds. I'm not a doctor or scientist so I couldn't look into the explanations in any detail nor did I have the inclination to, but the general idea about the evolution of blood types was interesting, and I think there may be a general truth in there somewhere - that our blood types are linked to our genetic heritage and so may influence our ability to deal with foods and our propensity to get certain medical conditions.

I was less convinced by the very specific lists of foods to avoid. I suspected that some of that could be due to the wish to create special diets for each type, whereas I took the general ideas on board. I don't think the precise food lists are necessary, but I did note the overall guidance for my blood type, and, interestingly, that's something I've found by trial and error anyway.

So - to answer your question - I didn't follow the diet precisely but I did take some of its points onboard and added them to my other considerations about what makes a healthy diet for me.

Personally, I think that's the most sensible thing to do, as it's unlikely that the perfect diet is that easy. We all have a number of things to consider, and those things have to be taken into account too. No one can write a book that provides perfectly tailored dietary advice for each individual. Take what you wish from the information and make your own decisions, knowing your own body
 
Blood group A with fertility problems so I'm my sample of one I'm agreeing with @1abRat.
 
I think I'll go with the systematic review on this one. They showed that each diet has some advantages but that matching the diet to a blood group was not a significant factor.

There's such a huge morass of things that affect your likelihood of disease, gut microbiome etc. that there is absolutely no way it can be distilled into something as simplistic as blood groups.

I think the best thing to do is eat the foods you enjoy, moderate carb intake, especially the "spiky" ones and eat a varied diet made up of meals you've cooked from scratch and exercise regularly.
 
If you read around the various research into haematology and the history of blood types, this is one of the three theories put forward. The issue with this one is that there were pockets of specific blood types in geographically remote areas that would not have overlapped, so it's not considered to be the one that makes the most sense. There are some details here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3595629/

The other point they make about gut bacteria is interesting, but essentially, somewhat unproven, as (as we now know) simply by eating different foods, the gut bacteria makeup can be changed dramatically, so anyone coming to the diet from a background of fast food is likely to have a very different gut bacteria from that of someone who hasn't, regardless of blood type.

On the other hand, if people find it works for them, who am I to argue about the approach!
 
Hi @Bluemarine Josephine , I have followed the blood type diet for about 7 years. Some times more strictly than others but when I first started I saw great health improvements. I am BT O and should follow a more meat eating ketogenic diet ( happens to be a perfect fit for me) as opposed to BT A who should take a more vegetarian approach. I am on the BT forum as well through the whole 7 years. For my BT dairy and grains are the worst. Already knew that. Kicked them all to the curb 7 years ago and my health and digestive system thanks me for it. As far as following it religiously, I don't anymore but I gravitate and do follow it around 90% simply out of instinct and removing the worst foods for my BT and replacing them with the best foods. Fortunately all the proteins and veggies that I like are great for me. IF I ate the diet as written I surely would be diabetic if I wasn't already. Way too heavy in carbs. I follow a VLC ketogenic version of it still. There are some discrepancies as he says BT O should be in ketosis but allows all kinds of fruit, juices, beans etc. I have found lots of foods is am to avoid don't agree with me or my digestive system so there is some validity there. All the avoid proteins don't agree with me but all my beneficial ones are perfect. Luckily the avoids are like rabbit, clams, eel etc. yuk.
In summery, I do believe in the basic premise and has improved my health emensly. Mostly due to giving up all grains and dairy, the worst for my BT. However I do eat avocado every day all day and it is said to be avoided. I'm here to tell you he's wrong there, it is my best fuel and bs food. If I made a recommendation it would be to look at the worst foods for your BT and the best and start there. Then just eat whole unprocessed real foods. That should take you a very long way.

If you have any questions I would be happy to help

Mind sharing your BT?
 

Hello Kristin and thank you for your reply.

I am interested to investigate further regarding this diet.

Some months ago I decided I wanted to transition to a vegan diet. I am still in the process but, I have eliminated all dairy, animal fat (like butter), and ham/bacon etc are a distant memory for me. I still eat fish though and specifically salmon and swordfish. The rest of my choices are raw and vegan, lovely, colorful salads, fruits with every meal, coconut milk and coconut yoghurt. I sometimes might have a slice of bread.

