Все о мигрени – All about migraines

Patricia Engel was a skilled pianist and violinist, thirty years of age, who had been well until moving into an all gas-equipped house. At the same time she had changed most of her wardrobe from natural to synthetic fabrics. Within a four-to-five-month period she noticed that she needed rest periods during the day. She also suffered from increasing levels of morning fatigue. Soon this was followed by unexplained muscle soreness.

Miss Engel took a trip to Europe. After being exposed to excessive amounts of motor exhaust while traveling, however, she developed chills and arthritic pains of the neck and shoulders. Another similar episode occurred after she disembarked in New York City when she ran into heavy traffic fumes. But two weeks after returning to her apartment, with its gas-fired range and water heater, generalized joint and muscle aching and pain incapacitated her. The pain started in her shoulders and spine and then spread rapidly to her fingers, hips, knees, ankles, and other joints.

Conventionally minded doctors treated her with aspirin and another nonaspirin pain-killer. Soon she was given cortisone therapy. After three years of this, however, she developed a cataract, whereupon the drug was discontinued. She also received indomethacin (Indocin) and gold therapy, an experimental form of arthritis treatment. Nothing stopped the spread of the disease. By this point, she was so crippled that she had to abandon her career as a musician, since she could no longer play the piano or violin.

Upon admission to the hospital under my care, she fasted and suffered headaches and muscle and joint pains as withdrawal symptoms. These symptoms soon cleared, and her joint movement increased. Miss Engel was then tested with chemically less contaminated health foods. Her reactions, listed in the order of their rapidity of onset, were as follows:

Corn: 30 minutes, sleepiness; 1 hour, restlessness; 3 hours, fatigue and sensitive joints, with generalized myalgia and arthralgia the following morning

Tomato: 30 minutes, knees, hands, and wrists more tight

Peas: 30 minutes, arms, shoulders, and fingers tightened and more sensitive

Beets and beet sugar: 1 hour, restless legs and increasing generalized stiffness

Lamb: 2 hours, hoarseness, followed by chilling and progressive fatigue

and arthritic pains

Rice: 2 hours, tightness and stiffness of knees and wrists

Wheat: 4 hours, restless legs with residual muscle and joint stiffness

Milk: 4 hours, stiffness of joints with residual generalized joint stiffness

and soreness

Beef: 8 hours, aching joints with residual pain in joints

When Miss Engel was fed regular supermarket foods, which had been tolerated in their organic form, after the third such meal she awoke during the night with extreme stiffness and chills, all her joints being so sore that she had to be helped out of bed.

Upon returning home, she avoided all of her incriminated foods, and chlorinated water, and by following the Rotary Diversified Diet (Chap. 18), she remained well. Within a week, however, her arthritis gradually returned. This was tremendously disappointing, especially since she had previously removed her gas stove. She did notice, however, that she felt better when she was outside the house and became increasingly worse the more time she spent inside.

She therefore had her gas-fired heating system removed and replaced it with electric heaters and also had the gas pipes removed from the walls. She made her bedroom into a pollution-free “oasis” (Chap. 20) and then reintroduced questionable items one at a time. She was found to be susceptible to polyester bedsheets, living-room curtains, and several other plastic and synthetic materials. The finish on the doors of her kitchen cabinets was suspected, and there was definite improvement when it was removed.

At the present time, Miss Engel is free of muscle and joint pain, but there remains some impaired motion in the left wrist, due to the destruction of tissue caused when her illness was uncontrolled. She also gets a mild increase in arthritic symptoms before her monthly period, after housekeeping, when the pine trees in her yard are putting out new growth, and when she is working in the yard. However, there is simply no comparison between the minor problems which she has now and the crippled patient whom we admitted to the hospital a few years ago.

Patricia Engel is just the sort of patient whose case could not have been fully understood in the 1940s or early 1950s, because much of her illness was caused by chemical susceptibility. Even such a seemingly innocuous material as the varnish on her kitchen cabinets was contributing to her arthritis and had to be modified or removed before she could get significantly better.

