O One of the strangest diet books of the last years is Peter D'Adamos "Eat
right for your type". D'Adamo tries to explain his blood group specific
dietary recommendations with human adaptations to different environments
(O: oldest human blood group/hunter-gatheres, A: adaptation to
agriculture/vegetarianism/caucasian, B:adaptation to colder
climates/dairy/mongoloid).

I believe it's necessary to state clearly: D'Adamo's diet has nothing to do
with the topic of paleolithic nutrition. Without doubt - there are a lot of
documented links between blood type and risk of various diseases. I also
don't question the possibility of immunological reactions between blood
group antigens and certain foods. But until now there is no scientific
basis for the conclusion, that each blood type requires its own diet.
D'Adamo has blown up a mouse to an (bestselling) elephant without showing
any new data. And his basic assumptions are simply wrong.

The idea that O is the original blood group of hunter-gatherers and blood
type A and B came up later in history is entirely antiquated. It can be
traced back to Hirschfeld & Hirschfeld (1), Ruggles Gates (2), and Raymond
Dart (3). Today we know that A and B antigens are present not only in
humans but also in many other primate species, including chimpanzees,
gorillas, orangutans, gibbons and macaques (4, 5, 6, 7). Karl Landsteiner
compared ABO-antigens of apes and humans already in the twenties (8, 9). He
wrote: "The group reactions which we have observed by the various methods
in anthropoid bloods correspond in every respect with the group reactions
in human blood".

Irrespective of a convergent or transspecific evolution of the
ABO-polymorphism in monkeys, apes and humans (10, 11): Phylogenetic
analysis suggests that the human A and B allels are at least a few million
years old (4, 12). Sorry, Mr. D'Adamo: blood group A and B are as
paleolithic as blood group O. They are ancient, no adaptations to
mesolithic or neolithic dietary changes, and can also be found in most
recent hunter-gatherer societies.


References:

(1) Hirscheld, L. & Hirschfeld, H. (1919). Serological differences between
the blood of different races. Lancet 2:675-679.

(2) Ruggles Gates, R. (1939). Rise and spread of the A and B blood groups
from the mutationist point of view. Z. Rassenkunde 9:58-63.

(3) Dart, R. (1951). African serological patterns and human migrations.
Capetown, Publ. South Afr Archeol Soc

(4) Walter, H. (1998). Populationsgenetik der Blutgruppensysteme des
Menschen. Stuttgart, Schweizerbart.

(5) Socha, W.W. et al. (1976). Blood groups of bonnet macaques (Macaca
radiata), with a brief introduction to seroprimatology. Am J Phys Anthrop
45:485-491.

(6) Schmid, D.O. & Buschmann, H.G. (1985). Blutgruppen bei Tieren.
Stuttgart, Ferdinand Enke.

(7) Schmitt, J. (1968). Immunbiologische Untersuchungen bei Primaten. Ein
Beitrag zur Evolution der Blut- und Serumgruppen. Basel-New York, Karger.

(8) Landsteiner, K. & Miller, C.P. (1925). Serological observations on the
relationship of the bloods of man and the anthropoid apes. Science
61:941-942.

(9) Landsteiner, K. (1928). Sur les propri=E9t=E9s s=E9rologiques du sang
des Anthropoides. C Rend Soc Biol 99:658-660.

(10) Doxiadis, G.G. et al. (1998). Characterization of the ABO blood group
genes in macaques: evidence for convergent evolution. Tissue Antigens
51:321-326.

(11) Martinko, J.M. et al.(1993). Primate ABO glycosyltransferases:
evidence for trans-specific evolution. Immunogenetics 37:274-278.

(12) O'hUigin, C. et al. (1997). Evidence for convergent evolution of A and
B blood group antigens in primates. Hum Genet 101(2):141-148.



Ruediger Hoeflechner, blood type O