112 Diet Wise
you in any sense of the word, though it is possibly suppressing symptoms.
You could probably manage it without it at least for the test period.
No stimulant drinks
Alcohol is banned on the exclusion diet. This is not being puritanical but
because it too is a drug and has marked effects on the brain and body.
Remember, if you are in any doubt, that rum was once used as an anesthetic
for sailors when cutting off shattered legs. It is highly addictive, but worst
of all it increases your allergy reaction to other foods also. Dr Théron
Randolph, already mentioned, refers to alcoholic drinks as ‘jet-propelled
food allergies’ – so be warned!
In any case, most alcoholic drinks contain substances that you will
not be allowed to take on the diet (wheat, corn and sugar for example).
What I usually say to patients is this: keep off alcohol until you are well.
Then you can celebrate in champagne if you like – but be prepared to take
the headache as a consequence! This is not a moral pronouncement against
liquor but an entirely scientific one.
Next, tea and coffee. Make no mistake, these are powerful drugs
with pharmacological effects on the heart, brain and kidneys. You must
avoid them. Look around you at your friends or work colleagues: you will
see an astonishingly high level of consumption of these drink substances.
You should easily be able to spot the real addicts: they look anxious, restless
and maybe even become short-tempered before the next “fix.” As soon as
they have indulged their craving they calm down again; you are observing a
masked allergy.
Substitutes are not permitted, so decaffeinated coffee is out.
Later, when you are well, you may be able to return to this drink: it is a big
improvement on untreated coffee. But you will have to remember that the
chemicals used to remove the caffeine will usually contaminate the final
product and may cause you problems. Substitutes for tea are discussed
later, but all kinds of regular tea – China, Earl Grey, Formosa, Darjeeling
and so on – are forbidden.
Permitted foods
Any meat: that means beef, pork, lamb; even rabbit, venison and
other meats. Curiously, I found bacon and ham little problem in those
years in the UK. However looking at typical American cured produce,