Naturopathic Practices: Eat Your Way To Better Health ~ Hugh Vickers ~             An allergy is a specific lack of body resistance to certain types of irritant substances, such as foods, pollens, chemicals, certain materials, etc.             In regard to foods, we have all experienced an aquaintance who will break out in hives from eating strawberries. Another who will have an allergic reaction to fish and in particular shellfish. Others who are allergic to milk and milk products. Today so many people are getting reactions to wheat products. It seems peculiar to say the least that such a staple item as wheat should be having, in some cases, such harmful effects. Is it the wheat product itself, or is it a reaction to the insecticides and sprays used in the cultivation of this food product?             The asthmatic person has generally learned what odors or what irritants must be avoided. Those susceptible to irritating pollens of plants will suffer congestion of the nasal mucous membrane everytime they come into contact with those particular pollens to which they are susceptible.             What is wrong with those various foods that they are causing so much discomfort to so many? Is it that these foods are not good for you? That pollens of plants are a so-called evil? If everyone was to suffer the same consequences then perhaps it would be better to eradicate the causes from the face of the earth. But to eradicate all the sources of allergy reasctions off of the earth would make this place a wilderness. We would perhaps start this foolishness by getting rid of cats, dogs, horses and many other animals whose hair causes allergies. Then we'll proceed to cut a swathe through the plant kingdom, ridding ourselves of the many odours and pollens that cause reactions. Lastly, we would go to work on human species, for there are many causes of irritation and hay fever associated with humans. So where would one stop - and we could not by any means continue this process of treating the effects, as we do in other facets of life, instead of treating the causes.             Percentage-wise in the population those subject to allergies are not so great as compared to those who do not suffer. Pollens and foods are not the offenders except to those whose resistance has broken down.             Every allergic reaction is evidence that the sufferer is the one at fault, that resistance has broken down and that both the cause and the treatment lie within the individual not the environment.             The answer and the cause to allergies and allergic reactions is to change the present chemical state of that being. So that when hay fever season arrives we do not have to flee to the hills. The sufferer of food allergies can eat his food freely without discomfort and the person who has discomforts from pollen can bury his face in the former irritant and be free from effects. We have a right, a God-given right, to be happy and well.             What can we do to return to normalcy, to be free of allergies of any kind? To do this we must begin to understand a little more about ourselves and also some fundamentals of correct nutrition.             It has been said: we are what we eat - daily, yearly and as our nutritional habits dictate. Our present chemical state is largely determined by what we have eaten throughout our entire lives to this point. The other important factors relating to the chemical state are correct breathing and mental attitudes all relating to the energies of the system made up of individual cells in a composite wholeness. But for now we will speak of nutritional needs.             If we are unwilling to change our food habits, in order to correct a faulty chemical imbalance, then let us continue to suffer in silence. And why should we continue to support those in sickness benefits under health care systems who are unable to discipline their habits and pleasures at the table? Why should we complain or expect certain benefits when we are ourselves responsible? Our appreciation of certain types of food over others is greatly increased by our better health and greater vitality.             To do this we have to eliminate from our systems all excesses of acid end products and build a normal alkaline reserve. The end result will be the final disappearance of irritations and allergic reactions. Such a program does not require the destruction of food sources - it does not cost the sufferer one penny in its application - and it does not deprive him of any pleasures of good wholesome food at the table.             A deplation of a normal alkaline reserve is behind every case of sensitization of every kind and is caused by an insufficient alkaline reserve of base forming foods on the one hand, or the creation of large amounts of acid end products on the other - and is usually made up of both factors.             The usual meal prepared is composed of acid forming materials in the extent of seventy-five percent or more with the remainder representing base forming materials. It is not hard to see why we continually accumulate these acid products. The body loses its chemicals through its metabolic processes continually - the loss is generally of the alkaline elements, the ratio being 80% alkaline to 20% acids. So the ratio must be maintained by consuming the same ratio in the intake of foods.             The manufacturers of alkaline salts are realizing very clearly the increasing call for these as a means for combatting acid accumulations in the body. So much gas and flatulence and upset stomachs are caused through eating combinations of gastronomic delights. These manufacturers are stressing to us very clearly the alkalizing plan of treatment.             However extravagant the claims may be, we cannot neutralize body acidities with mineral alkalies as the body can use these only to neutralize acid then present in the body. It cannot build out of these products an alkaline reserve, for body alkalies are of the colloidal type, just as they are formed in the plant, fruit, grain and nut.             We can build a normal alkaline reserve out of vegetables and fruits but we have to use a greater percentage of these types of foods in the diet and not just display them as edible decorations as is so often done in the average home. Fruit for instance, is not consumed that much, being served in a large dish kept in the centre of the table and looked upon as a permanent decoration.             Starches and proteins are highly acid-forming, as are cereals, pastries, breads and sugars on the one hand - meats, eggs, fish, cheese on the other.             To eat but a small portion of the acid forming food and then 75% in the base forming foods of vegetables, raw salads and fresh fruit is to balance the intake ratio of acid-alkaline foods as per the chemical metabolic loss.             If such a change could be made by the sufferer as a daily basis of nutritional intake, this factor alone would change in a short time the chemical structure of the sufferer to an extent whereby they would suffer no more. Every case of asthma, arthritis, hay fever, eczema, psoriasis, fatigue, hives, food, pollen or chemical sensitivities or allergies in any form is never anything else but this same imbalance, meaning that the alkaline reserve has shrunk so low that the continual formation of acid end products finds nothing to check this excess, or build it into harmless compounds. Every evidence of allergy is entirely curable by a return to a normal acid-alkaline ratio in eating. Eat freely then of vegetables, salads, fruits; eat sparingly of meats, eggs, fish, breads, cereals, pastries, sugars. You will build up an alkaline reserve that will make the appearance of an allergy impossible.             There is a law in nature that "Life begats Life". In other words life produces life. Cooked foods are generally death foods. They will cause disease in the body. Life foods produce life in the body. By eating in such manner you will not only build a healthy system - you will have less time spent in the kitchen enabling you to have a much more creative life in time and energies spent elsewhere. You will enrich your life physically, mentally and spiritually. About the Author: Hugh Vickers promotes holistic living. He has in the past been a professional musician, graduating from Kneller Hall, School of Music, London, England. He spent four years as Assistant Education Director for the Health Food Industry in Canada. His many credits include: Executive Vice President of a major vitamin company; past President of the Herbal Association of British Columbia; Dominion Herbal College graduate; Emerson Herbal College, Master Herbalist Degree; Doctor of Drugless Healing, England; Doctor of Divinity, Doctor of Metaphysics, Kansas USA; American College of Natural Healing Sciences, Massage Therapy, Colonic Irrigation, diet and Nutritional therapy. He is presently the director of the Holistic Physical Therapy Center in Calgary, Alberta. Copyright ©1980, Hugh Vickers - All Rights Reserved