Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Sinusitis / June 2004
Anti-inflammatory diet and allergies
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Lacustral - 27 May 2004 18:26 GMT Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing their diet?
I don't mean, finding hidden food allergies and intolerances. And, I don't mean by being on a weight-loss diet. Fasting makes allergies less severe, so being on a weight-loss diet might also, somewhat.
But rather, and anti-inflammatory diet. Like the diet that helps people with rheumatoid arthritis, which inflames joints - low in arachidonic acid, low fat, with fish oil supplements. I'm not sure why low-fat would be anti-inflammatory, but 2 possible reasons: long term, a low fat diet decreases insulin levels (see http://www.lightlink.com/lark/comparison.html ), and lower insulin would mean that arachidonic acid is less converted into inflammatory compounds. Also, a low fat diet makes the blood less "sticky" so there is better circulation in small tiny blood vessels, so inflammatory compounds are cleared away from the area better.
Arachidonic acid is found only in non-plant foods, so a strict vegetarian diet has none of it. Or, one can limit arachidonic acid by keeping track of the animals foods one eats. So, has anybody found that going vegan helped their allergies?
I don't have typical allergy symptoms - no runny nose or sneezing - i get sinus congestion, inflammation which doesn't involve infection so far as I know.
http://www.lightlink.com/lark/nutr.html
Dali - 27 May 2004 21:41 GMT >Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing >their diet? [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > >http://www.lightlink.com/lark/nutr.html Lets get some common sence here. The diet of man has been meat, vegies, fruit, nuts. A balance meal contains the above. Breads(wheat only) and other carbs should be eaten in moderation. excercise is of course key. The government pyramid scheme is the worst diet in the world for most body types. mine for example. btw, you are what you eat :)
"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Thomas Mueller - 03 Jun 2004 11:47 GMT from lark@adore.lightlink.com (Lacustral):
> Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing > their diet?
> I don't mean, finding hidden food allergies and intolerances. And, I don't > mean by being on a weight-loss diet. Fasting makes allergies less severe, > so being on a weight-loss diet might also, somewhat.
> But rather, and anti-inflammatory diet. Like the diet that helps people > with rheumatoid arthritis, which inflames joints - low in arachidonic acid, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > the blood less "sticky" so there is better circulation in small tiny blood > vessels, so inflammatory compounds are cleared away from the area better.
> Arachidonic acid is found only in non-plant foods, so a strict vegetarian > diet has none of it. Or, one can limit arachidonic acid by keeping track of > the animals foods one eats. So, has anybody found that going vegan helped > their allergies?
> I don't have typical allergy symptoms - no runny nose or sneezing - i get > sinus congestion, inflammation which doesn't involve infection so far as I > know.
> http://www.lightlink.com/lark/nutr.html Yes, diet can affect allergies. Going off dairy products often helps, though I believe this is not universally true.
I think fasting would make allergies more severe. My respiratory problems are worst when I'm running on empty and improve after eating under difficult conditions with chest tightness and breathing difficulty. I don't know if this is typical, it could be my lack of fat reserve, being so far underweight, which would clearly rule out fasting.
Whatever made you think arachidonic acid is found only in non-plant foods? Arachidonic acid gets its name from peanuts (Arachis hypogaea). I don't think peanuts, with the arachidonic acid, are inflammatory, unless the person is specifically allergic. I don't think the raw peanuts I eat do any harm.
Dali <bborgers1@houston.rr.com> responded:
> Lets get some common sence here. The diet of man has been meat, > vegies, fruit, nuts. A balance meal contains the above. Breads(wheat > only) and other carbs should be eaten in moderation. excercise is of > course key. The government pyramid scheme is the worst diet in the > world for most body types. mine for example. > btw, you are what you eat :) I say there is far too much starch in the American diet. Starch is used in laundry to make shirt collars irritatingly stiff, and it seems starchy foods make my chest muscles stiff too. I've been having difficulty swallowing starchy foods, recently has been more severe. Government pyramid scheme puts far too much emphasis on dairy products and cereal grains. I think many marathon runners pig out on pasta the day before the race, and I don't see the rationale. It would certainly not work for me because I wouldn't be able to take more than a few little bites. Complex carbohydrates are a religion for some people.
