Food Intolerance Test

The test covers well over 120 different foods. The test is similarly done using Bio- electronic technique, is non invasive and thus no side effects. The efficacy of the test is approx. 85%, which means the pick up is about 85% of definite foods that you body is intolerant to. By an elimination diet you will be more aware of the others. You will be counselled on a balanced, healthy alternative diet that you can explore. Remember that as you withdraw from foods that have been aggravating your body you may most likely have some withdrawal symptoms such as tiredness, irritation and headachy. These usually subside within a few days and improvement often pursues. There are further aspects of a healthy nutrition such as Macrobiotics, Food Combining etc. which you may entertain when you are ready.

Food Intolerance & Nutritional Guidelines

Among the many factors to good health are

• A positive approach and the right mental attitude

• Good food, adequate water hydration and right approach to nutrition

• Fresh air, rest and exercise

• A good environment to live in

• The right medical care when we need it

A good balance of these is important to us all.

Hippocrates advised “Let food be your medicine and let medicine be your food” over two millennia ago. It’s still true today that what I eat becomes my body.

Water for Health
Water makes up more than 70% of the body’s tissues and plays a role in nearly every body function from regulating temperature and cushioning joints to bringing oxygen to the cells and removing waste from the body. Severe dehydration can affect blood pressure, circulation, digestion and kidney function. But on a daily basis, not getting enough water can cause fatigue, dry skin, headaches and constipation. Nearly one-third did not know that giving a child water instead of sugar-containing drinks such as juice or soda can help prevent childhood obesity, the survey revealed

FOOD INTOLERANCE

• Many people appear to react adversely to specific foods or chemicals nowadays. If we just take the example of foods we can see that these reactions often begin during infancy. Some infants react adversely to food components present in their mother’s breast milk which can lead to eczema and gastrointestinal colic. Similar reactions may also occur in infants first exposed to cow’s milk, eggs or oranges during the weaning period.

• These adverse reactions arise because the infant’s gastrointestinal tract and digestive system is immature and often genetically susceptible to premature exposure to foreign proteins during the first few months of life. At this stage production of digestive enzymes is suboptimal and the intestinal tract has not yet elaborated the necessary protective antibodies to stop unwanted food components from reacting badly with the gut or from actually gaining entry into the body.

• Though most children “grow out” of their true food allergies by the age of 3 or 4 yrs., many continue to react but in a different way. Eczema, for example, will suddenly stop but asthma takes its place or allergies to milk and eggs give way to sensitivities to stone fruits, nuts and foods containing chemical additives.

• Many people in later life may become intolerant to a variety of foods after a prolonged period of emotional or mental stress such as divorce, loss of employment, unresolved financial difficulties etc.

• In all these instances it is most important to detect the offending food or combination of foods and remove them from the diet. There are usually one or two major offenders and a wide variety of minor suspects.

• A daily diet must contain a good balance of primary proteins (nuts, sprouted seeds, legumes, animal sources), essential fatty acids (from vegetable, fish and animal oils) and complex carbohydrates containing adequate fibre and starch to produce a diet with a high nutrient density.

• Keeping these rules in mind suspect foods can be eliminated and other foods rotated in the diet with controlled frequency and quantities to ensure maximum nutrition while using a wide variety of foods often infrequently consumed from the past.

• If a major food group such as dairy products is temporarily removed from a diet and suitable alternative nutrient sources cannot be substituted then vitamin and mineral supplementation must be considered.

• In the case of dairy products we have eliminated an important dietary source of calcium, riboflavin and vitamin A. These can be supplemented effectively using a homeostatic bone calcium supplement and a multivitamin formulation.

• Food intolerance is frequently linked with fungal (Candidal) overgrowth and a course of antibiotics often leads to an apparent exacerbation of symptoms. A course of anti fungal treatment including acidophilus will be required to re-colonize the intestinal tract with friendly microorganisms.

• Quite frequently real cases of food allergy respond well to supplemental digestive enzymes, particularly a pepsin/hydrochloric acid mixture and pancreatic enzymes (for small children vegetable enzymes are suitable). The effectiveness of digestive enzymes in reducing the symptoms due to food allergy is thought to be associated with their ability to destroy the undigested or partly digested proteins which are potential allergens (i.e. the fragments which cause the allergic symptoms if they gain entry into the body).

