WATER POLLUTION: FEW QUESTION ABOUT FILTERS

Needless to say, the better filters are more expensive, but a high price is not an unfailing guide to quality, so you need to ask some searching questions:

Does it contain silver? (If not, then it is probably dangerous.)

Is the filter registered with the EPA? What is the registration number? If not EPA registered, then you should ask what quantity of silver leaches into the filtered water. (Ask to see test figures. They should be less than .05 parts per million, which might be expressed as 50 parts per billion, 50 micrograms per litre or 50u,g per litre.)

What percentage removal of chlorine, chlorinated organic chemicals, pesticides and organic solvents does it give? Ask to see test results. (Should be more than 95 per cent for each of these groups. The tests should have been carried out by an independent laboratory.)

How many gallons will the filter process?

What percentage removal can be expected when it is nearing the end of its life? (This is a crucial question – the manufacturer may say the filter is good for 5,000 gallons, but if it is only removing 30 per cent of contaminants after 4,000 gallons you may as well drink tap water. Good filters should still be removing 90 per cent or more at the end of their useful life.)

How much does a replacement filter cost?

Given these figures, you can work out the cost per gallon. Ask whether they are working in British gallons or US gallons, as this will make a difference. (1 British gallon = 1.2 US gallons, so 5,000 US gallons is only 4,160 British gallons.) Bear in mind that the cheapest price per gallon may not be the best in terms of water quality.

The same sort of questions should be asked if you are choosing a filter that combines activated carbon with reverse osmosis (see p311). If they do not include silver, ask about bacteriological control. Filters that work by reverse osmosis alone are not recommended.

None of the above systems remove harmful bacteria, and they are only suitable for use with tap water that has already been chlorinated or otherwise treated by the water authority. All water used for baby feeds should be boiled before use, including bottled or filtered water.

For people who can obtain water directly, from a borehole or spring, there are large-scale devices that kill bacteria as well as removing pollutants and sediment. These are known as water purification systems and are much more expensive, but the water obtained should be of very high quality.

*418\180\8*

THE EXCLUSION PHASE OF THE ELIMINATION DIET

This is meant to be a very simple, basic diet, in which you consume nothing but your allowed foods. No herbs, no spices, no flavourings, nothing tinned and no packaged foods of any sort. It is not going to be a gastronomic delight, but the diet does not last long and it may make you well again.

Eat only your allowed foods, remembering to vary your diet, not to eat any one food every day, and not to eat too much of any one food. Drink only bottled or filtered water. As before, you can drink herb teas, but avoid any that you have consumed regularly before. You should also vary them and not drink more than two or three cups a day – you can become sensitive to anything you eat or drink, and herb teas are no exception. Look at the label on herb-tea mixtures: some contain orange, lemon or apple extracts and these should be avoided.

If, after reading Chapter Nine, you think you may have chemical sensitivity, then you should try to eat only unsprayed food during this diet (as well as following the avoidance measures for synthetic chemicals. Unfortunately, eating ‘organic’ foods only may be very difficult, since your choice of foods is limited anyway, but it is worth choosing organic produce for some of the foods, even if you cannot manage it for all of them. Check a variety of sources to see what sort of organic produce is available – the range is widening all the time. Remember that friends’ gardens are often the best source of unsprayed fruit and vegetables – ask around to see if you can buy surplus produce. During the testing procedure, you can test for sensitivity to pesticide residues by comparing your reactions to the same food, sprayed and unsprayed.

Continue the exclusion phase for at least three weeks. If you are not substantially better by then, it is highly unlikely that you have food sensitivity. Keep a record of everything you eat and all your symptoms.

You should also weigh yourself regularly during this diet, especially if you are not overweight at the outset. Anyone who is underweight should not embark on the diet without medical advice. If you find you are losing weight rapidly, then you should discuss the matter with your doctor. Elemental diets can sometimes be useful in these circumstances, as a nutritional supplement.

