Anyone doing the Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type diet?

  • After reading about this in First magazine recently, I am interested if anyone here has tried this. According to the article, you not only lose weight when you eat the right foods for your blood type, but you can eliminate digestive problems, reduce arthritis pain, eliminate migraines, prevent cancer, tighten skin, increase energy, lift mental brain fog, etc... There is a whole list of great things this diet has done for some people.

    I went on amazon to see the reviews, which were mostly great. It seemed the people who gave it a bad review only read the book and deemed it stupid or ridiculous without trying the diet. I don't think that is right. How can you rate a diet as ridiculous if you haven't even given it a chance? In fact, most of the positive reviewers were skeptics until trying it and say that they would never go back to the way they used to eat because they feel so great. They got me so pumped up about it that I had to order the book to check it out.

    I did a search here for this diet, but came up with nothing. Does anyone know of a thread here that talks about this? Or is anyone following this diet? I'd love to know what you think of it and how/if it's changed your life.
  • I am interested in this. It sounds really cool. I like the tighten skin and increase energy part.
  • Sadly, First magazine has taken it upon themselves to push a new diet every issue. It has resulted in very sketchy recommendations from them.

    The best review I've read of this diet is probably from webmd:
    http://www.webmd.com/diet/eat-right-for-your-type

    The second page has this summary:
    Quote:
    What the Diet Experts Say

    "Within the diet itself are generally good diet recommendations," says David W. Grotto, RD, LD, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. "D'Adamo doesn't say avoid vegetables and fruit, for example -- but his specific recommendations based on blood type -- the science is not there to support it. I'm not aware that anyone has duplicated his research."

    The presumption that each blood types will thrive on certain foods but not others also gives Grotto pause. "I'm type O and apparently I should be feasting over roadkill. Well, that doesn't work for me because I don't like too much meat."

    Overall Grotto does not recommend the diet, believing it pigeonholes people into dietary restrictions without taking into consideration individual needs and tastes.

    Critics also refute D'Adamo's theory that there's a connection between certain blood types and specific diseases. Though the theory has been long been investigated, no conclusions have been reached, says Andrea Wiley, PhD, an associate professor of anthropology at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.
    Food for Thought

    As for why so many have embraced the Eat Right for Your Type diet, Wiley has a theory: "Dieting is one of those things people feel desperate about. ... The blood-type diet sounds more scientific [than some others]."

    But it's the very lack of a solid scientific background that rankles most experts.

    "If this diet wasn't coming from the whole blood-type approach, I could recommend this," says Grotto, "but the philosophy of blood type is very obscure and lacking in science."
  • Yes, that's true that First magazine and it's sister magazine Woman's World do post a new diet every issue. But I wouldn't say that this makes for sketchy recommendations from them. I actually tested one of the diets for Woman's World and was in a February issue this year. The diet was fun and I lost weight. Why didn't I keep it up then? I tend to get bored with one diet and like switching things up every month or so. Plus, I had surgery and got into a depressed woe-is-me binge mode because of it.

    Anyway, I don't necessarily agree with these so-called "diet experts". Just like I don't believe doctors know everything about the human body and how it works. A perfect example being, I took my daughter for months to many doctors last year for a recurring staph infection. These doctors wanted to just throw her on antibiotics and call it a day. This infection kept coming back and these doctors, specialists in infections diseases, were dumbfounded as to why. I finally got sick of getting nowhere with them and just started doing my own research on staph infections and with the knowledge I found myself, my daughter has been staph free for months. I'm not saying all doctors don't know anything. It's just that sometimes people put too much faith in doctors, diet experts, etc... and beleive they are the be all and end all when it comes to knowing what is best for you.

    Just like the naysayers on the amazon reviews of this diet, this article proves that these diet experts did not even try this diet for themselves or run tests on people who've done it. And to say that O blood types should be "feasting" on roadkill is a bit dramatic to say the least. Again, proof that they not only have not done the diet, but that they took what the author of the book recommended for O blood types and widely exaggerated it.

