Food intolerance and the blood type diet

I’m often asked, “What’s the link between food intolerance tests and the blood type diet?”

They’re two systems that use very different criteria to guide your diet.

Food intolerance tests are in fashion. They are designed to measure a particular type of food reaction.

True food allergies are often immediate or rapid reactions that release histamine and elicit a type of immune reaction that can be measured by the presence of IgE in the blood. They can be serious and require immediate intervention by a doctor or even going to the hospital.

A food intolerance causes inflammation, sometimes with a delay of several days. For this very reason this type of reaction is often difficult to attribute to a given food.

These tests have been around for several decades now, and are designed to measure IgG type food reactions. In order to be reliable, they must be sensitive and accurate enough to give a true picture of your reactions. That’s where the problem lies. Tests are what they are, always with a possibility of error depending on the quality and type of test.

It tells you if your sensitivity to a food is weak, moderate or strong. Then the report will tell you to avoid the foods you react to the most. That’s it.

The Blood Type Diet is very different. It tells you which foods are particularly beneficial to you and that act as medicine in your body, which foods are neutral and feed you well, and finally those that are best avoided for “various reasons”.

Foods that are beneficial and neutral for you have special beneficial effects on your body because they’re good for your particular metabolism largely influenced by your blood type.

One reason being, you digest them easily and efficiently. This is because your blood group influences your production of digestive enzymes (which ones and how much) and hydrochloric acid (how much). Depending on whether you are type O or type A the scenario that plays out when you digest your food is different.

Another reason is that certain foods enhance and improve your health by protecting you from conditions you may have because of your blood type susceptibilities.

Among the “various reasons” mentioned above there is one that people particularly remember: the reaction between your blood type and specific lectins.

You may have heard about lectins from other authors, hoiwever Doctor Peter D’Adamo is the first to have brought their importance into the world of nutrition over 30 years ago.

For more information on the interaction between your blood type and specific lectins, read this post on my blog: Lectins: chaos creators.

Doctor Peter D’Adamo’s work has nothing to do with looking for food intolerances. His research goes deeper and broader when analysing the effects of food on your health.

In addition, the food intolerances you may have are very likely due to the health of your digestive system and particularly gut permeability. When substances that should stay in the gut cross the intestinal barrier and enter the blood circuit your immune system, to protect you, can produce an immune response.

And do you know what (among other things) can cause gut permeability? Lectins!

With the blood type diet you’ll have a much more precise and personalized idea of the foods that are right for you. For all the reasons mentioned above, you’ll take care of your gut permeability just by eating the foods that suit you. No need to ask yourself if the food intolerance test you just did is really reliable or not.

You’ll also have a long-term solution, because many food intolerances are temporary and can be resolved once you’ve healed your gut.

If you’ve done a food intolerance test and at the same time are following the blood type diet, I strongly recommend you choose between the two, otherwise you’ll be faced with a real puzzle that’ll just make you want to give up. Some of my clients have tried doing this and ended up very confused.

Instead, avoid the lectins specific to your blood type and your “intolerances” will take care of themselves.

To your fabulous health!