Kingston's 5 day Blood Type Diet trial

[Kingston]

The next five or more days I will follow dr. D'Adamo's blood type diet. I'm type O, so I will

stick to a high protein diet (including red meat), low carbs, and
enriched with fruits and vegetables. They should limit the intake of wheat germ,
whole wheat products, corn, and avoid dairy products and most nuts.

This diet was suggested in my detox thread, and I did some research on it.

I'm skeptical of D'Adamo's methods and theories, and I'm not the only one. For an overview of the main criticisms see these links.

But I'm willing to try, because I'm just as likely to delude myself as dr. D'Adamo, or his critics, his followers, or anyone else. Only I can experience how my body reacts to this.

I'm going on a trip on 15th, so that's why it is a 5 day trial, since I'm not sure if I will maintain it beyond that. I will post daily updates on my results.

[Kingston]

No change in energy or wellbeing, but this is to be expected, since the wheat from yesterday is in my colon now, and that is where the damage is supposedly done.

I don't know what to expect, since detox takes 0 days to one year, depending on who you belief and what the circumstances are.

The only things different today was that I really wanted to move my legs around noon, so I went to the gym then instead of later. At the gym and the rest of the day my energy level was normal.

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Good luck on your trial, Kingston. I don't know how much stock I personally put in the blood type diet since I am an O and feel terrible when I eat some of those foods, but if it works for you I am all for it.

I'm eager to see how it goes.

[Kingston]

Thanks Aspiring

No change in energy and no detox effects.

I had some crab chips in the late afternoon that turned out to contain a little wheat. But this is nothing compared to the amount of bread and pasta I normally eat, so I consider it to have no effect. BTW, this is what "limited intake" means, although I plan to not eat them at all.

[Kingston]

Nothing special, no detox effects or energy change.

Does anyone have any theories about me having no detox effects? Having no wheat and nuts is a big change for me, I used to eat pasta a lot and have at least three sandwiches. If you accept that purer diet causes detox, than this lack of effect falsifies the hypothesis that wheat and nuts are unpure to a type O person. That is my interpretation at least.

[Jennihul]

Why would you feel detox effects? You are assuming your prior diet was toxic whereas it's probably just less than ideal. If you are using not feeling detox effects as a pass/fail for this diet, you miss the whole point. This is long term investment in your health. Not a quick or temporary fad diet.

As a type O, when I stop eating wheat, corn, potatoes and other undesirable foods, I don't ever remember feeling detox effects. Just a rapid improvement in my aches and pains mainly, and my quickness to retain water, some immediate weight loss, slightly more alert and energetic, a stronger desire to move my body rather than collapse on the couch, etc.

After a fashion, my skin clears up. I have no moods swings. My hunger pangs disappear.

Nothing drastic happens with the exception of headaches and weakness and moodiness if a choose to go into ketosis, which is a valid option for Type O people and not an unhealthy state for Os to be in, if you desire significant weight loss. No other blood type should strive for ketosis, if ideal health is desired.

Jennifer

[usagi]

My mom is on the blood type diet as a type O and while I remain skeptical, she has done really well on it. She has lost something like 40 pounds and when I went home for Christmas, contrary to how she was this summer, she had a lot less trouble with physical movement, she didn't get as tired from physical movement, and she seemed to be overall in a better mood and state of health. However like you I'm still really skeptical, and most of these changes could be attributed to just eating healthier in general, but hey, whatever works for her. I don't know about any of the detox effects, and she hasn't done any of the physical activity that you're supposed to on a type O diet, but thats my experience with the blood type diet.

[Kingston]

Yesterday I went to bed at midnight. I slept for 2 hours, and was awake lying in bed the rest of the night. I just got up at 7 am feeling rested and eager to work. I thought the whole night about interesting projects I am working on.

I report this because it is different from normal. I'm reluctant to attribute it to my diet though, because there are many exciting things happening in my life. I have had the same thing happen to me before, when I was on a far worse diet, smoked and drank alcohol (I currently don't drink alcohol at all).

@Jennihul and Usagi:
Thanks for the extra info. I will not use detox effect as a pass / fail. I will be very careful and evaluate all the facts I have, I just want the best diet for me, and leave options open. I don't know much about detox to begin with (as you know from my other thread), but the "pure diet" idea comes from Steve's recent blogging about his raw food detox effects. He experiences serious effects from going from cooked to raw. I had detox effects when I cut meat, dairy and processed food. So it is strange I don't have effects now. What that means I can hardly be sure about.

