The Omnivore's Dilemma

In his best selling book The Omnivores Dilemma, Michael Pollan describes a national eating disorder. Notice that he calls it an omnivore's problem, not a carnivore's or an herbivore's problem. Omnivores consume everything that's edible. We are engineered that way. One clue to that fact can be found in our dental structure. We have incisors for biting, canines for ripping and tearing, premolars and molars for chewing and grinding.

Now here comes Dr. Peter D'Adamo with the mind tickling theory that we should eat according to our specific blood type; type O, A, B, and AB. This has become one of the more popular diets of the day and one that has garnered a lot of scrutiny from the medical community.

Here is how I understand the theory. Type O is the oldest blood type dating back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors. So we should eat like they did i.e., lots of meat and very few grains and no dairy. Type A came in with the dawn of of primitive agriculture and this type thrives on a plant based diet. Type B and AB appeared about 10,000 years ago with the domestication of livestock and those types can eat pretty much anything.

The Dr. D'Adamo school of thought holds that the different blood types appeared at specific junctures in history while the opposing view holds that blood type genetics evolved together over eons of time. That argument is on-going. But lets look at how a few of the most respected sources weigh in:

Dr. Andrew Weil, " I have not seen any scientific evidence or a correlation between blood type and dietary requirements, I also don't see any evidence for his argument that different blood types evolved in different parts of the world..."

Mayo Clinic," ..There's no scientific evidence to support the so-called "blood type diet"...At this time, eating or avoiding certain foods according to your blood type isn't thought to have any favorable influence on weight or overall health. In fact, a "blood type diet" may not meet your nutritional needs."

The Harvard Medical School, "Eat Right 4 Your Type" diet promotes the wholly unscientific idea that your blood type determines what you should eat..."

Its difficult to fly in the face of the opinions of such prestigious sources. But, maybe we should put this diet into the "probably won't hurt" category. After all, it does not advocate eating wing dings and pop tarts. People have tried it and swear by it, although that can either be a placebo effect, which is not uncommon, or the positive mental effect of trying something new. If you want to try it, talk to your physician, nurse practitioner, or dietitian first. Please know that we need more peer reviewed studies and corroborated scientific data to make any positive evaluation about this diet.