Do you know your blood type? Honestly, I'm not sure I know mine, either. Save for a situation when a person would be giving or in need of receiving blood, is it really that important to know? According to an article that appears in the current issue of Men's Health, it's extremely important.

The article first breaks down, in diagram form, what percentage of men have what particular blood type. According to the chart, 45 percent are Type O (with 38 percent being Type O Positive and seven percent being Type O Negative); 40 percent are Type A (with 34 percent being Type A Positive and six percent being Type A Negative); 11 percent are Type B (with nine percent being Type B Positive and two percent being Type B Negative); and four percent of men are Type AB (with three percent being Type AB Positive and one percent being Type AB Negative).

The piece then proceeds to explain some health facts associated with each specific blood type. According to what is listed, men who are ...

Type O face an increased risk of lung cancer if they use a lot of salt and alcohol, say Danish researchers;

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Celebrities are under pressure to be super-thin for movie roles, appearances and more. They try some pretty crazy weight-loss gimmicks to lose weight, while all seem either unhealthy, unnatural or downright uncomfortable. AOL Body has put together this list of the wackiest diet ideas:

• Martha's Vineyard Diet
• Cabbage Soup Diet
• The Lemonade Diet
  
• Blood Type Diet
  
• Facial Analysis Diet: Your diet is determined by an analysis of your skin
• Grapefruit Diet: This involves eating half a grapefruit before every meal
  
• Fat Flush Diet: This mostly-water diet should be called the water-flush diet -- that's all it does
• Coconut Diet: Based on the belief that coconut boost metabolism, you eat a lot of coconut on this plan.
  
• Cardio-free diet
• Any diet using diet pills

Come on, fess up -- have you tried any of these? Most of us have

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A group of international researchers have discovered an efficient way to strip antigens from red blood cells, making donated blood "universal." Everyone has a blood type -- A, B, AB, and O -- and your blood type makes a big difference in who you can give blood to and who you can receive blood from.

But a new process, using a type of bacteria, can strip red blood cells of their "type" making the blood safe to give to anyone. This would not only relieve blood bank shortages, but may also make blood transfusions safer overall. Though the risk is small, mistakes are made in about 1 in 15,000 blood transfusions.

Though the process has been developed, the method has not yet entered clinical trials to test for safety. But if the process turns out to be safe and efficient, universal donor blood may just be a part of the medical industry's future.

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The word "diet" almost immediately sets a distasteful feeling in my mouth. I LOVE to eat. Yet I fail to realize the word "diet" is nothing more than a word that outlines the food I place into my body, or better, my temple. I'm a pretty healthy eater so I figure as long as I read labels and pay close attention, I'll do okay.

But then I talked with someone who proclaimed to know everything about the red dyes or corn extract on the packaging of you name it. He'd run marathons, done Iron Man competitions, and during our conversation suggested a diet I wasn't familiar with: the Eat Right 4 Your Type diet. The basis of this eating plan is that different foods complement different blood types and , if eaten, can aid in weight loss.

Sure, the concept sounds interesting but, ever the skeptic, I need to do more research. Whether I'll jump on board this one right away or not, I don't know. But if you're interested at all, Eat Right 4 Your Type -- the official website of the Blood Type Diet -- is a good starting point to discover what foods may work well with your blood type. Another good section to scope out is the BTD blogosphere, where Type O's, A's, B's and AB's share their successes and progress with the diet. Best thing is it doesn't sound like they're trying to sell a product.

Are there any healthy readers out there who have tried this diet? Any words of wisdom for your type?

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