Monday, July 24, 2017

WELL I’VE RETIRED!!

Although I have retired from testing people, I am not leaving you completely in the lurch I hope.  For new clients you can avail yourselves of an email consultation....take a look at my website for details.  For those of you whom I have seen before, just send me an email and I will try to help you.

All the best

Mary

The post WELL I’VE RETIRED!! appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

WELL I’VE RETIRED!!

Although I have retired from testing people, I am not leaving you completely in the lurch I hope.  For new clients you can avail yourselves of an email consultation....take a look at my website for details.  For those of you whom I have seen before, just send me an email and I will try to help you.

All the best

Mary

The post WELL I’VE RETIRED!! appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Monday, May 29, 2017

Retirement

 

After 23 years of testing adults, children and babies, I have decided due to illness to retire from the testing side of my business.

My last working day will be Friday 21st July.

I will however continue to do email consultations.

This is how email consultations will work.

  • a detailed questionnaire of symptoms and history.
  • a comprehensive food diary for a week.
  • based on the information you give me I will suggest a tailor-made exclusion diet for you.
  • you will need to buy my book ‘Food Intolerance Solutions’. This is available from my website www.foodintolerancesolutions.com or from Amazon. In my email advice I will refer you to pages in the book to illustrate certain points made.

The cost will be £33 plus the price of the book £12 + p and p.

Based on the stats which I collected last year I estimate that on average adults will get 85% average improvement and children will achieve 92%. Compared to my testing results this is a symptomatic improvement drop of 3% for children and 6% for adults.

This represents extremely good value with not dissimilar results when compared with the results I get from actually testing people.

Based on the results of testing people for the last 23 years I have huge amounts of data, as to which foods/ drinks are likely to affect people. There are some very distinct patterns which have emerged over the years, and analysis of these enables me to advise by email rather than actually testing.

This system should be live on my website by early July.

 

The post Retirement appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Retirement

 

After 23 years of testing adults, children and babies, I have decided due to illness to retire from the testing side of my business.

My last working day will be Friday 21st July.

I will however continue to do email consultations.

This is how email consultations will work.

  • a detailed questionnaire of symptoms and history.
  • a comprehensive food diary for a week.
  • based on the information you give me I will suggest a tailor-made exclusion diet for you.
  • you will need to buy my book ‘Food Intolerance Solutions’. This is available from my website www.foodintolerancesolutions.com or from Amazon. In my email advice I will refer you to pages in the book to illustrate certain points made.

The cost will be £33 plus the price of the book £12 + p and p.

Based on the stats which I collected last year I estimate that on average adults will get 85% average improvement and children will achieve 92%. Compared to my testing results this is a symptomatic improvement drop of 3% for children and 6% for adults.

This represents extremely good value with not dissimilar results when compared with the results I get from actually testing people.

Based on the results of testing people for the last 23 years I have huge amounts of data, as to which foods/ drinks are likely to affect people. There are some very distinct patterns which have emerged over the years, and analysis of these enables me to advise by email rather than actually testing.

This system should be live on my website by early July.

 

The post Retirement appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Healthy foods? More or less likely to develop intolerances?

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‘HEALTHY EATERS’

Those of you who have had tests with me already know how much I ‘bang on’ about frequent foods being the most likely foods for people to become intolerant of. Because most people tend in the western world to eat in a similar way, the most common intolerances are cow’s milk products, yeast all cheeses and all yogurt, cocoa, tea, coffee, orange.

But I am increasingly seeing people who eat and drink items that other people use infrequently. So cow’s milk products are unlikely to be a problem for the person who believes that it is meant for baby cows only and not for humans. And wheat won’t be an issue for the person who always eats wheat or gluten free. Coffee won’t be a problem for the person who prefers to drink green tea because of it’s perceived health benefits.

The 'new kids on the block' in the food intolerance world are coconut and green tea. Before 2010 i had never tested anyone intolerant to either of these apart from Thais and Sri Lankans, who use coconut a lot in cooking.  But NOW when the perceived wisdom is coconut is now a healthy oil, and many cookery books and natural health gurus extol its' virtues, coconut intolerance is prevalent in 10% of my clients. Similar percentage for green tea too. The common denominator for both is frequent daily use....probably more than twice daily.

Coconut

Cow's milk intolerance was present in 80% of my clients in 2003. Now only 33% of adults react to dairy products, and 75% of all children.

So is it better to avoid dairy products or not?  Quick answer....Try to eat a variety of foods and drinks, and not use any item more than twice daily. People develop intolerances to the foods/drinks which they consume most frequently.

More about all of this in my book.

PS  I shall shortly be offering a new service. It will consist of an email consultation. I would ask you to send me a food diary of a typical week's eating and drinking. You will need to have read my book, and I will then suggest an exclusion diet for you. I will be doing a few 'dummy runs' for free. If you are interested please contact me.

 

food-intolerance-front-cover-april-22nd

The post Healthy foods? More or less likely to develop intolerances? appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Healthy foods? More or less likely to develop intolerances?

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f-eps-preview

 

‘HEALTHY EATERS’

Those of you who have had tests with me already know how much I ‘bang on’ about frequent foods being the most likely foods for people to become intolerant of. Because most people tend in the western world to eat in a similar way, the most common intolerances are cow’s milk products, yeast all cheeses and all yogurt, cocoa, tea, coffee, orange.

