If you have B-positive or B-negative blood, Peter J. D'Adamo, the creator of the blood type diet, claims your ancient ancestors were the first Asian nomads. According to D'Adamo, following a diet that restricts or eliminates the foods these nomads would not have eaten will help a person with type-B blood lose weight, feel more energetic and avoid medical problems. The blood type diet (BTD), also known as the blood group diet, was popularized in 1996 by Dr. Peter D’Adamo in his book “Eat Right 4 Your Type.” In this book, Dr. D’Adamo claims the optimal diet and exercise regimen for any one individual depends on their ABO blood type. This may supposedly have benefits like improved health and decreased risk of chronic diseases. He also claims that each blood type represents the genetic traits of our ancestors, such as which diet they evolved to thrive on. This article provides a comprehensive guide to the blood group B diet, exploring its principles, recommended foods, foods to avoid, and the scientific evidence behind it.
Understanding the Blood Type Diet
The blood type diet suggests that your ABO blood group may determine the best foods for you to eat. Your blood type is based on genetics, so the BTD categorizes foods to eat to reflect the diet your ancestors would have consumed. Type B, known as Nomadic, thrives on a high dairy diet. One of the central theories of the BTD has to do with proteins called lectins. These are a family of proteins that can bind to carbohydrate molecules. According to the BTD theory, eating the wrong types of lectins may specifically target different ABO blood types. They may cause red blood cells to agglutinate, or clump together, which could increase your risk of disease.
The Type B Individual: Nomadic and Balanced
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.
The primary challenges that can get in the way of optimum health for Type B include a tendency to produce higher than normal cortisol levels in situations to stress; sensitivity to the B specific lectins in select foods, resulting in inflammation and greater risk for developing Syndrome X; susceptibility to slow growing, lingering viruses - such as those for MS, CFS, and lupus; and a vulnerability to autoimmune diseases.
Dr. D'Adamo suggests that a healthy Type B, living right for his or her own type, tends to have fewer risk factors for disease and tends to be more physically fit and mentally balanced than any of the other blood types. Type B's tended to have a greater ability to adapt to altitude and interestingly, are statistically the tallest of the blood types.
Read also: Is the Type O Diet Effective?
Historical Context
Blood Type B developed in the area of the Himalayan highlands, now part of present day Pakistan and India. 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. From there westward, the percentages fall until a low is reached at the western tip of Europe. The small numbers of Type B in Western Europeans represents western migration by Asian nomadic peoples. This is best seen in the easternmost western Europeans, the Germans and Austrians, who have an unexpectedly high incidence of Type B blood compared to their western neighbors. Modern sub continental Indians a Caucasian people, have some of the highest frequencies of Type B blood in the world. The northern Chinese and Koreans have very high rates of Type B blood and very low rates of Type A.
Food Recommendations for Blood Group B
According to the blood type diet, individuals with blood type B should consume a balanced diet including meat, dairy, vegetables, and grains.
Foods to Include in Your Daily Diet
- Meat: Beef, lamb, venison, mutton, rabbit.
- Fish: Salmon.
- Dairy: Cottage cheese, milk, yogurt, ricotta, cheddar, Swiss, Monterey jack, Brie.
- Oils: Olive oil.
- Grains: Millets, oats, rice.
- Vegetables: All green leafy vegetables, eggplant.
- Fruits: Pineapple, banana, crane berry, papaya, plum, grapes.
- Other: Ginger, curry leaves, pepper, ginseng, licorice, green tea.
Foods to Limit or Avoid
For Type Bs the biggest factors in weight gain are corn, wheat, buckwheat, lentils, tomatoes, peanuts and sesame seeds. Each of these foods affect the efficiency of your metabolic process, resulting in fatigue, fluid retention, and hypoglycemia - a severe drop in blood sugar after eating a meal. When you eliminate these foods and begin eating a diet that is right for your type, you blood sugar levels should remain normal after meals.
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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.
- Grains: Wheat, buckwheat, corn, corn syrup, cornstarch.
- Poultry: Chicken, goose, duck, quail.
- Seafood: Shellfish (mussels, shrimp, oysters, lobster), anchovies, striped bass, octopus, smoked salmon.
- Cheese: American cheese, blue cheese, string cheese, ice cream.
- Legumes: Lentils, garbanzos, black-eyed peas, beans, tofu.
- Vegetables: Artichoke, avocado, corn, olives, pumpkin, radish, tomatoes, mung bean sprouts.
- Fruits: Coconuts, persimmons, pomegranates, prickly pear, rhubarb.
- Oils: Canola, corn, cottonseed, peanut, safflower, sesame, sunflower, margarine.
- Nuts & Seeds: Cashews, pine, pistachio, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds.
- Sweeteners: Barley malt sweeteners, corn syrup, cornstarch, cinnamon.
- Beverages: Distilled liquor, seltzer water, soda.
Sample 7-Day Meal Plan for B-Negative Blood Group
Below is a 7-day meal plan for a B-negative blood group which suggests that people with blood type B should consume a balanced diet including meat, dairy, vegetables, and grains.