Few diseases are as pathetic as rheumatoid arthritis in children. This problem often starts innocently enough as a swelling in a knuckle or finger, spreads to other parts of the body, and finally leaves the child a cripple for life. It is often accompanied by swollen lymph nodes (glands), enlarged spleen, fever, profuse sweating, and anemia. Conventional medicine recognizes no agreed-upon cause or effective treatment for this ailment.

*74\110\2*

One of the most disturbing aspects of the indoor air pollution problem is the involvement of schools. Here, the use of various chemicals can contribute to the overall chemical and food problem to cause poor performance by both children and teachers.

Poorly designed heating and cooking systems in schools are a major source of trouble. One teacher was always dopey and drowsy when he taught a class located directly above the school cafeteria, from which gas-range odors emanated. His performance improved dramatically when he transferred to a more distant room.

Children suffer all sorts of adverse reactions to chemicals in school, including hyperactivity, inattention, irritability, and the like. This is especially so among children addicted to “junk food,” who live in a polluted home environment.

In 1967, Mrs. Kathleen A. Blume carried out with my help a study of indoor air pollution at a public school in Wauconda, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.8 Mrs. Blume, a home economics teacher, was aided by local parents who were concerned about the quality of air in their children’s schools.

They literally sniffed out problems in the schools:

We used both eyes and nose searching and sniffing our way through . . . school trying to uncover the elusive as well as glaring causes of air contamination. In spite of advances in instruments for measuring contaminating particulates in the air, the human nose remains the chief detector of offensive odors.

It is remarkable, and depressing, how many sources of air pollution these parents were able to find stored in the school. For example, aerosol sprays are known to cause problems because of their volatile mixtures of chemicals, solvents, and the propellant, Freon (itself a mixture of carbon, chlorine, and flourine). The parents found insecticide sprays; paint, enamel, and lacquer sprays; fixatives; spray snow; spray plastic; solvent cleaner; germicidal cleaners; room deodorants; hair spray; furniture polish; disinfectants; deodorants; and even fungicidal sprays for the locker room.

Francis Silver, the engineer who studied this list and cooperated in the Wauconda study, reported that none of these, with the possible exception of the spray enamel and the fixative, could be justified from an ecological point of view.

In some cases, the children were more aware of the dangers of the sprays than the adults. One child, for instance, complained of a burning sensation in her nose, eyes, and throat after a janitor sprayed a disinfectant in a room full of children. This child’s problem lasted well into the evening. When a teacher cleaned her desk top with a spray cleaner, one of the children disliked the smell so much that he asked permission to leave the room. And when another teacher sprayed fixative on chalk drawings, several children complained of the odor and asked her to open the windows.

It should be noted that such sprays not only pose a danger of provoking allergylike symptoms but can result in “spray keratitis,” or damage to the sensitive cornea of the eye from chemical particles in aerosol spray cans.7

Another source of problems in the Wauconda study was janitorial supplies. Twenty-eight different chemicals were found in the supply closets, including some highly toxic products. Mrs. Blume commented:

Janitorial supplies are probably the saddest part of the story. Janitorial chemicals receive no supervision, anything goes. We are so particular about who is allowed to prescribe drugs for patients but janitors spread their products around which then evaporate into the breathed air and are then ingested.. . . If we were more interested in health and not just in treatment, we would probably be more particular about our janitors than we are about our physicians.

The use of such products in schools often represents an “overkill” of bacteria. Dr. Malcolm Hargraves, a senior consultant at the Mayo Clinic, has said:

The American people, I am afraid, are greatly oversold by any article which makes the claim that it is medicated [i.e., anti-bacterial]. The universal use of such agents with such an idea only leads to the development of more resistant strains of bacteria to plague us in the future.8

Actually, fresh air, sunshine, hot water, and unscented soap are still the best disinfecting agents. The “progress” in inventing disinfectants of the last thirty or forty years has added little to our ability to control infectious diseases, while piling up problems for the chemically susceptible. It is tragic to expose children to these and other agents so early, creating a problem which may remain with them for the rest of their lives.

