On Thu, 25 Nov 1999, Ray Audette wrote: > From: Ruediger Hoeflechner <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: Eat right for your type > > 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). This is not entirely correct. D'Adamo leans heavily on the A.E. Mourant's _Blood Relations: Blood Groups and Anthropology_ (Oxford, 1983). It's an interesting book, and not all that antiquated. Also Sanger and Race, _Blood Groups in Man_ (Blackwell, 1975). There does appear to be support for the claim that the A group appears later in the fossil record, and *proliferates* even later. > 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. This is actually a straw man argument. D'Adamo's argument is not that type A and B blood *appeared* as adaptations to dietary changes, but that they *proliferated* in response to them. The point that A and B blood can be found in recent HG societies is more damaging to D'Adamo's theory, however. Todd Moody [log in to unmask]