Tag Archives: asthma

Is food sensitivity making you fat? Find out about the ALCAT test

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London: Overweight, tired, skin problems and infertility are just some of the symptoms of food intolerence.

Many people suffer from food sensitivities /intolerencewithout knowing it. A food sensitivity is a reaction that you may not notice directly, symptoms may appear days after eating the substance, but it may be responsible for various “minor” illnesses such as chronic fatigue, overweight, chronic inflammation, migraine, arthritis, skin problems, poor mood and attention span, breathing difficulties, gastro-intestinal orders such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, sugar cravings, premature ageing, infertility and other conditions. This is different from a true allergy in that the reaction to the offending substance will usually happen immediately.

The ALCAT test examines the reaction of your living blood cells to foods and other substances so that you can tailor your diet for optimum health. This is not a test for true allergies. The IGE/IGG antibody response test is more suited to allergies.

There is a significant difference between the ALCAT test and IgG tests. The ALCAT test analyses the changes in the size (swelling and inflammation) and number of the white blood cells when the whole fresh blood is exposed to the individual test substances. There are many ways (mechanisms) by which the white blood cells’s may be triggered and that result in the release of inflammatory chemicals and the generation of damaging free radicals. IgG antibodies are also often present but block rather than cause reactions. Studies show that the ALCAT test correlates very well with double blind oral challenges with both foods and food additives. IgG does not. New studies show that the ALCAT test also correlates well with cytockine release where the IgG test does not. The consumer watchdog magazine WHICH recently criticised food intolerence tests other than ALCAT – read what they said here WHICH REPORT

The ALCAT test can also be used to screen for a whole host of substances that IgG cannot; such as, food additives and colourings, moulds, environmental chemicals, certain common anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics.

The ALCAT test, requires the patient to give a blood sample and examines the reaction to 100 most common foods costs £199.99(includes VAT).

The Alcat Test is unique. Your Alcat test results are contained in a detailed report of the body’s reaction to 100 common foods and substances including wheat, yeast and dairy. * These are category coded: red (severe intolerance, avoid at all costs for six months), orange (strong intolerance, avoid for 3-6 months), yellow (mild intolerance, avoid for three months/eat on rotation), green (acceptable, eat on rotation).

*The 100 Food Panel includes: Apple, Bakers Yeast, Banana, Barley, Beef, Black Pepper, Broccoli, Cabbage,Cantaloupe, Carrot, Casein, Cauliflower, Chicken, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Corn,CottonSeed, Cow’s Milk, Egg White, Egg Yolk, Fructose, Garlic, Gliadin, Gluten, Grape, Green Pea, Lamb, Lemon, Lettuce , Mustard, Oat, Onion,Orange, Peanut, Pear, Pork, Rice, Shrimp, Soybean, Squash, Strawberry,StringBean,Sugar, Sweet Potato, Tomato, Tuna, Turkey, Vanilla, Wheat,White Potato Almond, Asparagus, Avocado, Basil, Blueberry, Brewer’s Yeast,Brussel Sprouts, Candida Albicans, Carob, Cashew, Celery, Cherry, Clam,Coconut, Codfish, Coffee, Crab, Cranberry, Cucumber, Eggplant, Ginger,Goat’s Milk, Grapefruit, Green Pepper, Halibut, Honey, Hops, Lime, Lobster, Millet, Mushroom, Olive, Oregano, Parsley,Peach, Pecan, Pineapple, PintoBean, Plum, Psyllium, Rye, Salmon, Scallop, Sesame, Snapper, Sole, Spinach,Tea, Watermelon, Whey

Why many diets may fail

Even when dieting, the foods you eat may be preventing you from losing weight. Recent information has shed light on why some people will benefit from a diet and others will not. Our immune system reacts to the foods we eat and reactions to particular foods affect each of us differently.

In a study from Baylor Medical College in the US, researchers examined the effects of avoiding offending foods, or what is commonly referred to as “hidden food allergies”, were compared with low calorie dieting. The researchers were not only looking for changes in scale weight, but also a much more important measurement called body composition. Body composition is the ratio of fat to lean tissue. It is an important concern with regard to weight loss because the loss of lean tissue, as opposed to fat, is unhealthy. Lean tissue burns calories, even when you’re not exercising. Loss of lean tissue, rather than fat, can set you up for the yo-yo diet effect.

