Most allergies involve the release of histamine and other pro-inflammatory substances (substances that produce inflammation). Cortisol is a strong anti-inflammatory (a substance that reduces inflammation). Your circulating level of cortisol is the key factor in controlling the level of inflammatory reactions in your body. For this reason your adrenal glands play an important role in mediating the histamine release and inflammatory reactions that produce the symptoms experienced with allergies. It is therefore not surprising that people with food and environmental allergies commonly have weak adrenal function.
Responses to particular foods and drinks vary from person to person but there are some food substances that tend to produce allergies more frequently. The most common allergens are milk, wheat, corn, soy, chocolate, peanuts, tomatoes and beef. Sugar is not a common allergen, but it can greatly increase an allergic reaction. If you find yourself feeling odd or experiencing more of the signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue after eating, think of allergies or food sensitivities. The foods listed above are the ones that are most likely to be a problem, but food allergies and sensitivities can be very individualistic. You can be allergic to just about anything. Food allergies and sensitivities also vary in severity quite a bit. For example, people who are sensitive to corn range in their sensitivity from those who can eat corn once or twice a week without problems, to those who are so sensitive that even eating poultry or meat from an animal fed on corn gives them a reaction. These reactions also vary in magnitude, even within the same individual. At one time an allergen may produce only a small response and at other times be incapacitating. Most symptoms of allergies or food sensitivities are first felt between thirty minutes and three hours after the meal, but some may be delayed as long as two to three days.
Food allergy reactions vary from person to person even when they are caused by the same food because different physiological systems in different people may be affected by the same allergen. For example, the same food affecting the skin of one person may affect the nervous system of another or the digestive system of someone else. One of the most common types of allergies is called a “cerebral allergy” because it primarily affects your brain and nervous system. Because of the abundance of histamine receptors in your brain, an allergen will often cause a greater reaction in your nervous system than it does anywhere else. Ranging from subtle to profound, these cerebral allergy reactions can include such symptoms as a cloudy head, confusion, sudden awkwardness, loss of consciousness, coma and occasionally death. Food allergens can interfere with your daily functioning and become a profound stress on your adrenals. It is important to track down and eliminate these food sensitivities and allergies in order to help your adrenal glands recover. Getting an Elisa IgE food allergy test is the best place to start.
Laboratory Tests
Elisa Tests - Tracking your food allergies can be a tedious and timeconsuming process. Fortunately, this process has been made much easier these past few years by the advent of the Elisa (enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay) food panels tests. The Elisa panels can pinpoint the foods you are allergic to much faster and more easily than trying to figure it out yourself. Usually only one blood sample is needed to test a large number of foods. The basic panel covers 90 - 100 foods and the more comprehensive panels cover about 175 foods, including spices, herbs, condiments and uncommon foods. For about 50% of people taking this test, the Elisa will be all that is needed to uncover their significant food allergies. Just eliminating the foods it flags will improve adrenal function and remove a major body burden. The resulting report is a printout in an easily understandable format that shows your particular food allergies and your degree of reaction to each food. The results will be sent to the physician who requisitioned the test. Most labs send 2 copies, one for the doctor and one for you. Be certain to get copies of this and all lab test results for your personal health records to keep at home. These simple blood tests are available from most alternative and some standard physicians. In some states, chiropractors and nurse practitioners can order them. Unfortunately, many practicing physicians are still unaware of these Elisa food panel tests, so you may have to shop around to find a doctor who will order them for you.
Despite the usefulness of the Elisa tests there are certain kinds of food reactions that they do not pick up. For these the Cellular Immune Food Reaction Tests may be more useful.
Cellular Immune Food Reaction Tests - Cellular Immune Food Reaction Tests, also known as delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction tests (DTH) or activated cell tests (ACT) are less common blood tests that can be very valuable in detecting subtle or delayed allergies not caught by the Elisa. These tests look at the part of the immune system’s response to food that can be delayed by up to 3 days after eating the food. Such food allergies are seldom discovered by observation and are not picked up by the usual food panels. Although more costly, the Cellular Immune Food Reaction Tests have helped many people solve their food allergy riddle.
Combined Food Tests
Some labs combine the Elisa and ACT tests into a very comprehensive test known as an Elisa/ACT test. If you can afford it, this is the best way to detect food allergies.
