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FOODS CONTAINING SUGAR

White and brown sugar Honey

Golden syrup Treacle Molasses Maple syrup Malt

Barley sweetener (macrobiotic sweetener) Jam, including ‘no added sugar’ jam Chutney and pickles

Most alcoholic drinks, except very dry wines

Cakes and Biscuits

Ice-cream

Puddings

Chocolate and other sweets Fizzy drinks and fruit squash

Any food labelled: corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, glucose, maltose,

sucrose or sugar Baked beans, including ‘no added sugar’ brands Peanut butter (except sugar-free brands, sold in health food shops) Some other apparently savoury foods contain sugar – some tinned soups

for example, and some meat pies Some medicines, especially syrups and coated tablets Dried fruits, which are rich in natural sugars, should not be eaten Anything that tastes sweet should be regarded with suspicion, unless

designed for diabetics

Quite often, the initial response to nystatin is severe and unpleasant, but this is not usually a reaction to the drug itself. What happens is that the drug kills off a lot of the resident Candida, the yeast cells burst open, and some of the cell contents are absorbed into the bloodstream, producing an exaggerated version of the usual symptoms. This is known as a die-off reaction or Herxheimer reaction. The best way to avoid this problem is to embark on a low.

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Posted by admin on April 20th, 2009 :: Filed under Allergies
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THE CHANGE IN THE DEFINITION OF ALLERGY

Not everyone was happy with the change in the definition of allergy. At the time this change was made, several doctors in the US were already studying what they called ‘delayed’ or ‘masked’ food allergies. In these cases, the symptoms were much more varied. They also took far longer to materialize and were less acute. Because they rarely gave positive skin-prick tests, they could not be included in the new definition of allergy.

While the doctors concerned with ‘masked food allergy’ protested at the redefinition of allergy announced by their colleagues, they lost out to the newly arisen orthodoxy. There was pressure on them to conform, both from the medical establishment and, in some cases, from large food manufacturers who were funding research, and were alarmed at the idea of whole sections of the populace discovering they could not eat wheat or milk – the two most common culprits as identified by the alternative allergists. There are very few processed foods that do not contain wheat or milk.

Some of the doctors involved in such unpopular research were highly respected medical scientists, with promising research careers ahead of them. But all this pressure eventually forced them out of the medical mainstream and into private practice, where they continued to use the term ‘allergy’ in their own way – to mean simply ‘altered reactivity’. This tradition has continued in the USA, and many American doctors working in this field still use ‘allergy’ in this much broader sense. Other doctors, especially in Britain, prefer the less controversial terms ‘food intolerance’ or ‘food sensitivity’.

Another trans-Atlantic difference should be pointed out here. The American doctors working in this field describe themselves as clinical ecologists because they are concerned with the effect of a great variety of environmental factors – such as pollens, synthetic chemicals and air pollutants – as well as food. Some of their British and Australian counterparts also use this title, but most reject it because of its perceived links with the worst sort of fringe medicine and bogus diagnostic methods. Nevertheless, most of the British doctors who study and treat food intolerance also consider other forms of allergy and sensitivity, including chemical sensitivity, a subject that is discussed in detail in Chapter Nine.

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Posted by admin on April 20th, 2009 :: Filed under Allergies
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GAMES FOR NARCISSISTIC COUPLES – GAME 2: I LOVE YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE (PART 2)

They should try to maintain eye contact throughout the game and notice how they feel about that contact and what makes them want to look away. Once they have assumed their coital position, the wife says to the husband:

“I love you just the way you are.”

Then she says the next thing that comes into her mind.

Then the husband says:

“I love you just the way you are.”

Then he says the next thing that comes into his mind.

They repeat this simple sentence and the follow-up thoughts as long as necessary—that is, as long as it takes to say everything that pops up from their unconscious (or formerly censored conscious).

What happens is that whenever they say, “I love you just the way you are,” the next thought that will come into their minds is a negative judgment, such as, “Except I wish you’d lose weight,” or “Except you come from a poor family and don’t know how to be rich,” or “Except I hate the gap in your teeth,” or “Except I wish you were a little smarter/prettier/a better dresser.” As these negative judgments are acknowledged, the impasse will be broken, replaced by the feelings they have been withholding from one another. Sometimes arguments ensue:

“Oh, so I’m not pretty enough for you.”

