MANILA, Philippines – Eat your fruits and vegetables every day. Go easy on the meat. This is advice you know you should follow if you want to stay healthy.

But naturopathic doctor Elmie Ragas says there is a way to make this health advice work better for you –eat and adopt a lifestyle fit for your blood type.

Different blood types translate to different nutritional needs, immunities, and more.

Dr. Peter D’Adamo, naturopathic physician and researcher, explains more about the different blood types in this video: 

“You get the most nutrition from foods best for your blood type,” Dr. Ragas says. “If you eat foods not for your blood type, you get only around 25% benefit.” She adds that this can also make you feel weaker.

READ: Your dominant hand affects your health

Color-coding your diet

In general, food with warm colors – for example, red, yellow and pink – are good for blood types O and B.

On the other hand, blood types A and AB generally benefit more from food with neutral colors – black, white and gray – and the cooler colors green and blue.

And no, Dr. Ragas meant the natural color of the food, not the food coloring of chips, ice cream, or other processed foods. Her advice is to steer clear of them.

In a blood type workshop she conducted, she asked participants to smell red and white onions. Amazingly, those of us with blood types B and O group found the smell of red onions pleasant, the white not so. For types A and AB, it was the other way around.

Dr. Ragas also asked us to perform a strength test on one another, where one person would hold up his or her clasped hands while the other tried to push those hands down. For us who are either type B or O, our hands stayed firm with little effort when we smelled the red onion, while our hands easily gave way when we smelled the white onion. For those who are either A or AB, it was the white onion that energized them.

Identifying the proper food to eat can get tricky, though. For example, while fish, which are mostly gray or black, are on type A and AB’s turf, yellow fin tuna is also good for types B and O. And camote tops with maroon leaves are also great for types B and O.

And, while types B and O are more tolerant of meat, Dr. Ragas says not to go overboard. A small portion of lean meat is good.

Blood typing for your lifestyle

The blood type principle is also applicable to exercise, massage and other lifestyle practices. Dr. Ragas teaches the details in her workshops.

While there are specific differences and nuances on the ideal massage for each blood type, generally, blood types A, AB and B benefit from a massage of moderate pressure, while Os are energized with a hard massages.

Workshop participants gave each other massages. We realized that even when we used the correct strokes for each blood type, the person would weaken if we applied the wrong pressure. When I, a type O, got a massage with moderate pressure, I had little strength when my partner participant did the strength test on me.

More than just following a diet and lifestyle according to blood type, Dr. Ragas encourages everyone to check whether a certain food or habit strengthens or debilitates.

“Find out if it is really good for you,” she says. – Rappler.com

Dr. Elmie Ragas gives free introductory lectures as well as more detailed and paid training workshops on diet therapy and lifestyle according to blood type, brain dominance therapy, and more. You may contact her Manila wellness center through these numbers: 0920-4104000, 0923-231-5142, and 466-1452.