When I tell someone I’m making a documentary, the first thing they say is, “Oh neat, what’s it about?” After I give the verbal movie trailer, the question of “why” never seems to follow. I suppose it’s naturally assumed that the documenter’s fuel is her interest in the subject; otherwise, why invest so much time and energy?
Though a filmmaker may pick from a wide tray of motivational hors d’oeuvres like fame, money, industry connections, or making a positive change in society, I would wager that most do it for their passion. At least that’s why I’ve chosen to feature Dr D’Adamo and his influence on millions of peoples’ lives through individualized diet. If you haven’t seen my promo video yet, now’s a good time to check it out.
But I’d like to dig down a little farther and uncover some of the deeper pieces of the story. You know that I’m making a documentary about the Blood Type Diet®, and that I want to “spread the word” and get others’ attention about it – namely, but certainly not restricted to, bodies of research organizations capable of conducting proper peer-reviewed studies. But why would I put a college degree on hold to swim upstream a river of personal and economic turmoil just to prove whether the blood groups diet works or not? Especially when I know the diet already works for me…
The answer: Science.
When I’m not playing guitar or taking pictures, I’m actually quite the opposite of an artist. The left-brained skeptic and scientist inside doesn’t allow me to reap satisfaction from simple answers and anecdote, and so I’m compelled to research.
Science, in its purest sense, unlike other ideologies, is not a belief system, but rather a tool kit. Today in the 21st Century we don’t “believe” that germs cause disease, but rather we accept it. Before science, however, people believed that demons, curses, and witches made you sick. When Louis Pasteur came long, he applied the tools of science to prove otherwise, which led to the “germ theory of disease”.
That’s how science works; it’s a 4-step program for figuring things out in the natural world. Step one is observation. Step two is hypothesizing, or coming up with a good guess. Step three is testing that hypothesis with repeatable experiments, and step four is to call the validated result a theory. Even though we commonly say “theory” to mean our personal speculation, the scientific use of the word theory is synonymous to calling it a fact.
This brings me back to the Blood Type Diet®, and why I don’t call it a theory, but a hypothesis. I know this sounds heathenous for someone like myself who’s such a strong promotor, but hear me out.
I believe strongly that the diet works, and I would even dare say “I know” it works. My personal anecdote is enough to keep me eating my Type O non-secretor diet for the rest of my life, while promoting it until every last breath. But the problem skeptics and scientists have is that same anecdote.
And it’s not hard to imagine why. People can make up all kinds of fabulous stories about things they’ve done to improve their health, but if nobody calls them on it, who’s to stop us from accepting that a tablespoon of kerosene a day is the best cure for arthritis?
As a real-life example, before better medicine came along, the most common treatment for syphilis was mercury. It worked, and it worked well. The problem, naturally, is the toxicity of mercury and ultimately leaving the patient with side-effects far worse than the disease itself. It took society a long time to figure out a system of preventing the sorts of catastrophes that arise from unproven protocols, but eventually we figured it out. Granted our system is far from perfect, and I’ll be the first to speak out against the corruption in the medical-political industry, but because of rigorous scientific testing, we generally keep people safer and healthier than ever before.
So I say “blood type hypothesis” instead of “blood type theory” or “fact”, not because I’m unconfident in Peter D’Adamo’s research, but because I like to stay consistent with the accepted jargon of the scientific community. As a scientist, it’s my duty.
Now that was a long-winded explanation just to get to this point, but I hope I’ve provided some helpful insight. And this is what it all comes down to:
Finding the Blood Type Diet® had changed my live so dramatically, that I would me remiss not to devote a significant portion of my energy to its promotion. It is literally because of Peter D’Adamo’s work that I have the physical and mental faculties available to be living the sort of life I enjoy. Thus, I feel it would be hypocritical and selfish to merely take what I’ve learned and live my healthy life without giving back.
However, since I’m a scientist and an artist, I have to give back in a big way. In a creative way. And nothing is bigger and more creative than a feature-length movie seen by millions of people worldwide.
But it doesn’t stop there. The artist in me may, but the scientist will not be satisfied by popular approval and merely knowing that Peter D’Adamo’s diet system is based in good research and evidence; for it truly is. All of his writings are backed up by peer-reviewed medical literature, which lead to astoundingly clear conclusions about the association between blood type and disease, exercise, and nutrition.
No, I must live to see the Blood Type Diet® become accepted as a scientific theory, and no longer a hypothesis. And the only way this will happen is by the scientific method. It must be tested in a controlled, randomized, placebo-based study over and over again, to verify on paper the very things Dr D’Adamo has found in his clinic and years of observation.
The results will not surprise anyone here, but it will astound the medical community. They will say, “a ha!” while we reply, “I told you so!”
We’ve told them so for decades, but until it passes through the same rigorous process that every other mainstream-accepted advancement in science and medicine undergoes, it will forever remain on the shelf at your local health food store.
That is, until somebody else comes along with an MD behind her name and claims the breakthrough, because she got the right people to support and patent it.
Of course, I don’t mean to propose a “false dilemma” argument, because there are a number of possible outcomes. I’m simply hoping for the best, which is to see Peter D’Adamo, N.D. be handed the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his groundbreaking and awe-inspiring research.
Big dreams? You bet. But as long as I have the health to continue, I will work tirelessly until Peter D’Adamo becomes a household name. Or at least a familiar ring.
So there you have it. I feel like I’ve been granted the gift of moviemaking and science understanding for this very reason. It is the ring I must carry to Mordor, lest the world be taken captive by the Sauron of nutritional ignorance.
Thanks for reading, and I promise future blogs won’t be nearly this tireless in length. We just had a lot of ground to cover 
Until next time…