- Day 1:
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with spinach, rye toast, green tea
- Mid-Morning Snack: Walnuts and blueberries
- Lunch: Grilled salmon, quinoa, broccoli, carrot salad
- Evening Snack: Greek yogurt with flaxseeds
- Dinner: Stir-fried mushrooms with brown rice
- Day 2:
- Breakfast: Oatmeal with almond milk, walnuts, dates
- Mid-Morning Snack: Banana with almond butter
- Lunch: Lamb stew, carrots, potatoes, green beans
- Evening Snack: Cottage cheese with honey
- Dinner: Baked cod, mashed sweet potatoes, zucchini
- Day 3:
- Breakfast: Buckwheat pancakes with honey, strawberries
- Mid-Morning Snack: Almonds and dried apricots
- Lunch: Turkey and avocado wrap
- Evening Snack: Banana smoothie with almond milk, chia seeds
- Dinner: Grilled lamb, quinoa, kale
- Day 4:
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with turkey bacon, rye toast, green tea
- Mid-Morning Snack: Pear with walnuts
- Lunch: Bakes salmon with spinach and arugula salad
- Evening Snack: Cottage cheese with flaxseeds
- Dinner: Stir-fried bok choy, brown rice
- Day 5:
- Breakfast: Greek yogurt with pumpkin seeds and berries
- Mid-Morning Snack: Almonds
- Lunch: Grilled turkey with roasted sweet potatoes
- Evening Snack: Mango smoothie with almond milk, flaxseeds
- Dinner: Baked Halibut with wild rice, sautéed kales
- Day 6:
- Breakfast: Omelette with feta cheese, mushrooms, rye toast, green tea
- Mid-Morning Snack: Pecans, walnuts
- Lunch: Lamb kebabs with quinoa, grilled vegetables
- Evening Snack: Greek yogurt with chia seeds
- Dinner: Beef (regular) with roasted eggplant, brown rice
- Day 7:
- Breakfast: Buckwheat porridge with honey, almonds
- Mid-Morning Snack: Papaya and almond butter
- Lunch: Grilled salmon with sautéed spinach, brown rice
- Evening Snack: Cottage cheese with walnuts
- Dinner: Grilled turkey strips, steamed asparagus
Additional Lifestyle Recommendations for Type B
To maintain the mind/body balance that is unique to Type B's, Dr. D'Adamo recommends choosing physical exercise that challenges your mind as well as your body. Type Bs need to balance meditative activities with more intense physical exercise. Type Bs tend to do best with activities that are not too aerobically intense, have an element of mental challenge and involve other people. Excellent forms of exercise for Type B's include tennis, martial arts, cycling, hiking and golf.
Handling Stress
When it comes to hormones, type B is closer to type A, producing somewhat higher levels of cortisol. When a Type B is out of balance, this manifests in overreaction to stress, difficulty in recovering from stress, disrupted sleep patterns, daytime brain fog, disruptive to GI friendly bacteria and suppresses immune function. This leads to increased risks for depression, insulin resistance, hypothyroidism and high stress can further exacerbate virtually all health challenges.
Dr. D'Adamo has observed that type B's have a wonderful gift to be able to gain physiological relief from stress and maintain emotional balance through the utilization of mental processes such as visualization and meditation.
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Key Lifestyle Strategies
Here are Dr. D'Adamo's key lifestyle strategies for Type Bs:
- Visualization is a powerful technique for Type Bs. If you can visualize it, you can achieve it
- Find healthy ways to express your nonconformist side
- Spend at least twenty minutes a day involved in some creative task that requires your complete attention
- Go to bed no later than 11:00PM and sleep for eight hours or more. It is essential for B's to maintain their circadian rhythm
- Use meditation to relax during breaks
- Engage in a community, neighborhood or other group activity that gives you a meaningful connection to a group. Type Bs are natural born networkers
- Be spontaneous
- As they age, Type Bs have a tendency to suffer memory loss and have decreased mental acuity. Stay sharp by doing tasks that require concentration, such as crossword puzzles or learn a new skill or language
Scientific Evidence and Criticisms
In 2014, a study published in "Plos One" concluded that there is no evidence to support the premise underlying the blood type diet. The minimal research that does exist on BTD doesn’t support Dr. D’Adamo’s claims that specific foods may cause benefits or harm to certain blood groups.
In a 2014 study of 1,455 participants, eating a type A diet of fruits and vegetables was associated with better health markers. However, this effect was seen in everyone following the type A diet, not just individuals with type A blood. Similarly, a 2018 study of 973 adults with overweight found that matching a participant’s blood type with the respective recommended BTD didn’t impact the link between BTD and markers of cardiometabolic disease. Lastly, in a 2020 study, 68 participants of different blood types ate a low fat vegan diet for 16 weeks. At the end of the 16 weeks, the researchers found no major differences in cardiometabolic changes between any of the groups.
Potential Benefits and Considerations
The BTD removes the majority of unhealthy processed foods. This may be why it works, without any regard to the different blood types. Different diets work for different people. You may do well with a lot of plants and little meat (like the type A diet), while others may thrive eating plenty of high-protein animal foods (like the type O diet).