Question:
I'm fairly new to the concept of natural remedies to problems. My fatherwas an organic chemist for a pharmaceutical company, and I was taught thatthe best cures were always through medical doctors and drugs. Over theyears, however, I have started to look for more natural cures.

I am curious however, about what approach to take in finding a solution,when there are many directions to take. Recently, I posted a questionon the HOLISTIC internet list asking for advice regarding treatment forEczema, and received dozens of different approaches including theexclusion of milk, wheat, citrus, etc, from the diet, ointments,Preparation-H, meditation, lemon-juice fasts, chants, etc, etc, etc.

With the complex relationships between nutrition, life styles, mentalattitude, etc. How do you isolate the actual problems creating suchailments. I recently (about a month so far) eliminated milk from mydiet to see if that had an effect. I have also been cutting back onfats and eating more fruits and vegetables. The Eczema got much worsefor a while, and now is starting to settle back down after resortingback to the old Hydrocortizone ointment. Do I have to go through thistype of trial with every possible contributor? How long does it takefor a nutritional change to have an effect? And, can I assume that itdidn't do any good (perhaps even bad) to eliminate milk, or is the increasein veggies and fruits perhaps even making the Eczema worse? Perhaps I'mlooking for too quick of a cure, but I hate to have my whole life anddiet revolve around eliminating one problem among many (I also haveseveral allergies I want to alleviate).

Answer: Chances are you hit upon something you were allergic to. There are twopossible explanations for this as far as I know. First, according toDr. Mendell's book (as I mentioned in a previous posting), we have zonesof allergic response. This causes people to have addictions to exactlythe substance they are allergic to. You get an increased allergicrection when you eliminate or reduce the allergen. You will continue tohave allergic response until you have eliminated all traces of theallergen from you system. This can be very difficult to do because theallergen can be hidden in a lot of different food substances or may noteven be food related at all. The most common allergens are things thatare found in our diet and environment that are in a highly refined formthat the normal body barriers (i.e. lungs, intestines, skin, etc..)are not equipt to reject. The most common are: orange (from concentratedorange juice), wheat (refined flours), corn (oils, sweeteners), sugarcane and beet, and petroleum vapors (natural gas stoves, plastics,automobiles, etc...). Each person has a different response based uponthier genetic makeup and environmental exposure.

The second possibility is that there are organisms feeding upon thesubstance that gives you trouble and you are not allergic to the substancebut are allergic to the waste byproducts of these organisms. When youquit eating (or smoking) the substance the organisms starve and fora short time release more waste byproducts because thier dead bodiesare being broken down and absorbed by your system. The series ofbooks based upon 'The Yeast Connection' describes the work done inthis area.