134By applying the above principles you may be able to work out several
combinations of foods that don’t suit you; simply avoid them. Nevertheless
you should study Chapter 15 with particular reference to the section on
rotation diets, as you will almost certainly need one of these.
Keep a food diary
Throughout this plan it is a good idea to keep careful records. One type of
record that will be very helpful we call the food diary. At times this will help
you to work out what has been happening to you, and it may also reveal
useful pointers to allergens if you know what to look for. Take an ordinary
notebook and divide the pages in half with a vertical line. Date each page,
and in the left-hand column write down everything you ate and also any
important activities. Foods should be listed by meal and the time of the
meal entered also; include details of how it was cooked.
On the right-hand side of the line write down any changes in your
condition. If a symptom starts up, jot it down with the time. It may also be
important to note when a symptom disappears. Now you will see the value
of keeping a note of times.
If, say, a headache appears at about 2:00 p.m. you would notice that
lunch was at 1:15 p.m., and the foods included in that meal immediately
became suspect. On the other hand, if the headache started at 1:05 p.m. you
would ignore lunch and concentrate more closely on breakfast.
The diary will do a great deal to help pinpoint likely troublemakers.
For instance, if you were fairly certain which meal was to blame, the most
likely food in that meal would be one which you had not eaten for at least
four days; this would mean it was unmasked at the time of eating. Count
backwards and check which ones qualify – get the idea?
Cultivate the diary. Keep it with you wherever you travel and make
sure it is up to date: it can be very disconcerting to have a reaction and find
you cannot remember what you ate because it wasn’t written down at the
time. This isn’t meant to make you paranoid about your diet, by the way
- just keep everything in perspective. The food diary is a temporary tool; a
short-term means of regaining full health. Don’t be obsessive.
How long do I avoid allergy foods?
Once cyclical allergies have been explained, most patients realize that it is
not necessary to stay off allergy foods permanently. After a due interval