132 Diet Wise
containing the food, becomes insufficient to provoke the response from the
body. The reaction has died down.
In order to understand this better it is necessary to know something
about fixed and cyclical allergies.
Fixed allergies. As the name suggests, these are unchanging. No matter
how long the food is avoided, the response will remain the same. The late
great Theron Randolph of Chicago considers that an allergy should not be
designated ‘fixed’ unless, after two years’ strict abstinence from it, the food
still shows a propensity to create symptoms.
Fixed allergies tend to be severe and are the type, such as peanut
sensitivity, that might easily give rise to an anaphylactic reaction. It is a
lifelong affliction, but fortunately this is the comparatively rare type.
Cyclical allergies. These are more usual. Basically, sensitivity to food is a
function of the frequency with which it is eaten. The more you come into
contact with the substance, the worse the reaction gets; the less contact you
have with it, meaning in terms of frequency rather than quantity, the more
the sensitivity will subside. Complete avoidance of the substance may mean
that ultimately there is no reaction to it at all. Nevertheless, the potential
remains: in the case of an offending food, if it is again eaten often, the
allergy will flare up.
This phenomenon of cycles was first noticed by Herbert Rinkel,
who used it to devise rotation diets whereby the patient ate a given food
only at set intervals infrequent enough to prevent the build-up of a cyclical
allergy. It is possible that through avoidance of an allergen, the reaction will
settle down in as few as ten to fourteen days. Thus testing it after such an
interval may give the impression it is a harmless food, whereas in fact it was
one of the causes of the initial illness. Nevertheless it must be emphasized
that re-adaptation is rarely so rapid: several months are normally required.
Two plus two is more than four!
The second reason you may not find obvious reactions to foods is because
of the summation effect.
It happens sometimes that none of the substances consumed
cause much effect on their own. If they react at all it is so mild the patient
never notices or does not care. You may, for instance, find eating ice cream
give you mild bellyache sometimes – not enough to stop you enjoying the
occasional scoop.