On Thu, 25 Nov 1999, Wade Reeser wrote:

> At 08:56 PM 11/24/99 -0500, you wrote:
> >The *theory* behind the lectin part of ER4YT is impeccable.
>
> i think the the word "impeccable" is more that hyperbole.  Most, if not
> all the research is done in vitro.  You must know that even normal air
> will cause a gluttination reaction with blood.  That means that the mere
> fact that exposure to a particular substance "in vitro" causes a gluttination
> reaction is hardly definitive (certainly not "impeccable")  as it is very
> difficult
> to contol for confounding factors.

There are procedures for dealing with these issues.  The point
that cannot be argued with is that lectins *are* hemagglutinins,
and blood of different types responds differently to them.  Peter
D'Adamo isn't the only person to have noted this.  Likewise, that
lectins do enter the bloodstream is not really in doubt.  The
question is what happens after that, and that question won't be
answered by *in vivo* studies.

> In any event, ABO blood types are *very* limited with respect to determining
> acceptance of organ transplants and certainly shouldn't be held as the gold
> standard for
> aceeptable food with in the *bloodsteam" or the intestinal tract.  I find
> (and many others)
> his conclusions specious.

Well, I wouldn't go out on a limb defending them either;
certainly not without some controlled studies.  In this respect,
however, his program is no worse off than Neanderthin, which also
suffers from a lack of studies.  And as I have pointed out
before, the notion tha lectins enter the body and cause health
problems is not prima facie more ridiculous than the notion that
"foreign proteins" do so.  In fact, they are the same notion.
Hemagglutination is quite relevant to the question of whether the
immune system identifies a protein as foreign.

According to Neanderthin, the lectins in paleolithic foods are
okay; the lectins in neolithic foods are not.  Why not?  Because
the human immune system hasn't had time to make friends with
them.  According to ER4YT the blood type gives us more
specific information about this.  I don't think there's enough
information to resolve the matter.  It's clear however that
*some* people do not tolerate *some* paleo foods, and may in fact
be violently allergic to them.  And some people don't tolerate
many of their so-called "blood type appropriate" foods.

It just shows that theoretical impeccability doesn't get one very
far.

Todd Moody
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