It was Adolf Hitler who coined a propaganda   technique he called, “The Big Lie,”

情態助動詞 B1

arguing that people may be more  likely to believe colossal untruths,

because they would not believe that  others would have the impudence

So in the "big lie" there is always  a certain force of credibility.

The book "Eat Right for Your Type"  makes the astounding claim

that people with different blood  types should eat different foods.

Type O's are supposed to be like  the hunter and eat a lot of meat,

whereas people with type A blood  are supposed to eat less.

In one of the world's most  prestigious nutrition journals,

a systematic review of the evidence  supporting blood type diets was published.

Diets based on the ABO blood group system  have been promoted over the past decade,

but the evidence to support the  effectiveness of such diets

had evidently not been previously  assessed in the scientific literature.

Actually, in the Journal of the  Norwegian Medical Association

there were a number of papers that came   out of a day-long scientific seminar

held by the Norwegian  Society for Nutrition.

Hard to believe they  even take the time,

but evidently 40,000 copies of the book had  been sold in Norway, and so good for them.

They sought to determine “Blood type diets:  Visionary Science or Nonsense?"

What was so outrageous is that  the blood type diet is promoted

and justified in the book by  supposed scientific arguments,

yet the author takes no  pains to prove his ideas,

just presenting them simply as facts,  taking advantage of people's ignorance of biology.

His arguments sound scientific  and he uses lots of big words,

but displays a fundamental  misunderstanding of the science,

describing the book's understanding of some  basic tenants of blood type biology as absurd.

There should be no doubt that  had the author practiced in Norway,

as opposed to Connecticut, he would be  in violation of the so-called Quack Law.

The book cites the work of  blood type biochemists,

but if you actually ask  the actual experts,

as scientists they say, obviously  you have to keep an open mind,

"...it must be stated that an ‘open mind’ should  not extend to some of the non-scientific literature"

"where there are books on the ABO  blood type system of pure fantasy."

The most recent and incredulous  of these claims -

individuals of each ABO blood type  must subscribe to a particular diet.

I don't know how researchers have the  patience to read these popular press books,

but it can lead to an appreciation  of the ridiculous aspects

of the many ignorant and  preposterous claims.

So, what should the overall  assessment of this work be?

The nicest thing you can  say about the book is:

Is it any worse than people who believe their   fate is determined by the stars, though?

Well, yes, because astrologists  aren't telling a third of the population

Positive results reported by some  individuals may well be due to

a general improvement in  health, diet and lifestyle:

less fat and sugar, more fruits and  vegetables, less smoking, more exercise.

Look, anything that gets  people to eat fewer doughnuts.

But though this may get  lost a bit in translation,

a professor of laboratory medicine at the  Norwegian University of Science's analysis

concluded that the author's "learning  must be considered junk and  without scientific foundation.”

They sifted through over a thousand papers  that might shed some light on the issue.

None of the studies  showed an association

between blood type diets  and health-related outcomes.

They conclude that there  is currently no evidence

that an adherence to blood type  diets will provide health benefits,

despite the substantial presence and perseverance  of blood type diets within the health industry.

The author responded to  the review on his website,

saying that there's good science  behind the blood type diet

just like there was good science behind  Einstein’s mathematical calculations,

and that if blood type diets were  just tested in the right way,

just like Einstein's E=mc2,  he would be vindicated.

complaining that "you don’t see any  studies on blood types and nutrition"

because of little interest  and available money.

Why doesn't he fund his own studies?  That's what the Atkins Corporation did.

In 1996, he wrote, "I am beginning the  eighth year of a ten year trial

on reproductive cancers,  using the Blood Type Diets."

"By the time I release the  results in another 2 years,

I expect to make it scientifically  demonstrable that the Blood Type Diet

OK, so that would be 1998,  and the results?

Clever tactic, though, saying  you're just about to publish,

banking that nobody would  actually follow up,

so in his sequel he said  he was currently conducting

a 12-week randomized, double-blind,  controlled trial

implementing the Blood Type Diet  to determine its effects

on the outcomes of patients  with rheumatoid arthritis.

"it is difficult not to perceive  the whole thing as a crass fraud."

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