Customer Reviews

Cancer: Fight It with the Blood Type Diet (Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo's Eat Right 4 Your Type Health Library)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Please bear with this long review. I am currently being treated for breast cancer and I have AB blood type. My chiropractor gave me this book. I was struck by the fact that AB blood type is not only rare, but creates a friendly immune system. My particular diagnosis is early stage (2), estrogen-receptor positive. This cancer is known to be more aggressive in Black women. Based on those factors, I knew that I did not want a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition.

I had never been able to conquer my sweet tooth prior to this diagnosis. I want to share with readers my results in following the diet for blood type AB. The sweet took problem became easier to deal with once I viewed sugar as a poison. I have been following the diet as faithfully as possible for 2-1/2 months. I unexpectedly lost 18 pounds in nine weeks. My goal was to give my body the best nutrition possible as I headed toward surgery and chemo. The first 7 pounds were gone in two weeks before I had surgery. This was a good thing since I had to have lymph nodes removed and biopsied from my armpit. This procedure creates a lifelong risk of lymphedema. I still do not have lymphedema, but the weight loss helps my chances of continuing to avoid it. Chemo can also cause the onset of lymphedema. I do not ever want to get it because I am an avid tennis player.

I continued to stay on the diet and was very intentional about what I would put in my body. I dropped an additional 11 pounds. Without exercise or counting calories, the weight fell off. I became concerned that it would continue, but then my weight stabilized at just five pounds over what it was 13 years ago when I started gaining weight. It was like my metabolism had been re-set.

I started chemo almost two months ago. My goal was to keep my body supported as best I could through nutrition. Doctors don't give you details on nutrition and, as I stated before, I didn't want a one-size-fits-all approach. I added supplements to my diet regimen: milk thistle to support liver function; and an ultra-absorbable CoQ10 and fish oil for my heart health. The point of following this particular diet was to not make my body work any harder than necessary to digest food and eliminate waste.

Based on what people who had the identical chemo treatment have shared with me, I have not had the same side effects of fatigue, constipation, heartburn, insomnia, or dry mouth. This is not to say that I don't have any side effects from the chemo. My hair started falling out two weeks ago, my fingernails are darkening, and the pigment in the palms of my hands has darkened. But, I am playing tennis again, every other week, and working out in the gym.

Other things I noticed from following this diet is that I don't get gassy or bloated anymore, and I don't get sluggish after a meal. The only thing I can figure is that I am not eating those foods that are not meant for my body. That's a good thing.

For my particular diagnosis, I pray for remission (forever, if possible) because cancer could recur in any part of my body. So if this author says that to boost my Natural Killer Cells means that I need to eat snails, then I go to a French restaurant and order the escargot appetizer once a week. I have given up some foods that I'd really enjoyed in the past (crab, shrimp, flounder, and bananas, for instance), but I'm finding different recipes and foods to enjoy. This learning process is obviously worth it. I am tolerating chemo better than even the doctors imagined, but I'm also not doing anything that gets in the way of the treatment. I have every intention of coming out of this healthier than ever and I believe this book has given me the tools to do it.

This book is excellent for patients who have cancer and are being treated by a doctor who is IjHI (Institute for Human Individuality) Certified. If you are being treated by a Doctor who is NOT IjHI certified then this book is of questionable value to you. You can find an IjHI Certified Doctor in your area on the internet.

Cancer is a complicated and serious illness and to think that by reading a book you may magically be cured is foolish. No one should be their own doctor. And when working with a IjHI certified doctor, you will be able to take responsibility for your own health by finding out how to work with your own blood type heritage with this book. Oh and by the way who said being in good health as we get older was easy? It's not easy and neither is giving up the 'avoid' foods we love yet if avoiding these 'avoid' foods this book recommends helps us beat CANCER isn't it worth it? Try it under the care of a IjHI certified doctor for two months. What do you have to lose? Most cancer MD's have no idea how you got cancer in the first place nor do they have anything resembling a cure.

I think it is extremely helpful for those who especially are unfamiliar w/naturopathic medicine and supplementation. He goes the extra mile in examining the link between blood type antigen and cancer cells. A must read for anyone going through chemo. or recent diagnosis. I wish everyone that had cancer would read this book--though he gives even more information and background in his general book "Eat Right For Your Type" from the mid 90s.

My health care provider plugs this book heavily, so I have had the opportunity to look through it, read the portions that pertain to my blood type and listen to his input regarding its worth.

In this slimmer volume, D'Adamo again looks at all four blood types and recommends food, drink and vitamins to help keep you cancer-free. On solely a practical level what this means is that only one fourth of the book will be read by you---why D'Adamo doesn't simply offer 4 books at a fourth of the price, I'll never know. The fourth of the book that you will read pretty much duplicates what is written in 'Eat Right for Your Type','Live Right for Your Type' and 'The Eat Right for your Type Encyclopedia'. In this book, D'Adamo adds 2 new food categories to the triumvate of BENEFICIAL, NEUTRAL and AVOID categories found in the older editions. One of the new food categories--Super Beneficial further delineates the already restrictive ground he has already covered at length in his earlier books. A few new vegetables and spices are added in the newer categories, but otherwise the directives found in his earlier work still define the underlying principles in this one.

