Why the Blood?

As humans moved across the planet in search of food, their bodies gradually adapted to whatever local conditions they found.

The different blood types (A, B, O and AB) appeared at different times during humankind’s adjustment and are related to the movement of generations of people over the continents. Because this adjustment is such a slow process, it takes more than only a few generations for the human body to adapt to significant dietary changes.

• Hunter-Gatherers: 85,000 generations
• Agriculture Revolution: 350 generations
• Industrial Revolution: 7 generations
• Digital Age: 2 generations

Our heritage then, is intimately tied to our blood type, and since blood carries nutrients through the body, it makes sense that different blood types may react differently to the nutritional content of foods. A person’s blood type, therefore, should be considered in any nutritional programme

Frequency of Blood Types in New Zealand

O = 47%

A = 38%

B = 11%

AB = 4%

Blood Type O

Type O was the first blood type, the type O ancestral prototype was a canny, aggressive predator. Aspects of the Type O profile remain essential in every society even to this day – leadership, extroversion, energy and focus are among their best traits. Type O’s can be powerful and productive, however, when stressed Type O’s response can be one of anger, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. When Type O wiring gets crossed, as a result of a poor diet, lack of exercise, unhealthy behaviours or elevated stress levels, Type O’s are more vulnerable to negative metabolic effects, including insulin resistance, sluggish thyroid activity, and weight gain. This type favours meat and other proteins, minimal carbohydrates and zero breads, with relaxed mealtimes a key. When you customise your life to Type O’s strengths you can reap the benefits of your ancestry. Your genetic inheritance offers you the opportunity to be strong, lean, productive, long-lived and optimistic.

Blood Type A

The Type A emerges into the 21st century with many more complex challenges than their ancestors could have imagined. Many neurochemical factors in the Type A genetic disposition favour a structured, rhythmic, harmonious life, surrounded by a positive, supportive community. The harried pace and increasing sense of isolation experienced by so many in today’s society often make these needs difficult to achieve. Type A best exemplifies the powerful interconnectedness of mind and body. This was vital to the shift away from hunting and procurement to building and growing. However, Type A’s more internalised relationship to stress, which served your ancestors so well, can be a challenge for the modern Type A. With the daily piling-on of stressors today, it’s harder to efficiently recover once Type A stress hormones are spiked. The consequences of chronic stress are clearly expressed in the Type A profile, with the heightened susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and cancer. Maintaining a balance of stress hormones is perhaps the single most important thing Type A’s can do for their health. This type favours vegetarian food preferences, regular meals, with minimal wheat.

Blood Type B

As a Type B, you carry the genetic potential for great malleability and the ability to thrive in changeable conditions. Unlike your blood type predecessors, Type O and Type A, who have staked their claims to opposite ends of every spectrum, your position is fluid rather than stationary, with the ability to move in either direction along the continuum. It’s easy to see how this flexibility served the interests of early Type B’s, who needed to balance the twin forces of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. This type favours dairy products and quality proteins with the exception of chicken. Minerals are vital for their health. At the same time, it can be extremely challenging to balance two poles, and Type B’s tend to be highly sensitive to the effects of slipping out of balance.

Blood Type AB

Believed to have existed for only a thousand years of so and constituting only between 2 and 5 percent of the population, Type AB may be considered transitional – a work in progress. Since it is the only blood type whose existence is the result of intermingling rather than environment, Type AB has its own unique “spin” on immunity. Type AB has a chameleon-like quality. Depending on the circumstances, the blood type can appropriate the characteristics of each of the other blood types. Type AB’s stress hormone profile most resembles that of Type O – yet it shares some of Type B’s chemical response to nitric oxide. The Type AB digestive profile is A-like, yet there is a shared Type B preference for meat. Type AB is intuitive and spiritual, with an ability to look beyond the rigid confines of society. The conflicting desire to be independent and social can create conflicts, but Type AB possesses many of the characteristics that are most valued in our modern, less parochial, environment.