Can a blood type diet be a panacea for our nutritional problems? Will it provide us with a slim figure and health? Nutritionists aren’t completely against it, but they don’t recommend it.
The creator of the blood type diet is the American doctor Peter J. D’Adamo, the author of many books on the subject, incl. “Eat according to your blood type” and “Cook according to your blood type”. According to him, a person’s ability to digest and process food has changed over the centuries. Each person leads a different lifestyle and has different needs. Some eat a lot and feel good, others have problems with the digestive system after eating a small amount of food. And one of the reasons for these differences is blood type. Our health and well-being depends on our blood type. Blood plays a very important role in the body: it transports oxygen and nutrients to tissues, removes metabolic residues from the body, protects it against pathogenic factors. It even determines our immunity, which we can strengthen by providing the body with substances that will be classified by our immune system as beneficial and by avoiding those that will be considered unfavorable by our immune system.
Four blood types = four lifestyles
The oldest and most common blood group is 0, over 40% have it. people in the world. They are characterized by endurance and a strong immune and digestive system. They digest meat easily, so they can eat it without fear. Just like their ancestors, who ate mostly wild game they hunted. Instead, they should be careful with plant products and dairy products. Having a blood group of 0, milk, dairy products and wheat are generally intolerant. High-protein foods and meat are the most preferred.
People with blood type A, whose ancestors were farmers with a calm and sedentary lifestyle, should use plant products, but avoid meat that digestible poorly and dairy products, which slow down their metabolism. Ideally, they should eliminate these foods from their diet at all and become vegetarians. They have a sensitive digestive and immune systems, and they catch infections easily.
In terms of strength and resistance, blood group B is similar to group 0, but has different dietary recommendations. What is not good for “zero”, such as dairy, favors group B owners, who, in turn, should avoid certain types of meat, especially poultry and crustaceans. The most beneficial diet for people with group B is a varied and balanced diet, based on meat, vegetables, grains and dairy products.
The youngest of all – blood type AB – is rare, only 2-5 percent have it. population. Like group A, it produces little stomach acid needed to digest animal proteins, but, like group B, it tolerates some types of meat. Provided that they are eaten in small amounts and supplemented with plenty of vegetables and fruits. Fresh fish, seafood and soy products are recommended for her.
Inspirational but not recommendable
According to Iza Czajka, a nutritional physiologist and author of guides on a healthy lifestyle, “Fitness in a big city” and “Diet in a big city”, individualizing your diet is a good approach. However, she is not convinced that the distinguishing factor is the blood type. – I do not have any scientific premises that would confirm that the blood type diet is indeed very effective in losing weight – says our expert, emphasizing that it was developed almost a hundred years ago, when there were no tools to verify its assumptions and effectiveness . However, based on his own experience, he may conclude that there is some regularity in this diet. – It consists in the fact that people with a specific blood group statistically more often choose certain products that comply with this ideology. This is confirmed by a detailed dietary interview that I conduct with my patients – adds Iza Czajka.
Reading the principles of the diet developed by Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo, it can be concluded that people with blood groups B and AB have the greatest problems with getting rid of unnecessary kilograms. This is also confirmed by our expert. “I don’t know why, but it is,” he says. – In order to slim down a person with blood group AB, who usually eats a lot, you need to offer him a different product, for example, instead of meat, vegetables, but also in large amounts. On the other hand, people with blood group B find it very difficult to follow the dietitian’s recommendations because they do not like a varied diet.
Despite these similarities, Iza Czajka would not recommend a blood type diet to her pupils, although some of its assumptions are inspiring for her. – I would not have the courage to recommend it because it is not based on scientific evidence – he explains.
Within common sense
In order to recommend someone the right diet for him, you first need to determine what is causing him to gain weight. Perhaps it does not move enough? Or maybe he is sick with something or has some nutritional deficiencies? An action plan must be established for him, taking into account, inter alia, his lifestyle and taste preferences.
– Currently, weight loss is no longer positioned solely as a diet, but also as a way to organize the psyche. You have to get to know each other well enough to be able to say with certainty that you really are hungry. It may turn out that we actually eat because we are lonely, that we have a lot of stress or the weight has shown us something today that we did not want to see on it – says Iza Czajka.
According to her, most overweight and obese people are people addicted to food, which is the meaning of their lives. – This life needs to be sorted out, what they are allowed to do and what is not allowed to do, explain why they should choose these and not other products, how to compose them, when to eat them. They must also be offered a movement program and enforce these arrangements at subsequent meetings – emphasizes our expert, adding that all this must take place within the limits of common sense.
Text: Mariola Marklowska-Dzierżak
More about the blood type diet, incl. at www.grupakrwi.info.pl