Blood type diet? Yay or nay?

Nay. It's been totally debunked.

http://skepdic.com/bloodtypediet.html

Dumb diet idea created by a scammy naturopath.

It doesn't make much sense, as blood types aren't related to anything about historic food patterns or digestion. They are too widespread. A and O are quite common throughout much of the world, for example. (Mine, B, is most common in Asia, but isn't a majority anywhere and is the largest group (30-some %) only in Pakistan. It's a distinct minority but not especially rare in Sweden, Germany, or the UK either, however (10%, 9%, and 8%), which is where my ancestors are mostly from.)

I think the Blood Type Diet on B is funny, though:

"Pushed from the hot, lush savannahs of eastern Africa to the cold highlands of the Himalayan Mountains, Blood type B may have initially mutated in response to climactic changes. It first appeared in India or the Ural region of Asia among a mix of Caucasian and Mongolian tribes. This new blood type was soon characteristic of the great tribes of steppe dwellers, who by this time dominated the Eurasian Plains. As the Mongolians swept through Asia, the gene for Type B blood was firmly entrenched. The Mongolians swept northward, pursuing a culture dependent upon herding and domesticating animals - as their diet of meat and cultured dairy products reflected.

Of all the ABO types, Type B shows the most clearly defined geographic distribution. Stretching as a great belt across the Eurasian plains and down to the Indian subcontinent, Type B is found in increased numbers from Japan, Mongolia, China and India up to the Ural Mountains....

As a Type B, you carry the genetic potential for great malleability and the ability to thrive in changeable conditions. Unlike blood types A and O, which are at opposite ends of every spectrum, your position is fluid, rather than stationary, with the ability to move in either direction along the continuum. It's easy to see how this flexibility served the interests of early Type B's who needed to balance the twin forces of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. At the same time, it can be extremely challenging to balance two poles and Type B's tend to be highly sensitive to the effects of slipping out of balance.....

Another very common food that Type Bs should avoid is chicken. Chicken contains a Blood Type B agglutinating lectin in its muscle tissue. Although chicken is a lean meat, the issue is the power of an agglutinating lectin attacking your bloodstream and the potential for it to lead to strokes and immune disorders. Dr. D'Adamo suggests that you wean yourself away from chicken and replace them with highly beneficial foods such as goat, lamb, mutton, rabbit and venison. Other foods that encourage weight loss are green vegetables, eggs, beneficial meats, and low fat dairy. When the toxic foods are avoided and replaced with beneficial foods, Blood Type Bs are very successful in controlling their weight."

Re dairy, I've seen other write-ups that really stress it for B, which is weird in that B is common in many parts of Asia (like Japan) where lactose intolerance is the norm.

So no, it's bunk.

mph323 wrote: »

For my AB blood type, the first things on the list of foods to avoid are alchohol and caffeine.

Type AB. Just drank a double latte. Considering a second craft beer at this very moment.

Palms over ears; loud LALALALA!

Best reason the diet is not real is that, aside from the diet portion, even the idea that there are only 4 blood types is incorrect, scientifically.

We're all taught about the 4 blood types (A, B, AB, and O); it's middle school and high school science level knowledge, yeah?

Except that's such an oversimplification on our blood that basing anything on it, like a diet, is pretty meaningless.

What we call 'blood type' is just talking about the antigens we have in our blood: A antigens, B antigens,
A&B antigens, or an absence of A or B antigens (type O). But these antigens, collectively, are called a 'blood group system.' This one is the ABO blood group system.

The things is...there are 36 total blood group systems. ABO is just ONE of these. And these are all called, colloquially, blood types. So we essentially have blood types in 36 different systems.

And when I heard that, yeah, I had that 'huh, my whole life is a lie' moment, LOL.

Rh factors is the Rh system, where you are positive or negative.

Kell is another one, where you can be Kell positive or negative.

Jk system is yet another, where Jka and/or Jkb types are most common, but some people lack a and b and are a rare Jka–b– type.

The reason we know any of this is because even after the discovery of 4 blood types, and rh factor, people would still sometimes reject donated blood, or have problems between mothers and their babies that seemed blood related, and the medical community didn't know why until they started finding more types.

They are still being researched, and new ones discovered all the time. Four have been confirmed just within the last 7 years, as I understand it.

For an interesting read on the topic: https://www.science.org.au/curious/people-medicine/rare-blood-types