*270\180\8*

PREVENTING FOOD SENSITIVITY: KEEPING THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE

None of these preventive measures is foolproof, unfortunately. Some children go on to develop allergies, come what may. So a philosophical outlook is essential – do what you can to protect the child from allergens and irritants but accept that it may sometimes be impossible. Above all, try not to get too anxious. A child needs to see the world as a safe and welcoming place, not one that is fraught with dangers. If your anxiety is obvious it may do a great deal of psychological harm.

Once the child is a year old, the risk of sensitization is far less, and you should be able to sit back and reap the benefits – an allergy-free child. There is no need to continue these stringent preventive measures unless there is a clear need for them – if the child obviously reacts to house dust for example, then you will have to continue being ultra-clean, but if there are no problems then you can allow your standards to slip a little.

If your child develops allergies anyway, then try not to blame yourself or other people – you can never know for sure what went wrong and it is pointless trying. Take comfort from the thought that your child’s allergies might have been much worse if you had not gone to so much trouble – in the Swedish study, described above, it was notable that the different risk factors added up to give an even greater risk. Your preventive measures must have subtracted some aggravating factors and made your child’s illness less severe than it might otherwise have been.

*324\180\8*

FOOD PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN: HYPERKINETIC SYNDROME: DAVID’S STORY

David was very restless as a baby and slept little. By the time he could toddle he was a constant worry to his mother, because he was ‘into everything’ and could not be left alone for a minute. Getting him to bed in the evening was almost impossible, and when he was forced to do something he did not want to do he could throw violent tantrums. Like many children, David was fond of sugary foods and liked ice-cream; orange squash, chocolate and crisps. Since he was still only three it was relatively easy to exclude all these items and other common foods, such as milk and eggs, from his diet. On this diet he showed a

dramatic improvement. He began to sleep through the night, and became much less active – for the first time he could sit down and watch a television programme through to the end. When he had been on this diet for ten days he was tested with various foods. After eating a small square of chocolate he became very aggressive and rushed around the house frantically banging doors and kicking furniture. Then he became dopey and fell into a deep sleep that lasted for several hours. A similar reaction occurred when he was given sugar, milk and oranges. Avoiding these foods has produced a great improvement in his behaviour.

*273\180\8*

MYTHS ABOUT FOOD INTOLERANCE: DIGESTING THE FACTS

To add to the myths about food, there are some long-standing misconceptions about human digestion that fuel the arguments over food sensitivity. The most important one is that food is broken down into very small molecules before any of it is absorbed. Every school biology student is taught this: that the enzymes in the mouth, stomach and small intestine break down food into its basic constituents. Starches (complex carbohydrates) are broken down into sugars, and proteins are broken down into amino acids. These very small molecules are then absorbed and enter the bloodstream, but larger molecules are excluded by the gut wall – or so the story goes. If this were true, food could not cause allergic reactions in the skin or airways: the molecules that got through the gut wall would be too small to provoke any reaction by

immune cells in the blood, which only respond to fairly large molecules, not to simple sugars or amino acids.

Research carried out in the last 10-20 years has shown that this picture of digestion is very simplistic and misleading, but the news has been a long time getting through. In one study, healthy adults were given potato starch dispersed in water to drink. After 15-30 minutes, blood samples contained up to 300 starch grains per millilitre of blood.

After a meal, a small number of undigested or partially digested food molecules are found in the bloodstream, so it is clear that the gut wall is not as impregnable as was once thought. In fact, specialized areas of the gut wall actually ‘sample’ the gut contents, actively taking up droplets of liquid that contain intact food molecules. The cells that do this are called Peyer’s patches and they form part of the immune system. By sampling the gut contents they are able to prepare the body for the arrival of food molecules in the bloodstream. They ensure that the body makes a distinction between these food molecules and any disease organisms that may enter the blood. Under normal circumstances, this prevents the body from mounting unnecessary and damaging attacks against the food molecules.