But I am increasingly seeing people who eat and drink items that other people use infrequently. So cow’s milk products are unlikely to be a problem for the person who believes that it is meant for baby cows only and not for humans. And wheat won’t be an issue for the person who always eats wheat or gluten free. Coffee won’t be a problem for the person who prefers to drink green tea because of it’s perceived health benefits.

The 'new kids on the block' in the food intolerance world are coconut and green tea. Before 2010 i had never tested anyone intolerant to either of these apart from Thais and Sri Lankans, who use coconut a lot in cooking.  But NOW when the perceived wisdom is coconut is now a healthy oil, and many cookery books and natural health gurus extol its' virtues, coconut intolerance is prevalent in 10% of my clients. Similar percentage for green tea too. The common denominator for both is frequent daily use....probably more than twice daily.

Coconut

Cow's milk intolerance was present in 80% of my clients in 2003. Now only 33% of adults react to dairy products, and 75% of all children.

So is it better to avoid dairy products or not?  Quick answer....Try to eat a variety of foods and drinks, and not use any item more than twice daily. People develop intolerances to the foods/drinks which they consume most frequently.

More about all of this in my book.

PS  I shall shortly be offering a new service. It will consist of an email consultation. I would ask you to send me a food diary of a typical week's eating and drinking. You will need to have read my book, and I will then suggest an exclusion diet for you. I will be doing a few 'dummy runs' for free. If you are interested please contact me.

 

food-intolerance-front-cover-april-22nd

The post Healthy foods? More or less likely to develop intolerances? appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Monday, April 10, 2017

APRIL IS IBS AWARENESS MONTH!

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

Irritable bowel syndrome is hardly a diagnosis! It just means the bowel is irritated by something, and it is a syndrome which is not fully understood.

There are many possibilities for what irritates the bowel, but the top suspect has got to be food or drink.

You will almost certainly have tried to work out what your problem foods are and because of symptoms suffered after certain meals, you may have decided that all kinds of things, maybe vegetables, fizzy drinks, red meat, rich meals, fibrous meals and acidic foods are aggravating your tummy.

Frequent consumption of a staple food or drink is usually the cause, but the sufferer naturally presumes that the food most recently eaten is the cause. What happens is, the staple food upsets the gut, and after that it seems that anything the person eats is a problem, making them windy, bloated, giving them pain, reflux or indigestion. The sufferer starts to avoid anything that appears to cause their symptoms and therefore cuts out a multitude of foods from his diet.  His daily menu becomes unhealthy, often bland and boring, and he can end up building new intolerances.

The Table below details the most common food intolerances of the 232 adults and 61 children who suffered from tummy symptoms, from my 2015 Survey, which included 345 adults and 96 children.

Food Adults    Children         
Milk 37% 82%
Cocoa 41% 46%
Coffee 33%
Orange 31% 50%
Yeast cheese yogurt 38%
Tea 29%
Some form of alcohol 11%
Sweet artificial flavours 15% 20%
Apple 11% 31%
Monosodium Glutamate 9% 10%
E150 14% 7%
Aspartame 3% 11%
Soya 3% 10%
Sunflower   7% 5%
Wheat >  1%

 

Case Studies

I met Pamela when she was 71, and she had already been suffering from bowel symptoms for 11 years. Like many people, Pam had tried changes to her diet in order to alleviate symptoms. She was suffering intermittent diarrhoea, loose stools and constipation.  She was bloated most days, and suffered moderate to severe tummy pains at least three times a week.

Four years before I met Pam, a colonoscopy and blood tests had revealed nothing abnormal,and she had therefore been given a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome.

Following hospital advice at this time she also stopped drinking fizzy drinks and spicy food. She had been on a wheat and gluten free diet for 2 years. She avoided onions in any form.  All vegetables gave her symptoms, so she rarely ate them.

She was very suspicious of fruits, so did not eat much of that food group. At one stage, before colonoscopy refuted the diagnosis, it had been suggested that she might have diverticulitis, so following some internet research, she had made sure that she never ate any pips or seeds [she would sieve tomatoes to remove the seeds.]

She had started using lactofree foods, in case lactose intolerance was part of her problem. To make things more complicated, Pam was a strict vegetarian.  She did eat fish very occasionally but she really did not like eggs. As a consequence of all these changes her diet was pretty bland, and not very healthy at all. Despite massive changes to her diet, she had seen only minimal improvements symptomatically.

At the beginning of the testing procedure, I explained to her that, because there were so many foods toat she had not eaten for so long, I might have to do a second session of testing a few days later, when she had eaten all of her problem foods.  She was very uneasy about this, as she really did not want to risk the bad symptoms that vegetables, for example, tended to provoke. I explained that it was very common for IBS sufferers to suffer symptoms from vegetables and fruit, and that, when the underlying food cause [eg milk, yeast, tea, coffee etc] was avoided, then the vegetables, fruit, fizzy drinks, spices etc would not affect their gut. I also explained about the study that I had done in 2011, when I found that peoples’ perceptions of which foods they reacted to were only 17% accurate. 

