Entire cultures have survived on diets of fish. Civilizations grew along the shores of the sea and the banks of rivers. The oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, and streams often provided and incredible bounty. No wonder people thought there were gods in the water. What other explanation could there have been?

I have my own  experience with certain kind of  seafood. In my childhood until age of 40, I found my self having allergies after eating  seafood  such as shrimp, barracuda, crab, or oysters. And my allergy-specialist doctor concluded that I had to totally avoid  seafood. For fish, he advised me to consume only fresh water fish.

In 2007, I started learning the blood type diet (in my effort to overcome my kidney stones diorder) and eventually I’ve got the comprehensive knowledge, sufficient for me to get the answer for the  biggest question in my life that far:

• Why the doctor advised me to totally avoid all of seafood (to prevent me from  allergies)?

Now, it is obvious that the doctor was not correct at all.

I have B blood type and I started following the recommended food chart for type B health, and it works. Since then, I avoid only  shellfish family, anchovy, yellow tail,  barracuda, and octopus. But still there are so many other delicious deep ocean fish like cod, tuna, spanish mackerel, halibut, salmon, sardines, and also squids are waiting for me.

The blood type diet science is really very powerful and helpful for me and my family’s health. This time, I’d like to share with you the guidance in selecting the right seafood to help you achieve your optimum health.

Choose the Right Seafood for You

Type O

If your blood type is O, you should be very happy. Type O has a lengthy seafood menu from which to choose. Seafood is the second most concentrated animal protein. and is best suited to Type Os of Asian and Eurasian descent, though other Type Os can choose from a wide variety of richly oiled cold-water fish.

Fish oils are of particular importance to type Os because certain blood-clotting factors that evolved as humans adapted to environmental changes were missing from the blood of early Type Os. For this reason, Type Os often have ‘thin’ blood, resistant to clotting. Although fish oils tend to have a blood-thinning effect, this is  not an issue for Type Os.

Fish oils can also be very effective in treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, such as colitis or Chron’s disease, to which Type Os are susceptible.

Seafood is also an excellent source of iodine, which regulates thyroid function. Type Os typically suffer from hypothyroidism, a condition in which an insufficient amount of thyroid  hormone is produced. Seafood should become a regular component of the healthy Type O diet.

I suggest you to examine the food chart for the health of Type O by reading the following article:

• Real Food for Type O Health

Type A

Type As can eat fish up to three or four times a week to complement vegetable protein. Avoid the delicate white fish, such as halibut, hake, sole, and flounder; they contain lectin that can irritate the Type A digestive tract.

Type A women with a family history of breast cancer should consider introducing the edible snail Helix pomatia (escargot) into their diets. It helps fight cancer in the following way: in a precancerous condition, the body’s cells manufacture a protein that allows the cancer to spread. The snail lectin attaches to those cells and essentially takes away their internal passport, blocking their ability to spread.

Fish oils are believed to be a factor in reducing heart disease, which makes them important for Type As.

I suggest you to examine the food chart for the health of Type A by reading the following article:

• Real Food for Type A Health

Type B

Type Bs thrive on fish. Deep ocean fish rich in oils, like cod, are excellent for Type Bs, as are white fish, such as halibut, flounder, and sole. Shellfish should be assiduously avoided by all Type Bs, as shellfish  contain lectins disruptive to the Type B system. This prohibition includes lobsters, shrimp, crabs, and clams.

Many of the original Type Bs were ancient Hebrew tribes whose laws forbade the consumption of shellfish. Perhaps this dietary law was an implicit acknowledgment of  the fact that shellfish was poorly   digested by Type Bs. In this respect, some  scientists have discovered that salmon roe – eggs – may also contain a lectin that agglutinates Type B cells. Until more information is available, I suggest that you, whose blood type is B, limit your intake of salmon.

I suggest you to examine the food chart for the health of Type B by reading the following article:

• Real Food for Type B Health

Type AB

Type ABs also have a vast variety of beneficial fish and seafood, but like Type As, they should avoid the white fish halibut, hake, sole, and flounder, and like Type Bs, all shellfish.

Type AB women who have a family history of  breast cancer should consider including the edible snail Helix pomatia in their diet. Type ABs also share with Type Bs caution about salmon.

I suggest you to examine the food chart for the health of Type AB by reading the following article:

• Real Food for Type AB Health

Reference:

• “Live Right for Your Type“, Peter J. D’Adamo and Catherine Whitney, 2001, Penguin Group, New York, NY.

The kidneys need stable fats both for their cushioning and as their energy source. We know that the kidney fat normally has a higher concentration of the important saturated fatty acids than are found in any of the other fat depots. These saturated fatty acids are myristic acid (the 14-carbon saturate), palmitic acid (the 16-carbon saturate), and stearic acid (the 18-carbon saturate). When we consume various polyunsaturated fatty acids in large amounts, they are incorporated into kidney tissues, usually at the expense of oleic acid, because the normal high level of saturated fatty acids in the kidney fat does not change.¹

A species of rat known to be prone to strokes and to spontaneously develop hypertension (high blood pressure) has been used to evaluate effects of different lipids such as plant sterols or cholesterol, and also fatty acids such as omega-3 or omega-6 fatty acids in the finely tuned functions of the kidney. These animals are very sensitive to dietary cholesterol manipulations and a deficiency of cholesterol in their membranes makes their membranes weak and fragile. When plant sterols found in vegetable oils are substituted for cholesterol in their diets, these animals have a shortened life span.² Also, these animals are reported to need a proper omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in the kidney phospholipids. It was further reported that feeding oils high in omega-6 fatty acids without omega-3 fatty acids resulted in renal injury, and that feeding oils rich in the omega-3 fatty acids such as fish oil, perilla oil, and flaxseed oil prolonged the survival time of this animal.³

The omega-3 fatty acids are recognized as being important, and the conversion of the flax oil-type omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid) to the fish oil-type omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) is enhanced when the diet contains saturated fat such as coconut oil. This conversion is hindered when there is extra omega-6 oils in the diet.⁴ Injury to the kidney from immune dysfunction (IgA nephropathy) responds to omega-3 fats (both flax oil-type omega-3 and fish oil-type omega-3).⁵ As noted, adding the saturated fats, especially coconut oil, improves the body’s use of omega-3 fatty acids.

Another reason that coconut oil enhances kidney function is because it supplies myristic acid, the 14-carbon saturated fatty acid.⁶ Myristic acid is involved in the signalling from cell membrane receptors through G proteins and their attachment to membranes. These signalling proteins require a lipid such as myristic acid to be added to one end of the protein, a process called myristolation.⁷

Thus, the fats that we recommend for general good health, namely various saturated animal fats and tropical oils, along with a supplement of flax oil, are also specifically helpful for kidney function. Products containing high omega-6 oils and trans fatty acids should be avoided.

References:

1. Suarez et al, Lipids 1996;31:345; Taugbol and Saarem, Acta Vet Scand 1995;36:93
2. Ratnayake, et al, J Nutrition 2000;130:1166
3. Miyazaki et al, Biochim Biophys Acta 2000;1483:101
4. Gerster, Int J Vitam Nutr Res 1998;68:159
5. Kelley, ISSFAL, 2000;7:6
6. Monserrat et al, Res Exp Med (Berl) 2000;199:195
7. Busconi and Denker, Biochem J 1997;328:23