Illnesses and syndromes related to food intolerance are myriad:
• Behavioural disorders form hyperactivity to depression.

• Asthma, eczema, hay fever

• Arthritis of all sorts

• Migraines

• Irritable bowel syndrome

• Diverticular disease

• Chronic Fatigue syndrome / Post Viral Syndrome

• Polymyalgia (muscular aches and pains)

• Polyarthralgia (joint aches and pains)

• Diabetes and Hypoglycaemia
Ref. Food Intolerance by R.Buist, Harper and Row 1984.

Common Allergenic foods, Compounds

• Foods commonly involved in allergies and intolerances are milk, eggs, fish and shellfish, nuts and peanuts, wheat, flour, chocolate, pork, citrus fruits, preservatives and artificial colours.

• MSG (monosodium glutamate) is frequently used as a flavouring that produces an acute allergic reaction in sensitive consumers known as the “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome”. However it is not only found in Chinese foods (as an additive) but also found in high levels in soy sauce, meat extracts, wine, and yeast and in many packaged foods.

• Other compounds which commonly cause sensitivity reaction are phenolic compounds which salicylates is a group. These are natural food chemicals found as part of the food makeup. Salicylate is found in citrus and other fruits (except in banana, mango, paw paw, peeled pears) most vegetables, herbs and spices (except potato, peas, beans, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, lettuce, celery, onion, asparagus and garlic.)

• An artificial colouring which has been found to cause allergic reactions is tartrazine and is found in soft drinks, sweets, orange juice and yellow artificially coloured foods.

FOOD FADS AND DIET
It is interesting to note what different people regard as “normal” food, especially when they ask if and when they can go back to eating their normal diet again. Many think that normal food is pies, hot dogs, pizzas, sausage rolls, chips and coke! and are surprised when being re-educated to a healthier ‘normal’ diet. In any case they realise the difference to their health when eating foods that their bodies object to (i.e. if they had been tuning in.)

Food sensitivity and Dietary considerations
Foods and the chemicals found in foods, naturally occurring or added, have been found to initiate, aggravate or exacerbate many symptoms and syndromes (from hyperactivity, hay fever, asthma, migraine, arthritis, fatigue to insomnia and depression). The benefits and effects of avoiding foods that you react to are often evident by the initial 2 weeks of complete avoidance.

FOOD INTOLERANCE CYCLE

There is an initial period of usually up to 5 days where you may notice withdrawal symptoms (usually exacerbation of symptoms you have already, headaches, irritability, lethargy and even depression). Please drink plenty of water during this phase. These usually pass after those few days and some may experience a sense of ‘lightening’. After 2 weeks of complete abstinence, you can confirm your reactions by challenging your body with these sensitive foods one at a time taking 3 days at least to notice any reaction. After avoiding these foods for a few months, most people pass from a sensitive to a tolerant phase when they may eat some of these foods again, normally on a rotation basis. It is this phase of tolerance that you are striving towards where most people feel very comfortable, feeling healthy and yet not deprived. Most people report a change in their taste buds in that they do not like very sweet or very salty foods again

Sugar in the diet

The sugar content of many foods is not stated. It has been referred to as the hidden sugar by the American Dental Association. The United States is a candyland and Australia is not far behind. The following list gives examples of some foods and how many teaspoonfuls of sugar they contain. (See chart.)
Nobody needs sugar; it has no nutritional value other than its energy content. You can get all the energy you need from other foods you eat. In addition to its direct role in causing diabetes, hypoglycaemia, gout, kidney stones, urinary infections, cardiovascular disease, dental carries, paradontal disease, overweight, intestinal cancer, diverticulosis, indigestion, hormone disorders and mental disorders, sugar-caused malnutrition is also related to these problems. Sugar robs the body of vitamins, minerals and essential fats and proteins in three ways. First, sugar rich foodstuffs are empty calories. In other words, their energy-giving calories contribute very little to the body’s needs for vitamins, minerals and essential fats and proteins. Second, sugar rich foods require considerable quantities of vitamins and minerals for their metabolism. Third, sugar and sugar laden foods frequently replace protein, vitamin and mineral-rich foodstuffs in the diet. Remember that one of the main ingredients of any alcoholic drink is sugar, and is therefore very high in its every content without adding much else of use to our diet.