Eventually we compromised, and she decided she would strictly avoid the foods that I suggested for a week to ten days, and then when she was asymptomatic, she would introduce the foods that she suspected were bad for her. If she wished, at that stage, I could test her a second time to confirm.

 On initial testing I found that Pam was intolerant of yeast, all cheeses, all yogurts, hemp / linseeds

 The gluten free bread that she had been using contained yeast. Many of her specialist vegetarian products [eg quorn, smoked tofu] contained yeast, as did the breaded cod that she ate twice a week. On top of that the slimmer’s vegetable soup that she used for lunch onmany days of the week contained yeast as a savoury flavour. She ate cheese daily. She ate yogurt twice daily. She put powdered hemp [linseeds] on cereal, and salads at least twice daily, to ensure that she had more protein.  So all her problem foods were those that she ate several times daily 

These were the underlying cause of her symptoms, and the vegetables that she strongly suspected were actually ‘red herrings’.

Pam and I tried to work out how, without cheese and the powdered hemp, she could have enough protein in her diet, and she decided that she would eat nuts, of as many different varieties as possible. After 10 days she started trying out vegetables again, and found she could tolerrate all of them without adverse symptoms.  Happy days!

Jodie a 28 year old beauty salon owner, came to me for a Food Intolerance test following a recommendation from a friend. Her main problems were tummy related, but she had some other symptoms which could have been linked to food intolerance.  She complained of daily bloating. This bloating was extremely uncomfortable because her tummy swelled to such an extent on some days she looked six months pregnant. Flatulence was a major problem for Jodie, particularly later in the day.  Her stools were always loose and occasionally she suffered diarrhoea. When she had diarrhoea, it was preceded by pain, and associated with a very urgent need to get to the toilet.   Jodie had seen her GP several times during the previous ten years.  Eight years previously she had been referred for a colonoscopy, but nothing abnormal was discovered.  Consequently, she had been diagnosed as suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. The other symptoms that Jodie presented with were fatigue, lethargy and joint pains in her fingers, wrists and elbows.

Jodie was suspicious of wheat, because the bloating started after lunch. She usually ate a sandwich or a wrap at lunchtime. Her diet contained very few vegetables, because she thought they were a trigger. Her GP had advised her to avoid vegetables, fizzy drinks and anything that seemed to make her more windy. I explained often with tummy issues, the person perceives that certain foods such as vegetables, spices, a rich meal, a fatty meal or a big meal can affect them, but once the underlying problem food has been excluded from the daily diet, the person can cope with the foods about which he had suspicions.

So we got down to her testing and discovered that Jodie was intolerant of                                   

  • cow’s milk products; and
  • dark brown food colouring E150 –E155

Jodie used cow’s milk on cereal every morning, in two cups of tea and two cups of coffee daily. She ate cheese most days, and ate at least one yogurt a day. I explained to Jodie that people become intolerant of foods they tend to eat or drink most frequently.  She quickly realised that cow’s milk products were the food group that she consumed more often than any other food or drink, on average 7 – 8 times daily. Dark brown food colour is in cola drinks, gravy and stock cubes mainly. Jodie had noticed that she felt even worse after a roast dinner, but thought it was because it was a large meal, or because the vegetables had made her windy.   When she felt worse after a diet coke, she presumed that it was because of the bubbles.

Why these foods? Cause       
Cow’s milk products Frequency of use
Why then? Trigger
Started the pill aged 20 [symptoms started] Hormonal trigger
Recent work stress [symptoms worsened] Stress trigger


Jodie agreed to avoid these foods, and after a week she was feeling much better.  She suffered a few
headaches in the first few days because of withdrawal symptoms, but her tummy settled down. She had much more energy and was no longer lethargic. Her joint pains completely disappeared.  The only hiccough she encountered was when she ate goat’s cheese.  Her tummy became very bloated again. She assumed, following an email conversation with me, that she could not tolerate any animal milks, cheeses or yogurts. After three months exclusion, Jodie gradually reintroduced her problem foods. Now she eats cow’s milk products again, but tries not to have them more than twice a day.  She has learned to enjoy her coffee black, and uses almond milk in her tea and coconut milk on her cereal. When Jodie introduced  E150 [caramel] in the form of coca cola again, she felt bloated within four hours and was back to feeling unaccountably tired. Instead she has lemonade if she wants to have a fizzy drink.  She has learned to make her own gravy using marmite instead of gravy granules.

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

 

 

The post APRIL IS IBS AWARENESS MONTH! appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

APRIL IS IBS AWARENESS MONTH!

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

Irritable bowel syndrome is hardly a diagnosis! It just means the bowel is irritated by something, and it is a syndrome which is not fully understood.

There are many possibilities for what irritates the bowel, but the top suspect has got to be food or drink.

You will almost certainly have tried to work out what your problem foods are and because of symptoms suffered after certain meals, you may have decided that all kinds of things, maybe vegetables, fizzy drinks, red meat, rich meals, fibrous meals and acidic foods are aggravating your tummy.

Frequent consumption of a staple food or drink is usually the cause, but the sufferer naturally presumes that the food most recently eaten is the cause. What happens is, the staple food upsets the gut, and after that it seems that anything the person eats is a problem, making them windy, bloated, giving them pain, reflux or indigestion. The sufferer starts to avoid anything that appears to cause their symptoms and therefore cuts out a multitude of foods from his diet.  His daily menu becomes unhealthy, often bland and boring, and he can end up building new intolerances.