Since then, my basal needs reduced by half. (after series of difficult hypoglycemic episodes)
Currently, it also seems that my quick acting ratios are also changing from 1:1 to 1:15…
I am feeling much better mentally, psychologically and physically. I feel my body clean and strong.
Weirdly enough, I also feel my joints more flexible… I know it sounds weird…

I accidentally came across this website and read about the blood type diet. Out of curiosity and to entertain myself I thought “let’s see what it says for Type As.”

You can imagine my surprise when I came across the following paragraph:
“Type As flourish on a vegetarian diet - if you are accustomed to eating meat, you will lose weight and have more energy once you eliminate the toxic foods from your diet. Many people find it difficult to move away from the typical meat and potato fare to soy proteins, grains and vegetables. But it is particularly important for sensitive Type As to eat their foods in as natural a state as possible: pure, fresh and organic. "I can't emphasize enough how this critical dietary adjustment can be to the sensitive immune system of Type A. With this diet you can supercharge your immune system and potentially short circuit the development of life threatening diseases."

Regards
Josephine
 
None of that sounds weird. My achy joints, weight, BP, etc all got better almost immediately. When I read your posts I guessed you were an A. Fish and eggs and loads of veggies are great for you. Jury is out on soy. Many A's don't do well. On the website there is a drop down menu under tools , then food values. Click on a food and it will tell you if it's recommended for each blood type. If you have the book great. In the beginning of each blood group it will tell you the worst and the best foods for A's. Start there.

Good luck. It's worth investigating and doing simple refinements to your diet.
 
Investigate how different diets suit you as an individual, by all means, but I wouldn't take any notice of The Blood Type Diet. The author clearly knows little about evolution and/or blood types. He's taken a small nugget of truth (that there are a few diseases which have a very slight increase in incidence among certain blood groups) and extended it beyond any reasonable degree. His reasoning is defective and there are no studies to support his premise. In fact there are studies which disprove it.

Authors like this make me cross. They rely on targeting people who don't have enough of a science background to be able to spot the ********. I hate fraud. Particularly when it pretends to be science-based.

Some easy-read criticisms mentioned here:-
http://skepdic.com/bloodtypediet.html
 
Possibly...but it clearly helped me and improved my health. He is about lectins which more and more researchers are researching. Again, the removal of grains and dairy were the biggest things but I also believe most people would do better without those, regardless of their BT. Jmo of course. I do also believe in the premise O' s are more protein eaters and A' s fare better more low and vegetarians. The majority of people with those BT' s tend to natural gravitate to those meal plans
 


Look, you've been given lots of information including links to scientific papers of which at least one is the "gold standard" - a systematic review.

They clearly show that there is no significant difference to following a diet based on blood type but that all four of the blood type diets are likely to show positive results in some people regardless of their actual blood type.

I think I'd better just ignore this thread from now on because I, like DarkHorse, dislike the way small scientific truths become distorted and twisted by people like D'Adamo who want to peddle a load of pseudoscientific bibble to make a quick buck.

When an n=1 you're always going to find someone whose life was turned around by adhering to a strict set of dietary guidelines with arbitrary rules about what you can and can't eat. As a qualified scientist who currently works in physiology, nutrition and exercise science and who used to work in Microbiology and Immunology I can tell you that the rationale behind this diet is flaky at best.

AND IT MAKES ME REALLY MAD BECAUSE IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME!!!!
 
WOW!!! So sorry to upset you. I never claimed it to be based on science, I just said it helped ME and I know of many others. I also never said FOLLOW IT STRICTLY. I said take a look and maybe start with avoiding the worst and the best and then eat healthy food.

To each their own. I am of a different opinion than you but I am not yelling at you. Obviously you do t believe in it but I do. Neither of us are right or wrong. We need to agree to disagree apparently. And I was addressing @Bluemarine Josephine . She asked and I answered
 
I'm not yelling at you either, merely people like D'Adamo or the morons on YouTube who insist that eating 35 banannas a day is the secret to perfect health or that eating clean/raw Vegan will cure cancer.

Those are the people that really p**s me off. I would assume that you aren't profiting financially unlike the people who invent these regimes who laugh all the way to the bank without a single proper, valid scientific study to support their claims.
 
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