Sue milham - 03 Jun 2004 18:07 GMT There is a reason that I forgot for not eating raw p-nuts, but in looking it up, I found this article: <A HREF="http://ift.confex.com/ift/2001/techprogram/paper_9281.htm">http://if t.confex.com/ift/2001/techprogram/paper_9281.htm</A> Ammoniation of aflatoxin contaminated raw peanuts at ambient temperature and pressure A. M. MOUSTAFA1, J. N. Losso1, J. M. King1, and D. L. Park2. (1) Department of Food Science, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, (2) Center for Food Science & Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Division of Natural Products, 200 C St., HFS-345, Washington, DC 20204 Ammonia at 0.5 to 7% has been successfully used around the world to inactivate aflatoxin in contaminated commodities (peanut meal, cottonseed, and corn). Ammoniation, as a decontamination process for aflatoxin reduction, is approved by safety and regulatory agencies such as FAO, FDA, and USDA. The effectiveness of ammonia was reported to be associated with long exposure time, high temperature (100°C), and high pressure. These conditions are not cost effective in developing countries. Also, ammoniation of whole peanut seeds has never been conducted. The objective was to study the effect of ammonia concentration, exposure time, ambient temperature and pressure on the detoxification of aflatoxins in contaminated raw peanuts. The moisture content of the peanut samples (7%) was adjusted to 20%. AFB1 (400 ppb and 600 ppb) contaminated peanut samples (200 g ) were exposed to ammonia vapor (2% and 4%) in tightly closed desiccators at 22°C and atmospheric pressure for 24 and 48 h. Samples were air dried, extracted with acetonitrile-water (9:1), cleaned up through Mycosep columns, derivatized, and analyzed by HPLC. The mutagenicity of the ammoniated samples was tested using the Ames assay. Aflatoxin B1 was reduced by 79-99% in peanut samples exposed to 2% ammonia vapor for 24 h. When the exposure time was increased to 48 h, a complete detoxification (100% reduction) occurred. Peanut samples treated with 4% ammonia were completely detoxified (100% reduction) after 24 h exposure to ammonia vapor. Samples contaminated with 600 ppb aflatoxin had a 95% aflatoxin reduction (24 and 48 h). No mutagenic effect was observed with all decontaminated samples. The significance of this study is that high temperature, high pressure, and long exposure time are not necessary for the decontamination of aflatoxin contaminated peanuts. Increasing peanut moisture content to 20% may have permitted better penetration of ammonia vapor in the seeds. <A HREF="http://ift.confex.com/ift/2001/techprogram/session_996.htm"> Session 44G, Toxicology & Safety Evaluation </A> 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM, 2001-06-25 Room Hall D <A HREF="http://ift.confex.com/ift/2001/techprogram/meeting_2001.htm"> 2001 IFT Annual Meeting - New Orleans, Louisiana</A>
<< (snip) Whatever made you think arachidonic acid is found only in non-plant foods? Arachidonic acid gets its name from peanuts (Arachis hypogaea). I don't think peanuts, with the arachidonic acid, are inflammatory, unless the person is specifically allergic. I don't think the raw peanuts I eat do any harm.
>><BR><BR> Sue M.
Kelvin @ SG - 05 Jun 2004 14:58 GMT Agree with Thomas on Peanut issue! Peanut lubricates stomache and intestines, helps body getting rid of poisons and oxidants...
Don't overeat any food, Chinese medicine theory says more is bad...
Juices are good for poor immine system people...gingers also...How about garlic?
I was still not aware diary products severes allergy...is it true?
How does Yakult interact with garlic & ginger? One is bacteria, another is antibiotic...
Are almond the nuts in the core of apricots?
Kelvin
> from lark@adore.lightlink.com (Lacustral): > [quoted text clipped - 59 lines] > take more than a few little bites. Complex carbohydrates are a religion for > some people. Thomas Mueller - 17 Jun 2004 09:10 GMT Excerpt from "Kelvin @ SG" <kelvin_xq@hotmail.com>:
> Are almond the nuts in the core of apricots?
> Kelvin Close but not quite. Apricot kernels are moderately toxic (cyanide?) but not harmful in small quantities. Toxic principle in apricot kernels, referred to aslaetrile, is thought by some people to help treat or prevent cancer. Apricot kernels are said to be bitter in taste, "bitter almonds", and there has been the recommendation by apricot kernel proponents to eat two apricot kernels a day to help prevent cancer. I haven't heard much recently about this use of apricot kernels, maybe it didn't produce convincing results?
Almonds are closely related to apricots, but with almonds, the outer fruit withers away, leaving a sweet edible kernel inside a shell whose hardness varies according to variety. Common commercial variety is Peerless, and the shells are easily cracked with a hand-held nutcracker.
Dali - 28 May 2004 00:38 GMT >Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing >their diet? [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > >http://www.lightlink.com/lark/nutr.html Wanted to post the importance of what you eat. There are many foods to treat parsons condition and help with the symptoms. OMEGA-Everymedicine is usually just something they foud in the wild and packaged and produced for $. Here something from the mirkin vaults that you might find interesting.
WEEDS FOR FUTURE MEDICINES
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
A study from the University of Geogia and the University of Michigan showed that most of the medications that you will take in the future are highly likely to come from weeds, because weeds have such weak structures that they need chemicals that kill viruses, bacteria, fungi, animals and even man to protect them. These chemicals protect you when they get into your cells after you eat them.
