As you are probably aware we have been working on research to do with blood groups here in WA since 1993.  We are not the only ones looking at this.  Dr James D'Adamo, father of the author of this present book, has been researching this since 1957.  Dr Peter D'Adamo is carrying on with his father's work proving it scientifically and you can find other information from him and others on the Internet at : http://our world.compuserve.com/homepages/P_Dadamo_ND/

Peter D'Adamo has researched the beginnings of the blood groups and gives time lines of 50,000 BC for type O, 25,000 BC for type A, 15,000 BC for type B and 500 BC for type AB.Peter D'Adamo states that "Your blood type is the key to you body's entire immune system." - The immune system endeavours to stop invaders ie viruses, bacteria, chemicals, infections, foreign substances eg asbestos, causing damage within the body.

Our bodies immune system works by identifying circulating substances as 'self' or 'non-self'.  Each cell has specific antigens - chemical markers - that are our recognisable genetic fingerprints.  These markers are linked to the blood group identifiers, and  repeated in every cell in the body as part of its defence system.  This is why so much care to get an exact match, must be taken with organ transplants.

It is like a cowboy and indian game where everything is keyed up to recognise and protect 'us' and destroy 'them'.

Peter D'Adamo has been looking at blood groups and diet at the microscopic level.  Each cell has feelers that are chains of repeating sugars called fucose.  In its simplest form there is only fucose - the basic sugar.  People who are Blood Type O, only have fucose.  Type A has fucose plus Acetyl-galactosamine.  Type B has fucose plus D-galactosamine.  Type AB has the lot.  Here is a diagramatic presentation.

Think of the body cells as like a sea anemone with its feelers out, (ie the chemical marker coded fucose etc), feeling what is in the sea water (or intra-cellular fluid) going by and taking in and feeding off what it needs to live.  This fluid is the essential source of nutrients from our food, oxygen, hormones, enzymes, amino acids etc.

Science has established that other living substances like our food, bacteria and other microbes also have similar markers.  These are called lectins.  Lectins are glycoproteins which recognise and bind to specific sites like glue.  Peter D'Adamo has been matching these markers - lectins, in certain foods with the markers of the blood groups.  Where they are incompatible, agglutination or glue-ing together occurs.  This is part of the way our bodies recognise invaders and mark them for destruction by phagocytes and other special cells in the body that clean up the baddies.

Simply put, when you eat a food containing protein lectins that are incompatible with your blood type, the lectins target an organ or bodily system, (kidneys, liver, brain, stomach etc) and glue up the works.  Body cells get mixed up in this glueing process, get clumped together, and are targeted by the body for destruction as if they too were foreign invaders.  This is the body attacking itself, what we call auto-immune disease.  This can cause problems like irritable bowel, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis etc.

Lectins can work like suction cups, as they do with germs, thereby attaching themselves to slippery mucosal linings of the body like when you get a sore throat.  Some food lectins cause problems like food allergies or intolerances.  This may cause tummy bloating, increased pulse rate, sore muscles, sinusitis etc depending on the blood group, the food lectin and the organs that are targeted.  Other food lectins interact with the white cells that fight infection, programming them to multiply rapidly, mimicking an infection reaction.

A Japanese study from the School of Medicine, Shiga Uni, recently released on the Internet, observed ethnic differences in salivary gland antigens when comparing results on Japanese and German participants with matched blood groups.  This suggests that ancestry and different ethnic food exposure may also influence lectin compatibility reactions.

BLOOD GROUP SPECIFIC DIFFERENCES

O BLOOD GROUP
Peter D'Adamo has found that people with this blood group have decreased thyroid activity giving a slower metabolism and more sluggish behaviour.  Muscle tissue in O works better when slightly acidic.  They have a natural increased gastric acidity to digest a high animal protein diet and when excess gastric acid is under utilised from as in a too vegetarian type diet, O's are more prone to stomach ulcers.  They need B vitamins to stimulate their slow metabolism - also calcium, iodine and vitamin A from plant sources.  O's need to exercise to relieve stress.  Stress can result in arthritis, asthma, ulcers, obesity, fatigue, depression, insomnia in O blood group

A BLOOD GROUP
Muscle tissue in A blood group works better when slightly alkaline.  Gastric acid is reduced in A's making them more prone to stomach cancers rather than stomach ulcers.  They are also short on intrinsic factor to absorb vitamin B12 so are prone to pernicious anaemia.  Magnesium is often needed.  'A' blood group is more prone to excess mucous, particularly from dairy foods and wheat.  Other problems are often respiratory, allergies, diabetes.

B BLOOD GROUP
B blood type needs a more balanced metabolism, neither too acid or too alkaline.  Chicken particularly is a problem in B, as it contains a B agglutinating lectin in its muscle tissue.   This can lead to strokes and immune disorders.  B copes well with stress and needs moderate exercise.  Magnesium is needed to metabolise carbohydrates.  Low magnesium levels makes B prone to viral infections, fatigue, depression, nervous disorders, and skin problems.

AB BLOOD GROUP
AB blood group needs muscles to be slightly alkaline to work.  Reduced stomach acid due to the 'A' factor gives a more alkaline stomach, more suited to carbohydrate foods and not needing a lot of meat.  The B factor causes problems with chicken.  Wheat and dairy are usually OK though watch for mucous.  The banana lectin is unsuited for AB.