12.19.07
Posted in Health at 10:21 pm by emerym
The diet change had gone very well. The fatigue I suffered from in the afternoons went, I was able to work until 18:00 without problems, my weight dropped a little further and my sinuses had a major detox, resulting in my “Panda Eyes” getting much lighter.
Peter explained that it’s the toxic byproducts from digesting some foods that have probably been causing me problems. It sounds like this may have been building up for many years. The body wraps these toxins in fat and deposits them in a number of locations, for example around the eyes. I’ve got a batch of tests pending to back up the conclusions drawn so far and check some other potential problem areas.
Peter also said that I’d have to eat some more of the problem foods to prove that the improvements were down to their absence from my diet and not other factors. Once all of the problems were known my diet would be reconstructed. With that in mind, when my wife offered me some soup that evening that contained 8% potato I ate it. The next day I felt like rubbish. I wasn’t as bad as before, but it wasn’t a good creative day either.
While waiting for an evening conference call on Tuesday I had a search on the web for a more definitive list of the foods in the group. To my surprise I’d been eating more items from the group than I’d previously thought. Summarizing what I’ve found on Wikipedia and other sites:
“The highly toxic and hallucinogenic belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade has a few close cousins in it’s Solanaceae family: The Jimson weed, mandrake, tomato, tomatillo, tobacco, bell peppers, potato, eggplant, petunia and capsicum (paprika, chile pepper)”
Up until the diet change tomato, potato and paprika or chile pepper were regularly part of my evening meals. At the team dinner that evening the roast potatoes remained on the plate.
My advice to others with long term fatigue? See a Nutritionist before you see your GP!
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12.10.07
Posted in Health at 8:26 pm by emerym
The title of this post works on a couple of levels.
I’d like to get all the people who say food has no impact on fatigue on one side of a room, the ones that accept it can on another and a pile of cream pies on a table in the middle. I’d get out of their way and let the fun begin, everyone needs a good laugh every now and then.
Then there’s the fight within.
I’ve been talking to Peter Cox, he’s a Nutritionist. I have known issues with caffeine, aspirin and Edam cheese, the cheese and aspirin problem goes back 30 years. It turns out aspirin is in the same food group as tomatoes, potatoes, chilli, aubergines and capsicums. My wife and I were cooking with at least one, but normally two, sometimes three of these every day. Apparently it’s possible to have a reaction to food as long as 72 hours after ingestion, by which time it’s off your list of possible causes. As the reaction isn’t sudden and severe enough to make you realise it’s food you and any doctors you consult look to other causes.
“Food is only fuel ” I was told by one of them. But I’m realising that for me it has to be some of the many right kinds of food, and none of the bad foods. Fill your petrol tank with diesel and how far do you get off the forecourt? Not far. What if the mix was 80% petrol? Maybe the engine runs but not at full performance. It looks like my body’s been fighting against these foods for some years with energy from good food being expended to fight the bad. If your body’s a temple mine’s been a battle ground, eventually getting so worn out that combined with some stress I’d become open to the virus that triggered the disease of the lymph nodes and everything that followed.
I’ve been off those foods for a couple of weeks now. Through a lack of cereal in the house I’ve also not had cows milk. I’ve also been eating foods spread out during the day to see how I react to them. Pink Lady apples are now on my list too, although I’m fine with many others.
The last few days have been so much better. I still get a bit tired in the afternoons but not as bad as before and the mental fog has reduced. At last I think I’ve turned a corner and see daylight at the end of the tunnel.
The change in diet combined with all the walking I do has had other unexpected benefits too. My sinuses are not as bad and my weight has dropped to 13 stone 3 and the wife can see signs of a six pack. I’ve not been this light in 26 years!
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Posted in 42: Life-Universe-Everything at 8:25 pm by emerym
9th December 2007
Getting Sophie to Maidstone for her performance at the Hazlitt Theatre looked like it could quickly become a nightmare. It was a mad rush to get to Bromley South as usual, having just missed the proper bus by seconds. On getting to the station we find there is no train to Maidstone East. We’d been lucky so far, we’ll be thinking about engineering works in future.
On the station platform a confused Chinese lady asks me how to get to Ashford International. English is obviously a problem for her so I draw pictures with a train, bus, arrows and station names. I get a lovely smile and “Thanks!”
She’s got two very large heavy bags with her so I help get them onto the train. At Maidstone I help her gets both bags up and down the stairs to the car park for the bus. One is so heavy she could only have dragged it.
I ask when the bus will depart and arrive in Maidstone. Depart 12:10 and arrive around 13:10, they only do the run once an hour. That would give Sophie less than 20 mins to get to the theatre and change ready for curtain up. I ask about local cabs and their charges. “Don’t worry papa” Sophie says, “I’ll just have to get ready quickly”. The Metro Bus supervisor makes comments about what he’d do if he had a single decker to hand.
He thinks the Chinese lady, Sophie and I are together. It’s an easy mistake to make as Sophie has some Chinese in her from her mothers side. He asks where the three of us are going, I point out that we’re not together, the lady needs to get to Ashford International.
He goes to the car park then returns moments later to say “If you could get on that bus” pointing to a double decker with “Not in service” showing. Other passengers ask if they can get on to which he replies “No, that’s your bus” pointing to the one that will depart in 25 minutes.
Sophie and I have a private double decker non-stop all the way from Sevenoaks to Maidstone East! Rest assured I will find some way to repay their kindness. The staff from Metro Bus saved the day!
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