*44\110\2*

A balanced approach is advisable in the case of asthma. Firstly, medicinal drugs may be necessary to control the immediate symptoms and make life bearable for the patient. Secondly, an effort should be made to identify airborne allergens. Some careful detective work, may help to pinpoint the culprits. Skin-prick tests can also be useful here, although they are not always accurate. Once airborne antigens have been identified they can be eliminated as far as possible from the home, using the methods described on p66. If something in the workplace is responsible for the asthma, either as an allergen or an irritant, every effort should be made to change to a different working environment. The asthma may get worse as the years go by, and as the bronchi become more sensitive they react to lower and lower levels of irritant – and they may begin to react to other, milder irritants as well.

After 6-8 weeks, the effect of eliminating airborne allergens and irritants can be assessed, and if there are still serious symptoms then it may be worth trying an elimination diet. Continue with the basic measures for avoiding airborne allergens while the diet is in progress. Where foods provoke asthma, it seems that skin-prick tests are not all that useful in identifying the problem food. So a diet – such as that described in Chapter Fourteen – is the only reliable means of diagnosis. In the case of babies and young children. Remember that children should not be put on an elimination diet without medical supervision. This is particularly important for anyone who has ever had a very severe attack of asthma, because there is a risk of death if a serious reaction occurs when a food is reintroduced. If you are testing foods at home, your doctor should be able to give you a supply of suitable medicine for use in a severe asthma attack.

If foods do turn out to be instrumental in the asthmatic attacks, then avoiding those foods entirely is the simplest solution. Where this proves too difficult or dull, then the drug, sodium cromoglycate, taken by mouth, may be of benefit.

Asthma is a complex disease which may not be entirely due to allergy. For this reason, not all asthmatics will be able to track down the source of their problems using the methods described, and some will have to rely mainly on drugs to control their symptoms. For this group, and indeed for all asthmatics, avoiding exposure to irritants such as smoke and fumes will help greatly. Certain jobs carry a very high risk of asthma because they involve exposure to particular chemicals – these are described on p63- Anyone with a history of asthma, even if they have been free of symptoms for many years, should try to avoid such occupations, because of the likelihood of precipitating asthmatic attacks once more.

*67\180\8*

The human body is 65 per cent water in males and 55 per cent in females (females carry more fat than males and fat is a waterless tissue). All the chemical reactions that give rise to all life on this planet take place in water. Water is the universal trigger substance of life.

Any high school student will tell you that water is a chemical compound (H20) made up of two simple elements, both of which are gases: hydrogen and oxygen. And yet there’s still so much the scientists don’t understand about water and how it works. There are so many anomalies. Water is one of the few substances that is more dense as a liquid than a solid. This is why ice floats. Water is unique in that heating it from its melting point of 0°C to 4°C makes it contract even further. Water can act as both an acid and an alkali, causing it to actually react chemically with itself under certain conditions.

The clue to some of water’s strange behavior lies in the tenuous link the ‘hydrogen bond’ forms between the atoms of oxygen and hydrogen. This bond makes water tremendously flexible yet very fragile. Very little external pressure is necessary to break the bonds and destroy or rearrange its pattern. Because all the chemical reactions of life must occur quickly and with little expenditure of energy, flexible water is the ideal go-between. Its fragility however can cause these normal biological reactions to go awry at times. Significant for us is the fact that wafer is most unstable between the temperatures of 35°C and 40°C. The daytime temperature of an active healthy body is 37°C.

Water’s instability means that different people will react slightly differently under similar circumstances to a given program. For this reason some people get well sooner than others on a given program and some people will experience a steady improvement over a given period while others will experience a waxing and waning of symptoms during their progression towards improvement—the classic two steps forward, one step back pattern. Some people experience a significant improvement suddenly with a tapering off of the rate of improvement as time goes by, while others can be on the program for weeks with no improvement only to find it comes suddenly, all at once, towards the end.

