The Type-B Diaries, Part 1

I first heard it from my yoga instructor. Blood type diet. Her blood type is A, so she's avoiding meat, and is veering toward vegetarian life, which I find rather boring (if not impossible, at least for me). Then I heard it from someone else, who is Type B. He's promptly avoiding chicken, but is indulging in mutton and lamb meats, because those meats are beneficial for his type. "And, guess what: I should drink regular milk instead of soy milk. Isn't that beautiful?" Yup. 

Mutton and lamb instead of chicken? (what about "white meat is better than red meat"?) Regular cow's milk instead of soy milk? (what about "soy milk is healthier and non-fattening, compared to cow's milk"?) Curious, I went to the book store in search of some enlightenment... which I found in abundance. There are books for each blood type. Recipe books for each blood type (like "Healthy Recipes for Blood Type O"). Hmm. Interesting. I bought the "B" (my type), and an "O" (for comparison, and because some family members are Type O).

I leafed through the book (it's written by Dr. Peter D'Adamo), read the intro... and went on to the "beneficial", "neutral" and "avoid" sections. It's interesting to think that "one type's food can be another type's poison." Definitely not "one size fits all". Let's see... what should I avoid? (nothing delicious, I hope)

Meat and Poultry... beneficial: mutton, lamb, rabbit and deer. Neutral: beef, ostrich, turkey, and veal. Okay. What's missing? Where's the chicken and duck? Oh no, they're in the "avoid" list! Along with smoked beef and ham and pork... and... squirrel and tortoise? (who's eating them, anyway?) So... no more roasted duck at my favorite Duck King? This does not bode well. Anxious, I quickly scanned the rest of the food groups. 

So... it can be safely concluded that I have to say hasta la vista to crab, eel, lobster (oh, what a waste), oyster, prawn, and escargot. Au revoir duck and quail egg, and ice cream (what? This is unacceptable). Arrivederci mung beans, tempe and tofu (and we thought TOFU is the god of all health foods). No more avocado, corn, tomato, and olive (oh my lord...). Sayonara coconut, coconut milk, and starfruit. No more soya sauce, white and black pepper, miso, corn starch and corn syrup, and cinnamon (cinnamon, as in cinnamon bun? Come ON!) No more tomato ketchup. No alcoholic drinks (not even a glass of Cosmopolitan?), no soda of any kind.

Where does that leave me?

As I tried to calm myself down and look for the brighter side of it, I thought, "Okay... how about my other vices? Coffee? Chocolate? Wine? Ricotta and camembert cheese?". Apparently, coffee, chocolate and wine (red and white) are all "neutral" (a huge sigh of relief). Camembert is "neutral". Ricotta cheese is "highly beneficial" (why?) But ICE CREAM is to be avoided? Me? Avoiding ice cream? Get real. How come I'm allowed to gulp down cow's milk, butter, all kinds of cheese and yogurt... but I have to avoid ice cream? Isn't ice cream a derivative of milk? It should be legal for a Type B, right? Especially ME. 

Okay. I decided right there and then that this one "avoid" item cannot be completely avoided. Why? Simply because I'm concerned about my mental well-being. Ice cream to me is like Prozac to some other people. So, whether Dr. D'Adamo likes it or not, I'm going to eat a scoop of heavenly gelato maybe once a month. I mean, I've been eating it my whole life, and I'm not gonna stop just because I'm trying this Blood Type Thingy. If the lectin triggers a funny reaction in my metabolism once a month, then so be it.

So, 1 July 2008, I officially began my "Type B Diet" journey. I'm bringing that book everywhere with me: restaurant, supermarket, you name it. So far, I'm being quite consistent. We'll see in a month :)

My younger sister's comment so far (she's a Type O): "Just throw away the book. Just EAT." Hmm. I guess I didn't score too well in the persuasion department. At least not with my sister.