92 Diet Wise
Perennial rhinitis refers to all-year-round catarrh and usually means
a food – but don’t forget, some foods are seasonal. Milk is famous for
“thickening the catarrh.” That’s how common this problem is.
Less commonly I have encountered a metallic taste, mouth
(aphthous) ulcers and stiffness of throat or tongue.
In children, the outstanding identifier of food reactions is repeated
sore throats and ear infections. Time and again this responds to simple
measures, such as a dairy-free diet. Sadly, doctors tend to use antibiotics over
and over, sometimes several times a year, without ever questioning there
was some cause beyond a bug or virus. The tragedy is that such overuse of
antibiotics will often lead to yeast and mold infections in the gut, further
reinforcing the dietary overload mechanism.
Cardiovascular system
Care is needed here, because there can be, of course, serious processes
underlying cardiovascular dysfunction. For decades I have known that food
allergy and intolerance is the major cause of hypertension, not supposed
arteriosclerosis. How do I discriminate? Easy. If ever, on any occasion, the
patient has a reasonable blood pressure, even just one reading in twenty,
hardening of the arteries cannot be the problem. Doctors miss this vital point.
A week or two on the Stone Age elimination program is enough
to bring blood pressure back to normal 95% of the time. Reversing the
exclusions, by reintroducing the foods one at a time and seeing which
food is the culprit that raises blood pressure is simple and satisfying to do.
Patients feel really empowered and “in charge” of the situation, without
relying on drugs.
We shall see later that speeded (resting) pulse after food is such
a clear sign of an allergic or intolerant reaction that I actually suggest
measuring it as part of formal testing. If you get palpitations, especially
after eating, don’t panic. It’s almost certainly a sign of allergy or intolerance;
any food can do it, not just caffeine.
Lungs
The lungs are very sensitive barometers of body stress, as asthma suffers
will attest. Yet doctors persistently miss addressing the possibility that food
will affect the lungs, being blindly intent that only inhaled allergens can