So the really bottom line on this one is whether or not you really need to purchase a $20 book to further affirm D'Adamo's thinking on food and supplements. I think not. Whether or not you accept the idea that observing blood type and D'Adamo's corresponding food do's and don't's is the key to a longer and healthier life will definitely sway you in either making or not making this purchase. Do remember this: the Blood Type Diet is a business where D'Adamo sells rather expensive vitamins (he actually sells a backdoor product called Deflect which supposedly eliminates lectins in the system from AVOID foods) and supplements as well as protein shake mixes he says are optimally designed for each of the 4 blood types. But what if he's wrong? For my blood type I am supposed to eat lots of tofu and soy products---but alas, this food gives me headaches---a fact that I have tested through a strict elimination process--so if the premise is true, there most be a missing component that even D'Adamo's secretor non/secretor test does not take into account. Either his categories are too general or they are just incorrect. Perhaps good old common sense comes into play here: if eating tomatoes causes hives, simply don't eat them. Look at things on an individual basis and eat in moderation.

Recommended only to strict D'Adamo fans who just want a new but unnecessary version of the same information at their fingertips.

I'm writing this review for those of you who didn't read Eat Right 4 Your Type. On page 307 he says.... "Even now, as I write this, I am beginning the eighth year of a ten-year trial on reproductive cancers, using the Blood Type Diets. My results are encouraging. So far, the women in my trial have double the survival rate published by the American Cancer Society. By the time I release the results in another two years, I expect to make it scientifically demonstrable that the Blood Type Diet plays a role in cancer remission." In this statement, D'Adamo was referring to breast,ovarian, and cervical cancers in women.The Eat Right book was published in 1996, it is now 2004 and the results still haven't been published; there is no mention of these results in any of the other books including this one that D'Adamo has written. What has happened to this trial that supposedly began in 1988? My gut instinct tells me that the results were not what he expected....so therefore push it under the rug.

According to D'Adamo some blood groups are more prone to cancer than others namely blood groups A and AB. According to Steve Henry and Bo Samuelsson both PhD scientists, and contributing authors of the book, Human Blood Cells: Consequences of Genetic Polymorphisms and Variations and experts in the ABO polymorphism have quoted....."Malignancy appears to associate more frequently with group A than group O subjects. Although there appears to be less associations with blood groups B and AB , in many instances, this is due to insufficient numbers obtainable for statistical analysis. It should be noted that with very few exceptions, for every report showing an association, there is another reporting either no association or a different association. Many of the associations have emerged only after compiling data from multiple smaller studies. In many cases, the relative risk is very small. For example, the relative A:O risk for breast cancer is 1.06, which means for every 100 group O individuals with breast cancer, there will be 106 group A individuals." So the incidence of breast cancer among blood groups A individuals isn't as extreme as the author has made it to be. This isn't only an unethical, but underhanded approach to get the reader to buy into this nonsense.

Living as a survivor I like to stay abreast (so to speak) of what I can do to help myself stay on this plane longer as a healthy individual. Nothing new as far as I can tell, same ole, same ole.

I actually bought this book to help me for an essay based on Dr. D'Adamo's research regarding cancer and type A blood.

I went through all of his books as well as some other information from his website and a study guide.

I am awaiting my test results, but my assessment is this book is meant to be an introduction to the concepts based on a specific health concern. If your goal is to learn something and modify your diet a little, this book will help.

I would encourage you to take it to a deeper level than just this one book.

The info D'Adamo has presented on cancer is spread throughout Dr. D's many works. Certainly knowledge is not stagnant and any one source is a bit outdated the minute it is published. There is some info that appears in multiple places, but I think on the whole, I got a much better grasp on this approach from going through all of the books.

I would encourage anyone dealing with cancer to work with an IfHI practitioner in conjunction with their MD or oncologist. You may or may not find support or understanding of this approach as a lot of the science (AND THERE IS A TON OF SCIENCE RESEARCH OUT THERE) has not been taught in medical school or publicized by others.

Of course, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. :)

Jump on over to the author's site and check out the message boards and all the info. You will find a supportive community and people who have healed themselves of all sorts of things---and people who are being proactive and going toward optimum health.

It's been an outstanding journey for me so far. Many blessings.

Whether you or a loved one has cancer or not having the information at your fingertips for super beneficial foods to avoid foods is priceless. It even covers the non-secretors!

Excellent overview of blood types and their relation
to inherent risk for cancer. Also includes the necessary dietary modifications
needed to stay healthy or fight existing cancer.
Definitely worth the read.

I have been eating for my blood type for 2 months and have had AMAZING results....allergy and astham improvement, weight loss, more energy, etc. As to cancer prevention - only time will tell but the suggestions in this little tome all lead to a healthier lifestyle!