“No, you’re pretty enough—it’s just that I have these per-fectionistic standards.”

“Well, you’re no movie star yourself.”

“That’s true.”

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Posted by admin on April 9th, 2009 :: Filed under Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction
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GAMES FOR HYSTERICAL COUPLES – GAME 1: THE KISSING BANDIT (PART 5)

“I am?

“Yes. But if you do stay, be forewarned that I shall spare nothing in my attempt to please you sexually.” “Nothing?” “Nothing.”

He envelops her in his strong arms. “You’re holding me so tight.” “That is correct.”

He kisses her hard. At first she playfights to get away, then coyly surrenders to his new force and verve, and kisses him back. If the husband and wife are playing this together, they will have no trouble making up their own variations. If the husband is still the sole activist, he needs to proceed with caution: By now, even if the wife was initially surprised, she will probably be playing happily along with him. However, if she is frightened or angry or feels threatened, he should not press on. Instead, he ought to use the occasion to talk about both their feelings. This in itself can be fruitful if he finds out what it is about this game that has upset her. Such questioning is certain to open up new avenues of communication about the sexual realm.

Otherwise, the game continues. The husband tosses the empty champagne glasses aside (or breaks them in a fireplace, if feasible) and says, “Oh—here’s a little something for you. Put this on.”

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Posted by admin on April 9th, 2009 :: Filed under Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction
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GAMES FOR DEPRESSED COUPLES – NEGATE LIFE

Depressed people negate life. They have felt negated as a child (or in some more-recent period), and now negate themselves and others. This serves a defensive function of protecting them from negation—for if they negate themselves as well as others before they negate them, they will be spared the pain of further negation. A secondary gain of depression is that it wins sympathy from others. However, generally depressed people reject sympathy. They cry out for it, only to reject it when it is offered. This repeating pattern expresses extreme ambivalence. It is also a reenactment of what happened during some earlier traumatic period.

One of my patients continually negated me. He would come late, pay late, and fall asleep during sessions. If I said anything to him, he would denigrate it, calling it “stupid.” He denigrated my office and me alike, saying my furniture was cheap and my clothes tacky. If I tried to talk to him he would say he did not feel like talking, and if I tried to help him he would say nobody could help him. He also negated everybody else in his life. As soon as he had sex with a woman, he would feel disgusted by her and never want to see her again. Anybody who chose him for a friend was eventually seen as worthless.

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Posted by admin on April 9th, 2009 :: Filed under Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction
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GAMES FOR BORED COUPLES – GAME 4: DESERTED ISLAND (PART 1)

Players: Bored husband and wife; travel agent. Activists: All three players consent to and participate in the game.

Setting: Deserted island in the middle of a lake, or cabin in the woods.

Aim: To throw husband and wife together into an intriguing (nonboring) situation from which there is no escape, and force them to relate in a new way.

Game Plan: The travel agent (a friend or relative) blindfolds the bored husband and wife and takes them to a deserted place. The agent may take them by boat to an island in the middle of a lake, or by car to a cabin in the middle of the woods, and leave them there. In either case, they will be stranded in an unfamiliar place for a weekend. The island or cabin will basically offer only food, water, and shelter—no modern amenities, such as television or laser disks. If either the husband or the wife should want to escape, he or she will have to swim or walk a long distance, even to a back road.

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Posted by admin on April 9th, 2009 :: Filed under Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction
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JUNK SEX VS LOVING SEX – MATURE SEXUALITY

The seeds of resistance to intimacy are planted in early childhoodr-watered throughout adolescence and young adulthood, and become fully grown sexual blocks in adult life. These blocks manifest themselves in a myriad of defensive postures, such as angry defiance or martyrdom or anxious sub-missiveness or appeasement or perfectionism—all of which are attempts to control both ourselves and others. As long as we are controlling and manipulating people, we cannot allow genuine intimacy to develop. It must develop voluntarily and cannot be manipulated or controlled.

