Allergy Equals Addiction
by: Jane Thurnell-Read
Craving particular foods can be a sign of a need for a nutrient that is in the food that is craved. The body is demanding food that contains a particular nutrient. This can be very straight-forward. For example, I spent three months in Sri Lanka, and my diet was very short of zinc. The moment I walked back into my house I reached for the jar of sunflower seeds (an excellent source of zinc) and started stuffing them down myself. Over the next few days I ate a huge amount of sunflower seeds. Initially I really craved them, but after a few days the obsession disappeared. It was only with hindsight that I realised why I had done that.
When gas/petrol contained lead, I had several clients who ate a lot of apples, but testing using kinesiology showed they were not allergic to them. It took me a while to realise why. Most of them were allergic to gas/petrol, which probably meant they were less able to deal with the lead in it than someone who was not allergic to petrol. Apples contain pectin, which is an excellent chelator of lead, (i.e. it can remove lead from the body), so it seemed that these people were instinctively reaching for the pectin to counteract the lead in the gas/petrol.
However, cravings are more likely to indicate an allergy problem. Allergy often seems to equal addiction and the reason for this is not totally clear. It has been suggested that this may be because some protein fragments formed when food is broken down are similar to endorphins, which the body produces naturally to counteract pain and produce euphoria. Then the allergy sufferer?s body becomes adapted to that level of endorphin activity and so craves the allergen in order to maintain the endorphin levels.
One indication of a possible allergy problem is waking with a ?hangover? when alcohol has not been consumed the night before. This very often points to one or more food allergies. The person eats the food during the day and satisfies the craving, but during the night withdrawal symptoms begin, and classically the person wakes with a ?hangover?. Eating the allergen switches off the withdrawal symptoms and allows the person to feel better. In fact some people will not make it through the night without having a snack of their allergen in the early hours to keep their withdrawal symptoms at bay. They are often totally surprised when told that they are reacting to the very food they like and experience as making them feel better.
Because of the addictive nature of allergies some people may have difficulty losing weight. There are two possible scenarios.
Firstly they could be allergic to some high calorie food and find it extremely difficult to moderate their consumption because they are addicted to it. The second possibility is that the person experiences withdrawal symptoms, but for some reason does not seem to connect the withdrawal symptoms with a particular food. In this case they keep on eating different foods without feeling satisfied. They only stop when they consume the allergen, but the turning off of the craving only usually lasts for a short time. Overall calorie consumption can be very high in these people even if the allergen is lettuce.In any event allergy-induced addictions can lead to bingeing and an inability to control food intake.
Because of this allergy-driven addiction problem, some people will like smells that most people do not, e.g. creosote and petrol/gas. Almost invariably the person is allergic to this, and is getting their ?fix?. Teenagers who sniff glue may be allergic to it, and while counselling may be necessary, correcting this allergy will almost certainly help enormously.
A child with a lot of food sensitivities will often be a fussy eater. The parent will frequently say: ?My child would be happy if he/she could live on X.? The child is probably allergic to X, whatever that is. Frequently they become irritable and bad-tempered if they have to go without their favourite food for even a short period of time. Breast fed babies with allergies are usually either difficult feeders or need to be constantly fed both day and night and may be difficult to wean.
Some years ago I had a funny example of the allergic addiction phenomenon. I went to visit a friend, who had a cat. When I went into the kitchen I saw cat food scattered over quite an area around the cat?s food bowl. My friend explained that her cat was a very untidy eater, and she had not had time to clear it up before my visit. I knew that in general cats were tidy eaters, so I wondered if the cat was desperately searching through its dinner for the particular food it craved. I did some testing and found several allergies. I corrected the problems, and after that the cat became a tidy eater like all the other cats I know.
About The Author
Jane Thurnell-Read is an author and researcher on health, allergies and stress. She has written two books for the general public: "Allergy A to Z" and "Health Kinesiology". She also maintains a web site http://www.healthandgoodness.com with tips, inspiration and information for everyone who wants to live a happier, healthier life. Jane Thurnell-Read's book "Allergy A to Z" is available from her web site http://www.healthandgoodness.com, and also from http://www.amazon.com and http://www.amazon.co.uk
|
Supporting Local Flavors
Supporting Local Flavors
by: Scott Schirkofsky
In the last 10 years Americans have seen a boom in local food markets and for good reason. While Americans continue to buy more fast food, they still expect perfect ingredients and they are finding them.
So why are they turning to their local markets more and more? In a nutshell they want fresh, healthy produce with great flavor. There are numerous other benefits to buying local products and it would seem Americans are now rediscovering what their local growers have to offer.
FRESHER
Care for fresher ingredients? Locally grown items are usually harvested 1 or 2 days before hitting the market making them significantly fresher then traditional store bought ingredients. For those folks lucky enough to live in rural areas, many of your local ingredients may be available to you the same day they are harvested. Produce flown in from other parts of the country or world is considerably older...
