If you do not know where to start, your simple course of action is to:
• Take precautions against house dust mites
• Use the Pillow Test to work out what fibres you react to before making any major changes
• Do not replace everything at once. Try out one piece (e.g. a pillowcase or pillow) of a new material to see how you go
• Use anti-dust mite bedding and covers if you tolerate synthetics
• Use pure cotton bedding unless you are allergic to cotton
• Test out bedding in small samples before making any major purchases
Allergy and chemical sensitivity are very idiosyncratic. What works for one member of your family or for a friend may not work for you.
So keep an open mind, stay flexible, take it one step at a time, and with luck you will not waste time and money. Use the Pillow Test to test out materials before deciding what to buy. Borrow bedding from relatives or friends to test them out before replacing yours. Buy one pillowcase, or one pillow rather than a whole set at once.
It is often enough just to replace the bedclothes that immediately surround your head, where you inhale. Some people find, for instance, that if they replace their pillow or pillowcase, or use an anti-mite pillow cover, it can be enough to stop problems. Another trick is to place a piece of fabric which you tolerate over the top of the sheet, duvet or blanket where you breathe in. If this works, you may not need to replace sheets or duvets. It is also a good way of testing out fibres fully before making a major purchase.
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If you are exceptionally sensitive, be careful about where you or your child go if you visit people who have animals, or be careful with visitors coming into your home. Get them to leave coats and jackets outside the door. Research has shown that cat allergens, for instance, have been found at surprisingly high levels in cat-free homes, brought in by visitors. Beware of travelling in cat owners’ cars.
When choosing holiday accommodation, ask whether pets are allowed in the place. If so, and you need to avoid them, stay elsewhere.
If looking for a new home, check whether pets have previously lived in the house or flat, and which parts of the place they have particularly used. If you have any concerns, do not move into somewhere where pet-owners lived previously. Remember that you can develop allergies to lingering allergens months or even longer after you have moved, and that you can be allergic to saliva and urine, not just to hair and fur. Be prepared to have to replace flooring and do a rigorous cleaning programme (see above) if you find that you do become sensitive to a new home.
Finally, if you have a strong family tendency to allergy to pets, it is preferable to avoid keeping a pet if you have a baby or young children. Children under two are particularly vulnerable. If you do have a family pet, then follow the avoidance measures above and keep your home as free as you can of allergens. Preventative measures with young children may help them avoid lifelong problems with allergy. If you must keep pets, try goldfish or tropical fish – maybe not as lovable as a cat, dog or small furry mammal – but allergy free!
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Compulsive eating can develop in those non-drinkers who developed their particular food sensitivity as children or young adults. Many young people when they leave home to live with friends are too busy socialising and having fun in their out of work hours to take the time to cook balanced meals with a good variation of foods. Eating on the go becomes the thing and the diet is usually made up of refined takeaway foods and TV dinners which are vitamin and mineral deficient and made up basically of the same things—white sugar and white flour. Chemical flavourings, colourings and preservatives give this monotonous diet its variety. Ambitious young high achievers fall into this food category as well. They’re too busy working to cook balanced meals.
Many of the over-weight compulsive eaters I’ve treated developed their food cravings as a result of over-exposure to a given food as a child (in the manner previously described) or as a young person who left the nest and Mum’s home cooking. These food cravings can manifest in one of two ways. Either as a craving for the food in question or as a craving for sugar. Allergic hypoglycaemia is the term used to describe this latter phenomenon. Hypoglycaemia means a sudden dropping in the levels of glucose in the blood. When this happens, a message is sent to the brain that glucose levels must be restored immediately, and a craving for sugar results. Those people whose allergy withdrawal symptoms trigger hypoglycaemia are driven by an unbelievable compulsion to eat sweets or white flour foods, lots of them and often. Uncontrollable over-weight soon becomes a problem for them, is of great benefit to people with allergic hypoglycaemia.
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A fixed allergy, to a food, chemical, gas, dust, pollen, grass or mould, is one that you are born with and will have till the day you die. It’s something you have inherited a propensity for. Sometimes it can be controlled so that its effects are minimised. This is particularly so in the ease of inhalant allergens, such as dust, grasses and moulds, where vaccines can be administered to desensitise the sufferer to the allergen. In the case of a fixed allergy to a food (for example, strawberries, tomatoes) the best treatment is to avoid the food completely. Fortunately, only 5 per cent of allergic people suffer from a fixed allergy.