The Table below details the most common food intolerances of the 232 adults and 61 children who suffered from tummy symptoms, from my 2015 Survey, which included 345 adults and 96 children.

Food Adults    Children         
Milk 37% 82%
Cocoa 41% 46%
Coffee 33%
Orange 31% 50%
Yeast cheese yogurt 38%
Tea 29%
Some form of alcohol 11%
Sweet artificial flavours 15% 20%
Apple 11% 31%
Monosodium Glutamate 9% 10%
E150 14% 7%
Aspartame 3% 11%
Soya 3% 10%
Sunflower   7% 5%
Wheat >  1%

 

Case Studies

I met Pamela when she was 71, and she had already been suffering from bowel symptoms for 11 years. Like many people, Pam had tried changes to her diet in order to alleviate symptoms. She was suffering intermittent diarrhoea, loose stools and constipation.  She was bloated most days, and suffered moderate to severe tummy pains at least three times a week.

Four years before I met Pam, a colonoscopy and blood tests had revealed nothing abnormal,and she had therefore been given a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome.

Following hospital advice at this time she also stopped drinking fizzy drinks and spicy food. She had been on a wheat and gluten free diet for 2 years. She avoided onions in any form.  All vegetables gave her symptoms, so she rarely ate them.

She was very suspicious of fruits, so did not eat much of that food group. At one stage, before colonoscopy refuted the diagnosis, it had been suggested that she might have diverticulitis, so following some internet research, she had made sure that she never ate any pips or seeds [she would sieve tomatoes to remove the seeds.]

She had started using lactofree foods, in case lactose intolerance was part of her problem. To make things more complicated, Pam was a strict vegetarian.  She did eat fish very occasionally but she really did not like eggs. As a consequence of all these changes her diet was pretty bland, and not very healthy at all. Despite massive changes to her diet, she had seen only minimal improvements symptomatically.

At the beginning of the testing procedure, I explained to her that, because there were so many foods toat she had not eaten for so long, I might have to do a second session of testing a few days later, when she had eaten all of her problem foods.  She was very uneasy about this, as she really did not want to risk the bad symptoms that vegetables, for example, tended to provoke. I explained that it was very common for IBS sufferers to suffer symptoms from vegetables and fruit, and that, when the underlying food cause [eg milk, yeast, tea, coffee etc] was avoided, then the vegetables, fruit, fizzy drinks, spices etc would not affect their gut. I also explained about the study that I had done in 2011, when I found that peoples’ perceptions of which foods they reacted to were only 17% accurate. 

Eventually we compromised, and she decided she would strictly avoid the foods that I suggested for a week to ten days, and then when she was asymptomatic, she would introduce the foods that she suspected were bad for her. If she wished, at that stage, I could test her a second time to confirm.

 On initial testing I found that Pam was intolerant of yeast, all cheeses, all yogurts, hemp / linseeds

 The gluten free bread that she had been using contained yeast. Many of her specialist vegetarian products [eg quorn, smoked tofu] contained yeast, as did the breaded cod that she ate twice a week. On top of that the slimmer’s vegetable soup that she used for lunch onmany days of the week contained yeast as a savoury flavour. She ate cheese daily. She ate yogurt twice daily. She put powdered hemp [linseeds] on cereal, and salads at least twice daily, to ensure that she had more protein.  So all her problem foods were those that she ate several times daily 

These were the underlying cause of her symptoms, and the vegetables that she strongly suspected were actually ‘red herrings’.

Pam and I tried to work out how, without cheese and the powdered hemp, she could have enough protein in her diet, and she decided that she would eat nuts, of as many different varieties as possible. After 10 days she started trying out vegetables again, and found she could tolerrate all of them without adverse symptoms.  Happy days!

Jodie a 28 year old beauty salon owner, came to me for a Food Intolerance test following a recommendation from a friend. Her main problems were tummy related, but she had some other symptoms which could have been linked to food intolerance.  She complained of daily bloating. This bloating was extremely uncomfortable because her tummy swelled to such an extent on some days she looked six months pregnant. Flatulence was a major problem for Jodie, particularly later in the day.  Her stools were always loose and occasionally she suffered diarrhoea. When she had diarrhoea, it was preceded by pain, and associated with a very urgent need to get to the toilet.   Jodie had seen her GP several times during the previous ten years.  Eight years previously she had been referred for a colonoscopy, but nothing abnormal was discovered.  Consequently, she had been diagnosed as suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. The other symptoms that Jodie presented with were fatigue, lethargy and joint pains in her fingers, wrists and elbows.

Jodie was suspicious of wheat, because the bloating started after lunch. She usually ate a sandwich or a wrap at lunchtime. Her diet contained very few vegetables, because she thought they were a trigger. Her GP had advised her to avoid vegetables, fizzy drinks and anything that seemed to make her more windy. I explained often with tummy issues, the person perceives that certain foods such as vegetables, spices, a rich meal, a fatty meal or a big meal can affect them, but once the underlying problem food has been excluded from the daily diet, the person can cope with the foods about which he had suspicions.