In order to determine a person’s hidden food allergies the Baylor researchers used a simple blood test, developed by ALCAT. They collected 100 subjects for the study who were having difficulty losing weight. Half of the subjects followed their Alcat test results and ate whatever they wanted as long as it was not indicated by the test as being a problem food. The other fifty subjects restricted their caloric intake, but did not eliminate problem foods indicated by the Alcat test.

Measurements of scale weight and body composition were taken at the beginning of the study and again one month later. The difference between the two groups was startling, 98% of the subjects following the Alcat eating program were successful in either losing weight and/or improving body composition. The calorie restriction group as a whole actually got worse, not necessarily heavier, but they lost more muscle than fat.

To the researchers, this study demonstrated that merely restricting food intake, without eliminating foods that inhibit metabolism, will not enough improve metabolic function necessary for healthy and long lasting weight loss.

Many doctors use the Alcat test as a valuable weight loss tool. Dr. Steven Lamm, author of, Thinner at Last, says, “I have seen the (Alcat) technique work when absolutely nothing else has made the scale budge”.

Even low carb advocates like Dr. Fred Pescatore, the former associate Medical Director of the Atkins Center and author of the bestseller, The Hamptons Diet, says, “I’ve been using the Alcat test in my practice for eight years. No other test is as accurate or useful”.

Listen to Dr Pescatore in this video interview;

When asked why the Alcat test works so well with weight loss, ALCAT states: “The wrong foods cause chronic inflammation which disrupts metabolism. Incompatible foods also disturb brain chemistry, thus causing food cravings. The allergic response also sets the stage for water retention and, for some, digestive disorders. Weight gain is caused by many factors, including our unique ability to metabolize foods. When dieting, each of us needs our own diet.”

The Alcat test can be purchased at www.thevitalityshopuk.com

Fish oil taken during pregnancy reduces child asthma

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The risk of developing asthma has been reduced by 63% in children whose mothers were given fish oil supplements during the last trimester of their pregnancy as part of a European research project on nutrition.

The research is part of a broader project on early nutritional programming which involves experts from 16 countries and is financed by the European Commission’s research programme.

The Danish researchers originally carried out a trial with 500 pregnant women in the last 10 weeks of their pregnancy in 1990 to examine the effect of fish oils on pre-term birth and low birth weight. One group was given fish oil supplements, another olive oil supplements and the third no supplements.

When the babies born in that trial were later traced, it was found that by the age of 16, 19 children had developed such severe asthma at some point that they had had to go to hospital. However, fewer of these children were in the fish oil group than the other two. The risk of developing asthma was reduced by 63% in those whose mothers had been given fish oil supplements.

There is strong biochemical evidence that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil may have effects on the immune system. The reason fish oil might protect a foetus from developing asthma in later life could possibly also be related to its effect on increasing pregnancy duration.

Pre-term children have a higher risk of developing asthma and it is possible that the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oils could both reduce the risk of pre-term birth and the likelihood of a baby later becoming asthmatic. It may be that the period shortly before delivery is the critical window for these effects of omega 3 fatty acids. However, further trials are necessary before dietary recommendations for pregnant women should be changed.

The research is published today in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Asthma – discuss your concerns with leading expert

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London: Do you or does someone you love suffer from asthma? Can stress or even a fit of laughter send you desperately hunting for your inhaler? Do you have to stop your child from even entering a house where there is a dog or a cat because just breathing in the animal hairs can trigger an attack? You are not alone. Nearly a quarter of children and a significant 6% of adults are affected by asthma.

Join Dr Martin Bell in an online web chat on Wednesday 11th July Chat time: GMT 12:30pm to 13:30pm

Suffers symptoms can vary from being very severe to fairly mild. Asthma can range from being life threatening or limiting a sufferer’ s ability to lead a normal life to just being a nuisance. Some victims cannot go outside if there is a high pollen count and others cannot do strenuous sports. But how do doctors diagnose asthma and what can sufferer do cut down its effect on their lives?

