I'm curious to see if there's any relationship between KP and blood type.

I'll kick it off...I'm A.

According to the blood type diet I should be vegetarian basically. I'm not and since I met my wife I've increasingly been more a meat and wheat eater. Trying to now stick to vego to see if KP and Hyperhidrosis improves.

Poll your type.

Andrew

Interesting idea. Genetics play a very crucial role in the "passing down" of ailments/diseases. But I doubt blood type can be a single factor determining KP, but it's still worth a look.

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Agreed. But a combination of diet and blood type is very much a possibility. I have strongly suspected for some time that it is diet related. Reading these forums some diet changes work for some but not for others. I suspect that toxins are building up and thekpmis an elimination process that is natural.

However I'd like to resolve the issue not just treat the symptom with creams and scrubs as having kp to me indicates an underlying problem that could cause long term issues.

I have gone nice pure eating route before and KP andHyperhisrosis both disappeared only to come back when I returned to normal eating.

This could be that the diet changes for one are not the necessary diet changes for another. I'm trying the whole, "eat right for yout type" thing and whilst its only been a week I feel a lot better. Interesting to see if in the medium term the
kp fades.

Andrew

Thanatos - funny cause I have been thinking about the blood type thing but only in comparison to the anti-candida/low-carb/paleo/alkalizing diets that share so many similarities. The blood type diet focuses heavily on lectins and how they agglutinize in blood types, yes?

from the citation from Cambridge Journal below:
"Common dietary staples such as cereal grains and legumes
contain glycoproteins called lectins which have potent anti-
nutritional properties (Table 1) which influence the structure
and function of both enterocytes and lymphocytes(Sjolander et al. 1984; Greer & Pusztai, 1985)"

from a study published in the British Journal of Pharmacology:

British Journal of Pharmacology (2004) 142, 1219–1226. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0705857
Effects of dietary lectins on ion transport in epithelia

"lectins are often resistant to cooking and digestive enzymes and sometimes cause food poisoning (Sharon & Lis, 1989). They may not only cause local toxic and inflammatory responses but have also been demonstrated to penetrate the gut wall and may be deposited in distant organs (Wang et al., 1998). Thus, a variety of diseases can be induced by these lectins, such as coeliac disease, peptic ulcer, IgA nephropathy, insulin dependent diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and they may even promote upper respiratory infections (Freed, 1999). Lectins bind to carbohydrate residues located in the luminal membrane of intestinal epithelial cells, and thus may induce cellular effects causing interference with digestive, protective, or secretory functions of the intestine. Coeliac disease is a well-known example, induced by gluten, a wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) (Kolberg & Sollid, 1985). Hypersensitivity towards gluten leads to duodenal mucosal damage."

Also lectins are implicated in Rheumatoid Arthritis, as in the gut inflammation they cause potentially starts a set of reactions in some bodies that leads to the auto-immune disorder. This is of particular interest to me since I am in a genetic line susceptible to RA.
"Despite the almost universal clinical observation that inflammation of the gut is frequently associated with inflammation of the joints and vice versa, the nature of this relationship remains elusive. In the present review, we provide evidence for how the interaction of dietary lectins with
enterocytes and lymphocytes may facilitate the translocation of both dietary and gut-derived pathogenic antigens to peripheral tissues, which in turn causes persistent peripheral antigenic
stimulation. In genetically susceptible individuals, this antigenic stimulation may ultimately result in the expression of overt rheumatoid arthritis (RA) via molecular mimicry, a process
whereby foreign peptides, similar in structure to endogenous peptides, may cause antibodies or T- lymphocytes to cross-react with both foreign and endogenous peptides and thereby break immunological tolerance. By eliminating dietary elements, particularly lectins, which adversely influence both enterocyte and lymphocyte structure and function, it is proposed that the peripheral antigenic stimulus (both pathogenic and dietary) will be reduced and thereby result in a diminution of disease symptoms in certain patients with RA"

The full text is in a pdf at Cambridge but I can't get a good link. If you google " lectin Cambridge rheumatoid " it should be the first link in your search.

But what if you're not geneticallly susceptible to RA? no matter, lectins still can induce cellular effects causing interference with digestive, protective, or secretory functions of the intestine. Gut inflammation would obviously interfere with absorption of vitamins, minerals and flavonoids (things the USDA knows they should be counting - PM me for a link to the USDA data on flavonoids - it's not secret but it's not on food labelling) And it's likely that even just that would cause some issues. or the gut inflammation increases gut permeability (slang term "leaky gut") whereby allergens and other bits cross the intestinal barrier and get in a person's system causing inflammation and other stuff that's not RA specific. So minimizing your exposure to lectins may reduce general inflammation and allergic reactions and you may feel better.

So as far as I'm concerned, here we are, more backup data as to why a good ND (naturopathic doctor) would put someone on a strict anti-allergen/anti-inflammatory diet and see how much that helps their health and VERY likely get some good results.

Between the new results that people with atopic eczema are more likely to have an allergy to candida, and this and what I've learned about flavonoids improving our epigenetic enzymes (topic for a _whole_ other post_ ) I'd say pick a diet, any diet, that limits carbs and emphasizes veggies and includes some fruits. or just do it yourself. If you may be susceptible to RA or other autoimmune disease also minimize beans which are high in lectins. I think that may be why _I_ don't do too well as a pure vegan or vegetarian but someone else might be fine. Though next I intend to find out if fermentation of beans - e.g. tofu and miso esp. - reduces or breaks down the lectin content of those. I would miss those...)