So we got down to her testing and discovered that Jodie was intolerant of                                   

  • cow’s milk products; and
  • dark brown food colouring E150 –E155

Jodie used cow’s milk on cereal every morning, in two cups of tea and two cups of coffee daily. She ate cheese most days, and ate at least one yogurt a day. I explained to Jodie that people become intolerant of foods they tend to eat or drink most frequently.  She quickly realised that cow’s milk products were the food group that she consumed more often than any other food or drink, on average 7 – 8 times daily. Dark brown food colour is in cola drinks, gravy and stock cubes mainly. Jodie had noticed that she felt even worse after a roast dinner, but thought it was because it was a large meal, or because the vegetables had made her windy.   When she felt worse after a diet coke, she presumed that it was because of the bubbles.

Why these foods? Cause       
Cow’s milk products Frequency of use
Why then? Trigger
Started the pill aged 20 [symptoms started] Hormonal trigger
Recent work stress [symptoms worsened] Stress trigger


Jodie agreed to avoid these foods, and after a week she was feeling much better.  She suffered a few
headaches in the first few days because of withdrawal symptoms, but her tummy settled down. She had much more energy and was no longer lethargic. Her joint pains completely disappeared.  The only hiccough she encountered was when she ate goat’s cheese.  Her tummy became very bloated again. She assumed, following an email conversation with me, that she could not tolerate any animal milks, cheeses or yogurts. After three months exclusion, Jodie gradually reintroduced her problem foods. Now she eats cow’s milk products again, but tries not to have them more than twice a day.  She has learned to enjoy her coffee black, and uses almond milk in her tea and coconut milk on her cereal. When Jodie introduced  E150 [caramel] in the form of coca cola again, she felt bloated within four hours and was back to feeling unaccountably tired. Instead she has lemonade if she wants to have a fizzy drink.  She has learned to make her own gravy using marmite instead of gravy granules.

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

 

 

The post APRIL IS IBS AWARENESS MONTH! appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Thursday, April 6, 2017

HORMONES AND MIGRAINE

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This is a very good overview of how female hormones play a part in migraine during womens' reproductive years.

Take a look!

http://www.neurologyadvisor.com/migraine-and-headache/migraine-management-during-female-reproductive-stages/article/648747/

The post HORMONES AND MIGRAINE appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

HORMONES AND MIGRAINE

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

This is a very good overview of how female hormones play a part in migraine during womens' reproductive years.

Take a look!

http://www.neurologyadvisor.com/migraine-and-headache/migraine-management-during-female-reproductive-stages/article/648747/

The post HORMONES AND MIGRAINE appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Monday, March 27, 2017

BIG FIVE CAUSES OF MIGRAINE

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If migraine was only down to cheese and chocolate...as the perceived wisdom goes....it would be easy to sort!

BUT there are always other things going on...

1.Food intolerance plays a part for sure, but not just cheese and chocolate.

Cow's milk products and cocoa affect 42% adults with migraine

Yeast, all cheeses and yogurts affect 37%

Coffee affects 33%

Tea and orange affect 26%

2.  Vitamin B6 deficiency is part of the picture for 76% of migraine sufferers.  Take a dosage of between 80 and 100mg. make sure the supplement is yeast, milk and soya free.

3.   Blood Sugar Control and chromium deficiency

If someone is deficient in the mineral chromium, they will often suffer headaches and migraines especially when their blood sugar levels are low. The

chromium-deficient person will already know he needs to eat frequently otherwise he is likely to suffer the following symptoms:

headache; irritability; nausea; shaky feelings; and sugar craving.

For many of these people, the underlying cause is a chromium deficiency.  Chromium is the mineral responsible for the regulation of blood sugar levels.

Solutions for you if you suspect you have a problem regulating your blood sugar levels.

  • Eat frequently, every few hours, rather than having big meals and large gaps in between.
  • Avoid sugar fixing, which is something you may find helps your symptoms.  You eat something sweet, [often chocolate] and feel better, with the headache, nausea, irritability and shakiness all gone fast!  Eating something sweet raises the blood sugar quickly, which leads the body to over-compensate and produce insulin. This has the effect of sending blood sugar plummeting down. The whole cycle starts again with irritability, shaking, sugar craving, nausea and headache. You eat something sugary again to feel better, which means more insulin production and your blood sugar drops again etc.
  • Eat more foods high in complex carbohydrate, for example, brown or wholemeal grains in bread, ryevita and rice cakes. These keep your blood sugar at a moderate level for longer periods of time than sugar and refined [white] carbohydrates.
  • Eat more protein because this kicks in when the energy from the carbohydrate runs out, and is useful if you come to a low ebb at mid-morning or mid-afternoon.  It is helpful for blood sugar levels to eat protein for breakfast, for example, an egg, or bacon, and to eat more protein at lunchtime. Nuts are a good healthy snack to have in your desk drawer.

The foods that reduce chromium absorption are:

  • sugar:
  • refined foods

Here is another vicious circle.  Eat too much sugar and you reduce chromium absorption. Whole grains are high in chromium and will help blood sugar control. If you have symptoms which are suggestive of problems with blood sugar control, you may find it advantageous to take a chromium supplement, 200 – 400 micrograms depending on your size and weight. This helps to reduce sugar craving and keeps your blood sugar more stable.  It is still important though, that you eat in a way that stops your blood sugar shooting up and down. The diet which will be most helpful for those of you with a blood sugar regulation problem is the GL [Glycaemic Load] diet. There are many books written about this and it will benefit you to learn more.

