Ever heard of the concept “Blood Type Diet”? Well, now you do. It is a diet that has been popular for almost two decades now.
Proponents of this diet suggest that your blood type determines which foods are best for your health. And there are many people (especially in the West) who swear by this diet and claim that it has saved their lives.
But what is blood type diet really? What does science say about it? Are there pieces of evidence supporting its proponents claim?
Let’s find out.
What is The Blood Type Diet?
This concept, also known as the blood group diet, was popularized by a naturopathic physician called Dr. Peter D’Adamo in the year 1996.
His book, Eat Right 4 Your Type, was a tremendous success. It was a New York Times bestseller, sold millions of copies, and is still wildly popular today.
In this book, he claims that the optimal diet for any one individual depends on the person’s ABO blood type.
He claims that each blood type represents the genetic traits of our ancestors, including which diet they evolved to thrive on.
According to Dr. Adamo, here’s the diet plan for every of the ABO groups:
- Type A: Called the agrarian, or cultivator. People who are type A should eat a diet rich in plants, and completely free of “toxic” red meat. This closely resembles a vegetarian diet.
- Type B: Called the nomad. These people can eat plants and most meats (except chicken and pork), and can also eat some dairy. However, they should avoid wheat, corn, lentils, tomatoes and a few other foods.
- Type AB: Called the enigma. Described as a mix between types A and B. Foods to eat include seafood, tofu, dairy, beans and grains. They should avoid kidney beans, corn, beef and chicken.
- Type O: Called the hunter. This is a high-protein diet based largely on meat, fish, poultry, certain fruits and vegetables, but limited in grains, legumes and dairy. It closely resembles the paleo diet.
It is noteworthy that these dietary patterns would be an improvement for most people, no matter what their blood type is as all four diets are mostly based on healthy foods. Basically, even if you go on one of these diets and your health improves, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it had anything to do with your blood type.