Has anyone else got the bug?

Kate P wrote:

Thanks johnfás. I have a prescription for a hydrocortisone cream but really, really would like to keep it as a last resort - a last resort that's looking ever more necessary of late. If there was a natural way of coping with it, I'd rather try that first, but I'm not sure how realistic it is...

Do not be afraid of the hydrocortisone - you need to beat this initial flare. You might want to take an anti-histamine, too.

Had it on the nose once kate P. Used cream once and it never came back. Some people get a reaction from washing powder: could it be that? Also stress: meditation is good for that, and walks.

Sorry to hear that Kate. You seem to be eating far more healthy than the rest of us and yet get afflicted like that. Maybe you need to eat junkfood once a month, and drink some alcohol if only to immunize and strengthen your defense system. I'm not being flippant here. I seriously think(although this is intuition and not based on evidence) that there is a food balance - the Yin and Yang. Sometimes it may be good to consume a small quantity of posions from time to time if only to keep in harmony with the poisoned environment in which we live.

Stress, Kate P? I knew a few people who'd had it and they blamed lactose in foods and stuff in beer. One lad I know doesn't drink beer now, only Port

His family are all the same the older they're getting - but you know the old joke - sorry if this is crude Q: what's the difference between beer and women ??? A: There's supposed to be yeast in beer. Maybe that applies to people in general.

Have you heard of The BloodType diet ?? I think it's interesting and may work but I don't follow it. Apparently Blood Type A+ (me) should be vegetarian and that's been half true half my life. Also we shoulon't eat oranges/tomatoes which happen to give me the *ahem* runs at times, espeecially acidic oranges (I love lemons though ) Not supposed to eat yeast either or milk and these are things I've noticed I'm not inclined to very much. Although I can't imagine rice milk in porridge and like the odd bit of cheese.

Type A+ should drink wine too but not by the caseload as I was wont to do.

Get well soon Kate P

Re Hydrocort. - our quack advised us to use it very, very sparingly when our daughter developed a one off espisode of eczema years ago.

FWIW, I believe food 'combining' - or more accurately, separating, is supposed to be very effective for many people. You may already know about this but in case not:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_combining

Combining foods that are compatible in terms of digestion is extraordinarily powerful at detoxifying the body and I know several people who have resolved ezcema, arthritis and other conditions by adopting this way of eating. It's not an overnight result but usually within about week or two people begin to notice significant improvements. It can be quite complicated but the simplest thing to remember is dont eat heavily carbohydrate foods with proteins. All I can say is that it makes us feel terrifically wwell when we do it - and it's extraordinary for bringing weight down. If you are interested I can recommend a few books.

I went on an adventure holiday once with five guys. We had to have blood groups taken beforehand in case we needed blood transfusions whilst away. Every single one of us had O+, what are the chances.

Hi Kate P. My daughter used to get all sorts of skin conditions and, like yourself, I was perplexed about the root of it. I was very reluctant to use hydrocortisone cream so I eventually went to a herbalist in Galway who suggested getting some calendula cream and putting a few drops of tea tree and lavender oil in it. I have to say it worked a treat.
I hope you get better soon. Skin conditions are very distressing on all sorts of levels.

Audi,
Do you believe that stuff about the blood type diet?
Type A: people decended from the first farmers in mesopotamia- evolved to digest grains and best off being vegitarian. Chances are you have a mediteranean ancestor.
Type O: People with the primitive hunter gatherer genes. Best off eating meat and berries(hehe). Lots of Basques have this. In fact its a political tool used by the present Basque government to distinguish pure basques from the mainly type-A mediteranneans.
Type B(thats me): Descended from the horse and cattle rearing nomads from the central eurasian plane. Mixed diet of meat and veg but grains intolerant. Can take milk though.

While I find the logic of the idea a bit weak, I do find that I cant eat too much bread. If I do I become sluggish and tired. If I stay off the booze(grain based) I feel much better. If I eat fish, dairy and lots of fruit and veg I feel brilliant.I think the food combining is something I'm going to try as well.

I still subscribe to injecting myself with a bit of poison now and again (a guinness, a nice slice of bread or even a McDonalds), just to keep my body familiar-terms with the enemy so to speak.

Nothing wrong with a McDonalds from time to time - I had a lovely greasy Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal for lunch yesterday. I can't stick food fascists .

johnfás wrote:

Nothing wrong with a McDonalds from time to time - I had a lovely greasy Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal for lunch yesterday. I can't stick food fascists .

Yeah I'm kind of with you there. Sometimes a Big Mac is just the ticket for me too. Just make sure you dont live on the stuff - at least if you can afford to eat well.

And thats another issue-many people just cant afford to eat good food and have not been educated about nutrition.
Many more are of course are simply gluttons.