Supporting Local Flavors
Seeds > Supporting Local Flavors
Supporting Local Flavors
Supporting Local Flavors
by: Scott Schirkofsky
In the last 10 years Americans have seen a boom in local food markets and for good reason. While Americans continue to buy more fast food, they still expect perfect ingredients and they are finding them.
So why are they turning to their local markets more and more? In a nutshell they want fresh, healthy produce with great flavor. There are numerous other benefits to buying local products and it would seem Americans are now rediscovering what their local growers have to offer.
FRESHER
Care for fresher ingredients? Locally grown items are usually harvested 1 or 2 days before hitting the market making them significantly fresher then traditional store bought ingredients. For those folks lucky enough to live in rural areas, many of your local ingredients may be available to you the same day they are harvested. Produce flown in from other parts of the country or world is considerably older...
Supporting Local Flavors
Seeds > Supporting Local Flavors
Wanna Go For A Ride?.. Want Some Coffee First?
Wanna Go For A Ride?.. Want Some Coffee First?
by: Maricon Williams
The hot and luscious coffee is tempting everyone to forget about being health conscious for a moment and take a sip... But once you started a sip, chances are you won?t care about the aftermath anymore? The fondness for coffee was heightened by the sprouting of espresso shops. Since then coffee has been regarded as an all-time favorite drink. Young and old alike are fascinated with its unique aroma and taste. Next to water, the next most common drink is coffee. In the United States, there are about 160 million American who are hooked in drinking coffee.
What?s in coffee that makes it addictive? Coffee is like an addictive pill. Your routine will be lacking if you miss one drink. Let?s know coffee better. Coffee is brewed from the seeds of the coffee plant. Coffee beans contain caffeine, a stimulant known as trimethylxanthine. The most common and well-defined effect of coffee is...
Wanna Go For A Ride?.. Want Some Coffee First?
Seeds > Wanna Go For A Ride?.. Want Some Coffee First?
Tips On Lawn Care For Different Kinds Of Grass
Tips On Lawn Care For Different Kinds Of Grass
by: Andrew Caxton
How to get a perfect lawn is what most homeowners wish to know. An excellent turf is not easily won. There are many determinants that influence into a healthy soil. It is not only to thoroughly care for the lawn, by mowing, trimming and irrigating, but you have to feed it too. Feeding the soil is more important than you may think. However, you have to start from choosing the soil that more suits with your yard. A typical mistake of many beginners is to have a non-ideal soil, which will carry important troubles afterwards.
Understanding the basics of lawn growing, which are basically water and nutrients is not enough. It depends on more than these factors. What you should do first, is to make a study to evaluate your ground situation, and then select the proper soil. In order to allow watering and fertilizing the lawn as it should be, your must choose a soil equipped to capture...
Tips On Lawn Care For Different Kinds Of Grass
Seeds > Tips On Lawn Care For Different Kinds Of Grass
Amazing Chili Recipe Turned Into Nightmare!
Amazing Chili Recipe Turned Into Nightmare!
by: Jonathan Teng
This chili recipe is, indeed, a really nightmare! Taste it only when curiosity becomes unbearable and courage is strong! :o)
Ingredients:
1 cup Pinto beans, dried
1 tsp Paprika
5 cups Water
1 Nutmeg, ground, whole
2 tbsp Lard
1 tsp Cumin
1 tbsp Bacon drippings
2 tsp Oregano, dried, pref. Mexican
1 Onion
4 tbsp Sesame seeds
12 oz Pork sausage, country-style
1 cup Almonds, blanched, skins removed
1 lb Beef, coarse grind
12 Red chiles, whole dried
4 Garlic cloves
1 tsp Anise
1 1/2 oz Milk chocolate, small pieces
1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
1 can Tomato paste (6oz ea)
1/2 tsp Fennel seeds
2 tbsp Vinegar
1/2 tsp Cloves, ground
3 tsp Lemon juice
1 Cinnamon stick, ground
1 Soft tortilla, chopped...
Seeds > Amazing Chili Recipe Turned Into Nightmare!
Network Marketing Secrets - Explaining the MLM Home Business Concept - Harvesting Success
Network Marketing Secrets - Explaining the MLM Home Business Concept - Harvesting Success
by: Danny Despres
Perhaps one of the best ways to illustrate the difference between the poor and the rich is by looking at agriculture...
A farmer buys some seeds and all the machinery required to plant, grow and harvest them. Then the farmer spends months of unpaid work and a lot of his money to grow his seeds so that he can harvest later on and finally reap the rewards of all his hard work.
To speed things up, the farmer can spend more of his money and hire workers to plant and grow his seeds for him. The workers then invest their time to grow the farmer's business and when harvesting time comes, the workers get nothing of the rewards as they were already rewarded for their work (salary). The farmer makes so much (profits) from selling his harvest that he can pay more and more workers to do his work for him. The farmer ends up doing less and less...
Network Marketing Secrets - Explaining the MLM Home Business Concept - Harvesting Success
Seeds > Network Marketing Secrets - Explaining the MLM Home Business Concept - Harvesting Success