Eat Right for Your Type: Summary of Blood Types

Eat Meat (high protein, low carbohydrate). You have a few surprises in your system. Type O is the oldest blood type – about 150,000 years old – and your genetic ancestors were hunters. That means that your system is best designed to take nutrients from red meat, especially beef, and certain vegetables (you can have the broccoli you want, but avoid white potatoes).

Do not attempt to be a vegetarian. Red meat has gotten a bad reputation because of concern about cholesterol and heart disease. If you are a type O and you go on a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet and you have a tendency to high cholesterol, your cholesterol may actually go up. If you became completely vegetarian, you will lose the source of nutrition from which you absorb best, and serious health problems are likely to follow.

Cut out wheat and most other grains. Many of the grains that go into making bread and pasta were not around when type O evolved, so type Os have a natural intolerance to them. These grains are implicated in type O weight gain, thyroid trouble, and arthritis.

Foods with the most damaging lectins: Wheat, corn, kidney beans, lentils, navy beans, peanuts, potatoes

Engage in vigorous aerobic exercise. Type O stress goes right to the muscles, and the best way to work it out is through vigorous aerobic exercise such as running, competitive sports, and heavy calisthenics.

Your risk factors for ulcers and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis increase if you eat incorrectly for your type.

You should be a vegetarian. High-carbohydrate, low-fat diets are good for you, especially if your protein is derived from soy. Type A is the second-oldest blood type; your genetic ancestors were among the world’s first farmers, living in the earliest communities. It may be difficult to make the adjustment to a vegetarian diet, but the weight loss and health benefits are worth it. A diet of fresh organic produce and soy protein will reduce cholesterol in type As who have trouble with it, and reduce the risks of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, to which they are prone.

Foods with the most damaging lectins: Bananas, cabbage, eggplant, kidney beans, lima beans, potatoes, tomatoes.

Engage in gentle exercises. Type As don’t do well with aggressive aerobics such as running, and competitive sports tend to increase stress. Golf, yoga, gentle martial arts, and walking are the preferred modes of exercise.

Meditate to deal with stress. Type A stress goes directly to the nervous system, and intensely physical or competitive exercise just increases stress. Calming, meditative and relaxation exercises should be a daily routine for the high-strung type A.

Your risk factors for diabetes, cancer, and heart disease increase if you eat incorrectly for your type.

You have the most flexible dietary choices of all the blood types. Like type Os, Bs need to eat meat and cut out wheat, but Bs also thrive in dairy products. Unlike the other blood types, Bs are idiosyncratic omnivores whose genetic ancestors were the nomadic, steppe-dwelling people who came out of the Himalayas. Your blood type is newer than type A, and you make up roughly 9 percent of the population. Yogurt, kefir, and other soured-milk products should be staples in your diet.

You have a tolerant digestive system, but a few surprising intolerances. Chicken, corn, shellfish, and buckwheat all act a poisons in the type B system. Limit your meat intake to red meat and fish. Your protein should come from meat and fish, as the type B system has a hard time with beans and nuts. If you’re a type B who needs to lose weight, eliminate wheat from your diet.

Foods with the most damaging lectins: Chicken, corn, buckwheat, lentils, peanuts, sesame seeds, tomatoes.

Engage in exercise such as moderate swimming or walking. Type Bs need a balance between mental and physical activity to remain sharp, so moderate exercise such as swimming or brisk walking should be combined with quieting exercise such as yoga. Creativity and variation are the key for type Bs.

Your risk factors for slow-growing viruses that attack the nervous system such as multiple sclerosis increase if you eat incorrectly for your type.

You have the rarest of all the blood types. Your blood type is the newest – there is no evidence of its existing more than 1,000 years ago. It is a blending of type A and type B.

You have all the benefits and intolerances of types A and B. You have the genetic programming of type Bs predisposition to meat, but you also have the type A inability to process the nutrients, so meat will make you gain weight. The most finicky of blood types, AB has a chameleon quality in terms of food sensitivity. Sometimes you resemble an A, sometimes a B.

You have the friendliest immune system of the blood types. Since your immune system won’t attack A-like or B-like viruses or food particles, you have little trouble with inflammatory ailments such as the arthritis that can plague a type O. On the other hand, the friendliness will leave you open to many more diseases. Your blood type diet may help you reduce your risk.

Foods with the most damaging lectins: Chicken, certain white fish, corn, buckwheat, lima, kidney, sesame.

Engage in calming exercises and relaxation techniques. Like the type A, the type AB responds to stress with adrenal rushes and hyperactivity. Relaxation programs and quieting exercises such as yoga or golf should be a regular part of the type AB regimen.

Your risk factors for heart disease and cancer increase if you eat incorrectly for your type.