Friday, June 18, 2010

Gushing Over the Blood Type Diet at The Telegraph, and then Actual Science:

here, I cite from a recent Telegraph article promoting naturopath D'Adamo's Blood Type Diet [BTD; see 001., below]; then I cite heavy-weight criticism of the whole apparent woo [see 002., below]:

001. Walden, C. (? ?) states in "The Blood-Type Diet: Weight Loss Need Not Be in Vein" (2010-06-16):

"ever since Cheryl Cole put her steadily dwindling figure down to the blood-type diet 'Eat Right For Your Type', British women have been pulling up their sleeves and baring their veins to nutritionists all over the country. First advocated by Peter D'Adamo, a naturopathic physician who believed he had found a link between a person's blood type and the foods their bodies would best be able to digest and absorb, the blood-type diet claims to be as much about health, energy and longevity as it is about weight loss [...] Carole Symons, a medical herbalist and nutrition adviser [...states] 'the future is clearly in the more accurate science of nutrigenomics' [...] this new science involves studying the effects of food on our genes in order to understand the relationship between nutrition and health [...] having ascertained that I'm blood type A Rhesus negative, she makes a few preliminary diagnoses [...] generally speaking, type As should stick to vegetarian-based diets; Bs to a varied diet of meat, grains, dairy and vegetables; ABs should be mainly vegetarian, with occasional meat, fish and dairy; and Os should stick to meat-based diets."

Note: how the article promises 'more accurate science.'  The author apparently doesn't have any medical or scientific credentials.  Her bio. at the Telegraph states "Celia Walden is a novelist and commentator who writes caustically about many troubling aspects of modern life, from male grooming to talkative taxi drivers."  I guess the hair and the punning balance out the whole thing.  Deep.

002. criticisms of the BTD, which are not hard to find even for a novelist, include:

002.a. the Mayo Clinic states "there's no scientific evidence to support the so-called 'blood type diet.'" 

002.b. Wikipedia states:

"the consensus among dietitians, physicians, and scientists is that the theory is unsupported by scientific evidence [...and] another criticism is that there are no clinical trials of the Blood Type Diet. In his first book Eat Right 4 Your Type, D'Adamo mentions being in the eighth year of a 10 year cancer trial, but the results of this trial have never been published."

Note: sounds like a long wait for a train that ain't coming.

003. it's interesting when journalists don't adhere to journalistic standards, and instead become acolytes. 

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