There is significant scientific data to indicate that electro magnetic fields can destabilise water. The two Italian chemists S. Bordi and F. Vannel demonstrated that the electrical conductivity of water could be altered by exposing it to a very small magnet. Scientists of the Atmosphere Research Center in Colorado have demonstrated that water is very sensitive to electromagnetic fields. I have certainly seen evidence of this in my own practice. Sleeping on magnet-containing pillows has helped some of my patients overcome intolerable headaches and sinus problems that the anti-candida/anti-allergy and chiropractor/osteopath treatment regime was only partly able to cure. Magnet-containing knee, ankle, elbow and hand pads have helped arthritic patients while magnet-containing necklaces have helped those with asthma as have magnet-containing inner soles. I’ve witnessed improved responses to dietary treatment when patients have stopped wearing battery-operated and luminous wrist watches, have stopped sleeping on water beds and have moved away from high-tension electricity transmission wires.

There are other easily recognised effects the sun can have on chemical reactions and in particular those that take place in humans. Sunstroke results from a massive loss of water and salts from the body by dehydration through the skin and sometimes sunburn as well. The old Australian bush remedy of taking a large glass of water with a teaspoon of salt for a headache gains credence in the light of this. But what of the more subtle influences? Russian scientists have shown that our blood is directly affected by the sun. Over 120 000 people in a Black Sea resort had the number of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) in their blood measured. All showed a significant drop in the number of these protector cells during times of great solar activity. The number of people suffering from lymphocyte deficiency diseases doubled during the tremendous solar explosion of February 1956.

That many of the body’s functions seem to be influenced by sun-induced changes in the earth’s magnetic field is given further credence by a study case of 5580 coal-mine accidents in the Ruhr that showed most occurred on the day following solar activity. Traffic accident studies conducted in Russia and Germany show an increase, by as much as four times the day after a solar flare. Further evidence that humans’ nervous systems are sensitive to cosmic influences can be found in a survey of 28 642 admissions to psychiatric hospitals in New York. There was a marked increase in admissions on the days when the magnetic observatory reported strong activity.

John Newlson demonstrated that the positions of the other planets (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and so on) in our solar system either influence, or are at least an indication of, the sun’s magnetic field. Certain planetary configurations coincide with stronger and lesser sunspot activities. Does this mean that astrological equations touch life here? I have often wondered why a Virgo mother (for example) can react slightly differently to the same diet as, say, a Leo daughter, given that their body chemistries would be so similar after many years of living together and eating the same meals. I’m always explaining to family members that the nuances of difference in their reaction patterns are the result of their biochemical individuality. Could their individual horoscope (planetary alignment chart) be contributing to their chemical uniqueness? I’ve often wondered.

Chemical reactions within the body are certainly affected by the concentration of chemicals in the cells. Chemical concentrations increase when wafer levels drop, which underscores the importance of keeping (he body properly hydrated at all times. Interfere with the trigger substance and you interfere with life.

Given the enormous influence the moon exerts on the contraction and expansion of the earth’s oceans (that is, the ebb and flow of the tides) and given that the human brain is 80 per cent water, it’s reasonable to assume that the moon has an influence on the way we respond to diets and indeed express ourselves mentally and emotionally.

From my own observation I’ve noticed that a patient is more likely to break a program at or about the full moon. It’s interesting to note that in its report on the effect of the full moon on human behavior the American Institute of Medical Climatology noted that crimes with a strong psychotic motivation, such as kleptomania, arson, alcoholic homicide and destructive driving, show marked increases at the time of a full moon. This of course doesn’t happen to everybody and not everybody breaks his or her program at the full moon. From my observations it’s those who have significantly distorted metabolisms from a lifetime of wrong dietary and living habits that are prone to doing so.

Such metabolic distortions can make their mental balance precarious to start with and changes in the earth’s magnetic field wrought by the forces behind the moon and sun can precipitate varying degrees of crises in these people. Happily though, as the programs are adhered to and the metabolism of the body balances, extraneous forces have less effect. A metabolically balanced person has greater control over his/her life and bodily functions.

Whatever else we, as individuals, may claim to be, we are electric machines whose vulnerable energy reserves may be mobilised and destabilised readily and by many different factors. The vulnerability of our energy reserves is inextricably bound up with the fragility and variability of our medium of electrical conduction—water.