Not everybody experiences their allergic reactions in the blood. Some allergic reactions are confined to the intestines and make up any or all of those symptoms listed under ‘Gastro-intestinal’ later in this chapter. Blood tests are of little use to these people as the foods causing the problem are seldom absorbed through the intestinal wall into the blood to register their presence there. However, the mechanism of the gut-mediated allergic reaction is the same as that of the blood-mediated one, except that in this case it is the white blood cells lining the intestinal wall that have become over-sensitive rather than those floating in the blood. Celiac disease (massive gluten sensitivity) and Crohn’s disease are extreme examples of gut-mediated allergies.
The trial and error removal and reintroduction of foods—one at a time—is the only way to test for the offending gut-mediated allergies. However, this can’t be done until the stress levels have been reduced and any existing Candida yeast infections in the intestines have been contained. Stress and Candida yeast infections give rise to the same symptoms as gut-mediated food allergies.
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Although many over-exposure allergies can develop from a sudden massive exposure to a given substance (for example, by being overcome by fumes during an industrial accident, or getting smashed on a particular alcoholic beverage while tired or suffering from a cold or ‘flu), over-exposure allergies can develop slowly over a longer period of time. The continual eating of a given food, especially if it is a refined food such as white bread, can give us an allergy to wheat. In this case eating the white bread day in, day out, wears out the digestive enzymes in the wall of the small intestine and the liver, causing the semi-digested food to be absorbed into the blood. A semi-digested food is a foreign body and is recognised by an over-sensitive immune system as an allergen.
Because the digestive enzymes are made from vitamins and minerals, the cells need vitamins and minerals to replace enzymes that are wearing out. Refined foods (white bread, canned and frozen foods, processed meats, take-away foods) don’t carry the nutrients they need to build replacement enzymes. Thus malnutrition contributes significantly to over-exposure allergies. It is significant that stress and malnutrition go together—most highly stressed people skip meals altogether and so completely miss out on their vitamins and minerals.
The slow drip-feeding into the blood of the toxic waste products, particularly acetaldehyde, from the yeast Candida albicans, can produce over-exposure to this chemical over a long period of time. Allergic reactions thus ensue.
Cyclic allergies are those that develop as a result of over-exposure to a food, chemical, pollutant, fume, gas, pollen or grass. Cyclic allergies account for 95 per cent of all allergies (the remaining 5 per cent are fixed) and can usually be overcome if you haven’t been exposed to the allergen for too long. The majority of cyclic allergies begin as a result of over-exposure to a chemical or food. Many children are born with a cyclic allergy as their mothers were suffering from a cyclic allergy during pregnancy. As time goes by the sensitivity can spread to other foods and chemicals and on to grasses, pollens, dusts, yeasts, fungi and dust mites. Ninety days’ avoidance of the allergenic substance is usually enough to desensitise the body to that substance.
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‘Not only will men of science have to grapple with the sciences that deal with man, hut—and this is a Jar more difficult matter— they will have to persuade the world to listen to what they have discovered. If they cannot succeed in this difficult enterprise, man will destroy himself by his halfway cleverness.’
Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970
An allergy is an over-reaction of the body’s immune system in its efforts to protect the body against what it (the immune system) perceives to be a threat. When resistance is down, sensitivities are up and allergies easily develop.
The immune system is the body’s main line of defense against invading foreign substances that can damage it. It is made up of the white blood cells, known as lymphocytes. These are clumped together in lymphoid tissue, which is found in the spleen, the lining of the small and large intestines and the lymph nodes of the neck, armpits and groin. The lymph nodes are well evident during periods of infection when they swell up arid are frequently referred to as ‘swollen glands’.
When a foreign substance enters the body, the lymphocytes become sensitised by its presence and produce special proteins, called antibodies, which circulate in the blood until they make contact with and destroy the foreign substance.
Collectively, these foreign substances are known as antigens and may come in many different shapes and forms—viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxic chemicals from polluted water and air, and the preservatives and colourings in artificial foods. Evidence suggests that the major toxin (acetaldehyde) released into the blood by the yeast Candida albicans is a potent antigen.
