In the battle to lose weight, finding success is almost always about eating healthier foods. The “Eat Right 4 Your Type” diet by naturopath Peter D’Adamo offers eating plans designed to complement your blood type. He claims that when eating the right foods, you’ll gain a lot of energy and weight will come off simply.
Is it true that an O positive blood type diet could help you lose weight? Is an A positive blood type diet what you need? Learn more about the diet to decide if it’s the right one for you, then use a blood type diet chart to make following the diet easier.
Table of Contents
Blood Type Diet Basics
D’Adamo published his “Eat Right 4 Your Type” book in 1996, and the diet idea has been popular since. His basic premise is that people who have different types of blood process their foods differently. Because of this, your body is out of balance when you eat a diet filled with the “wrong” type of foods. He urges people to go back to the basics – far back to the types of diets that our distant ancestors ate.
The diet styles associated with each of the blood groups incorporate the idea of evolutionary heritage, with O type blood being the original type, and different types emerging along with different types of lifestyles.
According to D’Adamo, eating from a strict list of foods will help you lose weight. The diet itself is fairly restrictive, and may require you to buy specialty products. It also requires you to eliminate most processed foods and encourages you to choose from a variety of healthier options. Referring to the blood type diet chart can help you easily see the differences.
Blood Type Diet Charts
Type A Diet
People with type A blood are called “Cultivators” in this diet plan. People who want to follow an A negative or A positive blood type diet should follow a primarily vegetarian diet. Red meat is definitely off the list, though seafood is allowed. Tofu and beans are other good sources of protein. Type A people should also avoid drinking cow’s milk, though soy milks are said to encourage weight loss. If you’re going to follow this plan, look for recipes that make use of beans and grains, and increase your vegetable intake to help you stay full. The fiber from vegetables is good for digestion.
Type B Diet
Type B people are the “Nomads” in “Eat Right 4 Your Type”. Essentially, these people are allowed to follow a somewhat balanced diet plan. You can eat some meat, some dairy products, some grains, and some vegetables. Some of the foods you should avoid are chicken, corn, wheat, and peanuts. Since wheat is not allowed, you’ll find that a lot of the gluten-free recipes are appropriate if you’re looking for some new favorites on this type of diet.
Type O Diet
People who have type O blood are the “Hunters”. If you want to follow on O positive blood type diet, you’ll need to focus on eating a lot of high-protein foods like meats, while limiting your grain and legume intake. This style looks a lot like the also-popular paleo diet, so you’ll be able to find plenty of recipes that fit this plan. Eating more vegetables is a good way to get some variety into this plan, though you should avoid corn, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts.
Type AB Diet
D’Adamo considers people with AB blood to be the “Enigmas”. If you have this type of blood and want to follow the blood type diet, you’ll eat a blend of the type A and type B diets. This means that you can eat a fairly balanced diet, including meats, vegetables, grains, and dairy products. AB people should still avoid some foods, though, like red meats, kidney beans, corn and buckwheat.
Blood Type Diet Printable Tables
Making Things Easy With a Blood Type Diet Chart
If you’ve decided that the “Eat Right 4 Your Type” diet is the right one for you, you naturally need some tools that will make things a lot easier. Perhaps the best thing to do is take a look at our helpful charts. We easily break things down for you so that you can instantly see which foods you should and shouldn’t eat. This makes it simple to create a menu plan for the week and a shopping list that includes everything you need.
Seek out recipes that make use of the foods on the list for your blood type. As much as you might like the foods in their natural state, eating the same thing over and over is bound to get boring. With different recipes, you’ll be able to add more variety to your diet. This will keep you feeling satisfied, and you’ll be able to stick with the diet plan long-term.
Advantages of Eating Right for Your Type
Most people need some type of plan to follow when they want to lose weight. Plans that focus on counting calories allow you to eat whatever you want to eat, but they can also leave you feeling hungry and unsatisfied. On the other hand, the “Eat Right 4 Your Type” diet is an elimination style of diet. It’s attractive because you’re allowed to eat as much as you want to eat on the plan, as long as those foods are on the approved foods list. You don’t have to suffer if you’re feeling hungry. You just have to pick a food that you can eat.