For this reason you should not expect to react to a given program in exactly the same way twice, or as a friend or another member of your family. Don’t be disappointed if they seem to be making better progress than you or you’re not responding as well to a program the second time around. By accepting the uniqueness of your body chemistry and metabolism and by persisting with the program you will ultimately achieve good results. The journey might be different, the arrival will be the same.

*231\18\9*

This gas is one of the major waste products of cellular respiration. The burning of carbohydrate foods (bread, potato, pasta, rice, muesli, porridge, breakfast cereal, beer, Scotch) for energy, produces carbon dioxide (C02). Because cellular respiration never stops, carbon dioxide is continually building up and can make blood dangerously acid if not removed.

Breathing out is the major vehicle for carbon dioxide removal. Like oxygen, this gas also diffuses down a pressure gradient. The same blood that picks up oxygen from the lungs brings carbon dioxide back to the lungs. Because the concentration (pressure) of carbon dioxide in the blood is so high it readily diffuses into the lung to be blown off in the next ‘out’ breath. Because most of the blood vessels that serve the lung are found around its lower lobes, carbon dioxide tends to build up and sit there for extended periods when shallow (upper lobe) breathing is habitual.

Deep breathing reaches down to the lower lobes and draws the stale carbon dioxide out, leaving us feeling fresh and bright. At the end of each exhalation a holding period of three seconds is observed before inhaling again. The three second negative pressure of the empty lungs allows for maximum diffusion, or drawing off, of carbon dioxide from the blood. The lower lobes begin to fill once more. The positive pressure created by the next deep inhalation of air does not force the carbon dioxide back into the blood as so much of it is produced by cellular respiration that the blood concentrations of it are always higher than the lung concentrations.

One interesting side effect of excessive carbon dioxide build-up in the blood is its effect on thyroid gland function. The thyroid hormone, thyroxine, is responsible for the rate at which the cells burn carbohydrate food (which has now been digested down to glucose) for energy. The more thyroxine, the faster they burn carbohydrate and the more heat and energy they produce.

One of the body’s compensatory mechanisms for normalising carbon dioxide levels in the presence of shallow breathing is to slow down its production. By reducing the production of thyroxine it slows the rate at which carbohydrate is burned to produce energy and although less carbon dioxide is produced, body weight tends to increase if food intake (particularly carbohydrate) is not decreased. Food that is not burned for energy is stored as energy reserve in the form of fat.

Just as carbon dioxide slows the metabolic rate, oxygen increases it and it’s not uncommon to raise a sweat while doing the deep breathing exercises described in the chapter on stress.

The advantage of the deep breathing exercises over vigorous physical exercise is that vigorous exercise stimulates the burning of carbohydrate for energy with the attendant build-up of carbon dioxide in the tissues. The deep breathing associated with vigorous exercises manages only to contain carbon dioxide build-up.

Carbohydrate metabolism is not as vigorously stimulated by deep breathing. This enables these exercises to draw out excess carbon dioxide from the blood. The slow rythmic movements of yoga and Tai Chi don’t stimulate carbohydrate metabolism to the degree that football, tennis, jogging, aerobics, weight training and swimming do. As a result, they too have the net effect of normalising blood carbon dioxide levels when combined with their appropriate deep breathing exercises.

*213\18\9*

Q. I don’t eat eggs because I don’t want a cholesterol problem.

A. The humble egg has been much maligned by the cholesterol issue. Eggs are very nutritious as only healthy hens can lay eggs, and although they contain cholesterol, they also contain lecithin, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12 as well as the minerals calcium, magnesium, sulfur, selenium, zinc and phosphorus. These nutrients keep egg cholesterol soluble in the blood and prevent it sticking to the artery wall.