4.   Chemical Fragrance

Breathing in artificial fragrance can affect people in many different ways.  I have found with headaches and migraines, that fragrances in the environment are a massive part of the cause. Since I have been testing products with added fragrance and suggesting clients avoid using them, my percentage improvements for headache and migraine, have risen from 70% averageimprovement in 2003 to 95% + average improvement in 2015. Please stop using fabric conditioners, air fresheners, plug-in air fresheners, incense sticks, fragranced diffusers, body butters, polish and spray cleaners with added fragrance. These types of products are a big aggravation for headache and migraine sufferers. Please remove them from your home. It is really important and will help you feel better.

5.    Over-using painkillers

Many painkillers are addictive when used a few times daily for a few weeks. A person who is addicted to painkillers will get a headache when they need another dose of the painkiller to which they have become addicted. Stopping using the painkillers is a difficult process, because of the severe withdrawal symptoms that are bound to result. The headaches should clear within a week or so.

 

 

 

The post BIG FIVE CAUSES OF MIGRAINE appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

BIG FIVE CAUSES OF MIGRAINE

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

If migraine was only down to cheese and chocolate...as the perceived wisdom goes....it would be easy to sort!

BUT there are always other things going on...

1.Food intolerance plays a part for sure, but not just cheese and chocolate.

Cow's milk products and cocoa affect 42% adults with migraine

Yeast, all cheeses and yogurts affect 37%

Coffee affects 33%

Tea and orange affect 26%

2.  Vitamin B6 deficiency is part of the picture for 76% of migraine sufferers.  Take a dosage of between 80 and 100mg. make sure the supplement is yeast, milk and soya free.

3.   Blood Sugar Control and chromium deficiency

If someone is deficient in the mineral chromium, they will often suffer headaches and migraines especially when their blood sugar levels are low. The

chromium-deficient person will already know he needs to eat frequently otherwise he is likely to suffer the following symptoms:

headache; irritability; nausea; shaky feelings; and sugar craving.

For many of these people, the underlying cause is a chromium deficiency.  Chromium is the mineral responsible for the regulation of blood sugar levels.

Solutions for you if you suspect you have a problem regulating your blood sugar levels.

  • Eat frequently, every few hours, rather than having big meals and large gaps in between.
  • Avoid sugar fixing, which is something you may find helps your symptoms.  You eat something sweet, [often chocolate] and feel better, with the headache, nausea, irritability and shakiness all gone fast!  Eating something sweet raises the blood sugar quickly, which leads the body to over-compensate and produce insulin. This has the effect of sending blood sugar plummeting down. The whole cycle starts again with irritability, shaking, sugar craving, nausea and headache. You eat something sugary again to feel better, which means more insulin production and your blood sugar drops again etc.
  • Eat more foods high in complex carbohydrate, for example, brown or wholemeal grains in bread, ryevita and rice cakes. These keep your blood sugar at a moderate level for longer periods of time than sugar and refined [white] carbohydrates.
  • Eat more protein because this kicks in when the energy from the carbohydrate runs out, and is useful if you come to a low ebb at mid-morning or mid-afternoon.  It is helpful for blood sugar levels to eat protein for breakfast, for example, an egg, or bacon, and to eat more protein at lunchtime. Nuts are a good healthy snack to have in your desk drawer.

The foods that reduce chromium absorption are:

  • sugar:
  • refined foods

Here is another vicious circle.  Eat too much sugar and you reduce chromium absorption. Whole grains are high in chromium and will help blood sugar control. If you have symptoms which are suggestive of problems with blood sugar control, you may find it advantageous to take a chromium supplement, 200 – 400 micrograms depending on your size and weight. This helps to reduce sugar craving and keeps your blood sugar more stable.  It is still important though, that you eat in a way that stops your blood sugar shooting up and down. The diet which will be most helpful for those of you with a blood sugar regulation problem is the GL [Glycaemic Load] diet. There are many books written about this and it will benefit you to learn more.

4.   Chemical Fragrance

Breathing in artificial fragrance can affect people in many different ways.  I have found with headaches and migraines, that fragrances in the environment are a massive part of the cause. Since I have been testing products with added fragrance and suggesting clients avoid using them, my percentage improvements for headache and migraine, have risen from 70% averageimprovement in 2003 to 95% + average improvement in 2015. Please stop using fabric conditioners, air fresheners, plug-in air fresheners, incense sticks, fragranced diffusers, body butters, polish and spray cleaners with added fragrance. These types of products are a big aggravation for headache and migraine sufferers. Please remove them from your home. It is really important and will help you feel better.

5.    Over-using painkillers

Many painkillers are addictive when used a few times daily for a few weeks. A person who is addicted to painkillers will get a headache when they need another dose of the painkiller to which they have become addicted. Stopping using the painkillers is a difficult process, because of the severe withdrawal symptoms that are bound to result. The headaches should clear within a week or so.

