If you thought this was the title to a motivational speech for the week, I hate to disappoint you...but I'm actually talking about my bloodtype.
Many of you have probably heard about the Bloodtype Diet even though you may not have any clue what it's all about. I actually read this book for the first time 11 yrs ago when I was a freshman in college. This may have been when the book first came out, but basically I read it out of curiosity. However, having only cafeteria food to choose from, I kind of knew it was impossible to follow at the time.
Anyway, I've actually read through this book several times throughout the yrs since then and have always been fascinated by it but it's kind of a large step to take unless you have a very solid understanding of the relationship that food has to the body. It also seems much easier to follow if you've already been practicing lifestyle habits that are consistent with healthy eating for a while, so I actually feel like I'm at a place where I'm ready to try it out. It seems like a very easy transition for me to make at this point.
I talked to a friend of mine recently who follows the principles of this book. She is someone I respect a lot, so I trust her advice. As healthy as I eat, I still struggle with certain things that I can't ever explain or entirely do away with. I have a lot of inflammation. I'll have digestive troubles too. Oh and I have a really hard time keeping my skin clear. I eat such a wide variety of foods that it's hard to pin point the things that cause my body to get out of whack, so I get really frustrated and just stick to what I know and chalk it up to being imperfect.
However, I am adventurous and I'm on a journey of health right? SO, I think it's time for me to try something new. The ONLY reason I am ok with putting the bloodtype diet into practice is because it falls within scope of my beliefs about healthy eating. It sees food as medicine. It promotes whole/clean foods. And it only excludes foods that my body is "allergic" to. However, it still leaves a wide array of healthy foods to choose from. I can't really knock it until I try it, so I am going to follow this diet over the next month to see if my mysterious ailments go away.
Here's the premise of the Bloodtype diet.
Basically every blood type has certain antigens and antibodies either inside or outside the cell walls. For example as a B blood type, I have B antigens on the surface of my red blood cells and A antibodies in my blood plasma. Each blood type has different characteristics that allow it to digest and assimilate certain foods that are best for that blood type. There are certain proteins in the foods we eat that may be incompatible with our blood type and cause an immune response within the body. It's interesting because ever since my family when gluten and dairy free, my kids have gotten better...but I've actually put on some unexplained weight. It's not fat weight though....it's that inflamed puffy bloated water kind of weight. It will come and go but I can't figure out what makes it come! You know what's interesting about going gluten free? You start to use a lot of corn as a substitute which means we eat a lot of mexican type foods which also means we consume a lot of chicken and tomatoes. But we usually only have those "weeks" because I'll cook that and then we eat leftovers throughout the week.
Well, fancy the heck out of this...apparently my bloodtype is highly allergic to chicken. And corn and tomatoes are primary factors to weight gain!!!
WHAT??!!!! Could this be true?! I began reading up on it a lot this weekend and actually discovered that I am also the only bloodtype that digests certain kinds of dairy better than others in such a way that it's not only NOT harmful to me...but it's BENEFICIAL. WHAT?!!!!! I thought dairy was my poison. Maybe it's not. Maybe it's all that darn chicken and corn?! Could this be true? I'll never know unless I check it out.
Here's what is so cool though. Not only are there foods that are harmful but there are foods that are highly beneficial and actually act as medicine and healing to our bodies.
For example...my bloodtype needs pineapple. Pineapple has bromelin in it which is an anti inflammatory. So this month, I'll replace my black currant juice with pure organic pineapple juice. Not because black currant is bad, but it seems the best way to incorporate pineapple without adding extra calories.
Anyway, there are a long list of foods that are beneficial, neutral, and harmful for every bloodtype. I am not promoting this diet to you all by the way. I will never promote something until I've tried it and believe in it for myself. I am experimenting on myself and I'm ok with it because this diet isn't about calorie restriction or fast weight loss or extreme anything. Although...not eating chicken seems extreme to me, but chicken isn't the only meat there is. I get to eat lots of fish, which I do anyway.
If you want to look into the bloodtype theories or find out what more about your bloodtype visit this website
You can find more about your bloodtype specifically at this site. I'm curious to see what you guys think. You can find lots of books out there too.
The other interesting thing that I learned was my bloodtype responds best to hardcore physical exercise that is balanced with meditative practices like yoga. Well, fancy that! Kinda sounds like the exact exercise I love and live by!
Remember, I am not promoting this diet. I will blog about my journey and experience with it, but I will not focus on it. I'll continue offering healthy eating solutions that are more practical as I have been. I believe in them because while I do have certain unexplained triggers for negative immune responses...overall, I feel amazing a majority of the time.
Ok. I gotta get going! I'm looking forward to a much better week. There is lots more I have to share that I'm excited about.
Oh, and I had a killer workout this morning. I'll share part of it with you later. And after my upper body workout on friday, I can barely extend my arms without feeling extreme burn. In other words...i am SORE. That's fun for me to get sore cause it rarely happens anymore. Looks like my biceps need more love.
I'll leave you all with a picture of my Beneficial Bloodtype B Breakfast. Wow! That's a lot of B's!
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