The cholesterol the body makes from junk food is the big problem. Junk food/fast food doesn’t have the vitamin and mineral content needed to keep cholesterol soluble and off the artery walls. When eaten in association with junk food, eggs get the blame for rising cholesterol levels and cholesterol build-up on artery walls. Junk food/fast food never rates a mention. The facts are that two eggs per day raise the blood cholesterol levels by only 2 mg per cent (not enough to contribute to atherosclerosis) in non-smokers, and by 27 mg per cent in smokers. (Smokers inhale the toxic heavy metal cadmium from the smoke of their cigarettes. Cadmium negates the cholesterol-lowering and -dissolving effect of zinc, selenium, and calcium. This can also happen to passive smokers.) Non-smokers on the programs in this book will not see their cholesterol levels rise from eating eggs.

Eggs are close to being a complete food. They are one of the few foods that food manufacturers haven’t adulterated. Their high sulfur content builds strong joints, nails, hair, skin and brain cells. Eggs are good for arthritis and slow the ageing process.

Try to have eggs at least two or three times per week. However, if your cholesterol levels are high, you should wait until they have normalised. That way you won’t have well-meaning family and friends badgering you and spoiling your egg meal. Vegetarians will enjoy good health if they include eggs in their program.

A teaspoon of vitamin C powder in a glass of juice or water, taken daily, is excellent for normalising cholesterol levels and keeping them normal. Remember only 30 per cent of the cholesterol in our blood comes directly from the food we eat. The rest is manufactured from the liver, mostly from fats and oils. However, any food eaten over and above the body’s calorie requirement can be converted to cholesterol. Junk food/fast food is very high in calories.

Q. I’m a breastfeeding mother, what program should I be on?

A. The only program to be on while you are breastfeeding is the Metabolism-Balancing Program. This will keep the nutrient content of your milk high. The Anti-Candida/Anti-Allergy Programs are too food restrictive for breastfeeding mothers. Breastfeeding, and the broken sleep that goes with it, is too stressful for these programs. However, if you have severe reactions to certain foods, stay off them. It could turn your baby off your milk, and the stress of such a reaction could affect milk production.

Recently the British medical journal. Lancet, reported that babies breastfed beyond seven months had stronger immune systems than formula-fed babies. The crux of allergy prevention and treatment is strong immunity. Wean the baby at ten to twelve months, then start the Anti-Candida/Anti-Allergy Program. The Anti-Candida/Anti-Allergy Program is OK during pregnancy.

Q. I don’t eat fish as I’ve heard it’s polluted by the water?

A. Only fish caught from the shallow waterways around major cities and industrial areas are polluted. All the others are fine. Before buying, ask where the fish were caught. There’s no species that is considered completely clean as a group, as those that can be caught in clean waters can also be found close to cities.

*195\18\9*

You should drink fresh spring water (those delivered to the home and office are good) or mineral water from a spa—not commercially made. Deep Spring and Taurina are good spa waters. No more than five cups (combined) per day of tea and coffee (no whitener of any sort, no sweetener of any sort). Diet Coke or diet lemonade may be used as a treat for adults and kids—no more than two to three times per week. Raw lemon or lime juice may be squeezed into water to give variety of taste. No alcohol.

No fruit juices on this program—they are too concentrated in natural sugars and many have mould growing in them.

No tea or coffee for one hour before taking the supplements or for three hours after. The acids in tea and coffee block the absorption of the minerals. No cocoa or hot chocolate.

Raw fruit, fresh fruit salad (only from the low and negligible amine and salicylate list for the first four weeks) or stewed fruit are the only permissible desserts and they can be had for eight of the twelve weeks of the program. No dried fruit, yoghurt or sweetener of any sort (including honey) is to be added to the dessert. Have the dessert thirty to sixty minutes after the main meal. This time span is important if the water in the fruit is not to dilute the digestive juices and interfere with the digestion of the main meal.

Only one fruit salad per day is to be eaten on this program. If you have one for breakfast or lunch, you must go without dessert at dinner.

*177\18\9*

Immediately on rising, before you do anything else, drink from two to five 230 mL (8 oz) glasses of fresh spring, mineral or filtered tap water (warm water in winter). If these are not available you will have to have straight tap water either boiled for ten minutes (no lid on it) or left to stand overnight to evaporate the chlorine and settle the sediment. Have another glass about an hour later. The following is a guide to how much water to drink on rising:

Lean body weight

63 kg (10 st) and under 2 glasses

63-70 kg (10-11 st) 3 glasses

70-76 kg (11-12 st) 4 glasses

Over 76 kg (12 st) 5 glasses

Lean body weight should be calculated. This is your optimum weight before you started putting on weight. This is most important for kids.

