Rating: 
Summary: interesting, but needs more study
Review: I picked this up because I had a friend several years back who it worked well for. She is type A and lactose intolerant and for her, becoming vegetarian was very good. I'm AB and skeptical, though I am going to try it. I skimmed through the AB section and found foods I crave were ones that are supposedly good for me and it reflects my own sort of ideal diet, except for the chicken thing. Same with he exercise, I already prefer yoga, pilaties, backpacking and cycling. It fit my life style so I am going to see if it works.
However, the anthropological information is TERRIBLY outdated. His sources are all mostly, too old and even by 1996 much of this information had been revised. It's painfully inaccurate to read and almost made me not finish. The blood type evolution stuff isn't too off, but the rest is. Even in 1996 we were pretty sure Homo neanderthalis wasn't our predecessor and that they were contemporaneous with Cro Magnon (or Homo erectus). And tools go as far back at least as Homo ergaster. I am studying to be a biological anthropologist emphasizing on human evolutionary genetics. Yes, there are some interesting correlations with blood type and populations do reflect their diet, such as people of European decent are much more lactose tolerant than the rest of the world, due to their domestication of milk producing animals. But there are also nomadic populations in various parts of Africa whose diet consists of milk and blood and fermented milk. Their cows are their lives. Most mammals, humans included, will lose the lactase enzyme production after weaning. (This is why you really shouldn't give cats milk.)
I am not crazy over his presentation of blood either. It's sort of a water main, sewer and food tube for our cells all at once, red blood cell antigens are such a small part of our blood make up, and red blood cells are used pretty much solely for O2/CO2 transport. Blood type is useful because it's a simple mendellian trait, but the human genome is so much more complex, I can't see how blood type can be anymore than an indicator of other possible traits influenced by adaptation. Such as another mendellian trait, sickle cell anemia, people who are heterozygous for the s gene (Ss) won't get malaria but those homozygous for the trait (ss) will get sickle cell anemia. A mutation whose benefit outweighed it's cost.
As far as weight loss, for those reviews I have read by people upset they have lost no weight, he says almost off the bat this is not a diet FOR weight loss, but people do experience it. It's a diet for healthy eating. That is all. Weight loss will come on any healthy balanced nutritious diet IF you control portion size and caloric intake and EXCERCIZE. If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. It is THAT simple. Eat small portions of a varied diet and move. THIS is what our ancestors did. And their diet varied by location. They didn't eat 2000 calories at one sitting (yes, some restaurant portions are this caloric!) and then sit some more. Sit at work sit in your car sit in front of the TV.
And as far as the foods he says to avoid or cut back on, that's not bad really, avoid is not eliminate. It's like cake. You really shouldn't eat it every day but once and awhile won't hurt you. I will have a hard time with the oranges, bananas and chicken. But I DO have issues with my stomach and acid. I do think that people do better with some foods than others and a diet free of processed, altered foods (such as trans and hydrogenated fats) are bad bad bad. This book makes eating a healthy diet easy to understand. If you want to know more about your body and food I highly recommended learning about food chemistry and body chemistry.
Rating: 
Summary: If You Love Food You Must Have This Book!
Review: This book can change the way you eat and live. This book highlighted various things according to my blood type that were no good for me. The things I loved, craved and chased in my dreams *lol* This book helped me understand the type of digestive system I have and why I could possibly be getting symptoms like stomach aches and heartburn. This book, if I will pull myself up by the bootstraps and follow it could change my life! Now if only I could stay away from cheese...
Rating:
Summary: we're all feeling better
Review: This review's a few years late but here it is. I've always been somewhat of a health nut who's into vitamins, naturopathy, food combining and organics. I was researching natural ways to overcome some typical ailments which were plaguing my children (allergies, stomach upsets, indigestion etc.) when I came across this book. I found it very interesting, and in following the diets for our different blood types I've noticed fewer health problems with the family. I also lost post-partem weight after a c-section without starving myself. Additionally I've notice a direct correlation with minor health problems I occasionally develop and foods I've eaten that are wrong for my blood type. That's enough proof for me that this book makes sense. I'm looking forward to reading the other books by Dr. D'Adamo.
Rating: 
Summary: Honestly, read some science and talk to your doctor!!
Review: My guess is those of you that are singing the praises of this book and are calling it your saviour are people who weren't on balanced diets to begin with and with this book you started actually watching what you ate and kept things to moderation. And by some miracle the diet actually coincided with your metabolism and made you feel better or lose weight or whatever. The theory is bogus. It has to be. There are so many other proteins on a red blood cell besides just the one that determines type. Basing a diet off of your blood type is just ridiculous. Here's an idea, talk to your doctor, check out the food pyramid and get some exercise once in a while and stop eatting fast food. Moderation, moderation, moderation. Yes, you can have a piece of cake, just not the whole cake in one sitting. But seriously, talk to your doctor, someone who knows how the body works, and get the diet that's right for you!
Rating:
Summary: System not perfected
Review: My husband and I read this book with great interest. We each liked the types of food that were "good" for us, and my husband had had a very rare disease that people with his blood type were prone to. My health problems, too, were those my blood type was prone to, and I too loved the foods I was "supposed" to eat. My husband stuck religiously to the Type A diet for 9 months (he'd been typed A in the army), felt great. Then he was typed by the Red Cross, only to find out he's really Type O (son of 2 Type O's). So now what do we believe? That the doctor hasn't done enough research. Also, if you read ALL his books, the information is sometimes contradictory: things listed as Good for you in one book as listed as Neutral in others. So what to believe???