I did not know that I'm not supposed to eat potato's. They are not on the list I quote at the beginning in this thread. I had a big plate of them yesterday. If your version is the "right" one, and Dr. D'Adamo advises against potato's for type O, than it is even harder to attribute my energy increase (less sleep needed) to this diet. I did not have potato's before last night, so until then the diet was in "full effect", and I did not notice changes.

It is interesting you mention the skin clearing up. I belief that skin quality is a good indicator of health, so that is more proof the diet works for you, just like it does for Usagi's mom. My skin is also sensitive to diet. It plays up when I make "mistakes" like eating a white flour pizza loaded with pork and no veggies, or eating french fries two days in a row, or smoking and drinking all night. These are all wheat and potato stuff, so it supports D'Adamo in that sense. But you can also think of many other reasons why these things are bad, especially in the quantities I used to have them. You don't need lectins or blood type to explain that. Like Usagi's mom I feel good when I eat healthier.

So the question is why the blood type diet "works". Anyone who is eating too much refined carb, fried potato's and peanuts will feel and look a lot better if he limits that. This fact could be used to support the statement that these things are "bad" for your health in certain quantities, and that maybe its best not to eat them. No argument there. But this does not support any conclusions on the mechanism through which the improvement occurs. In big words: "Correlation does not imply causation." Then when you go search for an explanation you use the most elegant one that works and can be tested on its predictions. Blood type and lectins are not elegant explanations, but they are testable in a controlled study. Unfortunately D'Adamo did not do controlled studies (or did he? I would love to see it. It did not convince his critics). He did case studies, which is something entirely different.

Another reason you could feel good is the placebo effect. It can even explain the clearer skin. That is a general problem. You can always delude yourself in feeling benefits and detox effects, or simply mistake normal changes for these. In short, he blood type diet could be healthy without having anything to do with blood type.

Diet is such a wonderful interesting complex problem of personal happiness and science! I'm determined to get to the bottom of this. It feel good.. or is it the lack of wheat that makes me feel so good. If only I knew!

[Kingston]

I had a nap at 17.00 to recover some of the lost sleep.

No change in energy, no detox effects.

[Jennihul]

You must be a Virgo.

Jennifer

[shiggityjoe]

I had heard of blood type diets before but never thought they held any water.

I'm AB+ (the universal recipient), and according to that website they also have to eat the most strict diet. Sucks.

" Type AB types should consume a mostly vegetarian diet, and only on rare occasions some fish, meat (no chicken), and dairy."

I love chicken, I don't eat beef/pork, but I eat chicken like ALL THE TIME. Don't think I'll be going on a blood type diet anytime soon...

[Kingston]

Originally Posted by Jennihul

You must be a Virgo.

DON'T get me started!

I'm Cancer BTW.. sentimental and craving security according to the rigorious analyses of eminent astrologists..

[Kingston]

Originally Posted by shiggityjoe

I had heard of blood type diets before but never thought they held any water.

That's saying it al lot quicker than I did..


I'll be going on a trip today, so I will probably not be able to report my fifth day, but the may have a connection at the place I'm staying. Just don't count on it... I'll be back at the 22nd.

[Erki]

I'm wondering what all the people(on these forums and everywhere) want to achieve with all the diets and fasts and what not. Why not eat properly all the time?

[Jennihul]

Well, the blood type diet is not really a diet, per se. It's a way of simply choosing the most ideal foods for your ancestry, based on your DNA...rather than based on some random person's own experience.

You can literally create any style of diet you want with it, just choosing the foods that work best for you. You can be a Type O vegetarian, though meat eating would be ideal for Os.

You can be a healthy A and eat selected meats, though As will live better and longer and more disease-free without meats.

Jennifer

[shiggityjoe]

Originally Posted by Erki

I'm wondering what all the people(on these forums and everywhere) want to achieve with all the diets and fasts and what not. Why not eat properly all the time?

I totally agree. A real diet, that is sustainable and level at your ideal weight, is not really any kind of diet. It's a lifestyle change.

Diet are like test periods for certain lifestyles. If you want the permanent solution, and not the temporary test period you need the lifestyle change.

[usagi]

Originally Posted by Erki

I'm wondering what all the people(on these forums and everywhere) want to achieve with all the diets and fasts and what not. Why not eat properly all the time?

