Jan 17 2010
Chronic EBV – Eating Right For Your Blood Type
Chronic EBV (Epstein Barr virus) is a debilitating condition that needs to be addressed with good nutrition, stress management, restoration of quality sleep patterns and graded exercise. Knowing your blood type can help identify which foods are beneficial and which are toxic to your body during your recovery from chronic EBV.
A diet based on your blood type can optimize your health by helping you to boost immunity, avoid further infections, slow the aging process and reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
If you are unsure of your blood type, a record may have been kept on your blood donor card, drivers licence or in your doctor’s files. Alternatively you can get your blood type tested through a simple finger prick test from your naturopath.
The importance of blood type in the development of disease has been recognized for years. The “Eat Right Diet” by Dr. Peter and James D’Adamo works on the premise that certain foods clump or stick together the cells of certain blood types. So when you eat a food that is incompatible with your blood type, the blood cells will clump or stick together. This may occur in the digestive tract, blood, immune system or in a specific organ like the liver, kidneys or brain. All these areas can already be weakened in cases of chronic EBV.
Some specific effects of this cell clumping can include the following:
- Irritable bowel syndrome of the intestines
- Congestion of the liver (a common complaint in chronic EBV)
- Poor blood flow through the kidneys
- Immune suppression causing frequent infections or slow recovery from chronic EBV
- Nervous disorders of the brain like anxiety and depression, which again are common with chronic EBV.
- Weight gain or problems in losing weight. This effect can be due to the adverse food not being digested properly causing toxic overload, or it can be due to slowing of the metabolism or upsetting of the hormonal balance, for example excess insulin production. Weight problems in chronic EBV are not unusual.
A good example of this cell clumping is the effect that gluten – the common protein found in wheat and many other grains – has on blood type O. When gluten is consumed by blood type O it binds to the lining of the small bowel. This acts like a magnet on the cells in that region, clumping them together. These clumped cells are targeted for destruction by the immune system, as if they were a foreign invader. If eaten in excess by blood type O, gluten may lead to inflammation and problems like irritable bowel, Crohn’s disease or colitis.
The development of the different blood types seems to relate to changes in diet during our evolution. The original hunters and gatherers were type O. With the agricultural revolution and the harvesting of grains about 10,000 years ago, blood type A started to appear. People with blood type A were more suited to grains and vegetarian diets and were more likely to survive this era. The type B blood type originated from the nomadic dwellers of Central Asia and Mongolia. These were really the first communities to consume dairy foods in large quantities. Type AB is the most recent blood type to emerge and is a merge between type A and B.
The effects of certain foods on the different blood types has been well researched using hundreds of common foods. The results can be seen under the microscope with the blood cells actually clumping together.
The charts given in Dr. D’Adamo’s book are broken into beneficial foods, neutral foods and foods to avoid for each of the four blood types. The beneficial foods have a therapeutic or medicinal effect on the body. They are good choices in the treatment of chronic EBV. Neutral foods just act like normal foods and should be included in your diet for their nutritional content. The “foods to avoid” act like a poison on your body and are best left alone. These foods are definitely worth avoiding in chronic EBV.
Many of my chronic EBV patients report good results by eating the right foods for their blood type. In the next few blogs we will be exploring the specific foods recommended for each specific blood type.
As far as chronic EBV goes, certain foods have been shown to be particularly useful while others should be strictly avoided. Similarly certain exercise programs are better for one blood type than another. Since exercise is a crucial part of chronic EBV treatment, it is important to know what exercise best suits your body.
For further information on treating chronic EBV naturally please refer to the e-book “Nature’s Amazing Mononucleosis Cures” by qualified naturopath Elizabeth Noble.
One response so far
This information is so insigtful. I am a breast cancer survivor and am interested in doing what I can to remain healthy. I look forward to your next blog. God bless and thank you very much.