Comments, anyone?
bd

bd,
thats good to know.

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more on lectins - while searching to find out if fermentation breaks down lectins (it does, yay miso! yay sourdough! hope sourdough breaks down enough anyway...) I found a nice blog by a doctoral candidate in neurobiology, obviously better educated and more well-versed in the basic sciences of this stuff:

Whole Health Source: Leptin and Lectins: Part II

enjoy - bd

What a coinsidence! I just happened across a website the other day that talked about what to eat etc. depending on your blood type. I have never heard of this theory before and now I see it here, too. If any one is interested the address is www.naturalhealthtechniques.com/site_map.htm It's a huge website, so scroll about half way down and on your left you'll see the category "Diet & Nutrition". Listed under this are links that say 'blood type_' and 'best, good, poor choices'. The charts are color coded so it's really easy to read. I'm definitley going to do more research on this. Make sure and keep us posted Thanatos.

Well, whilst the sample size of the poll is still quite small it certainly seems representative of the general population ratios of blood type. So potentially no particular type that is affected more.

Please keep voting so we get a better indication.

As to my progress...Well it's been 12 days on the blood type diet for type A. Its aim is to reduce the amount of allergen food you eat according to what your blood type is. Probably gets similar results to the Vega test talked about elsewhere on this site. For me with type A it is:
No read meat or pork,
No dairy products,
Almost no wheat products.
The type A diet is basically agrarian and includes lots of vege's and chicken and fish. Here's the official link, The Blood Type Diet :: Peter D'Adamo

The diets for other blood types are different so don't think this will automatically suit you. I have a friend and my wife who are both type O's and they thrive on red meat. Why the Atkins diet works for some people and not others?

Whilst I haven't been strict on the dairy side (coffee in the morning) I have cut back lots on that. I have been eating chicken or fish but had a steak on Wednesday night that my wife had cooked for me. That was my first and only red meat for the 12 days. I've had almost no wheat (type A's can have a little but not too much or the blood turns acidic) apart from the coating on say a chicken fillet. This is about right. I can have wheat once or twice a week only. I eat vege's and rice noodles or products to ensure a carbohydrate intake. Sushi is great for lunch as it has everything in the A diet

The results so far:
KP looks better! On my legs it is usually red around my thighs and the redness has faded a lot which makes the KP less noticeable. The bumps seem to have dimiinished there too. On my arms I've not noticed any new lumps rising, being a bit of a picker I just have to let the old ones heal a bit though before I can say its really improving.

Hyperhidrosis:
I usually sweat under my arms in the mornings no matter how cold it is. I suspect it is an elimination process for toxins. This usually stops around midday. Sometimes the patches are halfwy down to my waist. Very embarrassing. Anyway that dropped off a lot this week to only a very small amount. Except for thursday morning which was after the steak on Wednesday night.

Weight Loss:
Despite eating heaps this week and getting Vietnamese takeaway (rice noodles and veges with chicken) I've actually lost just over 2 kilos or 4 pounds for our non metric people. I found that quite strange as I'm not actually trying to lose weight. It just appears to fall off. Probably clearing toxins and fluid.

Hunger:
Cravings have dropped off. I've read somewhere that if you are eating correctly, excess hunger will fade as you are getting the nutrients you need, whereas if not eating correctly (eg for me red meat) you get cravings as your body isn't getting nutrients so wants you to stuff more in.

Indigestion:
None since I stopped the wheat products. Boy talk about an obvious sign they are no good for me. I used to get this within 1 hour and it could last all day but no problems now.

Bloating: normally around my guts but went away within a couple of days. I feel muuuuuuchhh better. :-)

Overall health: Well before I got the cold from my daughter yesterday when she came back from a trip I was feeling a lot better than I have in a long time. Sleeping better too.

I'll keep you posted.

All good but lets not confuse all carbs with the gluten containing ones which are particularly bad.

I agree with the sound of the affect on the gut though. I suspect it causes poor vitamin and mineral absorbtion which results in KP and my Hyperhidrosis.

I think it will take some months to heal properly though...

The blood type diet also is specific to blood type. O's and A's whilst sharing some similarity have major differences. A's can have rice, corn, and other carbs quite happily but O's cannot. Many beans for A's are quite bad.

Use that link I've provided for more info.

Hi Thanatos,

You are right -- not all carbs are the same. Unfortunately, for those with candida, this doesn't matter. All carbs, whether they contain gluten or not, contribute to the growth of candida. If one does not have candida, they may still be gluten intolerant, which contributes to an omega 3 deficiency.
Omega 3 Deficiency Food Digestion / Gluten intolerance

I will admit to an ignorance of diet in relation to blood type. I have read about it, but I don't know if this is theory or if it is backed by science. Do you know?

kebod

Hi,
I've been checking out this board for quite sometime and reading all of your suggestions and ideas.... I have had kp for years.... I am 26 years old and have had it since around the age of 16.. =( I have managed to get it maintained to where it is barely noticeable..

I take 2 teaspoons of flaxseed meal(ground vegetarian seed) a day, with a light V8 splash juice, which is mostly carrot juice, and I've eliminated everything white and starchy from my diet.. the only "white" I indulge in is pizza.. but other than that, everything is brown, multi-grain, or organic..I've also been trying very strictly to follow the blood type diet, and I've seen a drastic improvement.. I do let myself have a cheat day once a week where I have whatever I want, but I keep the 2 teaspoons of ground flaxseed part of my daily ritual...

as far as lotions go, I've been using amLactin 12% for quite some time and I really like it...