This evaluation of the Blood Type Diet reviews the evidence to support the theory that you really can eat right for your blood type and lose weight.
According to naturopath Peter J D’Adamo in his 1996 book, “Eat Right for Your Type”, your blood type has a significant role in deciding the optimum foods for your general health and well being.
Whatsmore, choosing your diet based on your blood type will help you to lose weight without counting calories or weighing and measuring your food.
Now whilst we’re all for personalising your weight loss program, basing your food choices purely on your blood type sounds a little debatable.
So how does the diet work?
The Blood Type Diet Reviews of the ‘Scientific’ Basis
Ok, this may get a little complicated so bear with us!
There are four blood types – O, A, B and AB. According to D’Adamo, each blood type reacts differently to different foods.
To be healthy and lose weight, you need to eat the optimal foods for your blood type.
Conversely, you should avoid foods that are “toxic” to your blood type as they’ll lead to weight gain.
Why? Well, D’Adamo reckons that our blood types evolved over thousands of years of human history and relate to the types of food our ancestors ate.
Type As are descended from farmers and are naturally vegetarians. They should therefore not eat any meat or dairy products.
Type Bs are from nomadic stock and do best eating meat and fish.
Type Os are hunter gatherers and thrive on meat and carbs.
Type ABs are a bit of mixture of the others and as such can eat meat, veg, carbs…guess which blood type we want to be!
Still with us? Good.
Well, there are apparently 16 food groups – meats, dairy, fruits, veg and so on.
Now, each of these foods is divided up into three categories – foods that you can eat freely, foods to eat in moderation and foods to avoid.
The categories for each blood type vary.
For instance, Type As should eat cereals, grains, pasta, beans, nuts, etc. They should avoid chicken, fish, eggs and so on. Effectively, you should follow a veggie diet.
At the other end of the spectrum, Type Os should exist on a diet approaching the Atkins or Zone diets. Lots of meat and fish, some eggs and a few veggies, but no breads, cereals, pastas, etc.
The other two types are somewhere in between.
Not only does your blood type determine the food you eat, D’Adamo claims, it also determines the exercise you should do.
Type Bs should walk and swim, Type ABs should do calming exercises, Type Os running and aerobics…
We could go on, but this is all getting too ridiculous for words!
The Blood Type Diet Reviews of its Effectiveness…
We’ve looked long and hard and checked out Blood Type Diet reviews by a host of medical and scientific experts. We’ve not found any that recommend this diet!
In fact, there’s pretty much unanimous agreement that there is absolutely no link whatsoever between your blood type and your diet.
There’s no scientific evidence to back up the theories underpinning the Blood Type Diet.
Having perused the book…and taken a look at D’Adamo’s subsequent books based on his blood type principles, we’d go as far as saying it’s nonsense.
We’d also be concerned at the health risks that the diets recommended for type Os and As pose. You’re advised to cut out a couple of major food groups, which could lead to deficient intakes of certain vitamins and minerals.
For instance, dairy products provide calcium, meat provides iron. Cutting them out makes it harder to get enough of each of these essential nutrients.
But will you lose any weight?
D’Adamo claims that weight loss is a natural side effect of eating right for your blood type.
However, there’s no indication of how much weight you can expect to lose and no guidance on how much you should be eating to lose weight.
Eat too much of anything and you’ll gain weight, too little and you’ll lose weight.
The conclusion of this and other Blood Type Diet reviews?
You’ll lose weight on this diet if you eat fewer calories than your body burns each day – irrespective of your blood type!
Our Blood Type Diet Reviews Bottom Line…
We are not fans of this diet. It’s based on pseudo-science and there’s little if any hard evidence to substantiate its claims.
On a purely practical level, can you imagine trying to cook for a family with a Type A dad, Type B mum and Type O and AB kids? How tough would that be!
For us this is just another faddy way to package and sell a diet in a saturated market.
To lose weight eat a little less than you need, eat a wide variety of foods and do some exercise…simple! Why complicate things?
Do you even know what your blood type is?
Sorry, whilst the Blood Type Diet has its celebrity followers it’s not a plan that we’d recommend.
Everyone has the same nutritional needs – and that has absolutely nothing to do with your blood type!
Our Blood Type Diet reviews verdict? Who needs the hassle? Forget it!