Читать книгу The Blood Type Diet Cookbook - Lucy Degremont - Страница 12

How does our blood type influence our food choices? The main reason is the presence of lectins in the vegetable and animal kingdom. They can also be found in micro-organisms and viruses. Basically lectins are a type of protein. Not all foods contain lectins but those we encounter in our foods are of great importance to our health.

The beneficial and harmful effects of lectins are being extensively studied. It has been found, for example, that the lectins in the following foods have beneficial effects: the lectin in the edible snail has an anti-cancer effect in types A and AB, peanuts may have a preventive effect against breast cancer in blood type A, and lentils and broad (fava) beans may also have anti-cancer effects in type A.

The harmful lectins should, in contrast, be considered our number one enemy. You will soon understand why. Lectins are like mischievous little underworld creatures. They come along in the body, seek out the cells they are akin to, make them clump together so they are stuck and can’t carry out their work properly, then run off to do the same elsewhere. Or in the words of Dr D’Adamo, “Once the intact lectin protein settles someplace in your body, it literally has a magnetic effect on the cells in that region. It clumps the cells together and they are targeted for destruction, as if they too were foreign invaders.”

Any system of the body can be affected, be it the nervous, digestive, cardiovascular or hormonal system. Lectins are proteins that can bind to any molecule with a sugar portion on the surface of its cells. And precisely the way our blood type is expressed is through the presence of specific sugars on the surface of our cells. It so happens that many lectins are blood type specific, meaning that they will be attracted to body cells of one blood type and not necessarily those of another. The word lectin comes from the Latin for “to choose”, describing an essential characteristic of these proteins. They choose, according to blood type, the cells that they are going to work on, making them agglutinate. These cells can be red blood cells, white blood cells, cells of the gastrointestinal tract, the pancreas, the kidneys, the liver … but the first cells met by lectins are, of course, those of the digestive tract. That is where they make their first impact. According to researcher Arpad Pusztai, the lectins in our diet have an enormous influence on the way our digestive tract is going to respond to the foods it comes in contact with and this, in turn, affects our health in general. I have noticed that digestive symptoms improve in the first days of following the blood type diet. My patients feel less bloated, have fewer spasms, less nausea, and they find food doesn’t lie as heavy on the stomach.

Dietary lectins can have an effect on different aspects of digestion. They can inactivate certain digestive enzymes and damage the gut wall, thus impairing absorption. This can also lead to substances that would normally remain in the gut leaking through the gut wall into the general circulation – a condition referred to as leaky gut. When the lining of the small intestine cannot act as an efficient barrier any longer bacteria, food antigens capable of triggering an allergic-type reaction in the body, and toxins, can all cross into the bloodstream. Joint inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis have all been linked with gut permeability. Lectins can also cause painful inflammation of the gut lining.

It has been found that 5–10 per cent of the lectins in food can pass into the bloodstream and circulate in the body. There they can cause inflammatory reactions such as arthritis and allergies; disrupt thyroid hormone (hypo and hyper thyroidism) and insulin production (diabetes); interfere with the normal function of the nervous system; and settle in the kidneys and the liver, disrupting their function.

The process of digestion can affect lectins in various ways. Lectins are usually not inactivated by gastric acids, meaning they will reach the intestine intact. Chewing can actually aggravate some lectin activity. Cooking also has varying effects on lectins. Certain bean lectins are inactivated by specific soaking and cooking procedures (see instructions on page 188), while the negative aspects of other lectins are increased by cooking (bananas are one example). Interestingly, the lectin contained in wheat – a grain that so many people need to avoid – is inactivated by the process of sprouting.

The main reason for avoiding specific foods on the blood type diet is the presence of lectins. A second reason for avoidance is the responsibility a food may have for the higher incidence of certain health problems in each blood type. For example, blood type A has a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease associated with higher levels of cholesterol. As a protective measure olive oil – which has beneficial effects on cholesterol levels – should be consumed rather than butter. A third reason for avoidance is the internal makeup, the blood group individuality so to speak, that determines which food or food group should be avoided. For example, Os have a problem dealing with milk products and should avoid them almost totally.

Using various laboratory and clinical methods Dr D’Adamo and his team have tested the foods covered in this book and their effects on the body. As the research into blood type diets is an ongoing process it is wise to always seek the latest information. Peter D’Adamo’s website www.dadamo.com is a rich source of information for the layperson, the practitioner and the researcher.

I urge you to read all of the following information, rather than just that on your particular blood type, as some of the health advice is relevant to all types.