Well on this forum people seem to genuinely want to be healthy and test out new possible lifestyles. But I think in general people are just lazy and want a fast solution. Like Atkins, Atkins isn't supposed to be a way of eating thats sustainable in the long term. It just makes for fast weight loss to kick-start your "new lifestyle." Just some people get stuck on unsustainable diets and gain it all back and then do the same thing all over with a different program...
But yeah I don't get why people just don't start eating properly all the time

That is a great question, why don't people just start eating properly. I think one thing is that the definition of "properly" or even "healthy" is so messed up now that some people don't know where to begin. Like milk products, some people say they are horrible for you and inhibit weight loss but pretty much most of the general population thinks otherwise. And then some people just don't pay attention and think things like yogurt with pieces of candy in is actually healthy.. it's kind of sad.

Everyone knows to eat more fruit and veggies though. Yet very few people seem to actually do this. I guess it's just not as sexy as drinking a certain kind of tea all the time to lose weight or something.

[Jennihul]

Originally Posted by usagi

Like Atkins, Atkins isn't supposed to be a way of eating thats sustainable in the long term. It just makes for fast weight loss to kick-start your "new lifestyle."

Huh? Sez who?

Atkins is absolutely meant as a 'way of life' diet for the people that can physically benefit from it. Diabetics and people that don't want to become diabetics, for one. Type O people. It's the ideal diet for "caveman" Type Os. Not so much for the second most prominent blood type on earth, type A. Not so good for type B and not so good for the melded mutation that is AB.

But first, make sure you are talking about the real Atkins diet. Not the tripe the media talks about. Not the bacon and eggs version your irresponsible friends tried. That's the misunderstood and intentionally crucified version of the Atkins diet. If you haven't read his book, you don't know the real Atkins diet. If you actually listen to exactly what Robert Atkins advocates in his books, it's one of the healthiest ways of eating there is.

Fresh low-glycemic veggies. Healthy lean, grassfed, organic, unprocessed meats and eggs, and low-glycemic fruits. Little diary. No alcohol. No preservatives. Not high fat. Not high protein.

What sounds so bad about that? THAT is the Atkins diet.

Jennifer

[usagi]

Originally Posted by Jennihul

But first, make sure you are talking about the real Atkins diet. Not the tripe the media talks about. Not the bacon and eggs version your irresponsible friends tried. That's the misunderstood and intentionally crucified version of the Atkins diet. If you haven't read his book, you don't know the real Atkins diet. If you actually listen to exactly what Robert Atkins advocates in his books, it's one of the healthiest ways of eating there is.

You're right. I haven't read books by Dr. Atkins and probably don't know the real diet. However I wasn't thinking about the "bacon and eggs version" my irresponsible friends tried (or rather, didn't). What I know is that on the Atkins diet is that weight loss is acheived very quickly in the first few weeks because abstaining from carbs triggers ketosis, which is great for burning fat quickly but does not seem like a good idea in the long term. That's what I was thinking of when I said that it's not supposed to be sustainable. You're right, Atkins has a sustainable long term plan. Which is basically just eating healthy and doesn't seem that special. I was focusing on the "induction phase" which is NOT something you're supposed to keep up but didn't really think about that when I was posting

[Jennihul]

Atkins is the most frequently dissed diet mainly because of media manipulation of the diet's real tenets.

It's not a good idea if you aren't type O, though. They thrive on a low level of ketosis and can for life. So in that respect, he was wrong because he advocates his diet for everyone. Which is why I love the blood type diet. No one-size-fits-all crap.

Jennifer

[Kingston]

The last day of my trial was normal. Nothing special. When I went back to wheat and the rest, I did not feel any change. I'll not adopt the blood type diet permenently, because I'm not convinced that blood type is related to digestion. This was consistent with my experience of this trial. But I do believe the general ideas of eating like a hunter-gatherer. I don't believe that meat is bad for people and that refining food generally doesn't improve it.

There was an interesting synchronicity. On the night train I talked to a guy who's friend went to a alternative medicine doc who determinded the stuff he was allergic to with some electrical divice. It was probably a naturopathic. I'm not sure what it means... It could mean different things. But I know one thing: I will get to the bottom of health and diet!

Steve's last blog entry seems to go in an interesting direction related to subjective reality. We have to account for the possibility that mind rules, even in diet..




@Erki & Shiggity:
There is a misunderstanding on the the word "diet". There is "a diet" in the sense of temporarily restricting your intake of some or all foods to lose weight. This is what it means when someone says: "No cake for me, thanks, I'm on a diet!"

But you can also use the word "diet" in the medical scientific sense: think of "the Standard American Diet", as in what the average American typecally eats. Or "lions live on a diet of 100% meat."

This trial is one of the ways I look for to improve my diet, meaning the stuff a generally eat. I'm looking for a permanent way of healty eating. The problem is that there seems much debate on the definition of "healthy".

It's been cool discussing all this. Thanks for your attention and feedback!