At its most basic level, this is a simple diet to follow. If you’re looking for some rules about eating, getting a list of foods that are right for your blood type is convenient. You’ll likely be eating fewer calories, which will lead to weight loss.
Blood Group Food Charts
Challenges of the Diet
Despite the benefits of this plan, there’s no doubt that it can be extremely restrictive. If you don’t like the foods that are on the list for your blood type, you’ll obviously have a hard time following the plan. For instance, if you’re a type O person who’s been a lifelong vegetarian, the idea of switching to a meat-based diet is probably repulsive to you. Likewise, a type A person who enjoys a good steak is going to have a hard time switching over to the vegetarian diet that’s supposed to be right for his blood type. Unless the diet already matches up with the type of foods you like to eat, you’re not going to find this diet easy to follow. You’ll be better off looking toward other plans.
It can also be difficult to follow this plan if you’re cooking for a family who has different blood types. In particular, the type A and type O plans are completely opposite, and you’ll end up cooking several different meals if everyone in the family is trying to follow different plans. Other diet plans will work better for families.
What About Exercise?
Exercise is an important part of living a healthy lifestyle, no matter what type of diet you follow. The “Eat Right 4 Your Type” plan also has some recommendations when it comes to exercise. Type A people should choose exercises that focus on relaxation, like yoga and tai chi. Those with type O blood will do well with an hour a day of vigorous exercise like running. As with the diets, B and AB type people are able to take a more balanced approach with exercise as well.
Using these recommendations, you can design a fitness plan that works with your schedule. Many people find that waking up a bit early to get that exercise in first thing is a great way to start the day, whether you’ll be going for a jog or taking a yoga class.
What the Research Says
At the time of writing, there is no solid research supporting the idea that certain patterns of eating are better for people with different types of blood. There’s no true O positive blood type diet or A positive blood type diet. However, anecdotal evidence does show that the diet has worked for many people. Why is this the case?
One reason is that the blood type diet severely restricts the amount of processed food that you can eat. While each of the diet plans can be somewhat restrictive, they’re all much healthier than the standard type of diet that most Americans eat. Anyone following these plans is thus eating more healthy foods and fewer junk foods. That’s a proven method for losing weight.
The other reason this diet works is that it’s fairly restrictive. You look at the lists of foods that you can or can’t eat and follow that plan. You don’t see foods like pizza, fried chicken, candy and potato chips on those lists of “allowed foods”. Without these foods in your diet, you typically eat fewer calories overall, which tends to result in a weight loss.
Is “Eat Right 4 Your Type” Right for You?
Choosing the right diet plan for you is essential to your success, not just in the initial stages, but in the long term as well. If you want to keep the weight off, you need to have a diet plan that you can stick with for the rest of your life. That’s why most doctors recommend moderate methods of weight loss rather than dramatic crash diets that are unsustainable long-term.
The “Eat Right 4 Your Type” plan can work well if your tastes already line up fairly well with the list of foods you’re allowed to eat based on your blood type. If you look at our blood type diet chart and see a lot of your favorite foods, you’re on track to finding a good plan. While you’ll probably want to follow the plan strictly for the first few weeks, you’ll then be able to ease up a little, enjoying the occasional treat at a party or restaurant gathering. In some cases, you’ll find that your former favorite treats are no longer appealing and you’ll want to stick with the foods on your “safe list”.
However, if you look at the list of foods for your blood type and think “Ew,” then this diet is probably not the right one for you. Without a lot of research supporting the theory behind the diet, there’s no compelling reason to force yourself to eat a lot of foods you don’t really like. Instead, look for other plans that might be more compatible with your lifestyle. Calorie-counting plans like Weight Watchers, low-carb plans like Atkins, and other types of healthy eating plans have all been proven to be successful plans for those looking to lose weight. Choose one of those plans instead and you’ll be happier and more successful.
Any diet can work if you stay committed to making it work for you. We try to make things easier by offering charts that can help with your planning. This forethought allows you to stay on track and find the success you want.