Blood Type And You...Mystery Unsolved?
I make it a point on this website to confuse everyone reading.
Not because I'm trying to be mean.
But because I think confusion can be a healthy state.
For one, it makes a person think.
For two, it makes a person think for themselves.
For three, it makes a person start to ask more questions.
Questions are always good.
So let's get confused, shall we?
Blood types.
There are so many mysteries surrounding blood types.
We know a bit, but as the saying goes:
The more we know, the more we realize we don't know.
Here are some things we know (or at least think we know) about blood types:
1. There are four main or most common groups of blood type: A, O, B, AB.
2. There are RH factors (or variants) for each: negative and positive.
(Meaning, each blood type is considered either positive or negative, for example, O positive, or O negative.)
3. There are at least 300 other blood type variants in the human being (that we are aware of, for now, anyway), though we have yet to fully understand them all.
4. O is considered the universal donor. O blood can be donated to any of the other blood types. However, O can only receive blood from other O's.
5. Type AB is the opposite. AB can receive blood from any of the main blood types, but, AB cannot donate to anyone else except those with AB.
6. If you receive a blood transfusion from a group that you are not supposed to receive blood from, immediate death is likely (death!).
7. Certain blood types can only create babies with certain blood types (as in: two O adults are said to only make O babies).
8. A mother with a positive RH factor pregnant with a fetus who has developed an RH negative factor can have very major complications in pregnancy, leading either to illness in the herself, or the baby.
9. Certain illnesses (short and long term) seem to be more likely or less likely in certain blood types over others. (For example type O is known to have less heart disease, overall, and type A are more likely than the others to get stomach cancer).
10. Blood type A seems to correlate with lower levels of stomach acid, and blood type O seems to correlate with higher levels of stomach acid (stomach acid helps an individual break down and digest certain foods, especially proteins - too much can cause problems, as well as too little).
Now here are some things that have yet to be answered about blood type:
1. Which one came first?
2. Where did the 'mutations', or different blood types, come from, how did it happen, and what might have been the cause?
3. Will blood types continue to change as time goes on? How often do they estimate to change? When was the last time that we checked? Is anyone screening this as a regular practice? Does it matter?
4. Why is it that certain blood types cannot mix with others (as in, a blood transfusion). And why is it that some can? (As far as I know, only theories exist).
4. What makes one blood type more susceptible to heart disease and another one more susceptible to stomach cancer?
5. If we understand that food, lifestyle, and health routine to be major factors in how the body maintains health, prevents illness, and even heals during bouts of illness, could there be certain and very specific things that each blood type might want to do differently to ensure that these very types of illness don't occur?
6. Do certain foods, herbs, exercises, and medications interact with our organs differently depending on our blood type?
According to a doctor by the name of Peter Dr. D'Anamo, question number 6 would be a yes. But the general scientific consensus claims he's wrong because there hasn't been any peer reviewed studies to confirm it. Are we actually studying this? Does a lack of studies prove a theory completely incorrect? Should we throw the entire notion of blood type as a clue towards better health out the window if Dr. D'Anamo's suggested diet (and his own research as a physician) isn't easily testable or even 100 percent on the money? Or should we, like everything else, take his findings with a grain of salt and try to create new testable theories instead?
(In 2014 the only study since then (here) scientists tried to test the blood type theory but concluded that there was no correlation between diet and blood type, other than the fact that eating more 'veggetarian' improved the health of many regardless of blood type. Dr. D'Anamo responded (here) by pointing out the fact that this study included foods such as 'pizzas and hamburgers' and grouped them into 'grains and meat' - obviously lacking correct food categorization based on actual whole foods.
7) Should we see ourselves as our own personal case studies instead of waiting for the science to explain our experiences as individuals?
Fascinating. To me. Just fascinating.
In our world today...
We have standardized medicine.
Standardized diet recommendations.
Standardized lifestyle recommendations.
Even in the more 'alternative world'....
Yet...
There are still so many questions.
Could it be that we are more individual than we've been lead to believe?
And could our blood types give us a lead, or at least a clue, that our health, and specific path towards health, isn't as cookie cutter as we'd like it to be?
(From my personal and professional experience, it's a very good clue.)
But go ahead and explore.
Make sure to read actual studies yourself. You don't need to be a scientist to understand or form an opinion on most of them.
Come to your own conclusions.
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STUDIES & RESOURCES:
(The studies below are nowhere near an exhaustive list. Always continue your own research and read the papers within each paper below.)
1) Human ABO Blood Groups and Their Associations with Different Diseases
2) Risk of Gastric Cancer and Peptic Ulcers in Relation to ABO Blood Type: A Cohort Study
3) ABO Genotype, ‘Blood-Type’ Diet and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors
4) The PLOS / 'Blood Type Diet' Study: A Look at the Core Data
5) ABO Blood Group System and Gastric Cancer: A Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis
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These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. I am not a doctor. I am simply sharing my opinions and studies as a clinical herbalist, researcher, and fellow human being on health topics and methods. Always take my opinions, thoughts, and advice with a grain of salt. Try them on for size but always by your own consent. And continue to research on your own. Remember: your health is your own.
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