You may, at first, find it hard to accommodate this much water first thing in the morning. Don’t be put off by this. It only takes ten to fourteen days to get used to it. If your abdomen is bloating to the point of discomfort, add l/4-l/2 teaspoon of glucose powder to each glass of water. Glucose powder is obtainable from chemists, health stores and supermarkets. Glucose speeds the rate of absorption from the gut into the blood, reducing abdominal distension and the feeling of fullness. Switch to warm water if you are having trouble getting it all down; warm water has a relaxing effect on the stomach and gut muscles.

The early morning fluid is important for:

(a) flushing toxins from the liver;

(b) flushing the kidneys, especially of calcium oxalate, the major cause of kidney stones;

(c) cleansing the bowel: all the swallowing required to get the water down sets up peristalsis, the rhythmic contractions of the bowel muscles that move wastes along and out.

Try to fit fifteen minutes of deep breathing exercises in between the drinking of the water and the eating of breakfast. Don’t eat for half an hour after the water.

Do not eat unleavened bread while on this program. Eat only those whole meal breads that have been raised with yeast.

*159\18\9*

Even a tiny trace of a food to which you are sensitive can be enough to make you react. Avoid all processed foods if you want to be absolutely sure that you are leaving out any food totally. Remember oils, herbs and spices are foods as well – leave these off any food you are testing.

Are you consuming anything else that might contain the offending food, even if you are not actually eating it as a single food? Avoid home medicines (including homeopathic) and drugs, if at all possible -they may contain the food in tabletting, syrups or flavouring. You may have to stop using toothpaste, mouthwashes and other such products. Avoid licking stamps, envelopes or other gummed surfaces -these are often gummed with glues derived from wheat, corn or potato. Avoid taking vitamins and minerals unless it is essential and you know exactly what is in the formulation. Think of anything else you might lick or chew – chewing-gum, paper, anything at all?

*107 \117\8*

Some reactions to food are caused by false food allergy and by reactions to chemicals, such as histamine and tyramine, that occur naturally in food.

The main symptoms caused by the principal types of food intolerance are shown in Diagram 3. You may find you suffer from one or more of these symptoms. Symptoms can come and go, or you may only react to a food if you eat large amounts of it, or if you eat it regularly.

Another characteristic of the symptoms of food intolerance is that if you leave out a food that you eat regularly for a while, and then reintroduce it, you can experience different, often intense, symptoms. This is the result of a phenomenon known as ‘masking’. People who are intolerant of a food they eat regularly, even several times a day, often complain of constant, background symptoms, such as exhaustion, muscle aches, indigestion and headaches, that they have learned to live with. These symptoms disappear when they leave out the food causing the trouble. On reintroduction of the food, some people, not all, find they experience symptoms that are not the same as the background, masked symptoms they were used to, but which are quite clearly linked to the reintroduced food. These unmasked reactions can be very strong. Conversely, it is also common that, if people with food intolerance of this kind leave the offending food out of their diet for some time, they can then eat it again without problems. Masking is also common in people with multiple sensitivities

Withdrawal symptoms can result if you stop eating a food that you eat regularly, or the day after you eat a food that you only have every so often.

Hyperventilation is common in some people with food intolerance, and their stools are pale and smelly; the babies usually fail to grow. If the disease develops in adulthood, the symptoms are diarrhoea, gut pain, bloating, weakness and weight loss.

Hyperactivity in children has been linked to food intolerance and to chemical sensitivity.

People with food intolerance who have sorted out their diets often report that a number of symptoms other than the main ones clear up once they exclude their problem foods. These are not formally recognised as symptoms of food intolerance, but they are so commonly reported by people that they are taken seriously as indicators of food intolerance. These can include excessive weight swings (more than 0.5 kg/1 lb gain or loss per day); irritability and mood swings; body odour; flushing and excessive sweating; difficulty in controlling body temperature; feeling too cold or too hot; food cravings; excessive thirst; insomnia.

