Some would swear on eating according to their specific blood type is the best diet they have ever tried, while others believe there’s no scientific evidence that this diet works or even decreases any health conditions. Blood cells come with different blood types and proteins.
Type O+ is the most common blood type. certain antigens and proteins on the cell surface can make you a type A, or a type B. You can also have both AB, eg. if your mom is A and dad B.
There are some differences between the blood types according to research. Blood type A people, for instance, have a somewhat increased risk of heart disease, to be exact 14%. Blood type O people are slightly less likely to have heart problems. All the other blood types are more susceptible to heart disease the blood type O.
Blood Type A is More Vulnerable than Blood Type O
It has been found that COVID strongly affects people with cardiovascular disease. When researchers examined how COVID affected a few thousand people, found that blood type A individuals were also affected by the virus more, similarly to their higher chances of developing heart disease. And the blood group O with fewer chances for heart disease was similarly less susceptible to the virus. It’s not a huge difference, but still somewhat significant.
Another study found that people with blood group A had a reasonably increased risk of respiratory failure if they got infected, and if they were blood group O, their risks decreased. These findings mean that you are more vulnerable if you belong to the blood group A, whereas if you are blood group O you have fairly stronger protection.
Earlier research suggests that if you are a blood type A you need to have a vegetarian diet, and if you are a blood type O you are more of a caveman, who needs to eat a lot of meat. A large study of blood group diet examined that when individuals from all blood types were put on a vegan diet, how would they react. It meant to study whether a vegan diet was truly beneficial for blood type A people, as opposed to blood type O.
False Expectations from the Various Blood Types
As expected, blood type A individuals indeed did well on a vegan diet, they dropped nearly 6 kgs. Now, people whose blood type was different from blood type A, and weren’t thought to be doing well on a vegan diet, also lost weight. They also lost weight and did well, about 7 kgs, even more than blood type A people. Type O people also did great, losing a bit more than 7 kgs. So it turned out that all blood types did quite well, and contrary to expectations, type O-s has done great!
If you are a blood type A and start a vegan diet, your bad LDL cholesterol levels will drop. But in this study, other blood types LDL cholesterol levels also significantly dropped, even slightly better than of blood group A. Regarding type O, which is supposed to have meat in their diet, their cholesterol levels also fell similarly to the other blood types. So the findings suggest, that even though blood type A is a bit more likely to get heart disease or negative COVID symptoms.
Individuals with blood type O are less likely to get these. If they are given a diet rich in meat, they all do badly. No matter which blood type they have, if they are given a vegan diet, they all do better. This means that a plant-based diet should greatly benefit everyone, including type A, B, AB, and O.
People Who Go on A Vegan Diet…
Studies also found, that when people went on a vegan diet and were closely examined by modern, specialized scanning tools, the amount of fat in their liver, bloodstream, and muscles started to decline. It contributes to a faster metabolism, better functioning mitochondria, and improved insulin sensitivity after having a meal. Vegans are skinnier because their metabolism is faster, and they consume a lot of high-fiber foods that keep them slim.
In conclusion, contrary to popular outdated belief, a plant-based diet truly seems the best for everyone, even for blood type O-s. They also lose weight, their cholesterol levels improve when meat is eliminated from their diet! So this means, when it comes to your food choice or diet, your blood type is irrelevant! Your blood type can only define your heightened vulnerability for some diseases. They also found that contrary habits of eating meat are also true.
Meaning, that no matter which blood type you belong to, eating meat doesn’t benefit you. It is full of bad cholesterols, and animal fats aren’t beneficial to you. It is supposed to be a myth. Bad LDL cholesterol levels cannot be too low… If you switch from a diet that included meat to a plant-based one, and your cholesterol level drops from 100 to 40 – 50, it is still good. The lower your bad cholesterol level is, the healthier you can be. So lower levels are great for you.
Sufficient Protein and Iron Levels
Some doctors could be concerned about your iron levels or whether you are getting a sufficient amount of proteins on a plant-based diet by avoiding meat. It would be useful to understand that there are a lot healthier sources of both protein and iron than meat. So the idea of meat being an important part of your diet is slightly outdated. We have been through a lot of changes and modern discoveries since the 1950s when this concept was formed.
Even though the food we consume largely contributes to our health and wellbeing, our current doctors did not receive the most modern education about it. More and more doctors, nurses, dietitians, physician assistants, and nutritionists are interested in learning about proper nutrition. They need to turn to reliable sources and the most modern studies available to find solutions to such strange assumptions like bad cholesterol could increase on a strictly plant-based diet.
Helpful Educational Sources
If you are a healthcare professional, a medical doctor, or just interested in learning about this subject more, you could visit nutritioncme.org which offers you free study resources on non-commercial, modern nutrition topics. Food is not supposed to be too difficult or trivial to understand if you are studying from the right resources. Our current medical professionals and doctors need to be led there!
On the nutritioncme.org website, you can also find information to participate in the annual conference on nutrition and medicine, as well as plenty of ongoing educational sources which could be quite useful if you feel like your rusty knowledge needs some refreshing. A free downloadable Nutrition Guide for Clinicians is also available, which can greatly help you clarify the role of food and health.