In rendering the antigen harmless to the body, the antibodies have given us an immunity to that antigen. Once sensitised by an antigen, the lymphocytes remember that antigen and, in some cases, are able to successfully produce antibodies against it for the rest of our lives. In this way we enjoy lifelong immune protection from that substance. The diseases measles and chicken pox are good examples. Once contracted in childhood, our resistance to them usually becomes so great that they seldom bother us again through life.
Unfortunately, not all immune systems function perfectly all of the time. Sometimes there are imbalances in the immune system (resulting from imbalances in the body’s metabolism) that give rise to excesses in the immune reaction. These excesses cause side effects and these side effects are known as allergic reactions.
Allergic reactions occur when there is an excess of histamine released into the blood and tissues.
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‘Even your body knows its heritage and its rightful needs and will not be deceived. And your body is the harp of your soul, And it is yours to bring forth sweet music from it or confused sounds.’
Kahlil Gibran. The Prophet
As a 23-year-old woman living in the 80s, I have, like many other people, tried to eat well and get some exercise. The media had made me very body conscious, and if I didn’t keep my weight down, I became depressed, felt unattractive and my self-esteem plummeted. In order to keep it down, I had to eat very small amounts. I became convinced that I had a fat-storing metabolism and to keep my weight down I had to eat very little.
Like many women, I have agonised over my body, spending literally hundreds of dollars on cellulite treatments, and there have been many years of not a morsel passing my lips without a calorie count. Looking back on it, it was an awfully stressful, anti-social way to be treating food. You could say I was at war with my body.
At 60 kg in July 1987, I decided to go on one of my severe diets, which consisted of cereal and skim milk for breakfast, Ryvita, salmon and salad for lunch and steamed vegetables for dinner. By November I had lost 6.5 kg. I experienced weakness and hunger pains, but the psychological high I was on overrode feelings of drowsiness and lethargy.
At this time, I was studying part-time and had taken over the job of Section Head in a nursery caring for children under three years of age. Wanting to achieve recognition from my colleagues, I set myself the task of getting the nursery into good working order. Basically, I put my needs last and burnt the candle at both ends. I began a downhill run and by March 1988 I had deteriorated physically and mentally and needed a week off work for what the doctor diagnosed as stress. The week off work helped alleviate the severe headaches and back pain, but on returning to work I still did not feel 100 per cent better.
I spent the Easter weekend at my parents’ property on the outskirts of Bathurst, and all Mum’s lovely cooking went down very well. So well, in fact, that within three weeks I had gained the 6.5 kg I had lost and kept off over a nine month period. I was unable to start dieting again; I was tired of it all. Depression set in severely.
I was also extremely sensitive and emotional. I would snap at people without meaning to. Regarding the poor concentration and loss of memory, I can tell you, when you’re twenty-three and find it impossible to recall one bit of conversation you had ten minutes earlier, it’s very scary.
At the time I consulted Phil Alexander in May 1988, I was beginning to doubt my professional capabilities. Talking to Phil was very encouraging. Yes, he told me, I would recover, my symptoms would be alleviated; but I must rest, as I was suffering from stress as well. He told me that my sinusitis and resultant bad breath was of physiological, not psychological, origin and gave me a referral to an allergy clinic for tests.
Although I wasn’t allergic to any foods, I was allergic to moulds, house dust mites, grasses and pollens. Phil placed me on the Anti-Candida Program, with the prescribed drug Nystatin to kill off the Candida yeast over-growth in my body, and a vitamin supplement to help balance my out-of-kilter metabolism, unbalanced by my many years of crash/semi-starvation diets. To think that for years I thought I was doing the right thing by my body. How wrong I was!
The meals set out for me were incredibly substantial and I thought I would put on weight. Not so at all. Although the first week of my Anti-Candida Program was unpleasant, with headaches, sinusitis and stomach pain (all Candida yeast withdrawal symptoms), I lost 2.25 kg of fluid in five days, as I had more of a fluid problem than a fat problem. After a fortnight I felt 100 per cent better and had lost another 1.5 kg. I was sitting down to beautiful meals each night and I was very hungry in between meals. There was no bloating associated with eating and my metabolism was speeding up considerably. As well as sticking to the program religiously, I kept my house free of mould and dust and made sure I got plenty of rest.
By the time I went back to see Phil, after four weeks on my program, I was so excited I literally bounded into his office so eager to tell him how wonderful I was feeling, how much energy I had. I had lost 4.5 kg altogether, and the high I was experiencing was indescribable, very different from the highs I had experienced when I had lost weight before.