So-called ‘allergy shiners’, big black rings under the eyes, are often typical of the allergy or intolerance sufferer. These often disappear once problem foods are removed from the diet.

*38\117\8*

Sensitivity to washing powders and liquids is very idiosyncratic; one product will affect one person, and not another. The ingredients which most often cause reactions are enzymes, chlorine bleaches, perfumes and a stabiliser ethylene-diamino-tetra acetate (EDTA). Other petrochemical-based chemicals in laundry agents also cause problems. Avoid biological powders, enzyme powders and combined conditioner and detergent products.

If you think you react to your washing powder or liquid, it may be that it is not being rinsed out adequately. If you live in a soft-water area, or if you use low temperature programmes a lot, detergent residues may not be rinsed out and can remain in the laundry when dry. Try running an extra rinse programme on every wash.

Doing hand-washing may expose you to too much of your detergent. You may be inhaling or touching enough to make you react, while using machine-washing and rinsed clothes may be fine. Avoid hand-washing if possible – use a wool or fine materials programme on a machine.

*312\117\8*

Babies can be allergic from birth, or develop allergies later, to inhalants such as house dust mites, pollens, moulds, pets and other animals, or fibres, such as wool. If you want full information on any of these, go to the relevant sections of the Guide for detailed advice on full avoidance measures. Below you will find advice on precautionary measures to protect a potentially allergic baby.

Babies (and people generally) with allergies sometimes have a predisposition to develop further allergies. It can help to prevent this by taking general precautions to reduce the load of allergens on a young baby, particularly in the first two years of life.

Precautionary Measures

For bedding, using pure cotton blankets, which are washable at high temperatures, helps protect against house dust mites. Duvets are more difficult to dry and air, not usually washable at high temperatures, and are best avoided. Wool and feathers are more allergenic than cotton and best avoided.

Do not put a newborn baby on a sheepskin sleeping rug, to protect against allergy to wool. Allergy to cotton is rare but if your baby is allergic to cotton.

Wash all bedding regularly, and keep it aired and dry to keep house dust mites and moulds under control. Turning back blankets to air and placing a hot water bottle in a cot a few hours before bedtime helps to keep bedding dry. Avoid cot bumpers which obstruct ventilation and can harbour dust mites. Keep all rooms well aired, dry and ventilate well. Damp and poor ventilation encourage house dust mites and moulds.

Avoid keeping any pets if you can until a child is at least two years old. If you do keep a pet, prevent it sleeping on the baby’s cot, in the baby’s room, or where the baby crawls or plays most of the time.

Use filters on a vacuum cleaner, and ‘damp dust’. This prevents virtually all allergens (house dust mites, pet allergens, pollens, moulds, fibres) being dispersed back around the room during the cleaning, and gradually clears allergens embedded in furnishings and flooring.

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Take care with house plants. If you are unusually sensitive to moulds, you may not be able to tolerate indoor pot plants at all. Moulds grow in the soil, and in the more humid atmosphere around the foliage.

To avoid problems with plants, put a light gravel on the surface of the soil in each pot and water the plants by placing water in a dish or saucer underneath. Take care not to let them stand in pools of water, which encourages moulds.

If you have garden beds against the walls of your home, or pots or beds immediately under windows, these can often be concentrated sources of moulds. You would be best to move beds and pots away from direct proximity to the walls, so that moulds do not rise straight into the home. Similarly, compost heaps are best kept as far from the home as possible. Water butts also are a source of moulds. Take care with siting these.

Gardening produces some of the most intense concentrations of moulds possible. If you love gardening, you will probably have to find out by trial and error what you can tolerate and what you cannot. You probably would be best avoiding many gardening tasks such as cutting grass, raking leaves, composting and heavy digging, and should stay out of greenhouses.

You could come to a deal over gardening with a friend or a family member, that you do the bits that you can for them such as weeding or pruning – in return for them doing the bits that you cannot.

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