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Brain Allergies
O
ne of the biggest contributions I made in the 80s and 90s was
documenting the effects of what may be called “brain allergy.”
Dwight D. Kalita and William H. Philpott wrote a terrific book
on this topic, now sadly out of print, called Brain Allergies, the Psychonutrient
Connection (Keats, 1991).
The brain is probably the most significant target organ of all. Food-
brain reactions can cause a tremendous variety of effects, including but
not limited to violent behavior, inappropriate sexual responses, ADD and
hyperkinetic syndrome, feeling unreal and depersonalized, hallucination,
depression and frank schizophrenia. This is not surprising, since the brain
is related to our perceptions and emotions. Any disturbance or malfunction,
such as allergic inflammation, might manifest in an infinite variety of ways,
since all symptoms are only altered moods and perceptions.
Some public suspicion of this has always been present, as for
example in the matter of aphrodisiac properties of foods. I can state
categorically that it happens, but I will disappoint my readers by pointing
out that no food behaves this way consistently. It’s a personal thing. My
basic premise throughout this book is that everyone is unique and will react
differently to specific foods. Oysters and champagne might work for some.
But ice cream and chicken are two that in my experience have provoked
powerful and somewhat degrading reactions in the two women concerned.
Robert Burton (1577- 1640), an English cleric in the “City of
Dreaming Spires” (Oxford in England), published his famous book Anatomy
of Melancholy in 1621. In it he said, “Milk, and all that comes of milk, as
butter and cheese, curds etc., increase melancholy (whey only excepted,
which is most wholesome): some except asses’ milk. The rest, to such as
are sound, is nutritive and good, especially for young children, but because
soon turned to corruption, not good for those that have unclean stomachs,
are subject to headache...”