According to the blood type diet our blood group determines how our bodies deal with different nutrients. This theory is based on the idea that each blood group has its own unique antigen marker (a substance that the body recognizes as being alien) and this marker reacts badly with certain foods, leading to all sorts of potential health problems.

Furthermore the theory is that levels of stomach acidity and digestive enzymes are linked with your blood type. Consequently, by following a diet designed specifically for your blood type, your body digests and absorbs food more efficiently, with the result that you lose weight.

But here’s where the theory becomes even more bizarre. Dr D’Adamo (naturopath and creator of the Blood Type Diet) believes that because blood types evolved at different times throughout history, we should eat a diet based on the types of foods our ancestors typically ate at the time when our blood type was first recognized!

I’m really not a fan of this diet.  There are not many positive things to say about the blood group diet which is clearly based on science fiction rather than science fact.

The diet will almost certainly help you to loose weight, but this is because each of the diets for the four blood types eliminates specific groups of food such as bread and cereals, dairy products or meat and fish.

The amount of weight you’ll lose will depend on how much you restrict your food intake.  The blood type diet has the potential to scare people into avoiding many nutritious foods in an effort to lose weight. The most worrying thing about this is that while you’ll probably lose weight, it could also affect your health in the long term.

Although the diet gives the impression that it’s based on sound scientific research this is, in fact, far from the case.

However, as with any diet, it will get you thinking about what you are currently eating, with the result that you may start to make changes to your diet.  Added to this, the blood type diet recommends eating fresh, natural foods and so can help you de-junk your diet by cutting out highly refined processed foods, takeaways, alcohol, chocolate and too many cups of coffee – all of which our ancestors missed out on!

The most important things to remember when trying to loose weight are:

Eat small, regular meals with healthy snacks in between.  To keep blood-glucose as even as possible and to optimize fat loss, when choosing carbohydrates, rather choose foods that have a low GI. The less refined foods are, the lower the GI seems to be.

Eat fats sparingly.  All food provides energy, but not all foods provide equal amount of energy per gram.  One gram of fat provides 38 kJ, whereas 1g of carbohydrates or 1g of protein provides only 17kJ.  Fat provides double the amount of kilojoules than carbohydrates and protein and therefore should be restricted when you want to loose weight.

Do exercise on a regular basis.

Drink enough water.

If you do the above you will see results.  Just be consistent and be patient!