The Genotype Diet by Peter D'Adamo
http://www.genotypediet.com/index.shtml
What is Epigenetics?
First of all it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise or John Travolta -- that's Dianetics.
Epigenetics is based around the scientific discovery that a given gene can express itself in a variety of ways depending on external forces, not just on the internal "programming" of the gene. Sure, you probably can't change your basic eye color, but it turns out there are many genes which respond differently your diet, environment, and behavior. You can "work with them" to change the way they express themselves. Hence the prefix epi i.e. oustide the gene. Epigenetics was the subject of a January 6, 2010 Time magazine cover story.
Not only this, but new research indicates that you can actually pass on alterations in your genes based on your experiences. In other words, the genes inherited by your kids are not etched in stone, but are affected by what happens to you. Hence, not only do your genes define your destiny, as the Time headline says, but they do not define your children's destiny either.
If you walk 30+ minutes a day, it turns out you can "turn on" certain genes designed to recognize when you are on the move and therefore store less fat.
Another useful example is the gene controlling the body's starvation mechanisms. D'Adamo observes that crash/starvation diets backfire for many people (especially those he calls "thrifty types" viz. Gatherers and Warriors) because they "turn on" genes that cling even harder to stubborn body fat when they sense starvation.
For this reason D'Adamo suggests that pregnant mothers should be sure to eat plenty of food and never go on low-calorie diets; if they do they will be passing on genetic messages signalling starvation to their kids that will actually result in children who hold on to more fat.
Similarly, D'Adamo suggests that people who have lived through prolong famine will pass on altered genes as a result.
How D'Adamo's Genotypes Intersect with Epigenetics
Dr. D'Adamo finds six human biological models that he calls "Genotypes":
Hunter(can only be blood type O)
Gatherer (only O, B, or AB)
Explorer (any blood type but often negative)
Warrior (A or AB)
Teacher (A or AB)
Nomad (B only)
The point of D'Adamo's six Genotypes is that if you are going to work with your genes you need to know more about what they are. It is not to define or limit people but to reveal certain genetic commonalities among groups.
While humans are extremely diverse, D'Adamo believes that each person has certain (not all) genetic traits corresponding to only one of of these six sets. It is no more limiting than saying somebody is right-handed or left-handed (or ambidextrous); there are really only a couple options any way you slice it.
Moreover, Genotypes are not a character judgement but rather simply an observation based on empirical evidence, and it does not define a person it just defines an aspect of a person, not the whole (as Aristotle said, a whole can never be defined by even an infinite number of its aspects). To use an analogy, it is as if there were millions of different types of cars, but in certain basic ways all were variations on six basic models, each with particular commonalities detectable despite all the differences.
These types are based clearly-defined biological traits, and D'Adamo pinpoints may distinctive body shapes, bone structures, and other concrete telltale signs that mark the difference between types.
He also classfies the six types by their biological outlook, not just mentally but in terms of allergies, metabolism, disease, etc:
Reactive types - Hunter and Explorer
Thrifty types - Warrior and Gatherer
Tolerant types - Nomad and Teacher
Maybe most importantly, he shows the weak spots where each type tends to get into trouble in terms of diet, exercise, work, etc. nearly all of which come from their natural strengths being overused and turning into weaknesses. He shows how to rebalance the system to allow strengths to be strengths again. For example, the Hunter type is naturally keenly responsive to subtle changes in the environment in order to hunt effectively, but in everyday life this leads to allergic reactions to things like cat hair, pollen, etc., and so the solution is to bring the reactive biological mechanisms back into balance through diet, exercise, and occasional supplements.
D'Adamo believes humans are in some ways more alike in their genotypes than in race or ethnicity; viz. a Chinese hunter with O blood is in in some ways more like an Inca or African hunter than a Chinese nomad with B blood. (They're brothers from another mother.)
That said, I think it is clear that these genotypes are not the whole picture. Obviously apart from genotypes different ethnicities share common genetic traits, otherwise they would not be identifiable as groups, and there is clearly much more needed to understand an individual than just their genotypes. However, what D'Adamo offers is one large and innovative piece of the puzzle.