After Getting Your Results
After getting your results using any of the above tests, make a list of the foods you are sensitive or allergic to and carry it around with you until you are familiar with them and learn to avoid them. Eliminate for 2 weeks all foods that showed a reaction on the panel. If you are allergic to one of the common allergens given above, you need to find out all the foods that contain that allergen. Sometimes the lab results include a list of the foods containing the substances you tested positive for. If not, go to our website at www.adrenalfatigue.org and print out a copy of the lists of food items containing these ingredients. Our website will show you a separate list of foods for each substance. Keep a copy as your reference because certain prepared foods often contain allergic substances that one would not suspect. For example, many canned soups contain wheat or wheat gluten. Texturized vegetable protein (TVP), another common food additive, may contain up to 50% monosodium glutamate (MSG), yet MSG is not mentioned on the label. Having a list of foods that contains the substances you are allergic to will make it much easier to avoid adverse reactions and to detect their source when they occur.
If your food sensitivities do not show up on lab tests If your food sensitivities do not show up on any of these lab tests, more detective work is needed. Below are some excellent tools to help you uncover your hidden allergies and sensitivities. Select the one(s) that seem most appropriate and follow the instructions given in that section. If you need more help check our website for a list of recommended books and other information on the subject.
If you cannot afford lab tests
Even if you cannot afford the lab tests for food allergies, you can still use one or more of the methods below to discover your food allergies and sensitivities. The main advantage of laboratory tests is that they provide a lot of information quickly about food allergies. But before they were available, physicians had their patients use the tests given below with a good success. With some determination, careful observation and good record keeping, you can detect most of your food allergies using the methods below.
If you have eliminated all the foods you tested positive to but are still reacting, you may have some additional food sensitivities that do not cause an actual allergic reaction. Food sensitivities can affect your life in subtle ways. They can manifest by increasing your fatigue, clouding your judgment, intensifying your anger and other emotional reactions, or just make you feel bad for no apparent reason. To help you discover your subtle food sensitivities, read all of the methods below and determine which one(s) is most appropriate for you.
Picking the Right Method
Four different methods are given here to help you identify your food sensitivities: Observation Method, Reflective Diary Method, Food and Reaction Diary and the Cocoa Pulse Test. One of these methods will usually ferret out the culprits with the bonus that you will feel better, stay more clear-headed and have better energy with each food sensitivity discovered and removed. More importantly, you will have a significant leg up on how to relieve your body’s stress and speed your adrenal recovery time.
Observation Method - Use the observation method when you know you are reacting to one of several foods but are just not sure which one. Observe your reactions to various foods and then simply do not eat the food that you suspect for two weeks. After two weeks reintroduce that food and watch your response. Pay attention because it is often after the food is consumed the second or third time that the reaction is experienced. Write down your responses in a notebook. If your results are inconclusive but there is another food you suspect, you can repeat this process with the other food or go on to one of the methods described below to help you zero in on the problem.
Reflective Diary Method - The reflective diary method is an excellent way to track food sensitivities that occur soon after eating but only occasionally (less then twice per week). In this method, when you do experience a reaction within a few hours of a meal, record your symptoms, reactions and what you ate or drank at that meal in a written diary to help you reflect on the cause of your problem. After 8 to 10 entries, review and check them for common foods and/or ingredients in foods. Occasionally it is not what you eat, but where you eat. For example, some restaurant salad bars use potassium bitartrate to keep items fresh but others do not. You may not be reacting to the food itself, but to an ingredient that has been sprayed on it at a particular place. One restaurant may use an oil or a spice you react to. Sometimes you will not be able to determine the exact cause, but will be able to determine that it only happens at Jack’s Restaurant or only when you eat the grilled salmon at Jack’s. Below is an example of the reflective method. If you still cannot trace and identify the culprit(s) with this method, go on to the next method.
Food and Reaction Diary - The food and reaction diary is an excellent tool for detecting subtle and/or multiple food sensitivities or allergies. This is the method to use when you cannot see much of a pattern or there seems to be a pattern but you cannot put your finger on it. It is very useful for uncovering and learning about the subtle behavior problems (of which there are many) that can be produced by food sensitivities. With the food and reaction diary method you keep track of everything that goes into your mouth, food (including gum) and drink (including water). You also keep track of any signs or symptoms that occur during the day or night. Initially, you simply act as a recording secretary, just writing down everything that goes in your mouth and any sign or symptom you experience, without trying to correlate symptoms with foods or beverages. The recording of symptoms and the recording of food intake are not related. For example, if you wake up at 7:00 AM with a headache in the front part of your head, list that. If you eat breakfast at 9:00 AM, record what you eat and drink. If you have water at 10:30 AM, record it. If you get mad and yell at someone or become clumsy for no reason at 11:00 AM, record it. List the date and time of each item you ingest and each reaction in the appropriate column. Every seven days review your symptoms and your food intake. If you notice any associations or patterns, then circle the signs and/or symptoms with the food or drink you suspect, drawing a line between the two to connect them. When you suspect a substance, make a note of your suspicions, e.g. “Most of the time when I eat cheddar cheese, I feel a little off the next day.” If after seven days there are no clear connections, continue this procedure until a pattern emerges. This is a detailed method that requires discipline to keep up, but it is the best tool you or your doctor can use to unravel the mysteries of your hidden food sensitivities. Below is an example of one morning’s entries in a food and reaction diary.
