Gameplan For Recovery

1) IDENTIFY ALLERGENS

Although you may identify one or more allergies yourself, chances are that what you figure out on your own is only the tip of the iceberg. If you eat strawberries and within minutes blossom into an itchy, full-body rash, you won't need a doctor to tell you they don't agree with you and perhaps you will want to avoid them in the future. But most reactions aren't that clear or immediate.

Delayed reactions may occur a few to several hours later, and the symptoms may be diverse and subtle. Fatigue and depression are just as common as headache or bellyache. Other symptoms may include joint pains, disturbed sleep, hyperactivity, lethargy, "fuzzy thinking", inability to concentrate, bedwetting in older children, overwhelming fatigue, and others. The delay further confuses us because if you start to experience a symptom at 4 PM, do you assume it was something you ate for lunch? Or was it breakfast? Might it even be from dinner last night? To further muddy the waters, are you reacting to the food itself or to a pesticide or other chemical residue in or on it? Oh, my, the plot does thicken!

Chances are good that you will need to work with an enlightened physician and undergo allergy testing to really sort out what's bothering you - and determine what to do about it. Sometimes finding a doctor to work with can be the toughest part of recovery. Because such doctors are not in all communities, you may have to travel a few hours to find this special kind of physician. For a physician referral in your area, contact the American Academy of Environmental Medicine, 7701 E. Kellogg, Suite 625, Wichita, KS 62707-1705; phone 316-684-5500; www.aaem.com. Or ask in a health food store for an environmental, holistic or naturapathic doctor - the staff often knows which of the local doctors understand nutrition enough to use it therapeutically. But it will probably take the Environmental Medicine doc to really sort out ALL of the factors impacting your health.

Surprisingly, I have been disappointed in my contacts with doctors designated as "allergists". On the other hand, Environmental Medicine docs search for root causes for the patient's symptoms instead of trying to subdue and mask them with drugs. Further, very often the patient's symptoms manifest as a result of an environmental exposure - which may be anything from ordinary pollens or molds in the air to smoke, pesticides or other pollutants outside, or dust, dust mites, or natural gas in the patient's home. I remember hearing the late Dr. Theron Randolph say, "The best allergy diet in the world won't make a person well if natural gas from her stove is keeping her sick." And so it is that our food allergies and sensitivities are intricately related to environmental triggers. Unless and until they are all addressed simultaneously, the patient remains less than well. I mention these things only to help you understand what is so different about going to an Environmental Medicine specialist - and why I personally have found it well worth a long drive and the extra effort in locating - and then working with - one.

2) AVOID MAJOR ALLERGENS

Once identified, most doctors will probably suggest avoiding the worst allergens. For example, wheat, corn, egg, cane sugar, and milk may be such a major part of the problem that if you eliminate them you may be 50% better. This boost in how you are feeling may provide the energy and determination you need to persevere in your quest for better health and quality of life. Later when you're much better you may be able to tolerate these foods again, at least occasionally.

3) EAT MINOR ALLERGENS LESS FREQUENTLY

Minor allergens tend to be most troublesome when eaten daily, or even at every meal. Just spacing your less severe allergens out to about four day intervals can reduce their ability to make you ill.

4) AVOID REPETITIOUS EATING PATTERNS

A special diet has been devised, called The Rotary Diversified Diet, to help you space foods appropriately. Most people respond to a four-day rotation, while some do better on a five- or seven-day rotation.
Note: A chapter in The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook explains this approach to reducing symptoms, in detail. In Section 3 of The Yeast Connection Cookbook you will find all kinds of help - Meal Planning For The Person Who Isn't Improving (including pre-rotated menus), Shopping Tips, Ingredients and Techniques, and Food and Product Sources.

5) EXPLORE UNUSUAL FOODS

Once you eliminate major allergens and space out minor ones, there may not be enough food choices among familiar foods to create decent menus. This is why so many people with food allergies need to become familiar with a much greater variety of foods - unusual fruits and vegetables, perhaps wild game meat, less common types of fish, and so on.
Note: The vegetable chapter in The Yeast Connection Cookbook goes on for fifty pages because it introduces the reader to so many less commonly used veggies, explaining what to look for when buying unfamiliar produce as well as how to prepare it. That chapter is probably worth the price of the whole book!

