80 Diet Wise
On the negative side, eating foods that make you sick and dull your
senses has a profoundly negative effect on libido and affection. Patients
who are affected may shun the touch of another person and turn very nasty
when their partner or spouse tries to make physical overtures. I don’t think
I really need to elaborate on this aspect.
But it will be surprising to most people to know that food can cause
inappropriate and even dangerous arousal. Lay folk have a strong belief in
the aphrodisiac properties of certain foods, such as champagne, oysters,
aniseed and arugula (rocket). Bananas and asparagus have been mentioned
too, presumably because of the phallic appearance.
But my work has shown that these reactions are far from universal
and mostly illusory. The Scott-Mumby truth is that any food can act as an
aphrodisiac, if it provokes the right reaction in the brain. This is simply a
different target organ phenomenon; some people get headaches, some joint
pains – some become aroused! It’s not common but does occur.
You may find this happens to you, when we come to the food
challenge tests in Chapter 12.
One of my patients carried out an eating challenge with strong
coffee. She was surprised to be quite turned on; so much so she masturbated
and then felt ashamed and wanted to shower afterwards. Another woman in
her 50s ate ice cream for the first time after months on a dairy-free regime
and was so aroused that she grabbed a hapless youth and took him to bed
for wild sex. The boy probably didn’t know what hit him – but I knew what
had hit her and she was mighty relieved when I explained it to her. I am
concerned that on some occasions this must happen to people, who find
themselves in difficult situations as a result, without having the least idea
why they were suddenly provoked to such unaccustomed behavior.
The UPs and DOWNs of addiction
Theron “Ted” Randolph MD, the late doyen of the allergy and ecology
movement, produced a wonderful insightful table, showing the effects of
alternate stimulation and suppression of brain and mind function, caused
by food and drink triggers. Over twenty years ago he gave me permission to
quote it widely and I have worked to popularize it since.
It is important to remember that stimulation and suppression can
take place simultaneously as well as longitudinally. We all know that alcohol,
for instance, will stimulate and then later suppress (drunk then stuporose).
But if you grasp that it makes a person drunk by suppressing inhibitions,
then this will make more sense.