 

 

 

The post BIG FIVE CAUSES OF MIGRAINE appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Monday, March 20, 2017

Strong links between IBS and endometriosis

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In an Australian study of 160 women with irritable bowel syndrome, it was found  36% of the participants also suffered from endometriosis. If you have IBS, but also suffer painful intercourse and tummy symptoms which are worse at period time, consider asking for some investigations for endometriosis.

The post Strong links between IBS and endometriosis appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Strong links between IBS and endometriosis

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

In an Australian study of 160 women with irritable bowel syndrome, it was found  36% of the participants also suffered from endometriosis. If you have IBS, but also suffer painful intercourse and tummy symptoms which are worse at period time, consider asking for some investigations for endometriosis.

The post Strong links between IBS and endometriosis appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

INSIDE HEALTH RADIO 4 EXPLAINS FODMAPS DIET FOR IBS

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Yesterday's 'Inside Health on radio 4 with Dr Mark Porter interviewed a dietician who gave a very good explanation of the FODMAPS, and how well it works to help IBS symptoms.  FODMAPS is an exclusion diet, excluding fermentable oligosaccharides and polyols from the diet for six weeks. This change of eating habit should provide relief from symptoms, but is a very hard 'diet' to follow long-term. So, with the help of a dietician the eliminated foods are reintroduced one by one to see which foods it is possible to eat. FODMAPS is recommended by many GPs and gastroenterologists these days. According to the dietician on the programme, 75% of patients trying FODMAPS see some improvement.

I see a lot of patients who have been recommended to try the FODMAPS approach.  Some have found it helpful, but too difficult to maintain, even for the first six weeks. Others have seen little improvement.

When I test and find the underlying cause for symptoms, [tea, coffee, dairy products, yeast, usually a food or drink frequently consumed] my clients find they can eat all the foods which they had previously found led to adverse symptoms. My suggested change of diet only needs to be followed for three months, and then the person can get back to eating problem foods in moderation. If someone following FODMAPS finds that garlic and onion leads to symptoms, they could choose [as suggested on the programme] to eat these foods sometimes, suffer the symptoms, and then get back to FODMAPS again.

92% of my clients get better from IBS on my suggested change of diet. That's a big difference from 75% seeing some improvement on FODMAPS.

TO RECAP...A COMPARISON BETWEEN FODMAPS AND MY METHOD

  • Symptomatic improvement   

Fodmaps 75% see some improvement in symptoms

My advice 92% average improvement in symptoms

  • Difficulty of diet

Fodmaps.  Very restrictive and difficult diet for 6 weeks, careful reintroduction.  Avoid certain foods indefinitely

My advice.  Strict but not too difficult diet for 3 months, careful reintroduction. You can then eat problem foods, but in moderation.

  • Information

Fodmaps...dietician advice or there are many books on the market the best of which is Sue Shepherd's 'The complete low fodmap diet: a revolutionary plan for managing IBS and other digestive disorders.'

My advice. Read 'Food Intolerance Solutions' for advice as to which foods are probable causes of symptoms.

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

The post INSIDE HEALTH RADIO 4 EXPLAINS FODMAPS DIET FOR IBS appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

INSIDE HEALTH RADIO 4 EXPLAINS FODMAPS DIET FOR IBS

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

Yesterday's 'Inside Health on radio 4 with Dr Mark Porter interviewed a dietician who gave a very good explanation of the FODMAPS, and how well it works to help IBS symptoms.  FODMAPS is an exclusion diet, excluding fermentable oligosaccharides and polyols from the diet for six weeks. This change of eating habit should provide relief from symptoms, but is a very hard 'diet' to follow long-term. So, with the help of a dietician the eliminated foods are reintroduced one by one to see which foods it is possible to eat. FODMAPS is recommended by many GPs and gastroenterologists these days. According to the dietician on the programme, 75% of patients trying FODMAPS see some improvement.

I see a lot of patients who have been recommended to try the FODMAPS approach.  Some have found it helpful, but too difficult to maintain, even for the first six weeks. Others have seen little improvement.

When I test and find the underlying cause for symptoms, [tea, coffee, dairy products, yeast, usually a food or drink frequently consumed] my clients find they can eat all the foods which they had previously found led to adverse symptoms. My suggested change of diet only needs to be followed for three months, and then the person can get back to eating problem foods in moderation. If someone following FODMAPS finds that garlic and onion leads to symptoms, they could choose [as suggested on the programme] to eat these foods sometimes, suffer the symptoms, and then get back to FODMAPS again.

92% of my clients get better from IBS on my suggested change of diet. That's a big difference from 75% seeing some improvement on FODMAPS.

TO RECAP...A COMPARISON BETWEEN FODMAPS AND MY METHOD

  • Symptomatic improvement   

Fodmaps 75% see some improvement in symptoms

My advice 92% average improvement in symptoms

  • Difficulty of diet

Fodmaps.  Very restrictive and difficult diet for 6 weeks, careful reintroduction.  Avoid certain foods indefinitely

My advice.  Strict but not too difficult diet for 3 months, careful reintroduction. You can then eat problem foods, but in moderation.

  • Information

Fodmaps...dietician advice or there are many books on the market the best of which is Sue Shepherd's 'The complete low fodmap diet: a revolutionary plan for managing IBS and other digestive disorders.'

My advice. Read 'Food Intolerance Solutions' for advice as to which foods are probable causes of symptoms.

