From the Doctor
For February 2006, "The Rotary Diversified Diet for Allergic Patients."
Rotary Diversified Diet
It is important for the person who has allergies to learn how to live on a diet that not only will sustain him comfortably, but will at the same time reduce the possibilities of contributing to his symptoms. We know that at least half of our patients who suffer sensitivities to substances inhaled with the air also are apt to have symptoms produced by some of the things they eat. These symptoms vary greatly and the patient must be continually alert to watch for them and report them to the doctor. Do not try to remember them from day to day. Write them down!
Symptoms to watch for, in addition to the stopped-up, runny nose are: headache, itching or tickling in the palate or throat, dizziness, bloating, gas, excessive feeling of fullness in the stomach long after the meal is eaten, excessive drowsiness right after a meal, diarrhea, swelling of the hands, feet and ankles. There are other possible symptoms, such as mental disturbances, insomnia, canker sore, recurrent sore throat.
In general, common foods that are eaten every day are more apt to cause trouble than those eaten sporadically. Some of us already know what particular food may disagree with us. Ask the doctor about it. However, the foods most often found to be offenders are wheat, milk, corn, egg, citrus (orange, grapefruit, lemon), potato, chocolate, tomato, spices, yeast and malt, nuts, beef and pork roughly in that order. It is seen that these foods are eaten every day by most of us.
It is also known that avoidance of a food leads to TOLERANCE of it, and that repetitive ingestion of a particular food, particularly in large amounts, increases SENSITIVITY to it.
Therefore, the allergic individual must learn to ROTATE his foods from day to day, and to DIVERSIFY or VARY them. This means that if beef is eaten on Sunday, it must not be eaten again until Wednesday or Thursday. If potatoes are eaten with this Sunday meal, the same rule applies. The rule applies thus to all foods, including what we drink. Try to eat one particular food no more often than every fourth day.
Try to vary beef (or veal) with pork, lamb, fowl (chicken, turkey, duck, etc.) or fish. Vary your vegetables as much as possible. Potatoes and tomatoes must not be eaten daily. Your salad must not always be lettuce salad. Watch the salad dressings! Try to eat fruits (and their juices) other than citrus. Some people have orange juice every day of their lives. It is NOT necessary for adults to have milk every day in order to stay healthy. Learn to drink something other than milk or coffee with meals. Try anything new or different!
If you have to have any bread, go to the health food store and find a bread made from something other than wheat flour. Do you always have to have cereal in the morning? If so, learn to eat cooked oats or rice cereal. Breakfast is most often apt to be the most unvaried meal. Break up this monotony!
Once rotation and diversification of diet has been established, and a symptom suddenly occurs, it is much easier for the patient and the doctor to identify what caused it.
The rules apply to children too, and their diet is often more unvaried than that of the adult. In children, wheat and corn cereals, peanut butter, chocolate, cola drinks and popcorn are frequent offenders in addition to the above. Do not allow the allergic child to snack on anything he wants, because he will invariably crave the very things that give him symptoms. We realize that these rules will necessitate careful observation of the child as well as some discipline.
Adults should remember that all alcoholic drinks contain corn, yeast, malt and other cereal grains. If just one or two drinks give you unpleasant symptoms of any type, strongly suspect an allergy.
We do not expect that a continuous rotary diet is pleasant for most people, for it requires constant thinking and work. However, as your allergy is brought under control and you begin to feel better, it is possible to reinsert offending foods back into the diet, one by one, provided that you do not eat it too often or in large amounts.
In most instances, the strict rotary diet must be followed for at least four to six weeks. Many patients have to follow it only during their bad season, such as during grass pollinating season (May, June) or ragweed pollinating season (August & September). It is entirely possible that you are not allergic to any foods. The purpose of the Rotary Diversified Diet is to force you to think about what you eat and the possible consequences. Learn to read labels on cans and bottles! What do they contain? Keep in mind that almost all foods purchased in the grocery store have added sweetening agents, chemical preservatives, coloring agents and other substances which may affect you. If you are a food sensitive patient, and approximately 60% of allergic patients are, you simply must familiarize yourself with what you eat. An occasional lapse is not apt to be harmful but repetitive ingestion of an allergic food will complicate your allergy and prolong your symptoms indefinitely in spite of otherwise good allergic control.
Rotary Diversified Diet Rules
- Any food, in any amount or form, must not be eaten more often than once in four (4) days. When counting the days between foods, the next day following the last consumption of the food is day one.
Example:
Apples eaten on Monday may NOT be eaten again until Friday, four days later.
- Foods that are in the same family (related to one another) may be eaten the following ways:
- Food family members may be eaten together, at the same meal and then rotated four days later.
