return home having put on 3kg. Now I know why.
What Can I Drink?
Water, water, water. Your Body’s Many Cries for Water is a fascinating book written by Dr F. Batmanghelidj about the many signals of thirst that are mistaken for a need for food or medication. With age the body loses the ability to signal to us its need for water, yet many conditions can be relieved just by drinking this life-giving liquid: back pain, headache, joint pain, heartburn, stomach pain, high blood pressure, cholesterol, excess weight and allergies. Water is essential for the most basic chemical reactions in the body to take place: it activates the enzymes, carries nutrients to the cells and waste matter out of the cells. Our bodies are 60 per cent water so it’s hardly surprising that it is so vital.
Dr Batmanghelidj recommends drinking at least 2 litres a day in addition to any other beverages. If you do not feel thirsty it does not mean you do not need water – it means your thirst mechanisms are out of order.
You will also do your body a lot of good by including our Green Tea with Ginger drink in your diet. In one sip you have the beneficial antioxidants of green tea and the digestive properties of the ginger. Read more about the properties of these two plants on pages 161–162.
A glass of red wine a day may help keep your cardiovascular system in good working order. Not just any bottle of red wine, though. French research shows that the older and renowned wines made in the traditional way have more antioxidant activity.
type a: health issues
Digestion
Having good digestion is the first step to good health. For type As to function at their best, they need to take into account their particular digestive characteristics. Type As tend to have low stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) and therefore low digestive enzymes. Eating a meal sets in motion the production of stomach acid that in turn indicates to the digestive system that it should produce digestive enzymes. So if your stomach acid is low your digestive enzymes will also be low. By following the guidance given in the paragraph on protein consumption you will avoid overtaxing your system.
Incomplete digestion leads to toxicity which in turn produces signs of dysfunction that can affect all the systems of the body. Here are just a few symptoms of a toxic body: headaches, eye problems, ear problems, respiratory problems such as excessive mucus formation, frequent need to clear the throat, blood sugar irregularities, muscle/joint aches and pains, skin problems, anxiety and irritability.
Following your blood type diet and avoiding the foods containing the lectins detrimental to your health will maximize digestion and help avoid bloating, flatulence and gripping pains in the stomach.
Weight
If you have a weight problem you need to tackle it differently from type O. You should stick to your diet and avoid meat, making sure you get sufficient protein at each meal in the form of fish, poultry, tofu, eggs and beans. Make the right grain choices, avoid wheat and eat very small amounts of dairy produce – one or two yogurts or pieces of cheese per week (sheep’s or goat’s, not cow’s). Eat plenty of vegetables as always. Remember that weight loss has more to do with food choices than calories.
I have found that stress is an important element in weight problems. Consider doing a test that measures the stress hormones produced by the adrenal glands: cortisol and DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone). I have conducted hundreds of adrenal stress tests with my patients and type As definitely have the highest cortisol levels. If this condition is long-standing the patient may already be in a state of adrenal fatigue, which results in low energy levels and difficulty coping with any type of stress.
High cortisol levels can decrease muscle mass and increase blood sugar levels, both of which lead to weight gain – particularly around the waist. If, as an A, you have difficulty losing weight you might want to look into your stress hormone levels. It doesn’t take much for them to skyrocket in your system. Seek out a nutritionist who is familiar with this issue and who can help you with natural substances such as siberian ginseng, vitamin B5, phosphatidylserine, vitamin C and others. They do work very well in restoring adrenal health and assisting fat loss and muscle gain.
Constance
Blood Type A
Age 26
I have always struggled with my weight. Since adolescence I have tried various diets that have worked to some degree but I have never found anything that seemed right for me. I can compare this to a key trying to find the right lock. Sometimes the lock seems to be the right one but it is never the perfect fit. With this way of eating I have finally found the right key. I have learned to listen to what my body has to tell me. With this way of eating (I use this phrase because the word diet has rather restrictive connotations) I have experienced a heightened sense of well-being. I had acne and lots of bloating after meals or in hot weather. After certain meals I would become apathetic and want to sleep. I also had tendonitis in my knees that didn’t respond to medical or alternative treatment. After several months of this new way of eating all my problems gradually disappeared.
Heart Disease
Take care of your heart and arteries. In mainstream medicine elevated cholesterol is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. If one looks more closely one realizes that heart disease is not necessarily linked with elevated cholesterol. Studies have shown that not everyone with cardiovascular disease has a high cholesterol level. According to research into blood types and heart disease, blood types A and AB tend to have higher cholesterol levels than Os and Bs. Elevated cholesterol levels therefore seem to be more of a risk factor for heart disease in As and ABs than Os and Bs. Here is another one of those blood type links that could explain the partial success which the official “good for your heart” diet recommendations have in reducing cholesterol levels and heart attacks. These recommendations are close to what type As should be eating, so As will have good results with such diets. One of my patients who is an O was put on a diet of beans, grains and little meat. Her blood cholesterol level jumped from 199 to 233 in less than 2 years. After 5 months of following the blood type diet for type O and eating red meat and hardly any grains or cheese her blood cholesterol dropped from from 233 to 171. The reason I mention this type O patient here is because she was eating a type A diet although she is an O. The diet that enabled her cholesterol levels to drop was the diet appropriate for her blood type and not the generally accepted cholesterol-lowering diet.
Following your blood type A diet will help you reduce your cholesterol levels if they are high. Legumes and lentils, vegetables (artichokes, carrots, beetroot, garlic, onions, leeks), fruits (apples, avocados, grapefruit, pineapple), fatty fish with their beneficial oils (mackerel, sardines, salmon, tuna, herring), soya bean products, brown rice and oats, olive oil, walnuts and almonds – scientific studies have shown that all these foods lower cholesterol levels. Even if your levels are normal, you will benefit from this diet as it will prevent cholesterol levels from rising. You may eat eggs; although they do contain cholesterol they have never been shown to substantially raise cholesterol levels. High levels of cholesterol mainly come from the fact that our body manufactures it from sugar and synthesises it from fats. Some of us are better at this than others, As and ABs for instance.
Another factor in cardiovascular disease is the thickness of your blood. Around 80 per cent of strokes and heart attacks are due to a blood clot. Blood type A has more active blood clotting factors than type O, so As should eat foods
