Now that we are a couple weeks into the New Year, we wanted to give people some basic information about the Blood Type Diet that can help them decide if it is right for them. We met with Dr. Ralph Esposito, of Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo's Center of Excellence in Generative Medicine and asked him some questions about what it is like to start the Blood Type Diet and how his patients generally react to it. The Q&A below should shed some light on what to expect with the diet and how to make it work for you.
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What are your suggestions for people just starting off with the BTD? |
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If you are just starting off with the BTD it may seem overwhelming but setting the right expectations is key. If you go in thinking you're going to memorize the food values for your blood type on day one, you may get discouraged. Between the Eat Right 4 Your Type book, the online, searchable TypeBase and the Blood Type Diet app, your food values will never be far away so you don't need to stress about memorization... just compliance. |
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What are the easiest, most actionable steps when you are new to the diet? |
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The easiest way to get into the groove of starting your blood type diet is to select 5 foods that you eat the most that are listed on your avoid list. If you can focus on avoiding those 5 foods and replacing them with 5 beneficial foods you'll start to notice how much better you're feeling. If you can keep up this pattern of removing avoids and adding beneficials, it won't be long before you feel completely different for the better. |
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What are the best resources when starting the diet? |
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Utilize the Blood Type Diet App, the online TypeBase or the Eat Right 4 Your Type book. All of these options will let you check what foods are best for you, and they are all portable. D'Adamo Personalized Nutrition also sells cookbooks for each blood type if you are looking for recipe suggestions that utilize the best foods for your type. On top of those more formal resources, there are a collection of Facebook groups, some officially monitored by DPN and others created by fans. There are thousands of other people on the Blood Type Diet journey and these locations offer tons of support. |
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What is the thing your patients are most surprised about after starting the BTD? |
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My patients never really realized how poorly they felt until they felt the improvements from the diet, many of them not even related to weight. On top of a decrease in bloating, they often feel more energized and even have healthier skin in just a few weeks. |
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How do the Daily Essentials (Deflect, Polyvite, Polyflora and Phytocal) support you when starting off and throughout your journey? |
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Dr. D'Adamo created supplements to help people on the Blood Type Diet journey, and none work together better than his Daily Essentials pack, composed of Deflect, Polyflora, Phytocal and Polyvite. Deflect is a great help because often times when starting the Blood Type Diet you don't realize how many of your foods may have avoids in them. Deflect can help protect you from unexpectedly eating irritating foods. Polyflora is almost an essential if you've ever been on antibiotics. It helps heal your intestinal tract with the right bacteria for your specific blood type; something science is continually putting more emphasis on as it becomes clear that the gut is the cornerstone of health. Phytocal and Polyvite are essential because they provide many of the nutrients that aren't acquired by a majority of people from their food. While we would all love to eat 5-7 servings of vegetables a day, it can be a tough hill to climb and these two products together can make up for this. |
