Living in a similar vein
How your blood type can affect your health and fitness
WHILE in reality there are more than 300 blood types, they all fall into one of four key groups — type A, B, AB or O, collectively known as ABO.
We each come under one of these groups and, while type O is the most common in Australia, your blood group is determined by your genetics.
What makes the four types different from each other is a molecule — known as an antigen — that attaches to the outside of your red blood cells.
These antigens are also the reason why blood type might play a role in your health.
They’re not all shaped the same way, they contain different sugars and they can alter how the blood behaves. This is what impacts your risk of disease.
A risk factor for illness?
ACCORDING to researchers from the University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, people with types A, B or AB are 9 per cent more likely to have heart attacks than those with type O.
One reason for this, according to Dr Ellen Maxwell from Melbourne Pathology, could be the way the antigens influence a substance called von Willebrand factor, which causes blood to clot.
“Levels of this are 20-30 per cent lower in people with type O, meaning their blood is simply less sticky compared to non-O individuals,” Maxwell explains.
‘Sticky’ blood is also thought to be why risk of stroke is higher in A, B or AB types — and why men with these types are also more likely to experience erectile dysfunction because the thicker blood may not reach the genitals as effectively as thinner blood.
The antigens might also have an impact on the diseases you’re most at risk of, or how severe they are if you get them. Malaria, for example, is less harmful for people with type O blood.
Malaria isn’t the only infection that’s been linked to your blood type. Recent research at the University of Wollongong School of Biological Sciences found that group A streptococcal infection which can lead to everything from a mild sore throat to a serious blood infection — is more likely to attach to type O blood cells.
Other conditions that have been associated with blood type include cognitive decline, which is highest in AB, though experts aren’t yet sure why. Stomach ulcers are higher in those with type O as they’re more prone to contracting the H. pylori bacteria that causes them.
Type Os are also more likely to catch the tummy-bug-inducing norovirus.
There are also some studies that suggest a link between blood type and fertility — one study from Italy found that women with type B blood had the best chance of pregnancy, while research at Yale University in the US found that women with type O blood were most likely to have lower egg quality.
What this all means for you
YOU may well be reading this with some trepidation, since you obviously can’t change your blood type — the one you have is the one you’re stuck with — which is why we asked our experts: How can we use this emerging blood-type science?
The overwhelming answer seems to be: With caution.
The studies so far have been small and a correlation doesn’t always mean a direct link between two things.
“Generally, health conditions are multifactorial,” Maxwell says.
“Just one thing doesn’t determine if you’ll be affected.”
However, forewarned is forearmed. So, for example, if you’re a type AB, you might want to keep a particularly close eye on your blood pressure and cholesterol, which are known risk factors for heart disease.
Diet, fitness and blood type
SHOULD your blood type dictate the food you eat or the exercise you do?
Studies haven’t made a conclusive link, but devotees such as Sydney fitness trainer Mark Moon swear by it.
“I see a big change in clients’ bodies when I put them on a plan that fits their blood type,” he says.
“It works biologically, but it also changes their headspace — they feel they’re working from the inside out.”
According to Dr Peter D’Adamo, author of The Blood Type Diet, different blood types release different amounts of chemicals, like cortisol or adrenaline, in response to the stress caused by exercise, and training correctly can balance these in ways that reduce fat storage.
If you eat foods not suited to your blood type, it’s said to trigger inflammation, which is linked to weight gain.
Your type is also said to affect your levels of stomach acid and how you digest food.