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

The post INSIDE HEALTH RADIO 4 EXPLAINS FODMAPS DIET FOR IBS appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Monday, March 13, 2017

LATEST RESEARCH AND NEWS FOR ECZEMA SUFFERERS

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Pre-conceptual stress in the mother. A new study from the University of Southampton interviewed 3848 before they were pregnant, and assessed their stress levels. They found that 1 in 6 of these women were experiencing severe stress in their lives. Those women had a 20% higher probability of having a baby who developed eczema.

What's the solution? If possible reduce stress levels before becoming pregnant, especially if you are from an atopic family [history of asthma, eczema, hayfever, or food intolerance]

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

A study in Australia shows that fragrance in products aggravates eczema, asthma and migraines

Hurray!  I have been saying this for years! The Australian study concludes following a survey of over 1000 Aussies, that 1 in 3 people are adversely affected by artificial fragrance.

What's the solution?  Choose fragrance free products, eg Surcare clothes washing products, and the brand 'Simple' for shampoo, soap, shower gel if you have eczema, dermatitis, rash or itch.

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A report from the British Journal of Dermatology focuses on a study from Oregon State University which shows a clear link between altered lipids [fats] in the skin of people with eczema and dermatitis, and the consequent propensity to develop staphylococcus aureus infections. The hope is to develop a topical lotion  which can replace the lipids which are missing, thereby breaking the cycle of skin inflammation and resultant infections.

That's it for now

Mary

 

The post LATEST RESEARCH AND NEWS FOR ECZEMA SUFFERERS appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

LATEST RESEARCH AND NEWS FOR ECZEMA SUFFERERS

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

Pre-conceptual stress in the mother. A new study from the University of Southampton interviewed 3848 before they were pregnant, and assessed their stress levels. They found that 1 in 6 of these women were experiencing severe stress in their lives. Those women had a 20% higher probability of having a baby who developed eczema.

What's the solution? If possible reduce stress levels before becoming pregnant, especially if you are from an atopic family [history of asthma, eczema, hayfever, or food intolerance]

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

A study in Australia shows that fragrance in products aggravates eczema, asthma and migraines

Hurray!  I have been saying this for years! The Australian study concludes following a survey of over 1000 Aussies, that 1 in 3 people are adversely affected by artificial fragrance.

What's the solution?  Choose fragrance free products, eg Surcare clothes washing products, and the brand 'Simple' for shampoo, soap, shower gel if you have eczema, dermatitis, rash or itch.

7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f.eps-preview

 

A report from the British Journal of Dermatology focuses on a study from Oregon State University which shows a clear link between altered lipids [fats] in the skin of people with eczema and dermatitis, and the consequent propensity to develop staphylococcus aureus infections. The hope is to develop a topical lotion  which can replace the lipids which are missing, thereby breaking the cycle of skin inflammation and resultant infections.

That's it for now

Mary

 

The post LATEST RESEARCH AND NEWS FOR ECZEMA SUFFERERS appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

TRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR

What a fantas7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f-eps-previewtic programme this is! Standing out brilliantly from the plethora of 'health ' programmes which prove very little.  It is fronted by Michael Mosley, a medical doctor who specialises in health jounalism, mainly through books and TV programmes.  He is behind the '5:2 fasting diet' and the 'Blood Sugar Diet' books.

Always well researched, it is now my 'go to' programme of the week.

Any of my clients who have thyroid issues which they feel have not been dealt with properly, have a look at the programme from two weeks ago. Here is the synopsis from TMIAD website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/13F5TrhcBykDqC4ysm46KkY/how-can-i-tell-if-i-have-a-thyroid-problem-and-what-can-i-do-about-it.  Or you will be able to find the programme on iPlayer.

From the same programme, for those of you who struggle with your weight there were some interesting trials done on metabolic rate and muscles. Follow this link for the synopsis, and it is also available on iPlayer.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4bPKxRQBHzNgJmj6W832b4C/can-i-speed-up-my-metabolism

I will blog from now on about anything else from the programme which I feel may be useful to you.

Mary

 

 

The post TRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.

TRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR

What a fantas7d0d2db0-f477-4ee5-b2ef-254d0a2fa14f-eps-previewtic programme this is! Standing out brilliantly from the plethora of 'health ' programmes which prove very little.  It is fronted by Michael Mosley, a medical doctor who specialises in health jounalism, mainly through books and TV programmes.  He is behind the '5:2 fasting diet' and the 'Blood Sugar Diet' books.

Always well researched, it is now my 'go to' programme of the week.

Any of my clients who have thyroid issues which they feel have not been dealt with properly, have a look at the programme from two weeks ago. Here is the synopsis from TMIAD website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/13F5TrhcBykDqC4ysm46KkY/how-can-i-tell-if-i-have-a-thyroid-problem-and-what-can-i-do-about-it.  Or you will be able to find the programme on iPlayer.

From the same programme, for those of you who struggle with your weight there were some interesting trials done on metabolic rate and muscles. Follow this link for the synopsis, and it is also available on iPlayer.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4bPKxRQBHzNgJmj6W832b4C/can-i-speed-up-my-metabolism

I will blog from now on about anything else from the programme which I feel may be useful to you.

Mary

 

 

The post TRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR appeared first on Food Intolerance Solutions.