Much like how a horoscope links your date
of birth with your destiny, Peter D’Adamo created a link
between people’s blood types and the types of food they
should consume. D’Adamo breaks down the types and amounts of
food based on people’s blood type and ethnicity. With his
Blood Type Diet, he claims that someone’s type of blood has a
direct effect on the foods he/she should eat.
- Janna Hutz
- Fruits are one of the few snacks allowed. (KELLY LIN/Daily)
Being a type O myself, I was able to find a smaller supplement
to D’Adamo’s series that includes “Eat Right 4
Your Type,” “Cook Right 4 Your Type” and
“Live Right 4 Your Type.” “Blood Type O: Food,
Beverage and Supplement Lists” caters to the universal blood
donor, the slut of blood donors whose blood is accepted by all
people. Each chapter is broken down by types of foods, drinks and
miscellaneous tips and advice (see one of my favorites: Chapter 16,
Medical Strategies). D’Adamo also reserves a few pages for us
to read what other people are saying about the diet. These
testimonials are by far the best part of the supplement and range
from “I owe my life to Dr. D’Adamo,” to “I
feel like I am now filling my tank with the optimum fuel for my
body.”
The diet is relatively specific as to how much of each food one
is allowed to eat. Each food is placed in either “highly
beneficial,” “neutral” or “avoid”
categories. D’Adamo claims that foods placed in the highly
beneficial sections “act like a medicine,” whereas
avoid food “acts like a poison.” The serving sizes all
vary depending on a person’s ethnicity. Usually, people of
African and Caucasian ethnicity are allowed smaller portions per
day than Asian dieters. Since the idea of organizing portions based
on people being of a similar ethnicity made as much sense as
linking blood type with foods, I noted my skepticism and started my
diet.
Day One:
Nursing a hangover, I woke up Sunday only to realize I
couldn’t drink a cup of coffee or grab a can of Pepsi as I
have been accustomed to since 10th grade. My morning routine of not
eating breakfast could not work with the new diet. So, I forced
myself to sit down with some canned pineapples and ate some chunks
of the fine fruit.
I don’t mind pineapples, in fact, I like most fruits. But,
obtaining fresh fruits, especially when I do not make a habit of
waking up on a Saturday to traverse to the farmer’s market,
is pretty difficult. I usually reserve all of my food shopping to
when I go to my parents’ home during the weekends — my
family either hits up Costco for economy sized Fruit-by-the-Foot or
my mom cooks enough food to last me a year. Since I had not planned
ahead for this diet, all I had in my pantry was boxes of raisins
and some nacho-flavored Combos.
Going to China Gate for dinner, I realized that most of the
foods I usually order are not permitted within the diet. I settled
for some beef and vegetables in which I had to rid my plate of
mushrooms and baby corn.
Day Seven:
I’ve pretty much fallen off the diet. I held on to eating
right for my blood type pretty well until the weekend came around,
and with it, a friend’s party. Since the Blood Type Diet
doesn’t allow alcohol consumption, except for an occasional
red wine, I took a short respite both Friday and Saturday
night.
I have hung on to the idea of limited caffeine consumption and
have cut out all pop and coffee drinks. I have become an utter
bitch though. The lack of caffeine and sheer hatred for limiting
foods has made me cranky and irritable.
Day 14:
Since I started fasting for Ramadan and since I don’t wake
up before sunrise to eat breakfast, I’ve limited my meals to
two: one at sunset and another a few hours before hitting the sack.
The diet, of course, doesn’t encourage this type of eating
behavior. Any moron who can put together sentences to form a book
usually beats it into dieters’ heads that breakfast is
necessary to start off the day. It is also pretty understandable
that eating before sleeping affects the digestion of the meal,
leading to the storage of more fats. Also, because I had fallen off
the diet, I stopped carrying around the booklet that listed the
foods I am allowed to eat.
By the end of the two weeks, I noticed no great change in my
weight, probably because I did not follow guidelines. I became more
aware of foods I love since I was forced to give up potatoes,
ketchup and grits. The diet fails to address real health problems,
which D’Adamo claims can be cured with specific spices. While
D’Adamo is himself a doctor, I can not help but suspect the
benefits of a diet in which people’s blood types and
ethnicity dictate the food they eat.