With rheumatoid arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome, we were able to present another scientific trial that failed to find any response to elimination diet. As far as we know, there has been no such trial with migraine. Paradoxically, the fact that foodstuffs already have an accepted role in the orthodox view of migraine is partly reponsible for this. Certain foods, such as chocolate, cheese, red wine and citrus fruits are well-known migraine triggers. They are thought to spark off migraine attacks because they contain chemicals known as ‘vasoactive amines’ that can have a drug-like effect on the blood vessels.
A great many migraine sufferers have benefited by avoiding these ‘trigger’ foods, but few find that their migraines clear up altogether when they avoid them. Other trigger factors, such as bright lights, television screens, or emotional scenes, still have to be avoided, and some migraines are experienced regardless of all these precautions. This is an important difference between the chocolate/cheese/red wine sort of food response and the intolerance of commonly eaten foods such as wheat and milk, diagnosed by elimination diet. When foods are identified by elimination diet and then avoided, it is common for migraines to disappear altogether – non-specific triggers such as bright lights no longer seem to be a problem. This was noticed in the Great Ormond Street study, and is commonly reported by other doctors treating migraine with elimination diets.
In the orthodox approach to migraine, getting patients to avoid specific high-risk foods such as chocolate, and then record any reduction in their attacks is a standard part of treatment. Unfortunately, as ideas about intolerance of everyday foods has filtered through, this same method has been extended to those foods. So patients who enquire if commonly eaten foods might cause their symptoms are told to omit wheat for a couple of weeks, then milk for a couple of weeks and so on. The collective experience of all those treating food intolerance is that this approach simply does not work. The majority of people, if they are sensitive to any foods, are sensitive to more than one, and it is only if all are withdrawn at the same time that any improvement is noticed. This is why a proper elimination diet is necessary to detect this sort of food sensitivity. Yet the majority of migraine specialists dismiss the idea of food intolerance as a major, fundamental cause of migraine – and they do so on the basis of having asked patients to exclude foods from their diet one at a time.
*114\180\8*
Years ago people were highly selective in the choice of intellectual nourishment for their children’s minds. Today, however, we have become spoiled with the great variety of things on offer, unfortunately not all for our good. The demand, even need, for constant saturation with ready-made entertainment suggests that we no longer appreciate what it means to relax in tranquillity and peace. Having reached this point ourselves, we cannot expect to retain an educational hold on our children, for they are good observers and covetous copiers of enjoyment, wanting the same things they see their parents indulge in. A child begins to be demanding when he notices that his parents exercise no self-control. The parents may want to be strict in determining what programmes their children can watch and for how long, yet they are frequently powerless in the face of their children’s disobedience. All these reflections have to do with education, and if we adults let ourselves be influenced by advertising and other pressures we should not expect that our children will want to be any different.
*1190/28/1*
You may wonder about the answer to this question. Well, there are various medicines that contain metals, for example Salvarsan. If this is taken, the patient will be ingesting mercury and arsenic, since both of these are ingredients of Salvarsan. There are also certain medicines for the blood that contain iron and copper.
Secondly, metallic salts are used in some old-fashioned preserving processes and, of course, in pesticides; these contain copper, lead, arsenic and so forth. In the case of pesticides the danger arises even as they are being sprayed or dusted, because they can thus be inhaled. They then settle on vegetables and fruits, posing an added danger, since it is difficult to remove the traces even by washing the produce.
It is still not fully known which of the new and frightening diseases are connected with the insidious effect of toxic metallic salts. Some of these diseases cause partial or total paralysis, confronting the doctor with an unsolvable problem and subjecting the patient to painful infirmity. Most likely this is due to poisoning through metallic salts, in addition to the influence of radiation. It is for this reason that we cannot be too careful in our efforts to ensure that we do not take into the body dangerous poisons in the form of metallic salts that undermine our health and future.
*1121/28/1*
When an Arab friend and I walked through the olive groves in Upper Galilee, taking pictures of gnarled trees that might have been several hundred years old, I began to realise why olive oil was considered so important even as long ago as in biblical times. The South Sea islander looks at his coconut palms with the same reverence, seeing that they provide him with clothing and food. To the Russian peasant in the Caucasus his sunflowers are equally valuable, providing him with necessary oil. When he eats the seeds, spitting out the husks, he knows that this food will give him strength and tenacity. The Egyptian peasant feels the same way when he harvests sesame in fields irrigated by water from the Nile.
