Eat Right For Your Type (Hardcover)

After reading the book I searched the internet for further information about Dr. D'Adamo's research. Not much came up other than the "official" website. Does this mean that Dr. D'Adamo is wrong or that his book is just another diet clothed in new language? Perhaps, perhaps not. And therein lies a caution I would give you: be careful not to glorify this diet or Dr. D'Adamo beyond it, or his, relative worth. I've met many people over the years who have tried a variety of diets with varying degrees of success. Many tend to dismiss the diet if it doesn't work for them and, on the other hand, present it as the one-and-only true diet if it does work.

My criteria for deciding whether or not to try the Blood Type diet was twofold: 1) is it a radical diet that emphasizes one or two types of food to the exclusion of all else or does it recommend a balanced intake of a variety of foods, which in my opinion is the right way to go and 2) is it something that I can incorporate as a lifetstyle change rather than being a fad. In my opinion, and my experience, the answer is yes to both. However, I would also say that your success with this diet may be different as I believe a number of psychological factors are also applicable, to any diet e.g. willingness to follow a regime and a recognition of when it is ok for them personally to "cheat".

The book itself provides information about the different diets and, in general terms, why they work. Dr. D'Adamo doesn't provide details of his research - though he does describe some case studies, again in general terms. While that isn't the purpose of the book the fact that you virtually can't find the information if you wanted it is a little disconcerting. It provides a few recipes, but you should buy the supplemental recipe books if you have trouble creating them on your own. The first three chapters cover general information about Dr. D'Adamo's approach and the next four cover diets for each blood type. Chapters on the individual diets give some background information and then a list of foods categorized as Highly Beneficial, Neutral, and Avoid. At least for the Blood Type O diet a list of the foods that encourage weight loss and a list of foods the contribute to weight gain are also given.

I gave this book 3 stars for a couple of reasons. The lack of further detailed information about the research leading to his conclusions and the contradictory categorization of foods that are beneficial, neutral, and to be avoided throughout the "series" of Blood Type books. The end results is that I have lost 30 lbs and have been able to keep it off. But I must also give myself some of the credit for being able to make the lifestyle change necessary to make it happen.

1. He doesn't distinguish between blood group sub-types A1 & A2 or A1B & A2B. Regions of origin and therefore (according to his own argument) micronutrient requirements and proper macronutrient ratios of these sub-types are hugely different.

2. He has done very little (if any) independent testing to prove his lectin reactions occur as described. In fact almost no testing has been done by anyone.

3. He has plagiarized the work of Laura Power, PhD, who is the real expert on this topic. She has much more knowledge, experience, and most importantly - a huge, long-term study with clear results to prove her case. The truth revealed by Power is very, very different than D'Adamo's claims.

4. He does not account for (or apparently even understand) fundamental metabolic control mechanisms. If you lose weight with his system it will be quite by accident - or dumb luck.

I have been a medical nutritionist for many years and I assure you that the failings of D'Adamo's system are glaringly obvious to a trained nutritionist. His is a blatant commercial venture to capitalize on public ignorance by presenting a plausible theory as fact.
DO NOT FALL FOR THIS NONSENSE!