*25\180\8*

ALPINE PLANTS AND LOWLAND PLANTS – ALPINE PLANTS 2

To obtain scientifically acceptable evidence in this matter would involve costly experiments. In any case, what really matters are the results of our practical experience with herbs and herb extracts. For instance, we know it to be true that St John’s wort grown at alpine altitudes is richer in active substances and more efficacious than the same plant grown in the lowlands or at an intermediate elevation. The tincture obtained from the former is a much darker shade of red than that prepared from the lowland plant. Hence we must conclude that the medicinal dye content is greater. The plant itself looks different from the ordinary lowland Hypericum perforatum; it is shorter and more compact. And since it is indigenous to the alpine regions it is distinguished by the name Hypericum alpinum. You will see, then, that it is the alpine plant which is richer in medicinal value and content; the variety of plant is the clue to the mystery’s solution.

What is true about St John’s wort also applies to goldenrod. The alpine variety is small and bushy and instead of one flower stem, like the lowland kind, it has 12-15 arising from its small rootstock. The alpine variety of Solidago is more aromatic and stronger, contains more essential oil, and its diuretic effect is far stronger than that of its lowland cousin.

*685/28/1*

THE SKIN – IMPETIGO (BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT)

This unpleasant condition can also be treated with biological remedies, an excellent one being Molkosan. Used externally, this natural, concentrated, whey product, containing 15 per cent lactic acid, will give good results. Soak a cotton pad with it and dab the affected areas. Repeat the application after about five minutes, this time using Echinaforce instead. Molkosan kills the bacteria and Echinaforce prevents infection. When a pustule comes to a head and you feel like squeezing it open, do so only with sterilised cotton wool. Immediately afterwards, apply Molkosan and Echinaforce as indicated above. Do not use soap for washing, but cleanse the skin with 45 per cent alcohol to which a few drops of arnicatincture have been added. When you suffer from pustules your skin is rarely dry, but if it should be, apply Bioforce Cream once a week.

*641/28/1*

NATURE DOCTOR – OUR TEETH – THE CONSEQUENCES OF DEAD TEETH 2

I have known patients who lived a healthy life and were never really ill, yet they were not really well either, because they did nothing about their dental abscesses. They would suffer from headaches, slight indisposition, excessive tiredness or pains somewhere in the body, but these would temporarily disappear with treatment. The condition always changed, however, when the abscesses were finally dealt with. These patients would suddenly feel better than they had done for years.

It is especially important for those of us who live in our so-called civilised society to take much better care of our teeth than we generally do. For this, of course, we need to have a good dentist. However, there are other things we need to do in order to care properly for our teeth. These requirements are dealt with below.

*597/28/1*

SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CANCER DESPITE A HEALTHY LIFE-STYLE

Vegetarians often claim that one cannot get cancer if one leads a natural life. So it is an understandable tragedy when someone with a healthy life-style and strictly vegetarian diet falls victim to cancer. But what explanation is there for the fact that vegetarians, advocates of natural remedies and treatments, even leading figures in this field, succumb to cancer? Unfortunately, this really does happen, even though they may try to keep it a secret. True enough, experience has proved that a diet too rich in protein, especially animal protein, can contribute to the development of cancer, whereas a healthy diet based on vegetables and fruit does reduce one’s susceptibility to it.

*553/28/1*

ARTHRITIS AND GOUT – CHRONIC INFECTION

It is estimated that 4-7 per cent of the world’s population are afflicted by the dreadful, painful scourge called arthritis. Two to three hundred thousand people in Switzerland have fallen victim to it and millions of people elsewhere in Europe and the United States can speak of their personal experience of arthritis, many of whom may have suffered from it for decades. Arthritis and gout mar the sufferer’s happiness and can be sheer agony. It is the purpose of the following discussion to help as many of these people as possible.

Arthritis often has its origin in a chronic infection somewhere in the system. It may be the tonsils, a dental abscess or some other purulent inflammation which keep discharging minute quantities of toxins and poisonous waste products of the protein metabolism into the bloodstream. The effect is damaging to the joints and the internal organs such as the heart and kidneys. Apart from that, arthritis is definitely a disease of civilisation, the outcome of eating the wrong kinds of food and a wrong life-style. In many cases we may also have inherited a predisposition to it; we suffer the consequences of what our forefathers passed on to us, in the words of the Bible, ‘Fathers are the ones that eat unripe grapes, but it is the teeth of the sons that get set on edge.’

*509/28/1*