Rating:
Summary: Eating Well and Loving It
Review: At first I followed some of the recommendations for my blood type B, then about 3 years ago I followed it 100%. Within 2 weeks I was sleeping well at night and very thankful. For five years after midlife hormone changes I had trouble sleeping at night, and felt sluggish after a meal. As valuable as this diet has been, it is not everything you need to know about eating. For example, if you give up whole wheat because of your blood type, you still should include a whole grain like brown rice. I enjoy eating with this diet and have been on it 3 years.
Rating: 
Summary: Blood types and personality
Review: So according to "The Personality Question" sections of this book, real men are type O's, normal "in-betweeners" are type B's, and type A's are wusses, since type O's are meat eaters, B's
can eat anything but chicken, and type A's vegetarians (dear me)
Enough said.
Rating:
Summary: Seriously Flawed
Review: I'm sure that given enough time, if the blood type diets are followed correctly they can work for many. However; if they do work, it is partly because the author advocates the elimination of highly processed and refined foods in favor of a more natural organic food diet. More importantly though, is the lack of scientific evidence from the author, who claims that these diets work for the stated reasons.My own personal investigation of these claims, shows that some information is completely missing and some of it has been twisted to fit the authors paradigm. As an A blood type, the high carbohydrate diet, as advocated by ER4YT, had some undesirable results for me, such as weight gain, and an unacceptable rise in blood cholesterol and triglycerides.I would suggest, that if you are looking for scientific evidence of the relevance of the blood type diets, to read Human Blood Cells: Consequences of Genetic Polymorphisms and Variations, Imperial College Press, by editor May-Jean King. Steve Henry and Bo Samuelsson both PhD scientists, and experts in this area, have devoted an entire chapter on the ABO polymorphism that explains the irrelevance of the blood type diets.
Rating:
Summary: a sensible review
Review: I've noticed that those people who discount this book usually do so for incredibly nitpicky reasons. There's more right with this book than there is wrong.I don't pretend to say that dr. d'adamo is an infallible human, nor do I think he knows absolutely everything is right in his book. However, I do know that until I actually took the time to follow this diet, I didn't understand the full effect of what the diet actually does. People on this review board are also saying that people need to "listen to themselves". I agree, however, I am going to point out that not many people know HOW to listen to themselves. That's why they need doctors and diets to guide them. Most MD's will prescribe a pill to help you deal with the side effects of your illnesses, instead of stressing how important it is to understand your personal dietary requirements. That's where ER4YT comes in.... I have personally been able to recover from incredibly difficult immune system problems as a result of going on this diet. I'm an O+ secretor and I had tried countless diets to help myself, with varying degrees of results. I had picked up over 20 different diet books to help myself recover from Fibromyalgia. (this was as a result of being extremely frustrated with the way I was being treated by western medical practitioners). I went on many different diets in a 2+ year quest to help myself. I had even picked up ER4YT and read it, but shelved it. Then, one day, while I was searching for the next diet to go on to help myself, I happened upon the ER4YT website. I went to the food list to see whether certain foods were approved for my blood type. (I had been keeping track of my definite intolerances...) To my surprise, this diet validated every intolerance I had become aware of, and pointed out many others to me that I didn't realize. I was astounded. I started following the diet strictly, and after about two weeks I couldnt believe how great I felt. My chronic health problems were going away, I had tons of energy, and I knew I had made the right choice. Six months later, I really saw an improvement in my body, and other people noticed how healthy I looked (for a change). Here I am two more years later, and still following the diet (although I do cheat once in a while.) I can now say that I truly understand my body's signals more than ever, and I now understand the effects of eating things I shouldn't. I think this diet is simply amazing. Anyone else who says differently will not have experienced first hand how it can change your life and attitue towards being healthy. Trust the people who have helped themselves, not the naysayers that need to continuously have every I dotted and every T crossed. It works!
Rating:
Summary: A former skeptic, now converted
Review: I was extremely skeptical about this book when I first heard about it -- but I have since read it, tried it, and found that this diet works perfectly for me and my husband, both O positives. If you read the negative reviews on this site, you'll notice that the vast majority of them are from people who haven't actually tried the diet themselves, but don't think it will work. Others don't want to cook fresh food and give up eating processed junk. That's fine, and it's their choice, but it may also be their loss. For years, I faithfully followed the "healthy low-fat diet" that was prescribed for my first husband, who had a heart condition and diabetes. I painstakingly prepared fresh, low-fat meals with lots of "good" carbohydrates, vegetables, beans, whole wheat, etc. I struggled with my weight and went through months of tests for serious digestive problems that were never explained; the doctor said it couldn't be my "healthy" diet that was causing the problem! Meanwhile, my husband's diabetes worsened, his heart problems became worse, his cholesterol kept going up, and he eventually died of a heart attack in his early 40's despite his total adherence to a "healthy" way of life. Subsequently, my sister introduced me to the Atkins diet, on which I lost 15 pounds and all my digestive problems. Moving on to the Type O diet was a small modification, and it eliminated my remaining minor health complaints. Today my second husband and I are in our fifties, healthy, slim and energetic. Is it a bit more trouble to follow the Blood Type Diet? Yes. Is it worth it? For us, the answer is yes, a thousand times over. Oh, and I forgot to mention that my husband's cholesterol is just fine, and mine is so excellent that the labs sometimes run the tests twice because they think there's an error the first time.
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