EXAMPLES OF SUGAR CONTENT OF FOODS

Vegetarian and Vegan Diets

Vegetarians generally include some form of animal product in their diet whilst the new vegetarian (vegan) takes no animal food at all. Research has shown the dangers of a pure vegan diet, the concern not so much with the protein question but with deficiency of the micronutrient vitamin B12 (found mainly in animal products), dangerous not only to the wellbeing of the individual but to their children as well. Unfortunately it has been experienced also that B12 supplement is not well absorbed taken by mouth but need to be given as intramuscular injection for those deficient. (ref.R.Cilento Blackmore’s Comm. Jan 1986; J.Coveny Dept. of Nutrition Children’s Hospital Camperdown.)

Protein is usually visualised by most people as meat, fish eggs, cheese and fowl and are known as complete proteins because they are known to contain all the essential amino acids in approximately ideal proportions. However there are many more sources of protein foods available throughout the world, whereby one combines grains and beans, milk products and grains or beans and seeds to get ‘complete proteins’. Perhaps too much emphasis is being placed in ‘getting enough protein’ in the West when we actually have a tendency to have too much protein. It is suggested that we decrease our intake of fats including meats, dairy and eggs and increase our consumption of grains (complex carbohydrates) vegetable quality foods and fruit.

Carbohydrates are the fuel upon which body function are based, If we leave out the water and fibre content of food, it is the carbohydrate which makes up the bulk of our diet. The average person eats 10 ounces of carbohydrate for every ounce of protein. This huge and abundant amount of carbohydrate is used by the body for energy and through its oxidation, energy is produced. All metabolism depends on this energy. 80% of our diet should be made up of carbohydrate. Unfortunately the most major change in dietary habit in the last 100 yrs. has been the increased use of simple carbohydrates like table sugar whilst the amount of complex carbohydrates or starch such as grains and beans has dramatically decreased. Grains are the most common source of starch and the cheapest source of kilojoules and are the very food that Macrobiotic Philosophy is based on.

Macrobiotic Philosophy

Macrobiotics, which is actually derived from the Chinese some thousands of years ago, is a very refined understanding of natural law, especially as it pertains to the human body. It delineates the mechanism by which food influences our physical and mental state. Since the Universe is constantly changing, it is hard work to maintain balance within the environment and macrobiotic philosophy maintains that food can assist one in maintaining that delicate balance. Ideally food should be local and seasonal therefore assisting one in adaption. As a general rule, the more quickly a food deteriorates under natural circumstances the more important it is that it comes from a short distance away (e.g. fruit as opposed to grain). The primary food suggested is grain and again depending upon the person, climate, cooking factors and food combining, the diet can also include tubers, legumes, vegetables both land and sea, fruits and nuts, seeds and small amounts of animal food and spices.

Raw Foods

There is a growing interest on whether foods should be cooked oe eaten raw, apart from the constant question on whether we should eliminate animal foods from the diet. Because of the high levels of toxicity commonly found in contemporary society, the accelerated detoxofication and elimination brought about by raw foods has been urgently needed. A highly eliminative or fasting step is usually how one can start on the road to change. Foods that can stimulate the liver to produce enzymes necessary for rejuvenation at the cellular level and to accelerate the blood-cleansing functions for which the liver is responsible such as carrot and beetroot juice, lemon juice, alfalfa and mung bean sprouts, wheat grass, vinegar, avocado, parsley and other foods are generally used.

Food Combining – The Right Foods at The Right Time
(Chart available at our clinic)

* Proteins should make up 15% of our diet. They are needed primarily for growth and repair of cells (see protein chart)
* Carbohydrates should make up 80% of our diet. They are needed for energy (see chart of fruit and starches)
* Fats should make up 5% of our diet and are generally in adequate amounts consumed in the protein foods to meet our requirements. They are primarily needed for insulation.

GUIDELINES

1. Always drink 1-2 glasses of warm filtered / spring/ distilled water upon rising.

Don’t drink anything when you eat; drinking 1/4 hour before meals or 1 hour after meals is o.k.

2. Suit your diet to the type of work you do and to the climate where you live. The foods           should be grown as close to your environment as possible.

3. Eat plenty of raw foods. This generally applies unless you have a specific digestion    problem that may need to lightly cook them.

4.Eat all foods in moderation. Even nectar when taken to excess becomes a poison.

5. “If we regulate the quality of our food, the quantity will take care of itself.”