Take a look at this set of maps of world distributions of blood types of native populations from http://anthro.palomar.edu/vary/vary_3.htm
There are clear differences in the geographic distributions of the different blood types. (Keep in mind that this shows natives, not the layers of immigrants and colonists who came later.)
Take for example the marked difference in Type B blood distribution. In the Indian subcontinent and the African Sahel regions Type B makes up 20-30% of native population; in North America, however Type B is nonexistent, as is Type A. In fact Native Americans are virtually all type O.
Here are D'Adamos quick descriptions in the heading
"Hunters: Tall and athletic, with a square jaw, energetic and intense. They often suffer from allergies, asthma, or rheumatoid arthritis. Blood type O.
Examples: Michael Jordan, Maria Sharapova, Katherine Hepburn, Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan, Vin Diesel
Gatherers: Sweet-natured, emotional, and natural problem solvers, tend to have a high BMI. They struggle with appetite regulation and crash dieting. Blood type O or B.
Examples: Elvis, Oprah, Mikhail Gorhachev, Marilyn Monroe, Orson Welles
Teachers: Sinewy and flexible, with a square jaw, are naturally exuberant with a calm outlook. They are vulnerable to bacterial infections. Blood type A or occasionally AB.
Examples: Abraham Lincoln, Che Guevara, Bjork
Explorers: Muscular, adventurous, and often accident-prone, smart and visually oriented. They're sensitive to caffeine, fragrances, and medications. Any blood type.
Examples: Charlie Chaplin, Prince Charles, Bear Grylls, Julius Caesar
Warriors: Charismatic and quick-witted, flush when nervous and have a hard time relaxing. They're beautiful in youth, but age early and steadily. Blood type A or AB.
Julia Child, James Gandolfini, Hilary Clinton, Michelangelo’s “David”
Nomads: Very tall or short, often with red hair or green eyes, are quiet, witty, optimistic, and rational. They have sensitive digestive tracts. Blood type B or AB.
Winston Churchill, Jack Nicholson, Paul McCartney
Additional notes:
O is the oldest type and is pre-agricultural. They are meat eaters and are found in high numbers among the most ancient and pre-agricultural populations such as most of Africa, the Berbers, the Basques, Native Americans like Mayans and Incas, Celtic regions. Diets like "The Paleo Diet" are suited more toward O types.
A types (Warrior and Teacher) are the agricultural types. They are really the only ones who ever want to consider anything close to a vegetarian diet. That said, many, especially Northern Europeans, are big meat and fish eaters as well. Diets like "The Mediterranean Diet" are suited more to A types.
Nomads are always B type, found predominantly in Asia. D'Adamo believes that type B emerged as humans traveled eastward out of africa, becoming nomads across the vast open plains of Asia. Even within Europe, B blood shows up on the map much more in Eastern Europe than in Western Europe, where it is extremely rare.
AB blood is the rarest of all; it is a pairing of opposites. A blood and B blood are incompatible in blood transfusions. They are literally allergic to each other. Yet some famous people including several presidents like JFK, Obama, Bill Clinton, also Mick Jagger have been AB. ABs literally carry opposites inside them and I have noticed they are frequently are "bridgers" they often talk about how two seemingly irreconcilable forces are actually unified. Ex. Obama: "There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America -- there’s the United States of America." If you watch his speeches he speaks in this type of pattern all the time.
Explorers (often negative), according to D'Adamo, are mostly native to the West. They are opposite people. When people say X, they do Y. When the crowd goes left, they go right. The do the opposite to explore new ways and open up new avenues. According to D'Adamo, they are a product of the Ice Age, a topic too long to go into here but spelled out in his explanations online and in the book.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Genotype Diet is one of those books that opens up an entirely new way of thinking that is not merely abstract but extremely useful.
In addition, Asians have studied blood types in much more depth than Westerners, to a point where everyone knows their own type and associates certain characteristics with different types.
There is a remarkable book by Japan's ABO society out of print but still out there used, You Are Your Blood Type. It is completely based on public surveys of thousands of people and their behaviors. Incredibly interesting. Moreover, it goes into how different types relate to each other in marriage, in work, etc. In Asia, blood types are well known and associated with certain characteristics, influencing marriage, work, etc.
You Are Your Blood Type
http://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Your-Blood-Type/dp/0671633422
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