6) MAINTAIN A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

Don't waste time mourning the loss of familiar and favorite foods. Focus instead on the joy of discovering NEW favorite foods. Many families come to enjoy the great variety of foods they are exposed to when they broaden their diet. They view this aspect of coping with allergies as a real "perc" - a reason to try some of the less common foods they never would have tasted otherwise. Bottom line: Have a little fun with it all!

7) DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Learn as much as you can about your illness and your treatment options (very important). Read, study, discuss with others. Learn. Be sure to explore ALL treatment options before settling on your personal gameplan for recovery.

While avoiding trigger foods is a necessary stage to move through, don't settle for avoidance for your total treatment plan. It may prevent reactions, but it doesn't do much about correcting what it is in your body that causes you to have allergic reactions in the first place. I view prolonged avoidance as focusing on teaching us to be better patients, capable of avoiding most reactions through deprivation and weird eating habits, rather than a plan to make the body well - so we can eat normally again. If getting well is your objective, don't lose sight of that goal!

Most allergy shots are a holding action that may indeed prevent reactions - if you keep them up faithfully. Yet one shot is different, it actually helps your body become less reactive, less allergic. It's called Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization, or EPD for short. Be sure to evaluate EPD therapy before you settle on a treatment plan. Because I'm now 95% well, in my tenth year of EPD therapy and only require an annual "booster" shot to live "normally", I admit to being clearly biased in favor of this therapy. See The EPD Page for a description, explanation and case history.

NOTE: The FDA has imposed a temporary freeze on all EPD therapy in this country. It is my understanding that this action was imposed pending having their paper requirements met and does not reflect in any way on the efficacy of EPD therapy. Ask your Environmental Medicine doc to keep you informed about availability.

Allergen-Free Recipes

• 1/2 cup raw Brazil nuts
• 1/3 cup boiling water Pinch of salt
• 1-2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or a pinch of unbuffered vitamin C crystals, to taste, optional

Grind the nuts to a fine powder in a blender. Add boiling water and salt, and blend for 90 seconds or until smooth. Add honey and lemon juice or vitamin C and blend again for 3-5 minutes until very smooth. Pour into a small bowl, cover, and chill 2 hours or more. Use like whipped cream to top desserts. Will keep a few days, refrigerated.

• 1 - 9 inch pie shell, unbaked (your own, or see recipe below)
• Streusel Crumbs, recipe follows
• 5-6 cups sliced unsprayed apples
• 6-ounce can unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 3 tablespoons quick cooking small granule tapioca
  (such as Minute Tapioca)
  
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon OR 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, or both (optional)
• 1-3 tablespoon honey (optional)

Prepare crust and set aside.
Prepare Streusel Crumbs, set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix juice concentrate, tapioca and a spice if you wish to include it. Mix and let stand for 15 minutes, while you peel and slice the apples into it. Taste the juice and add a little honey if you need it.

Pre-bake crust for 5 minutes.
Transfer the apple mixture to the crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the Streusel Crumbs over the pie, pressing lightly. Return to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until fruit is tender (but not mushy), the juice is bubbly, and the crumbs are nicely brown.

VARIATIONS -
If desired add 1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries or currants to the apple mixture.

• 1/3 cup raw Brazil nuts or cashews
• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 tablespoons honey

Grind the nuts to a fine powder in a blender. Transfer them to a 9-inch pie plate. Add the flour, cinnamon or nutmeg. Mix well with a fork.
Combine the water, oil and honey in a small saucepan. Heat gently only until honey liquefies. Pour over the flour in the pie plate. Stir with a fork until well blended. Let stand a few minutes for rice flour to absorb liquid.
Shape the crust by pressing mixture firmly into place with your fingers, covering bottom and sides of plate evenly. Pat top edge of crust into a straight edge.
Fill and bake as directed in Double Apple Pie recipe.

Scatter these crumbs evenly over Double Apple Pie - or use them to top coffee cakes, fruit crisps or other pies. About 15-20 minutes before your goody will finish baking, distribute the crumbs evenly over the top, press gently, and finish baking.

• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown rice flour
• 1/3-1/2 cup ground nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, or cashews)
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
• 1-1/2 tablespoons oil
• 1-1/2 tablespoons honey

These recipes are adapted from the revised and updated The Allergy Self-Help Cookbook by Marjorie Hurt Jones, RN. For ordering information click here for The MFA Bookstore.

For additional allergen-free recipes see The Yeast-Free Page and The Wheat-Free Page.