Food Related Morning Hangovers - One thing I have found to be especially valuable is to watch how you feel in the morning. If you feel like you have a mild hangover but did not consume any alcohol the day before, it is likely that something in your previous day’s food or beverages is toxic to you. Immediately drink a glass of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. If after twenty to thirty minutes you feel yourself starting to come around and the hangover symptoms are going away, this is a further indication that what you consumed yesterday is probably affecting you today. This “hangover” effect is not the usual fatigue felt in the morning from low adrenals but rather comes most often from liver congestion. When you have this mild hangover, go back and list everything that you put in your mouth the previous day. If it happens frequently, you should use the food reaction diary. However, if you experience this effect only occasionally, simply write down everything you ate and drank the day before and keep these records in a notebook. After this has happened four to five times, go through this list and circle the items common to all of these days. These are the substances you can suspect of causing the problem. Then try eating the very same meal again but omitting the suspect food or drink. Note whether or not you have that hangover feeling the next morning. If you do not, chances are you have isolated one of your food sensitivities. Write this down in your notebook so you will not forget it over time. If there is more than one food item that bothers you, keep a list in the notebook of any foods you have discovered you are sensitive to or any foods you suspect, and date your entries.
Cocoa Pulse Test - A number of years ago Arthur Cocoa wrote a very valuable book on using the Cocoa Pulse Test to track hidden food allergies. It is a simple test that anyone can easily learn to do and is based on the fact that when you are allergic to a food, you have an adrenal response that causes an increase in your heartbeat. Therefore, taking your pulse before you eat and again at 15 minutes and 30 minutes after you eat will give you almost immediate feedback about the presence of an allergen in what you just ate. If you do not know how to take your own pulse, see Appendix D for complete instructions. Record the date, the time, your pulse rate before eating, the food or drink you consume, and your pulse at 15 and 30 minutes after eating for each meal or each time you eat or drink.
This is an excellent way to uncover hidden food or beverage allergies, although it does have a few drawbacks. If you are suffering from moderate to severe adrenal fatigue you may not generate an increased pulse rate after eating something you are sensitive or allergic to because your adrenals are too fatigued to respond to the food allergy. You may experience increased symptoms after eating even though your pulse rate stays the same because of adrenal fatigue. In this case you should go by your symptoms rather than by your pulse rate. As your adrenal health improves, you will find the same foods you suspected eventually will raise your pulse rate.
Elimination/ Provocation Confirmation Test
Once you have determined that a particular food or drink is bothering you, it is time to test it by doing an elimination/provocation test. To do the Elimination/ Provocation Confirmation Test (the test is simpler to do than to say), you simply eliminate that food from your diet completely for at least 3 weeks and then reintroduce it. This requires total elimination of the suspect food, drink or substance to get definitive results. When you eliminate something from your diet you have to be sure that you do not eat anything at all that contains the suspected substance. For example, if you think that corn might be the problem you must remove all products containing or made from corn, cornstarch, corn oil and corn syrup (even the glue on envelopes and stamps often contains corn) from your diet. You will have to read the ingredient labels on everything, and if you cannot find out what is in something, it is better not to eat it at all during the elimination period. If you suspect wheat, corn, soy, milk products, egg or yeast containing foods, it is best to go to our website where you will find lists you can print out of all the foods and beverages that contain each of these. These substances are hidden in so many food products, you may be surprised by what you find.
When you start the elimination, write the date on a calendar. After you have not consumed (or even tasted or chewed) the suspect food, beverage or substance for at least three weeks, reintroduce it. Choose a weekend or a time you are not in great demand and are able to observe your reactions for the reintroduction. Also allow for the possibility that you might need to rest because sometimes the offending food has a larger impact than you expected. This may not be the time when you will be at your peak.
