D’Adamo - The genotype diet : [change your genetic destiny to live the longest, fullest, and healthiest life possible]

Contents

Dedicated to Martha,
who kept me strong through the journey.

Anatomy is destiny.

SIGMUND FREUD

Acknowledgments

Any work of this nature involves numerous people whove contributed time, talent, understanding, a listening ear, or patience throughout the process. My journey from blood type to genotype has been an extraordinary investigation, and I am indebted to many people who have shared in this process.

First and foremost, I wish to acknowledge and thank Martha Mosko DAdamo, who provided sage advice about design of this work, as well as serving as confessor and sounding board throughout the project. Martha also took the lead during the copyediting phase of the book, allowing me the continued ability to splice in new material almost until the very last minute.

Heartfelt appreciation to Catherine Whitney, who provided intellectual space and understanding during the early stages when this material was not yet fully formed; Rachel Kranz, who helped with chapter design and programming the flow of material; Chris Fortunato and his team for their attention to detail; Paul and Laura Mittman, from the Institute for Human Individuality (IfHI), for their lavish support of my work, friendship, and goodwill; Dr. Tom Greenfield for beta-testing so many of my more nascent ideas; Natalie Colicci-Favretto, staff physician at The DAdamo Clinic; Ani Hawkinson, proofreader extraordinaire; all the folks at North American Pharmacal, Inc., especially Javier Caceres, German Ramirez, Carol Agostino, Keith McBride, Jon Humberstone, and Ann Quasarano; the moderators and helpful souls on www.dadamo.com; my co-editors at The Individualist ; all the patients at The DAdamo Clinic; Beena Kamlani, Susan Petersen-Kennedy, Denise Silvestro, and all my friends at Penguin Putnam; Amy Hertz, who saw the potential in this material before anyone else; Steve Rubin, president and publisher of Doubleday Broadway, for his tremendous support of my work; Bill Thomas, editor-in-chief of Doubleday Broadway; Stacy Creamer, my editor at Broadway Books; David Drake, Catherine Pollock, Anne Watters, and the entire Broadway Books marketing staff; Ben Wolin, Mike Keriakos, Karim Farag, and Roseann Henry and the GenoType team of Waterfront Media; super agent and friend Janis Vallely, who kept this entire project from unraveling innumerable times.

Thanks also to my parents, Christl and James DAdamo, for encouraging me to think differently; my brother, James DAdamo, and best friend, Robert Messineo, for being such great advisors over the years.

Finally, I send a bouquet of sheer love to Claudia and Emily, who brought tea, snacks, and a ray of sunshine to all those gray, groggy mornings.

Foreword

By Tom Greenfield, ND, DO, MIFHI

Most practitioners who have been using blood groups as part of their treatment approach for some time have learned to recognize the characteristics resulting from a patients blood group: It is possible to make an educated guess at someones blood group even before they are tested. There is something about the way an individual appears and behaves that we can recognize as belonging to a category of people who have certain similarities and who respond to the environment in a particular way. Those using the concept of Dr. Peter DAdamos Blood Type Diet in their holistic medical practice have also seen patients experience the most profound improvements in health just by making informed food and lifestyle choices. The simplicity of the approach has also empowered people to help themselves, not by using a superficial one-diet-fits-all formula that works only for a few, but by heeding realistic advice that changes according to sound naturopathic principles involving the specific needs of the individual.

It has been eleven years since the publication of Eat Right for Your Type, and a lot has happened in that time: The study of the history of humankind has taken a new direction with the work of the Human Genome Project and its research into the internal workings of our genes. This scientific revolution promised both individualization of medical treatment and opening the door to tracing our ancient ancestry through our genotype. However, genetic testing is still complex, expensive, and beyond the reach of the consumer. Although the theory is there, it will be a long time before genotyping becomes a practical part of prescribing orthodox pharmaceutical products, or genetic genealogy becomes affordable.

There is a wealth of medical research into how we differ from one another, based on clinical observation and easily accessible scientific testing methods. With the advent of DNA analysis, much of this past information has been swept aside in one fell swoop: Political correctness and historical events have made it unfashionable to focus on obvious differences between people. The concept of race has become unpopular and has been declared to have no scientific basis. Resources have been diverted away from measurement of the external signs that distinguish groups of people, to make way for new analytical techniques involving genetic testing, a science that is still in its early infancy. The data from research on human variation that was gathered before we knew how to analyze DNA includes various blood groups, body and head shape, fingerprint patterns, leg length, and many other external signs. This research is still as valid today as when it was first done. Combined, these visible signs tell us more about ourselves than we can know by having an individual genetic test, because some genes tend to stick together in groups or clusters, which have multiple effects on our health. Our environment adds to the picture, changing the way these genes work. We all have visible external manifestations of these genes, something that ancient medicine has been saying in a different way for generations.

Peter DAdamo is now taking readers one step further: The concept of eating for your blood group has experienced a revolution of its own. What was little more than a footnote in Eat Right for Your Type on blood group anthropology is now a book in its own right, telling us even more about ourselves as individuals. Beyond answering the fundamental question Where do we come from?, The GenoType Diet also informs us about what it means to belong to a particular GenoType and how that knowledge can help us personally to stay healthy. The result of research from this kind of complex science is normally reserved for specialists. However, Peters analysis is presented to the public in the form of a simple self-discovery manual. The science behind the concept is available for practitioners to study and teach, but the basics are there for everyone to use right out of the book.

It has not been an easy ride, however: Food is an emotive subject at the best of times, and telling people what they can or cant eat according to their genes means any dietary change is not a short-term measure. This has led to controversy over Eat Right for Your Type, generated mainly by those who have not understood the concepts behind it or have objected on principle.

Peter DAdamo has persevered, while allowing people a unique insight into the evolution of his concept via the Internet and through the educational programs of the Institute for Human Individuality. We have observed the workings of an analytical mind belonging to a rare type of person who understands both people and computer programming. It has been a new quest of discovery into why some of us respond differently to healing or behave in certain ways, while staying true to the original concept based on blood groups. The result is a fusion of ancient wisdom, anthropometric techniques from the last century, and modern cutting-edge genetic science, hailing a new era in naturopathic medicine.