Hence, mature sexuality is free of control or manipulation. It is a voluntary sharing of affection between two consenting adults. Just as a mother voluntarily shares her breast with her infant, so a lover voluntarily shares his or her sexuality. In this voluntary sharing between two consenting adults, a mutuality occurs which becomes the framework for mature loving. You cannot will this process to happen by determining to be more loving. Rather, it comes about through the acceptance of everything about ourselves and our lovers—our hopes, our fears, our beauty, our ugliness, our loves, our hates, and in particular everything we would like to disown and disavow in both ourselves and others.

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Posted by admin on April 9th, 2009 :: Filed under Men's Health-Erectile Dysfunction
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UNDERSTANDING ALLERGY: SOAPS AND DETERGENTS

Housework is responsible for 10 to 15 per cent of the skin problems that send people to their doctors. Many scrubbing powders contain abrasives – pumice, talc, sand, borax, corn-meal or wood powder – that are dynamite against ground-in oil, grease, tar and other stubborn dirt but also very rough on allergic skin. Seventy to 75 per cent of laundry detergents in the UK contain enzymes, proteins with allergic potential. And practically all laundry soaps contain additives such as sodium carbonate, sodium phosphate, ash, borax or sodium silicate -which may irritate even if they don’t trigger allergy directly. And of course, soaps and detergents contain fragrances, which are just as liable to cause allergy as the scents in cosmetics.

Besides causing allergy directly, soaps and detergents enhance other allergies. These cleansers break down keratin, the tough protein component of skin, and the protective surface oils, therefore speeding up the absorption of allergic chemicals through the skin.

One woman, who has been highly allergic to such substances as pollen, moulds and foods from early childhood, told us that she had been spared the miseries of skin allergies until around 1970, when enzymes became the ‘in’ laundry additives. Her legs broke out in oozing, weeping eczema like rashes. She remains free of the problem, however, as long as she uses only enzyme-free detergents.

You, too, can spare yourself the agonies of allergy to soaps and detergents by following a few simple guidelines.

• Buy only white, unscented soap that’s free of antiseptics, lanolin, enzymes and so forth. Baby soaps and soaps for washable woolens and fine fabrics are the safest.

• In general, simple, basic formulas are less prone to cause reactions than complex ones. Read labels.

• Even the mildest laundry soaps and detergents must be thoroughly rinsed from clothing and bed sheets.

• Pour or measure detergents or bleaches carefully so that they don’t splash on to your hands and arms. Or buy bleach sold in tablet form or packaged in premeasured envelopes.

• During the winter, when dry air makes skin more easily irritated by clothing, presoak laundry and use about half the amount of detergent the manufacturers recommend.

• Remove your rings when washing or using soaps, waxes and polishes to avoid trapping soap next to skin.

• Better yet, use protective gloves to do any kind of housework. For wet jobs, use rubber gloves over powdered cotton gloves to prevent excessive perspiration. To reduce irritation, wear the gloves for thirty minutes at a time rather than pulling them on and off several times in the course of a day. Even with protective gloves, don’t make the scrub water too hot; the heat will penetrate and irritate your hands.

• For dusting or other dry, dirty housework, wear cotton gloves to keep your hands from getting too dirty. That way you don’t have to scrub your hands with soaps to get them clean again.

• Use long-handled brushes as much as possible to keep sensitive skin on arms from being splashed with hot, soapy water or paints, varnishes and lacquers.

Incidentally, the tips suggested above will be helpful whether your skin is allergic or just easily irritated. And they’ll help you tolerate contact with other sources of chemicals besides soaps and detergents.

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Posted by admin on April 7th, 2009 :: Filed under Allergies
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INSECT ALLERGIES: AVOIDING BEE STINGS AND INSECT BITES

Staying clear of our lively winged assailants isn’t always easy, but there are several steps you can take to minimize the chances that you will tangle with a stinging or biting insect.

How to avoid bee stings

• Stay away from beehives and known nests. Call a beekeeper or the local council if bees choose your immediate environment to form a colony.