Example:
Monday Breakfast - Orange & Grapefruit
Friday Breakfast - Orange & Grapefruit
OR
- Different foods in the same food family may be eaten on a rotation schedule alternating them every two days (or every other day). Ideally food family members should be separated by a minimum of two days and preferably by three days.
Example:
Monday Breakfast - Oranges
Wednesday Breakfast - Grapefruit
Friday Breakfast - Oranges
Sunday Breakfast - Grapefruit
As noted in the above example, the individual foods are separated by four days and the family members are separated by two days
- Food family members may NOT be eaten at various times during a specific day. If you eat a food family member in the morning, you may NOT eat one of its family members during the same day.
Example of what NOT to do:
Blueberries may be eaten at breakfast on a specific day, but cranberries (its food family member) may not be eaten for supper that same day. These two foods may be rotated alternately every two days or eaten together and rotated every four days.
- When you pass a food in a specific family, you do not automatically pass other foods in that family. ALL FOODS must be tested, including food family members.
Example:
If you pass carrot, you may place it in your rotation diet. This does not automatically mean that celery, dill, parsnip or parsley (its food family members) are safe to eat. You must test each one of these foods before placing them in the diet.
- More than one food in the same food family may be eaten at a single meal. Be sure that each of the foods are tested individually before putting them together.
Example:
Monday Lunch - Potato
Wednesday Lunch - Tomato, Green Pepper, Eggplant
Friday Lunch - Potato
Sunday Lunch - Tomato, Green Pepper, Eggplant
Tuesday Breakfast - Cantaloupe and Honeydew Melon
Thursday Lunch - Zucchini and Acorn Squash
Saturday Breakfast - Cantaloupe and Honeydew Melon
Monday Lunch - Zucchini and Acorn Squash
- The specific time of day that the food is eaten, is not essential. But remember to be faithful to the four day rotation.
Example:
Strawberries that are eaten at breakfast on Wednesday may be eaten four days later at lunch on Sunday if desired.
- All foods are to be eaten only once during a specific day and are not to be eaten throughout the day, even in small amounts.
Example:
Milk consumed at breakfast may not be taken at lunch, supper or
any other time during that day. The next scheduled day for milk
would be four days later.
- Foods passed in one form may be automatically eaten in other forms, at the same meal and then rotated four days later.
Example:
- If you pass corn, you may also have corn sugar, corn oil, corn starch, corn meal, corn on the cob, popcorn, etc., at a specific meal, and then rotate them all four days later.
- Milk may be eaten at one meal with its other forms such as butter, cream, cheese (if yeast is passed), sour cream, etc., and then rotated four days later.
- Almonds may be eaten with almond oil and/or almond butter.
- Buckwheat groats may be mixed or used with its other forms including buckwheat flour and oil.
- All ingredients used in cooking must be regarded as separate foods, including oils, spices, flavorings, etc., and must be tested and then rotated on a four day, or a longer rotation schedule.
- Think innovatively in preparing your Rotary Diversified Diet. If you only have one food per meal, be creative and try the following suggestions:
- Eat the food raw, steamed, and cooked whenever possible. This gives different textures and flavors to the food.
Example:
Have carrots raw, steam some and perhaps have some shredded with a little carrot juice added.
- Use the juices of the specific whenever possible, as there are numerous vegetable and fruit juices available.
Example:
Tomato juice may be used cold for a beverage and/or heated up with stewed tomatoes to make a hot steeping bowl of soup.
- Freezing fruits and eating them partially frozen can be a real change
as well as an enjoyable treat. Some fruits may be frozen, then pureed in a blender and served as an ice cream.
Example:
Bananas may be frozen in their peel or peeled and placed in a freezing container. When frozen, place the banana (without peel) in a blender for a short time and then place in serving bowls for a mock banana ice cream.
Peaches and apricots may be placed in a blender and pureed and then frozen in a container, removed and eaten. (Honey, if passed, may be added for sweetening.)
- Dried foods may also add texture and variation to your diet, so use whenever possible.
Example:
Fresh pineapple, dried pineapple, and pineapple juice may be eaten together at one meal.