I used to like Rachel Allen until I heard her on the Late Late Show say that if you feed your child any breakfast cereal other than porridge you may as well also feed them the cardboard box. Same goes for bourgeois eijits so say you may as well not eat a chicken unless it is freerange, organic and all the rest... yea maybe when half the country can afford that.

Respvblica wrote:

Audi,
Do you believe that stuff about the blood type diet?
Type A: people decended from the first farmers in mesopotamia- evolved to digest grains and best off being vegitarian. Chances are you have a mediteranean ancestor.
Type O: People with the primitive hunter gatherer genes. Best off eating meat and berries(hehe). Lots of Basques have this. In fact its a political tool used by the present Basque government to distinguish pure basques from the mainly type-A mediteranneans.
Type B(thats me): Descended from the horse and cattle rearing nomads from the central eurasian plane. Mixed diet of meat and veg but grains intolerant. Can take milk though.

While I find the logic of the idea a bit weak, I do find that I cant eat too much bread. If I do I become sluggish and tired. If I stay off the booze(grain based) I feel much better. If I eat fish, dairy and lots of fruit and veg I feel brilliant.I think the food combining is something I'm going to try as well.

I still subscribe to injecting myself with a bit of poison now and again (a guinness, a nice slice of bread or even a McDonalds), just to keep my body familiar-terms with the enemy so to speak.

That's the one! I think it's fascinating and some of it applies to me - being an A+ - I'm not too interested in meat although I do eat it. When I lived in Spain I ate lots of fish and only a little meat and was happy with that. I also feel great if i eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg as well eating nuts and berries but I think lentils are top food for me. I make a nice lentil and chorizo stew with chillis, irish root veg and some garlic. Celery is very good in it. I also am a martyr for rice and pasta.

I eat this food because I gravitate towards it and feel deprived if I don't have it. Sometimes I crave pasta almost - could be the longing for 'carbs'.

I've no doubt "we are what we eat" and I think that can be very obvious sometimes. Whether there is a Blood Type diet or not I don't know, I'm just going from my own evidenceof myself as you are of yourself but I'm not unhappy with a diet purely of ideal A+ food.

Climate is a factor in diet too I'd say - I eat more fatty steak here than I did when I was in the South of Spain.

Vitamins I haven't a clue about.

Auditor #9 wrote:

Respvblica wrote:

Audi,
Do you believe that stuff about the blood type diet?
Type A: people decended from the first farmers in mesopotamia- evolved to digest grains and best off being vegitarian. Chances are you have a mediteranean ancestor.
Type O: People with the primitive hunter gatherer genes. Best off eating meat and berries(hehe). Lots of Basques have this. In fact its a political tool used by the present Basque government to distinguish pure basques from the mainly type-A mediteranneans.
Type B(thats me): Descended from the horse and cattle rearing nomads from the central eurasian plane. Mixed diet of meat and veg but grains intolerant. Can take milk though.

While I find the logic of the idea a bit weak, I do find that I cant eat too much bread. If I do I become sluggish and tired. If I stay off the booze(grain based) I feel much better. If I eat fish, dairy and lots of fruit and veg I feel brilliant.I think the food combining is something I'm going to try as well.

I still subscribe to injecting myself with a bit of poison now and again (a guinness, a nice slice of bread or even a McDonalds), just to keep my body familiar-terms with the enemy so to speak.

That's the one! I think it's fascinating and some of it applies to me - being an A+ - I'm not too interested in meat although I do eat it. When I lived in Spain I ate lots of fish and only a little meat and was happy with that. I also feel great if i eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg as well eating nuts and berries but I think lentils are top food for me. I make a nice lentil and chorizo stew with chillis, irish root veg and some garlic. Celery is very good in it. I also am a martyr for rice and pasta.

Ah the lentils are my wife's speciality. Also the stew with garbanzos(chickpeas), chorizo and some panceta(fat). the latter ingredient seems to be dying out as its easily identifable as being "bad".
But my top food would be emperador(swordfishsteak) with freshly cut raw veggies. If I eat that for a week and nothing else I'm almost a different person, feeling lighter and more energetic.

Thanks all. Much appreciated.

Res, the blood type stuff is interesting. Meat doesn't appeal to me that much - but I love the berries and greens - would happily graze on lettuces and spinach all day (in between the sugary things! ) I'm O Neg so maybe I'm a gatherer rather than a hunter?

Like you, I stay away from bread because it makes me sleepy. The sight of crusty white rolls makes me shudder ever so slightly (except when wrapped around a burger...)

http://www.dadamo.com/bloodtype_O.htm suggests leaving out the wheat and dairy. I might have a go at that for a while - do it properly. It's interesting that the O diet excludes many of the same things I mentioned earlier that inflame it. I think I'll take ibis' advice too on using the hydrocortisone for a very short time...