Treatment has improved dramatically in the last few years but the range of different medicines available can be bewildering. Each sufferer’s asthma is different and how can victims or the parents of children with asthma know which treatment is best for them or their little ones?

Dr Martin Bell will be clearing up the confusion surrounding this very common condition and giving advice on how sufferers can lead a completely normal life. He will be happy to answer any questions you might have about asthma and its treatment.

Dr Martin Bell joins us live online atwww.webchats.tv/webchat.php?ID=409″ on Wednesday 11th July at 12:30pm GMT to answer all your asthma questions.

Martin Bell qualified at the Royal London Hospital in 1982 and has been in General Practice in North Essex for 18 years, after doing a number of hospital-based jobs including gaining extra qualifications in obstetrics, gynaecology and anaesthetics. He is a full time partner in a busy practice which has about 12,000 patients and has an interest in communicating medicine in an understandable, but hopefully not patronising, way to non medical people; be they patients or a wider public.

For more information visit < a href="http://www.axaappphealthcare.co.uk">www.axappphealthcare.co.uk

Accupressure can relieve stress-related diseases

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San Francisco: Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) has been successfully addressing physical illness by getting to the true cause of illness — unresolved emotional issues like anger, fear and hostility. This is done without lengthy psychotherapy or medications. When unresolved negative emotions are neutralized with this needle free acupuncture technique, symptoms associated with asthma, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, and even cancer tend to subside or disappear, often permanently.

EFT was initially developed to accelerate and improve the psychotherapy process. Soon EFT users were reporting that addressing their emotional issues resulted in a reduction in their physical symptoms. Thousands of case studies have shown an 80% success rate and it often works when nothing else will. It can be learned freely by downloading the EFT Manual at www.emofree.com

Harvard researchers recently published findings from a study that explored the link between anger and hostility and lung function. Even at the beginning of the study, men with the highest anger and hostility ratings had the poorest lung function, and their condition deteriorated over the period of the study.

According to Dr Paul Lehrer, one of the authors of the study, “Stress-related factors are known to depress immune function and increase susceptibility to, or exacerbate a host of diseases and disorders,” he said. “Indeed, it is hard to find a disease for which emotion or stress plays absolutely no part in symptom severity, frequency, or intensity of flare-ups.”

The scientists did not know how unresolved negative emotions contribute to the physical deterioration of the lungs but expect that this question will be the topic of another study.

Dr. Eric Robins, a medical doctor who uses EFT with his patients offers a possible explanation … and a simple solution. “At least 85% of medical problems are physical manifestations of how stress, anxiety and past traumas are held in and processed by the body. Stress and negative emotions are frequently stored in the smooth muscles that function automatically, without our conscious control. If people store tension in the smooth muscles of the blood vessels going to the head, we might call this a migraine headache. If they store tension in the smooth muscles of the air passages of the lungs we might call that asthma. The best technique to address these issues and to clear them out of the body is EFT.”

Gary Craig, the Stanford-trained engineer who developed EFT, recommends that researchers who are exploring the link between emotion and physical illness become familiar with EFT. “We have filmed more than 120 hours of EFT demonstrations where people are addressing their emotional issues and measurably improving their physical conditions,” says Craig. “This collection, which is available from the EFT website, includes forty hours of people using EFT to address symptoms associated with serious diseases like prostate cancer, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis and diabetes.

“EFT is a simple solution,” says Craig, “that many health professionals are incorporating into their regular practice. Surgeons use EFT to avoid unnecessary surgery, chiropractors use EFT to correct misalignments and therapists use EFT to avoid lengthy and costly psychotherapy sessions. And every day people are using EFT to address their own physical and emotional issues.”

Over 350,000 people have downloaded Craig’s free training manual and another 10,000 download it each month. Known as The EFT Manual, it has been translated by volunteer practitioners into nine languages. The EFT website is the fifth most actively visited natural health site in the world.

The EFT Manual gives anyone all the basics so they can apply it right away. It can be freely downloaded at… www.emofree.com