Biological Classification of Foods
MEAT & SEAFOOD
MOLLUSKS
Abalone
Clam
Mussel
Oyster
Scallop
Squid
CRUSTACEANS
Crab
Crayfish
Lobster
Shrimp
REPTILES
Turtle
Rattlesnake
Frog Legs
FISH
All Types
BIRDS
Chicken
Chicken Eggs
Duck
Duck Eggs
Goose
Goose Eggs
Turkey
Guinea Hen
Squab
Pheasant
Partridge
Grouse
MAMMALS
Bear
Buffalo
Beef
Veal
Cow’s Milk
Butter
Cheese
Gelatin
Elk
Horse Meat
Goat
Goat’s Milk
Cheese
Mutton
Lamb
Moose
Pork
Ham
Bacon
Rabbit
Raccoon
Reindeer
Squirrel
Venison
Whale
PLANTS
GRAINS
Wheat
Flours and germ
Rye
Barley
Malt
Corn
All Corn Substances
Oats
Rice
Wild Rice
Sorghum
Cane
Cane Sugar
Molasses
SPURGE FAMILY
Tapioca
ARROWROOT F.
Arrowroot
ARUM FAMILY
Taro
Poi
BUCKWHEAT FAMILY
Buckwheat
Rhubarb
POTATO FAMILY
Potato
Tomato
Eggplant
Red Pepper
Cayenne
Green Pepper
Chili
Tobacco
COMPOSITE FAMILY
Leaf Lettuce
Head Lettuce
Endive
Escarole
Artichoke
Dandelion
Oyster Plant
Chicory
|
PLANTS CONT.
LEGUMES
Navy Bean
Kidney Bean
Lima Bean
String Bean
Soy Bean and Soy
Bean oil
Black-eyed Pea
Lentil
Pea
Peanut and Oil
Licorice
Acacia
Senna
MUSTARD FAMILY
Mustard
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Br. Sprouts
Turnip
Rutabaga
Kale
Collard
Celery Cabbage
Kohlrabi
Radish
Horseradish
Watercress
GOURD FAMILY
Pumpkin
Squash
Cucumber
Canteloupe
Muskmelon
Honey Dew
Persian Melon
Casaba
Watermelon
LILY FAMILY
Asparagus
Onion
Garlic
Leek
Chive
Aloes
GOOSEFOOT FAMILY
Beet and Sugar
Spinach
Swiss Chard
MORNING GLORY F.
Sweet Potato
Yam
BEECH FAMILY
Chestnut
PARSLEY FAMILY
Parsley
Parsnip
Carrot
Celery
Caraway
Anise
Dill
Fennel
Coriander
SUNFLOWER FAMILY
Jerusalem Artichoke
Sunflower Seed Oil
POMEGRANATE F.
Pomegranate
EBONY
Persimmon
ROSE FAMILY
Raspberry
Blackberry
Loganberry
Youngberry
Dewberry
Strawberry
BANANA FAMILY
Banana
APPLE FAMILY
Apple
Cider
Vinegar
Apple Pectin
Pear
Quince
Quince Seed
PLUM FAMILY
Plum
Prune
Cherry
Peach
Apricot
Nectarine
Almond
LAUREL FAMILY
Avocado
Cinnamon
Bay Leaves
PINE FAMILY
Juniper
|
PLANTS CONT.
OLIVE FAMILY
Green Olive
Ripe Olive
HEALTH FAMILY
Cranberry
Blueberry
GOOSEBERRY F.
Gooseberry
Current
HONEYSUCKLE F.
Elderberry
CITRUS FAMILY
Orange
Grapefruit
Lemon
Lime
Tangerine
Kumquat
PINEAPPLE FAMILY
Pineapple
PAPAL FAMILY
Papaya
GRAPE FAMILY
Grape
Raisin
Cream of Tartar
MYRTLE FAMILY
Allspice
Cloves
Pimento
Paprika
Guava
MINT FAMILY
Mint
Peppermint
Spearmint
Thyme
Sage
Marjoram
Savory
PEPPER FAMILY
Black Pepper
NUTMEG FAMILY
Nutmeg
GINGER FAMILY
Ginger
Turmeric
Cardamon
ORCHID FAMILY
Vanilla
MADDER FAMILY
Coffee
TEA FAMILY
Tea
PEDALIUM FAMILY
Sesame Oil
MALLOW FAMILY
Okra (Gumbo)
Cottonseed Oil
STERCULA FAMILY
Cocoa
Chocolate
BIRCH FAMILY
Filbert
Hazelnut
Oil of Birch
(wintergreen)
MULBERRY FAMILY
Mulberry
Fig
Hop
Breadfruit
MAPLE FAMILY
Maple Syrup
Maple Sugar
PALM FAMILY
Coconut
Date
Sago
LECYTHIS FAMILY
Brazil Nut
POPPY FAMILY
Poppy Seed
WALNUT FAMILY
English Walnut
Black Walnut
Butternut
Hickory Nut
Pecan
CASHEW FAMILY
Cashew
Pistachio
Mango
FUNGI
Mushroom
Yeast |