Book Review: Arthritis: Fight it with the Blood Type Diet

The cover of the paperback book that I purchased, Arthritis: Fight It with the Blood Type Diet, written by Peter D'Adamo, a naturopathic physician, has these words visibly placed right in the center: "The individualized plan for defeating the pain of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other inflammatory conditions."

I would imagine that a lot of people suffering from the debilitating pain caused by these all-too-common diseases might be interested to learn more about an individualized plan like that!

A slim volume and a short read

At the beginning of the book the author devotes about thirty pages to what he calls a basic primer regarding blood type and arthritis. This covers the dynamics of arthritis, with descriptions of various arthritic diseases; the blood type - arthritis connection; and fighting arthritis with conventional and blood type therapies. All of this information seemed to be pretty general in nature.

Since Dr. D'Adamo doesn't offer really anything in the way of clinical trials or other scientific evidence, it didn't take long for me to get to the hub of the book, which is the charts he has compiled telling the reader the good, bad and the ugly as far as food choices to follow for the person's blood type.

Approximately 50% of the population is blood type O, about 40% is blood type A, and the other10% of the population is somehow divided between blood types B and AB. I am blood type A, so that is the information that interested me.

The blood type A food charts

As I studied the food charts, the first thing that I noticed is that they are very easy to interpret. There are eleven categories for foods, such as meat/poultry; fish/seafood; dairy/eggs, etc. Within each of these categories the foods are listed under five headings: super beneficial; beneficial; neutral: allowed frequently; neutral: allowed infrequently, and avoid. He also has suggestions for supplements and exercises, and then offers a 4-week success strategy plan.

What jumped out at me

There were quite a few surprises. First, many of the foods that I have discovered to be troublesome for me are in the avoid group. These include most meats; aged cheeses; butter; tomatoes; oranges; and aspartame and MSG.

Certain of the foods to avoid surprised me as I hadn't connected them with being a problem. These include clams; crabs; shrimp; smoked salmon; Brazil nuts; cashews; chickpeas; navy beans; kidney beans; wheat germ; cabbage; peppers; potato; rhubarb; bananas; and honeydew melons.

Super beneficial foods for blood type A

Fortunately, I like most of foods that fall in the "most happy" group for blood type A. Some of the super beneficial foods listed are: cod; salmon; trout; olive oil; walnuts; tofu; broccoli; celery; garlic; kale; onions; spinach; Swiss chard; blueberries; cherries; pineapple; watermelon; my favorite spices; and green tea.

My conclusion

The verdict is out for me as to the validity of the information in this book, mainly because the author doesn't give any supporting data as to why foods are listed as beneficial or to be avoided.

Quite a bit of the information from the food charts did ring true to me, however, and because of that I plan to do some experimentation of my own by including and then excluding certain foods at different times. I would like to see for myself if by doing so I can actually tell the difference about how I feel.

Dr. D'Adamo does caution people to discuss dietary changes with their physician, and to continue on their doctor's regimen rather than stopping that in favor of just making dietary changes.

I purchased this book from amazon.com at a time when I was ordering other books and qualified for free shipping. Since it is only $6.99, you would do well to just buy it at a bookstore unless you were ordering other items online.

If, however, you are planning to purchase the DVDs from amazon.com that I reviewed just prior to this book review, i.e. Movie Review: Flywheel, Facing the Giants and Fireproof, then this little paperback by Dr. D'Adamo could be tucked into that order so that you could then get free shipping.

As always, the individual reader must reach his or her own conclusions and act accordingly.

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