The first time you reintroduce the food, beverage or substance it is best to have only a small amount (one or two mouthfuls). The clearest way to test it is to drink or eat the substance by itself. That is, do not eat or drink anything but water for approximately 1 hour before and 2 hours after you consume your test item. Take your pulse sitting quietly before eating the food and every 15 minutes after, for an hour. Keep a notebook handy to write down your symptoms. Record any emotional swings, mood changes, or alterations in mental clarity. Note if your energy level goes up or down. One of the most common reactions found in food allergies/sensitivities is to feel especially good, almost giddy, for 30-45 minutes after you ingest the test item and then to fall into a real low. If this or any other noticeable physical, emotional or mental change happens to you, write it down in your notebook.
Sometimes, it is during the second or third reintroduction rather than the first that the changes become apparent. You should eat the same food substance the next day to see if a reaction occurs. If no reaction occurs on the first or second day, try it one more time on the third day so that you have ingested the suspect food or drink three days in a row. If you still do not notice any detectable difference in your pulse, energy level, mental clarity, mood or in any other way physically, mentally or emotionally, you are probably not sensitive to that food or perhaps you are only sensitive to it under certain conditions. If you do notice such changes, you are probably sensitive to that food substance. You can do a repeat of the elimination provocation test again for that same food or beverage if you are at all unsure. Detail all your results in your notebook, including your pulse test, any changes you observed and when those changes occurred.
If you are mildly sensitive, meaning you had only a slight reaction to the item when it was reintroduced, you may be able to have it once every four to five days. However, if you find the food or drink you tested gave you a significant reaction, a reaction you do not want to experience in your daily life, then eliminate this item completely.
The elimination/provocation test is an accurate, inexpensive and easy way to confirm suspicions about food sensitivities/allergies. It lets you know with relative certainty which foods, drinks or substances are the offending agents. Before reliable laboratory tests were available, progressive doctors used to have their patients test all suspect foods like this.
Many dermatologists and allergists still use skin tests as a way of determining food allergies even though they are probably the most unpleasant and imprecise approach. Although the skin tests do detect some food allergies, they produce too many false positives (a skin wheal appears, but for a different reason than a food allergy) and false negatives (no wheal or only a small wheal appears even though there is a food allergy). They are also relatively expensive. Most doctors who have kept abreast of the information on allergy testing use blood tests in preference to skin tests.
Combining the Use of Food Allergy Tests and Diaries
The most effective way to detect food allergies is to use the Elisa test first and eliminate any indicated foods from your diet. Then, if that does not completely clear up the problem, go through the methods for tracking down food allergies and sensitivities yourself: observation, reflective diary, food reaction diary, Cocoa pulse test, and elimination/provocation test. Finally, if you still have not located all the culprits, do the cellular immune food reaction test, ACT or Elisa/ACT. Using the Elisa test first allows for rapid detection of food reactions and saves a lot of time. Following it with one or more of the food allergy tracking methods provides a lot of information without further costs. That way you only have to do the more expensive ACT or Elisa/ ACT tests as a last resort. By eliminating those food items you are allergic or sensitive to, you will not only increase your adrenal strength, but your overall level of health and well being.
As mentioned above, you do not have to have a true allergy to a food for it to make you feel bad and really interfere with your life. Below are two actual case histories that illustrate the profound effect certain foods can have on your ability to function, even when these reactions are not considered to be real allergies.
Cerebral Milk Sensitivity
Sandy was a 30-year-old woman with periodic depression that had begun after puberty. Milk especially increased her depression and yet she had a compulsive desire to drink milk. She would drink it a quart at a time. When she was 28 she developed bronchial pneumonia and after approximately two weeks, she slowly began to recover. However, her fair skin was even paler and her energy was much slower. Her deep fatigue continued and two years later she was still suffering considerable fatigue, lack of stamina, and an inability to concentrate. She said that after the pneumonia, her depression had gotten worse, and had only marginally improved as her stamina increased slightly. Closer examination of Sandy’s case history revealed that she had been mildly hypoadrenic for most of her teenage life. It turned out that milkwas contributing not only to her depression but also to her adrenal fatigue and low energy level. The pneumonia had simply been an additional stress on her already somewhat depleted system. Happily, with proper treatment and the complete elimination of milk from her diet, the outcome was successful. When she learned how to care for her adrenals and reduce stress, she was able to carry on a life that wasmore active and fuller than she had ever experienced.
