The blood type diet
Clinical nutritionist Sona says that your blood group can determine the best diet for you. PHOTO| FILE
What you need to know:
So I was interested to hear more about the Blood Type diet that Dr Fung mentioned.
While I knew of the diet, I felt it was too extreme to follow every day. But could elements of it could be applied for better health?
I recently got back from a yoga retreat in Cambodia, where I met someone who does what I do, but with different tools. Dr Fung works with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
We talked about vegetarianism. Yogis are encouraged to be vegetarian, since one of the main tenets of the practice is ahimsa, or non-violence. Despite my strong belief in yoga as a way of life, I have yet to reconcile that with the healing power of things like bone broth/soup, so I am not a vegetarian.
Nevertheless, let me speak about vegetarianism strictly from a scientific point of view. As you know, I don’t subscribe to a one-size-fits-all approach to health: one man’s meat quite literally can be another man’s poison.
So I was interested to hear more about the Blood Type diet that Dr Fung mentioned. While I knew of the diet, I felt it was too extreme to follow every day. But could elements of it could be applied for better health?
For example, Ayurveda (Indian medicine) classes me as a pitta constitution and, to that end, I avoid too many warming food likes onions and garlic. Similarly, TCM tell me that, in my current state, it would be best for me to eat the majority of my vegetables cooked. So, what does my blood type tell me? That I should be mostly vegetarian. It’s not something I really wanted to hear, but it might just be good for me. In the week since I’ve been back, I’ve lost a kilo, actually eating more than I normally do, just by following a vegetarian diet.
So, if you know your blood type and want to find out more, drop me a line for a free factsheet. You might be surprised at how minor changes start to turn your health around.
What is the blood type diet?
This diet is based on the belief that you should eat a certain foods and avoid others based on your blood group. It was popularised in the book Eat Right for Your Type by Peter J D’Adamo. Here’s what he recommends for two most common blood types:
Type O – Eat a high-protein diet heavy on lean meat, poultry, fish and vegetables and light on grains, beans and dairy.
Type A – Eat a meat-free diet based on fresh and organic fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes and whole grains.
– Source WebMD
