Author Q&A: Dr James D’Adamo, “Just an Ounce of Prevention”

James L. D’Adamo, N.D., D.N.B., is releasing his latest book—Just an Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure—this week. The  originator of the Blood Type Diet, Dr. D’Adamo is the founder and director of the D’Adamo Institute for the Advancement of Natural Therapies. Fifty years ago, Dr. D’Adamo made a discovery that would revolutionize natural medicine by establishing a correlation between a person’s blood type and their dietary requirements, physical exercises, inherent strengths and weaknesses, and what assets and liabilities one was given at birth. Dr D’Adamo speaks with Write On! about health, health writing, and his latest book.

Why did you write Just an Ounce of Prevention?
I decided to write Just an Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure because I had more than a decade of new research and new discoveries to share with the public and old and new patients.

Healing is an art, an evolving art, and there is always something new to learn, explore, discover, and share. My passion for healing, my respect and fascination with the way Nature works to heal and rebalance the body, keeps me actively engaged. I’ve been treating people for over 50 years—and I wanted to describe new ideas I had discovered in terms of blood types, sub-blood types, and nutrition. I constantly work to fine tune my approach to healing—and to preventing disease.

In what way was the experience similar to/different than writing your first book?
When I wrote my first book, One Man’s Food-Is Someone Else’s Poison, I described my use of blood types and nutrition and the importance of individualized treatment. But that was back in 1980 when America’s health movement was still very young. Thirty years later, people are more aware of the importance of eating healthily, yet it is still not emphasized enough—and it wasn’t part of the health care legislation.

What was your favorite part of writing Just an Ounce of Prevention?
I felt it was important to focus my book on preventing disease while the country was having a national conversation about health care reform. What is health care reform really? Is it really just about universal health insurance? The best insurance policy a person—or nation—can have is following an individual diet, based on a person’s blood type; eating appropriately to prevent disease from ever developing.

What specific elements do authors need to keep in mind when writing a book about health?
Writing about health is different than writing about any other topic—like a mystery or a love story—since the author should really be an authority on the subject matter that he/she is writing about.

And since there are so many different types of health books in the market, you should focus on differentiating your health book from the rest of the pack. This means offering groundbreaking research results—or an original idea. For instance, when I wrote my Just an Ounce of Prevention I had decades of research and findings that I needed to share with the greater public; research that I had already used with successful results helping thousands of my patients at The D’Adamo Institutes in the US and Canada.

How do you keep the information engaging?
I always say that there are no two people alike, not even identical twins are exactly alike—and each person must be respected for their unique and individual needs. Nowhere in the national conversation have we discussed prevention. I felt that was the urgent message of our time.

It’s important when writing a book to find the very right voice, the right tone, and conversational style.

What are the three most important lessons you hope readers take away from Just an Ounce of Prevention?
I hope readers learn to appreciate the individual approach to nutrition; I hope they learn to be patient with themselves as they adapt to healthier diets. Mostly, I hope they understand that food and eating habits largely determine their future health.

Additional advice for writers?
Work with someone who you really connect with. I worked with Allan Richards on my first book and we had a good flow for that book. As he writes in this book, I had been working with other writers and I wasn’t connecting with them, so I hunted Allan down after not speaking to each other for over 25 years. He flew up to see me and we reconnected as if no time had passed. We took a walk around my farm, played a few games of bacci—and suddenly the juice was flowing between us and we knew we could work together again. If you are going to collaborate with a writer, that flow has to be there.

Any final thoughts?
I’ve been treating people for over 50 years—and I wanted to describe new ideas I had discovered in terms of blood types, sub-blood types and nutrition. I constantly work to fine tune my approach to healing—and to preventing disease.