*1051/28/1*
It is not essential to know exactly how a cure takes place. The mere knowledge that juices can cure is infinitely more valuable than any scientific explanation advanced in this connection. Science, after all, only confirms the discoveries made decades ago. Many years ago, as a young man, I lectured on this subject and drew attention to the value of raw juices. Today it is easier to convince people because science has, in the meantime, confirmed our assertions of the past that raw juices and raw vegetables are wonderful remedies. It is, and will remain, a fact that the raw juices of potato and cabbage will heal gastric and duodenal ulcers.
Even more interesting is the observation I made in connection with raw potato, cabbage (green and white) and carrot juice in the treatment of gout, rheumatism and allied conditions. If these juices are taken in conjunction with a strictly natural diet, these diseases will eventually respond to the treatment.
*981/28/1*
Of course, I do not wish to say that such lactic acid preparations are a panacea, a cure-all, but they have certainly brought the treatment of cancer a step further along the road. Because Molkosan has a fairly high percentage of natural lactic acid, it is of immense value in a cancer diet. As a drink, diluted with mineral water, it is both prophylactic and curative in its effect. Dr Kuhl also recommends raw sauerkraut for this purpose, because of its
lactic acid content.
It is, indeed, a great pleasure to see how the experiences and observations we began to report on in our magazine and books many years ago are now being confirmed as facts.
Once you are familiar with the many good effects of whey concentrate you will appreciate it and stop wondering why, in the past, even high-ranking personages did not consider it beneath their dignity to take ‘whey cures’ for the benefit of their health.
*911/28/1*
While childbirth is an experience of women, its effect on their partners should not be forgotten. From the moment the woman shows the first physical signs of pregnancy it is clear that the baby belongs to her and that she is its mother. The man who has no such evidence that he is the father has to cope with the emotional changes that fatherhood entails. In extreme cases this may lead to denial or rejection of parenthood and to a break-up of the relationship. Acknowledgement of his part in the pregnancy may be provided by attendance at antenatal classes and at the birth. However, diminished sexual response by the woman because of early symptoms of pregnancy such as tiredness, sickness and discomfort may increase his already present feelings of envy, resentment or rivalry of the growing baby, and be further reinforced by the mother’s preoccupation with the baby once it is born.
*183/197/1*
Most men have heard of expulsion and perforation. A woman came asking for a second IUCD 10 years and a second marriage after being perforated by her first device. The doctor was amazed after this failure, although in some ways it was a sensible request. She was now hypertensive, so the Pill was not suitable, and as she was no longer nulliparous, the risk of another perforation was slight. But the doctor wanted to hear the reasons why she was prepared to try something again when it had caused problems the first time.
The first coil had been resented. The marriage had already gone wrong and she seemed to blame her first husband more than the doctor for the perforation. ‘In a way I was glad it had to be removed [even by laparoscopy]. From then on we used condoms, but not very often.’ He was a policeman with no sense of fun. ‘At least it kept his truncheon covered.’ Now she wanted all barriers removed so as to welcome her new man, and he was worth some risk.
*146/197/1*
She returned a few weeks later a much happier person. She said that the opportunity to share with the doctor her disappointment at the probability of not having a baby had enabled her to see things in a fresh light. It enabled her to talk about the grief that she felt for the baby she would not have, and she could see that it might be like a bereavement, full of different emotions, some anger some sadness, and even some relief that she would not have all the responsibilities that children bring. She loved her husband very much and wanted to spend her life with him. She had been able to talk about her disappointments with him and found that he had not deliberately been ignoring her needs, but that it had been too difficult for him to talk to her. They had made love several times without any pain.
Mrs. N. had learned that the problem did not lie in the fact that other people were ignoring the existence of her feelings, but that her ability to withhold and hide her feelings had been the cause of all her emotional and physical pain. She could now move on to the process of going through the various feelings of grief knowing that to make love involved a strong emotional as well as a physical element. Now she had brought her ambivalent feelings about a baby into the open with her husband it had become an easier sharing process, and there was less pain. She was still undecided about whether she wanted a baby but the dilemma was no longer expressed as a physical problem.
*109/197/1*
When a young person is brought to the doctor by someone older, whether parent, teacher, social worker or friend, it can be very helpful if the anxieties of that person can also be examined. When working in a clinic with a social worker it is often possible for her to conduct this interview. In a normal surgery or clinic the doctor will usually have to see both the girl and the accompanying person. It is important that the girl agrees to this and has trust that her confidences will not be broken. She may well be relieved when the worries are eased and some of the pressure is taken off her. Such a dual role can be particularly difficult for the general practitioner with responsibilities to the whole family, and he or she is often grateful to be able to obtain help for the girl from another doctor.
*73/197/1*