Sometimes, I wonder about our diets
Tony,
I have to admit that after spending nearly $3000 at the Gastroenterologist in early 2004 on tests, spending another $70 doesn't appeal at the moment.
In fact, I cringe at even the smallest suggestion of expenditure to be honest.
But since I know nothing about Fructose malab. I will make it a priority to look up the internet. The many books on health at home didn't reveal anything when I checked over the weekend.
I sometimes think that (with my wonderful local Doctor to bounce ideas off - he was the Staff Physician at The Royal Melbourne Hospital at one time), I am getting better in leaps & bounds through researching & fine tuning my diet myself.
I can't change the stress I experience through working full time, but I can control my diet (since I rarely go out). The rare times I eat out, it's usually with vegetarian, dairy intolerant friends, or family who accept that I will pick & chose what I eat.
Apart from supporting organic farmers (if possible), I suspect that many people (not just CFS/FM) are becoming food sensitive.
You only have to read the long list of additives/preservatives, food colourings, crop chemicals & artificial fertilizers to wonder why there aren't more people chronically ill & fatiqued.
So I believe it's not just about grain digestive issues, it's about where that grain orginates & how it is grown.
When I was studying aromatherapy (& in some respects also when studying herbal medicine), the lecturer stressed the varying degree of potency & percentage of alkaloids (the therapuetic constituent) found in herbs grown on different sides of a hill, different climates, harvesting in morning after dew has lifted but before the volatile oils reduce etc. Even the emotional state of the picker can affect the raw product. Pickers who are stressed or angry might impart extra body oils or perspiration. And while you would always wash raw food, there must be some degree of contamination.
I do better on cooked food these days - easier on the IBS & digestion.
And like some others, I need a bit of red meat (not too much). I try to balance meat, fish, eggs & vegetarian meals.
So I believe, the same raw food product wheat, rye, millet for example, will have considerablely less harmful effect if it is organic, consumed as fresh as possible, with as little modification to the true natural plant structure as possible.
I have read numerous articles & books on the subject of mould & microbes contaminating raw food materials. Some grains or raw foods are also rancid by the time the public get them off the supermarket shelf.
I also recommend buying in small quantities unless you have a big family & consume raw flours & cooking oils etc very quickly.
Many years ago, I worked for a family who owned a flour mill in country Victoria. Whenever someone went up to the Mill, they would bring me freshly ground flour, wheatgerm etc. I would always bake the next day, & you would not believe the delicious, fluffy, baked goods that arose from those freshly milled ingredients. That was back in the days when I still ate grains - the taste & degreee of rising was amazing.
Hence, my current interest in both organic (& also Paleo style of diet ie dairy/grain free).
Despite the high cost of organic products in this country, I believe that if you cut out all processed foods, the savings you make can go towards the higher cost of fresh organic fruit/vegetables.
Or better still, if you have sufficient back yard or know someone close by with arable land, you could try growing your own. My parents in their 80's still grow most of their vegetables themselves in the small back yard of their retirement unit, although I believe now that my Mother can't bend, there is great disatisfaction in the way my Father carries out her gardening instructions! I just hope their local council don't spray surrounding fields near their village with pesticide that might be carried by the wind over their back fence.
I can only afford to buy organic, since I am working full-time & go without other things such as haircuts, clothes & holidays. Am not physically fit or well enough to go any distance for holiday (even if I did have the money).
Victoria
