Joel Fuhrman - Eat To Live

Eat to Live 111

as possible. D'Adamo's dietary recommendations are simply not based

on solid science.

We Are All Genetically Different

The concept that sometimes people need to adjust their diet in order

to accommodate genetic individuality is not without merit. For exam-

ple, darker-skinned people of African descent clearly do not tolerate

dairy products well and have a higher incidence of lactose intoler-

ance than those of Scandinavian descent. After thousands of years of

their northern European ancestors consuming a dairy-rich diet, they

are better equipped to digest milk products. Scandinavian countries,

where people consume lots of dairy, also have the highest heart at-

tack and cancer rates in the world. This means that the ability to di-

gest and consume a certain food does not make the body impervious

to the damage caused by that food. Scandinavians are still humans

and they still kill themselves prematurely with their high consump-

tion of dairy and other animal-based foods, just as most of you will if

you continue to eat significant quantities of these foods.

The Attack of the Lectins — Great Science Fiction

D'Adamo doesn't just paint a picture of genetic predisposition to dis-

ease; he prescribes certain good foods and bad foods for each blood

type merely on the basis of his own questionable observations, which

he considers scientific. He claims that certain high-calorie foods

cause weight loss in certain blood types and that other low-calorie,

nutrient-dense foods cause weight gain, depending on blood type.

He offers food choices, herbal remedies, supplemental plans, exercise

programs, antibiotic preferences, and all types of specific advice

based merely on a person's blood type. He is right that we are all dif-

ferent to a degree; however, our differences are complex and involve

more than just a few glycoproteins in our red blood cells.

He does not produce a single scientific reference to establish his

basic premise that sensitivity to plant lectins on hundreds of foods is

governed by blood type. His theory hinges on the action of lectins,

proteins found on and in certain foods, which can cause serious ill-

ness and even death if consumed by the wrong blood type. He claims

that when the wrong food is consumed by the wrong blood type, red

blood cell agglutination (clumping) occurs, along with other serious

and cancer-causing changes. Patients come into my office after read-