• Have wasp and hornet nests removed while they are still small enough to handle.

• Persons allergic to insects should be wary of power mowing, hedge clipping, scything and the like.

• Avoid looking and smelling like a flower during bee-sting season: avoid bright-coloured clothing. Light green, white, tan and khaki are the safest colours. Forswear perfumes and sweet-smelling lotions, creams, shampoos and hairsprays if you plan to be outdoors.

• Don’t wear floppy clothing, and do tie up long hair; both can entangle the stinging insects and anger them into doing their worst.

• Don’t go barefoot or wear sandals – the foot is vulnerable. Stay away from clover patches, flower gardens and other places where bees are busy.

• Keep an insecticide spray in the glove compartment of the car (along with the insect-sting kit) for use if a bee flies in, a very common occurrence.

• If an attack seems imminent, do not swat at the bee or bees and do not flail your arms. Retreat slowly, keep calm and make no sudden movement. If retreat is impossible, lie down and cover your head with your arms.

• Be wary of litter bins and rotting fruit under trees -favorite attractions for bees and wasps.

• Discourage allergic youngsters from eating sweets, ice cream cones and drinking soft drinks outdoors during warm months. They attract bees, wasps and hornets.

How to avoid ant stings

• Avoid anthills and mounds.

• Keep arms, legs and feet covered since they are the areas most frequently stung.

• Do not leave food uncovered or uncontained within the house, since this is an open invitation to ants.

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Posted by admin on April 7th, 2009 :: Filed under Allergies
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UNDERSTANDING ALLERGY: MOST TROUBLESOME DRUGS: PENICILLIN

In one of the most comprehensive studies of drug allergy ever conducted – the Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program – doctors collected data from patients in ten hospitals in the United States, plus eight foreign hospitals, covering 22,227 people in all. The results show which drugs most often cause skin reactions (itching, rashes, hives and so on). It’s important to note that women reacted 50 per cent more frequently than men, and that the severity of a person’s illness had no bearing on how likely he or she was to react.

Penicillin. This is not one drug but a general name for a group of antibiotics. Different types of penicillin, made from special moulds, control specific types of bacterial infections -making penicillins the most useful and widely prescribed drugs in the world. Doctors find, however, that from 1 to 10 per cent of the population is allergic to penicillin. Fortunately, most reactions are mild. The chance of a dramatic, explosive reaction is relatively remote; the odds are somewhere between 1 and 4 in 10,000. Even then, only 2 in 100,000 of these result in death. The remainders are kept in check by emergency medical action. (Strangely enough, people who are allergic to penicillin moulds, such as those sometimes found in cheese or around the house, can generally tolerate penicillin.)

Doctors have begun to realize that many people who think they’re allergic to penicillin aren’t really allergic to it after all. Penicillin allergy, it seems, often fades with time if the drug is avoided. Researchers at the Clinical Research Center at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for instance, tested 300 children who were reputedly allergic to penicillin, to find that only 19 per cent were indeed allergic. The authors conclude that the incidence of penicillin allergy is over-estimated, and that the allergy is not necessarily permanent.

In a similar study, a team of two doctors and a nurse tested nineteen children who had been judged allergic to penicillin three to five years earlier and found only five were still allergic (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology).

In still another study, researchers tested almost 800 people presumably allergic to penicillin. Nearly half of them were no longer allergic (Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology).

These studies don’t mean you should throw caution to the wind and disregard any bad experience you may have had with penicillin. On the contrary: it’s important to know if you have an authentic, active allergy to penicillin. Certain conditions – for example, serious infections, a chronic disease such as cystic fibrosis or venereal disease — depend heavily on penicillin for their medical management. In such cases, doctors conduct a skin test with benzylpenicilloyl-polylysine (called Pre-Pen), which they consider to be the most accurate, lowest risk predictor available for penicillin allergy. Sometimes a doctor can manage penicillin allergy by giving stepped doses of penicillin to desensitize an individual to the drug. If using penicillin is out of the question, the doctor will look for a safe substitute.

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Posted by admin on April 7th, 2009 :: Filed under Allergies
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