Thrown for a Dietary Loop

Today I finished going through Dr. D'Adamo's new book The Genotype Diet. Dr. D'Adamo is the Naturopathic Physician who researched and promotes the Blood Type diet which I have been following with good success for the last two years or so. The Genotype Diet gets more specific and focuses more on genetic factors, including propensities to certain health conditions and diseases, and how to eat and exercise to "turn down the volume" on problematic genes and "turn up the volume" on helpful genes. It is all very interesting, and for anyone who is chronically or severely ill, I'm sure any piece of new scientific information can be a very welcomed new door to hope.

Of course I set out to determine my own genotype, so I followed the steps outlined and explained in the book. The primary steps have to do with various ratios such as leg vs. torso, upper vs. lower leg, and index vs. ring fingers. Then there are also various tests to fine tune the more general results these measurements indicate. (All of these measurements, by the way, can be scientifically explained on the basis of womb environment during our first nine months of life.) My genotype looks to be the Gatherer, which was a surprise to me. Based on cursory reading of the short summaries of the types, Gatherer was the one I immediately dismissed as impossible for myself. Gatherers are the type most likely to struggle with obesity and tend to be "full figured." While I am not a stick figure, I am not overweight either. I've really been struggling with this idea! Perhaps I have taken far too much comfort in that fact, or harbor far too much judgment against those who do struggle with weight. These are not comfortable things for me to think about!

If I go with the Gatherer genotype approach I also face a slightly different assortment of eating choices and things to avoid. It includes a list of things to temporarily avoid (for 3-6 months) to get the body on track, and then they can be added back in. This includes almost everything I have eaten as grains for the last two years: rice, spelt, kamut. Millet, teff and quinoa are all acceptable, as is barley (which I had avoided in the past). My fruit list gets hacked to shreds for those 3-6 months, especially considering winter in the Midwest. Apples, bananas, cherries, blueberries, grapes, oranges, pears, raisins, strawberries -- all out. Plums are out for good, which is pretty sad, and I'm left with apricots, cranberries, grapefruit, lemon, nectarines, peaches, pineapple, and then a host of weird fruits I never see in the grocery store.

I know enough to know that the blood type diet has helped me, and I probably need to be flexible enough to give this a try and see if it really makes me feel different or better. My main motivation is to keep my dang endometriosis in check, and to perhaps boost my 40-year-old fertility for a last hurrah (or two). Healthy Gatherers, actually, are supposed to be known for high fertility!

One thing I know for sure: I can't handle our whole family embarking on this at the same time! My husband's likely genotype, the Warrior, essentially does not do well on any red or white meats (turkey being acceptable), and is fish-dependent. I'm guessing (because the formula for determining children's types is not yet published) that my son is an Explorer and my daughter, a Teacher. And I thought keeping A and O requirements straight in my head was hard!