    Sorry, but I'd much rather go by what people who've actually done the diet are saying about it, not what people speculate it to be.
  • I'm subscribing to this thread to see if anyone jumps in and says they have had success with it as I've read some on it. It does sound very interesting Thanks for posting!
  • The idea of blood type diets have been thoroughly debunked. It's a marketing spin to make an ordinary diet look different from the rest. And they did their job!

    I'm sure there are plenty of positive reviews of this diet, because all of their recommendations result in weight loss and are interchangeable. The only blood type that matters is human

    If the diet plans in the book look like the types of food that you like eating and if you can stick with the plan because it fits your personal taste and your lifestyle, then that's all that matters.

    Good luck!
  • Btw, out of curiosity I just checked his list of foods to avoid for my blood type and was surprised. He claims these foods will cause digestive problems and an upset stomach. But the foods on the list are the very foods that I eat daily and have done so for years. I've never experienced any problems with them. He also suggests some foods for my blood type that I personally can't digest well.

    He did peg me as a vegetarian, but I'm 49 years old and ate meat daily up until a few years ago without any digestive problems. I quit eating meat for ethical reasons after learning of the horrors in the industrial agriculture business. I wanted to be part of the solution, not the problem

    So I think I'm a good example of why we can't be pigeon-holed into diet plans. We're all very unique and our food choices and needs are just as unique.
  • Quote: The idea of blood type diets have been thoroughly debunked. It's a marketing spin to make an ordinary diet look different from the rest. And they did their job!

    I'm sure there are plenty of positive reviews of this diet, because all of their recommendations result in weight loss and are interchangeable. The only blood type that matters is human

    If the diet plans in the book look like the types of food that you like eating and if you can stick with the plan because it fits your personal taste and your lifestyle, then that's all that matters.

    Good luck!
    And I think that is what WebMD was trying to say. The diet isn't bad necessarily but the science to support it isn't there. If you want to follow the diet, then I don't think that'd be a bad thing. The diet tries to make itself out to be based on science when it isn't is the only thing people should be aware of.
  • Quote: Yes, that's true that First magazine and it's sister magazine Woman's World do post a new diet every issue. But I wouldn't say that this makes for sketchy recommendations from them. I actually tested one of the diets for Woman's World and was in a February issue this year. The diet was fun and I lost weight. Why didn't I keep it up then? I tend to get bored with one diet and like switching things up every month or so. Plus, I had surgery and got into a depressed woe-is-me binge mode because of it.
    First magazine has a history of recommending some sketchy diets though. Kimikins was one notable one where people were directed to eat 500 calories/day and if they felt light headed or even fainted, it was a good thing. The lemonade diet was another one First magazine pushed which again is a bad idea for many reasons, again very low calorie and people have had permanent issues as a result.

    Not all diets recommended by them are sketchy but I've seen quite a few which makes me wary.
  • I'm somewhat familiar with the diet and DH and I tried it once. For DH he was basically supposed to go vegetarian and I was supposed to eat a lot of meat. The rest I can't really remember.

    For DH it was HUGE miserable failure. There's no way that he can realistically comply with a diet that makes him a vegetarian. He does need to learn to limit meat (and years later he's finally working on that) but cutting it out all together, especially red meat=a diet he couldn't stick to. For DH it suggested him doing yoga, which is another thing I don't ever see happening!

    For me I was slightly better but at the time I didn't understand my body well enough to make healthy choices and learn how to included meat with lots of veggies that I enjoy too. Now I do actually eat a diet high in meat/protein and that does work very well for me but it's more in line with stage 3 of the s. beach diet (not intentionally, it's just what I've sort of ended up doing after all this time). Honestly, though, I think it has a lot more to do with blood sugar issues and meal time for me. Add to that that I weight lift (heavy) so I really need that protein!