Sensitivity to Rancid Oils
Sam, a young medical student was taking a final exam in the CPR (Cardiac Pulmonary Resuscitation) course required as part of his internship program. Because of their medical background, this multiple choice exam, is usually a slam-dunk for medical students. However, Sam failed the exam. The instructor was very surprised, as Sam was one of the top students in the school, and so called him to the front of the room and asked him how he could have possibly failed the exam.
Sam explained to the instructor that he was sensitive to rancid oils and that he had accidentally consumed some rancid oils in the fish and chips he had eatesn in the school cafeteria at noon, just before he had taken the test. He further explained that rancid oils rendered him unable to think clearly for a number of hours after their consumption. However, he had learned from experience that an apple helped counteract the effects of rancid oils in his body, so he asked the instructor if he could go to the cafeteria, eat an apple, and retake the test. The instructor looked incredulously at him, but because he was one of the top students and his test score was so out of line with his usual performance, he granted this unusual request. The student ate the apple, took the test, and made 100% on the same test he had failed ½ hour earlier. The difference was that the effects of the rancid oil on his brain had been neutralized by something in the apple.
At other times this young man became nearly comatose if he consumed rancid oils. At first he would just become very sleepy, but as the rancidoil reaction progressed, he would find himself unable to move, although he remained aware of everything that was happening around him. To others, it appeared that he was sleeping, but he was in fact temporarilyparalyzed by the rancid oil’s effect on his brain. His friends had learned to ask him if he wanted an apple whenever he seemed suspiciously sleepy and to put a piece of apple in his mouth if he did not answer them. In this state he was sometimes unable to even move his mouth to chew the apple slice, so they would move his jaw up and down to help him chewthe apple. After only a few moments, he would go from being unable to move to being normal once again. If left on his own, he would sleep for two to three hours and wake up with a hangover that would last forapproximately twenty-four hours.
This is another example of a food sensitivity that would not be detected by any laboratory test. It is also a good example of the subtle effects rancid oils can have in a person’s life. As you can imagine, rancid oils are not only tough on the brain, they interfere with adrenal function as well.
People can be addicted to certain foods just as surely as they can be addicted to other substances. If you have strong cravings for a particular food but after eating it you feel worse, you are probably suffering from an addiction to that food or a substance in that food. This usually means that this food contains both a nutrient you need more of and a substance you are sensitive or allergic to. It is important to try to discover what nutrient your body needs more of but, at the same time, you should avoid this food because the damage it does to you is usually greater than the benefit. If there is a food you cannot stop eating, do not start. Do not fall for that “only one bite” or “one bite isn’t going to hurt me” trap. Addictions always win. If you were addicted to peanut butter last week, you can be almost positive that you are still addicted this week. So save yourself an experience in failure by completely eliminating those foods you simply cannot leave alone.
Keep a list of the foods that push your addiction button so you can see if they share any common features, as well as to remind you to avoid them. There are books and computer programs that list the nutrients in various foods. Check these and, if you have more than one craving, compare the nutrients in the foods you crave to see if there is one that is high in all of them. If there is, you can try adding that nutrient as a dietary supplement to your diet and then waiting to see if the craving goes down after a few days or weeks. Patients often express their gratitude not to be “hooked” on a food anymore once they discover this solution.
Addiction can also be due to body states like hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). In this type of addiction, the body is missing something (energy) and it craves something (sugar) that can quickly provide energy, although this is only a temporary solution. Two examples of food addictions created by hypoglycemia are given below. Both are true incidents.
Examples of food addiction without allergies or food sensitivities Hypoglycemia Can Make You Lose Control
Neil was trying to eat only foods he thought were good for his health. However he continually got up late, and rarely had time for breakfast. But because he was hypoglycemic, by mid-morning he was so hungry he was desperate. One morning after missing breakfast yet again, he learned that work had been canceled because of rain. Neil went straight to a donut shop and in less than 10 minutes had crammed down four doughnuts and three cups of coffee with double cream and triple sugar in them. Two friends of his were driving by and saw him through the window. Surprised to see Neil in a donut shop and knowing how det- rimental coffee and doughnuts were to his health, they stopped their car, ran into the shop, paid the bill and physically dragged him out of the establishment while onlookers stared. He was so addicted to coffee and doughnuts that he screamed and yelled and tried to order more as they pulled him, one on each arm, outside and into their van. Once he was in their van they sat on him to keep him from running back inside, until he came to his senses. Although this was a very humorous event for onlookers, it was a serious event for his metabolism.