Phil was pleased for me and instructed me to carry on as I was. During the second month my appetite decreased a little and I no longer needed rice wafers in between meals. It was at this time that I came down with inflamed back muscles, due to heavy lifting. As rotten as I was feeling physically, I still felt mentally well and made sure I didn’t spend my days off work feeling sorry for myself. I kept busy with sewing and recovered rapidly without the aid of prescribed drugs from my doctor. I wondered if 1 would have recovered as well two months earlier, before my program.
To sum it all up, after being at war with my body for four years, I am discovering what it is like to have energy, not feel over-stressed, feel restored after a good night’s sleep and be happy. When people ask me if the program is working for me, I tell them that I am an entirely different person from what I was two and a half months ago. That is the absolute truth too! I feel attractive, confident; my self-esteem is riding high and I am learning not to compare myself to other women, to love me and my body for what it is.
I am discovering new, tasty nutritious meals and there are no guilt feelings attached to sitting down and eating a beautiful veal and veggie casserole. Farewell to calorie counting forever!
What is so exciting for me is that I am still in the healing process. I have some way to go, but I am already reaping the benefits. People are commenting on how well I look -my skin, my hair, my eyes. My parents are thrilled and relieved to see that, at last, the answer to my problem has been found. My boyfriend tells me how attractive I have been looking lately and I know my state of physical, and mental/ emotional health will improve more. Like my newly found love of cooking and eating, I am exercising more because I have the energy and really want to. I don’t feel I have to -there is now a challenge to be the healthiest person I can. My current exercise is martial arts and I love it more now that I am on my anti-allergy program. I feel better than I did when I lost weight on a diet at the ladies’ gym and was doing four aerobic classes a week, as well as weights.
I shudder to think what would have happened to my health if I had not investigated further the real cause of my complaints. I’m sure I would have crash dieted more, and in doing so deteriorated more, perhaps irreparably. I stick with this program and take it seriously, and so 1 should. This is my life and my body, the only one I have been given. I will not break this program.
Realising how biochemically different I am I would never again pick a diet that doesn’t have the research and experience of a practising physician backing it. Never again would I skip a meal. When I see young women skipping meals and eating minuscule amounts, I now try to explain what they are doing to themselves. They don’t listen, because they think they know it all, and know their body’s needs just like I thought I did.
Thanks to the expertise and knowledge of the author of this book, I am learning to love me, and love my body for what it is. I am healthy, alive, vital, energetic and attractive. I am indebted to Phil Alexander for all his help in making what really is the ‘new me’.
I hope readers will see me as a success story and an inspiration to overcome their complaints.
As I re-read my words, the excitement and challenge builds up in me more. I really believe in what I am doing. It all may be hard for you to comprehend, it is even hard for me sometimes, but if you have success in overcoming your allergies, you will understand the message I am conveying.
Paula Jackson, 1988
POSTSCRIPT—1990
Paula is still fit and well though she’s been through a rough patch that saw her health decline for a while. Like so many people who’ve regained their vitality, Paula began to embrace life with great enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm in fact. She burnt herself out. Tiredness, aches and pains, fluid retention and confusion began to return. Not because of allergy and Candida infection this time, but because of fatigue. Paula, like so many others, believed her new found energy was boundless and in an effort to make up for lost time began doing all those things she was too tired to do before. Admittedly pre-wedding nerves and adjusting to married life played it’s part but the major cause of her symptoms was overdoing it.
We human beings have a very short memory of matters pertaining to our former ill health. We easily forget what it was like to be down and Paula fell into this trap. She now realises that although the spirit may be willing the flesh has limitations. She has now learned to pace herself by recognising her particular early warning symptoms of stress and slowing down before these symptoms become full blown.
UPDATE—1995
Paula is now 30 and feeling better than she did at age 19. She’s married, pregnant, works part time and has a healthy two-year-old boy who shows all the signs of being an advanced, even gifted, child. All this she attributes to her continued adherence to the Metabolism-Balancing Program and supplements. She maintains high energy levels, trouble-free pregnancies (no toxaemia) and optimal weight levels during and between pregnancies. The learning experience of overcoming her previous illness has put her in tune with her body and there has been no return of her Candida and allergy symptoms.
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