Symptoms and Causes - Understanding Environmental Sensitivity-
by Doris J. Rapp, MD., F.A.A.A., F.A.A.P.-
Clues Related To Foods:
* If you could not tolerate milk formulas or breast milk as an infant, regardless of your present age, there is a good possibility that milk and dairy continue to be a problem. This is especially true if you love all dairy, or hate milk but love cheese or ice cream.
* Foods that caused symptoms when a person was young, often cause problems later in that person's life but in a different way or in a different part of your body. For example, cow's milk or dairy often cause colic and ear infections in infancy, tantrums in toddlerhood, hyperactivity, bed wetting after the age of 5 years, asthma and nose allergies in childhood, and constipation, arthritis, and bowel complaints in adults.
* Think of foods as the cause if you have intestinal symptoms which occur shortly after eating or drinking. If your symptoms occur prior to eating, think of hypoglycemia.
* Your five favorite or highly-craved foods or beverages are the ones that are most apt to cause symptoms if you have a food allergy. In adults, coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco in adults can be the sole cause of chronic illness.
* If you remove a problem food from your diet, it is typical for your symptoms to become worse for two or three days before you improve. This is why food sensitivities are called addictions.
* If you tend to feel best is you eat one meal, late in the day, you might have food sensitivities. This means your reactions occur at night and thay will not interfere with your daytime routine.
* The foods women crave premenstrually are frequently major offenders. Do you hide chocolate to prevent panic? If you do, YOU PROBABLY HAVE A CHOCOLATE SENSITIVITY!
* Many who have food allergies are not absorbing and metabolizing their foods properly. Digestive enzymes can be helpful. Nutrients, if they are absorbed, can also help.
* The food you taste when you belch is the one to which you are sensitive. If your abdomen is too large, after you eat, think of what you ate. Similarly gas, belching, or rectal gas are clues that your gut is unhappy. If your abdomen is too large all the time, sure, you can just be fat but maybe the cause is a yeast overgrowth in the gut and body due to the use of too many antibiotics. You also might have parasites. Check with your doctor and read some of the books that discuss this topic.
A Few Chemical Tips:
If you were exposed to too much of one chemical at one time, you will find that in the future, the tiniest bit of any chemical, any place can cause a recurrence of your original symptoms. This is called the "spreading phenomenon". Those who are fortunate and have no chemical sensitivity often will not believe you. No one doubts that pollen allergies only affect certain people but for some strange reason, they do not believe that chemicals can affect only some who happen to be sensitive. May they never find out how wrong they were!
You become ill from the odors in churches, malls, restaurants, and public lavatories (disinfectants or deodorizers).
You become ill after putting gas in your car, in heavy traffic, at toll booths, or after travelling on a freshly asphalted roads.
You can't read certain books with shiny, smelly paper or a newspaper that has wet ink or colored print.
You crave certain odors or aromas, such as the smell of perfumes, gasoline, funeral parlors, etc. Or others will ironically detest, not crave, the odors to which they are sensitive.
At first, those with chemical sensitivities have a markedly increased sense of smell. Later on, they can lose their sense of smell and its associated protection completely. Then they are in more danger than ever. They don't know when to run for clean air.
Many individuals who have too many chemicals stored in their bodies are literally toxic dump sites. They must take measures to decrease the load.