How a Blood Group Diet
Changed My Life
Think I’m being dramatic with such a bold claim? Let me tell the story, and you can be the judge.
Back in January 2018, I had a health scare. This issue had been bugging me for the better part of 10 years. But me being a person who avoids the doctor unless it’s serious, I only went when the pain got so frequent and intense that I couldn’t eat and could hardly breathe. I thought it was my esophagus that was malfunctioning, but it turned out that my gallbladder wanted to burst. I was very lucky that the surgeon managed to remove it before it did; otherwise, I would not be here today to tell you about it. This taught me a valuable lesson: go to the doctor when there’s pain involved!
What does this have to do with a blood group diet?
I’ll tell you soon.
Let me first tell you about my weight problem and diet before the gallbladder issue. All my life, from a little girl to 2018, I struggled to gain weight. No matter what I ate or how much, I never put on any weight! I ate everything that would typically cause weight gain: sweets, cooked animal fat, pork, potatoes, bread, cakes, cheese, anything that would normally trigger weight gain. To clarify, I didn’t consume these foods all day, every day, but I ate them regularly enough. These weren't the only things I ate; I also included salads and healthy foods in my diet. Luckily, I wasn’t a big fan of take-away foods, also known as junk food, but I did have a love for sweets and a weakness for crinkle-cut potato crisps.
When it came to beverages, I worked for a coffee company at the time, and there I drank lots of coffee and hot chocolate drinks with full cream frothed milk every day. Whenever I was invited out for drinks after work, I would drink beer.
With a diet full of fat-inducing foods and drinks, you would think that I would have gained weight, but I never did.
Which brings me back to January 2018.
Before and after my gallbladder was removed, I weighed 49 kg. This was scary because I’m very tall and should weigh at least 10 kg more for my thin bone structure and height.
I thought I could just go back to eating the way I did before the removal, but lo and behold, every single item of food I used to enjoy made me sick! So, instead of being able to eat, I couldn’t, as it was a battle to find foods that didn’t make me sick. Out of desperation, I decided to go to my local natural pharmacy and ask them for a blood group list. I heard somewhere that it might help me. And it did!
The shocker for me was that almost everything I ate throughout my life, including some of the healthy foods, were on the bad side of my list! No wonder my body refused to do what I so desperately wanted it to do—pick up weight!
I must admit that eating according to the list took a lot of willpower, and it was a bit hard for my mind to let go of what I used to eat. Because I was basically a sweet-o-holic and definitely a coffeeholic. I had a love affair with gluten; it was a big part of my daily eating habits, not just with sweet things but also with normal things like bread and pasta. I also had an irrational fondness for oven-grilled potatoes and pork. I loved to cook those! I can taste them right now- the potatoes cooked with the pork chops in the oven and grilled to perfection in the pork fat. And don’t even get me started on the pork crackling... Yummy!
But you know what? I think of those foods I used to eat as fond memories from a past life. My health is so important to me that I will never veer away from the way I’m eating now.
I am happy to let you know that eventually, all cravings for what was, went away, and my body and mind adjusted to the changed diet.
It wasn’t long after I changed to my blood group food list that I started slowly picking up weight. I used to celebrate every time I gained a few grams! I drove my co-workers insane, telling them how many grams I had gained after each weigh-in. By the end of 2018, I was 5 kg heavier! Now, as I’m writing this article, I’m exactly the weight I’m supposed to be and have been this weight for the last 5 years.
Not only has eating according to my list helped me gain weight, but it has also improved my immune system. So much so that I have only had a cold once since 2018. It might sound like I’m boasting now, but my mind is sharper, I have more energy, and the tremor I always had in my left hand has gone away.
So, I would like to encourage you, if you have issues like you’re tired and sick all the time, certain foods make you queasy, or you’re struggling to gain or lose weight, to look at your specific blood type food list. Maybe you will have aha moments and decide to give it a try.
What I realized is that what is good for your blood is good for your whole body, including your skin and mind. I see my blood group diet as eating my food as medicine, because it keeps me so healthy.
Do you still think my heading is too bold of a claim?
I have taken time to write blood group food lists. If you would like to look at yours, you are welcome to download it below:
You are also welcome to download this article here if you would like to share it with someone.
Disclaimer: I am not a dietician; this article is based on my personal experience only. If you have serious issues with food, please consult a medical professional.