Luckily, it was dramatic enough that he realized just how addicted he was to sugar, white flour and caffeine products. He took definite steps to make sure he did not find himself in this situation in the future by eating regular, high quality meals and, of course, by avoiding coffee and white flour or sugar products. His friends were happy because he was much more even tempered and a more able-bodied worker. His addiction was a result of neglecting his hypoglycemia and hypoadrenia. Once he began eating well-balanced breakfasts and other meals regu- larly and avoiding his addictive foods, his body was not as stressed and his addictions disappeared.
Charlene, the manager of a health food store talked each day to customers about all the right foods to eat but unfortunately neglected to take time to eat lunch and dinner. So when the store closed at night, she dove into the pastry counter and consumed several dollars worth of pastries. Even though these were “health food” baked goods, they were still sweet enough to cause her blood sugar to spike and then to crash. Charlene’s erratic blood sugar levels made it so difficult for her to concentrate that after her pastry binge, it sometimes took her 2-1/2 to 3 hours to count the cash and do the bank deposit after closing, instead of the 30 minutes it should have taken. Often she could not even balance the cash and left it for the morning person, claiming there was something wrong with it. Yet the morning manager would find that everything balanced perfectly. This woman, even though she worked in the health food store and was conscious of many aspects of health, was helpless to control her own predicament. It was only when she explained what was truly happening to her boss that her boss saw the problem and ordered her to take time to eat lunch and dinner. After she started doing that her cravings disappeared, her head was a lot clearer, and her adrenals began to recover.
Environmental Toxins Can Make You Eat In A Bizarre Way Environmental toxins such as perfumes, polluted air, or airborne chemicals can affect your taste buds and brain to make you eat in a bizarre way. These same toxins can also increase your adrenal fatigue. One true anecdote from my case histories will illustrate this point.
Will was in his mid 20’s. He was just moving into a house with seven other friends. During the past six months, Will had been on a very strict vegetarian eating regimen for his health and was conscious of every bite that went into his mouth. Just after they moved in, the group decided that the wooden floors in the new house needed refinishing. As Will was the only person in the group with any manual labor experience, he volunteered to refinish the floors to save them all money. Early the following Saturday morning Will began sanding the floors, exposing the beautiful oak wood below the wax and grime. By Saturday evening, he had finished sanding and had added the sealer and the first coat of spar varnish. Because it was February, he had kept the windows closed to keep the house warm and help the floors dry faster.
Will suddenly became aware that he felt tense, angry, hostile, and a little erratic. Thinking he needed a break, he stepped outside for a breath of fresh air and noticed he was ravenously hungry. He went to the bar next door and in a matter of moments had consumed three hot dogs and four beers.
After this unusual supper, Will return to the house for a meeting. Two other members of the house told him he was acting strange and they didn’t like it. His sudden anger and verbal lashing out was very atypi- cal for him, but he shrugged it off and laid the blame on a hard day’s work. The next morning he awoke feeling extremely tired and had a headache.
Reflecting on the day before, he realized how bizarre it was for him, as a strict vegetarian and non-drinker, to even consider a bite of a hot dog or taste of beer, yet he had gobbled down several of each, as though he was starving for them. Will realized then that he was a victim of envi- ronmental toxins. Being in a closed room with all the volatile fumes from the varnish and sealer had temporarily made him nearly crazy. It took about three days before he felt normal once again.
Environmental pollutants can have a dangerous and deleterious effect on your health, without you knowing it. Avoid exposure to as many fumes and airborne pollutants as possible. If you live or work in a neighborhood with these substances in the air, strongly consider moving. Until you move, take extra antioxidants and other dietary supplements that will support your liver such as milk thistle (silymarin), burdock and lipoic acid.
If you think that a particular food substance interferes in any way with achieving your optimum health, then eliminate it immediately. If you suspect, but do not know which foods or beverages you are allergic, sensitive or addicted to, then it is important to find out. One of the above methods will definitely allow you to do this. Use them and be certain to write down your results because memory fades with time. Writing down the foods and beverages you react to will save you from the unpleasant experience of rediscovering your sensitivities over and over again. The adrenals are extremely important in all allergies, including food allergies and sensitivities. As your adrenal function improves, you will be less prone to allergies and will be able to eat more things. However, for the first three months, do not push the envelope. Completely eliminate all the foods you are sensitive to or suspect you are sensitive or allergic to. The idea is not to see how far you can test the limits; the idea is to get yourself well. If you need more information check our website for recommended books and other information on the subject.
The next chapter explains which nutritional supplements and herbs, out of the thousands that are available, are the best ones to take to help rebuild your adrenal glands.