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think that in general the diet is a good diet if you can stick to it because is essentially promotes a lot of veggies, meat etc. However, I don't believe for one second that your blood type actually dictates your food preferences and determines what foods you can tolerate well and what ones you can't. He based a lot of his info on genetics but it's just unrealistic today when you have so many people that have such a mixed background. I think of my daughter who is ancestors from Europe/S. America/Africa, how can her blood type possible say what her ancestors used to eat?
  • Thanks for all your replies everyone!

    Even on the Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type forum, many of the success stories are of people who don't follow the diet 100%, maybe 90%, but still feel much better than before.

    Of course I'd love to lose weight with this, but I'm also hoping to gain energy and avoid certain diseases as I age. Some things will be difficult to give up for my blood type (chicken, peanuts, avacados and corn to name a few), but if I find I'm gaining energy while losing weight and looking younger, I'll learn to live without those foods. Although, I don't think I can go to the movies and not have popcorn once in a while. And there ain't no way on God's green earth that I won't have my once a year slice of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. lol

    I guess I'll just have to test the diet out for myself and if it works well for me, I'm going to recommend it to my mom and some friends who have aches and pains in hopes that it will help them. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
  • This is the one diet I haven't tried. Would love to know how it goes. Keep us posted.
  • One thing one must remember, the Eat Right 4 Your Type isn't a diet taken on to lose weight. It's a life change to improve your health. The weight loss is a plus. Three years ago, my husband found out he is allergic to wheat. That search to find options for him lead us to Dr. D'Adamo's diet. All my life, I always had a real aversion to red meat; and would get sick to my stomach, without reason. It wasn't until I started reading the Eat Right 4 Your Type, that I started piecing together these things. I'm type A, and type As lack the stomach acid to digest the red meats. As soon as I omitted red meat and other foods from my diet I began to feel better--clean. As a result of that I began to lose weight. I had so much energy and a clarity in thinking. I was doing great for a couple of years. My disciplined waned and fell off the way of eating. I feel miserable, my asthma has gotten worse, I'm sapped of energy, and I crave the foods I was eating (the highly beneficial foods). I just started eating for my blood type, again. It's going well, and I have high hopes of starting to feel better again.

    L.
  • Gooday everyone, I have been on the eat right diet for about 3 weeks now and I feel great. I am 63 years old and weigh in at 202 pounds. I am a blood B. I bought the book by Dr. Peter D'Adamo a few years ago and only decided to read the book just recently. WOW It really makes sense. I have been searching the web for any threads on this diet and have found a lot of knockers, ie people who say the diet is total rubbish without scientific proof etc ~ yet these are the ones who are at the same time promoting their own products of pills and supplements. Hmmm!. There has been scientific proof since the 1950's on this diet. Anyway girls this thread has a lot of women on it so I hope you don't mind me joining as I am male. OK, before the diet I was eating a lot of junk food and a lot of the wrong foods for my blood. Come about mid afternoon I felt tired and lethargic, I would have a half hour power nap on the lounge, I was bloated, I felt miserable with no incentive to want to do anything my joints were aching and I would get completely puffed out after a short walk.Well I have gave up all of the foods listed on the avoid list for my blood type and virtually over night I have transformed into a person with plenty of energy, no brain fog, my joints no longer aching and I feel great. When I go fishing now, I carry a 30 pound back pack and fishing rod and basically power walk and almost jog the half a kilometer to secret fishing spot number 4. Yep freshly caught steamed fish is apart of my menu. I have incorporated the eat right diet with another diet called the warrior diet written by Ori Hofmekler. He promotes the idea of under eating during the day in order to detox the body and over eat at night. This works and I only eat the foods recommended for my blood type. Mostly fresh “live” fruits and vegetables, lean meats etc. I can honestly say that I don't have any cravings for junk food now nor do I crave sugar foods like I did before. I have not lost much weight yet but my fat belly is getting tighter and noticably less pear shaped. I recommend this diet because there is an epidemic of obesiety and disease around the world today and none of the other so called U-bute diets seem to be solving the problem.