Drs. John Stepp of the University of Georgia and Daniel Moerman of the University of Michigan report that, in the future, most new drugs will come from weeds that overgrow in your vacant lot or along the highway. Digitalis, used for almost 350 years to treat heart failure comes from the foxglove plant. Many modern medications are laboratory copies of chemicals made by plants.
Drs. Stepp and Moerman went to Chiapas , Mexico, where 80 percent of the people speak only the Mayan language, showing that they are in a culture that is isolated from the modern world and holds on to old traditions and customs for hundreds of years. So they are treating diseases in the same way that they have been doing for more than a thousand years. The villagers gave them 105 different plants that they used to treat diseases. The doctors report that 35 of the 105 plants were weeds, fast growing plants that have a difficult time competing with other plants, so they don't have their own place to grow and can grow only in places where man or nature has cleared the land or built trails, knocking off slower growing and more hardy plants that would normally live there. For weeds to comprise 35 perent of the plants used for medicinal purposes is amazing, because weeds normally occupy only a small part of the landscape.
Drs. Stepp and Moerman feel that weeds offer the greatest chance to discover new drugs from plants. The more hardy plants grow slowly and have thick bark, woody stems and thick leaves that offer a barrier protection against insects, molds, bacteria, viruses, animals and man. Since weeds have to grow very fast to just stay alive, they have thin structures, no bark, fragile stems and droopy leaves. Therefore they do not have natural protective covers like more slowly growing plants and have to produce lots of antioxidants to help them heal when they are broken, lots of insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, virucides and even poisons to protect them from the many other beings on earth that want to replace them. In the future, chances are that most of your medicines will be extracted from weeds.
All of the vegetables, grains and beans, and some of the fruits we eat today are just weeds that our ancestors found to be edible and tasty. When humans began to farm and settle, they gradually improved their weeds to make them larger, easier to grow, harvest and store. But everything in your produce department has weed relatives, and the phytochemicals in plants are often found in other members of the same plant family.
You can gather dandelion greens and many other weeds as your ancestors did, but if wild foraging doesn't appeal to you, you can get the beneficial phytochemicals in weeds right in your produce department.
Common weeds / Related foods: Thistles / Artichokes Dandelions, ragweed, chicory / Lettuce Kudzu, crown vetch / Beans, peas Jimsonweed, Nightshade/ Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers Crabgrass/ Wheat, barley, rye Knotweed / Buckwheat BitterCress, Wild mustard / Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower Brambles / Raspberries Pigweed / Amaranth Poison hemlock, Queen Anne's lace / Carrots
Growing, gathering and learning about herbs and edible wild plants can be fascinating, but but study carefully and don't eat anything unless you are sure of it's identity and use.
"If you are going through hell, keep going." - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
1990 Aerostar - 28 May 2004 02:19 GMT  Signature x-no-archive: yes
http://www.psbc.org/
| | Donor Centers http://www.psbc.org/community/programs/_frm/frm_centers.htm [quoted text clipped - 46 lines] | | http://www.psbc.org/ Don Brady - 28 May 2004 05:27 GMT >Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing >their diet? I find that salmon does help - eat just a little once a day. Use wild-caught salmon to avoid mercury. You can buy it frozen to reduce the cost from Whole Foods.
(newsgroups trimmed)
Lacustral - 11 Jun 2004 18:41 GMT Don Brady wrote:
> >Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing > >their diet? > > I find that salmon does help - eat just a little once a day. Use wild-caught > salmon to avoid mercury. You can buy it frozen to reduce the cost from Whole > Foods. That's interesting ... but be aware that different kinds of salmon have widely varying amounts of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid in the diet decreased the anti-inflammatory effect of fish oil in the study on ppl with rheumatoid arthritis, and likely it has the same effect on sinus inflammation.
The salmon you get in the stores around here is Atlantic farmed salmon, which has a really HUGE amount of arachidonic acid in it. People on anti-inflammatory diets are told "avoid red meat and eggs" - well, 10 oz of Atlantic farmed salmon has 15 times the arachidonic acid that ground lamb does; and 10 oz of this salmon has as much arachidonic acid as about 40 eggs!
I think - but am not sure - that the farmed salmon tends to have a worse ratio of arachidonic acid to EPA/DHA than does wild salmon. So if you can get wild salmon, it might be healthy for you.
I suggest if you are eating fish for the omega-3's, checking in the USDA database to see how much arachidonic acid it has (20:4 polyunsaturated).
I have had awful, awful allergies this spring ... i have been eating the Atlantic farmed salmon for the omega-3's and giving myself a walloping amount of arachidonic acid at the same time, and I suspect this might be why my allergies are *far* worse than they were last year.
Laura
http://www.lightlink.com/lark/nutr.html has links to the study on arachidonic acid in rheumatoid arthritis, and to the USDA database ...
what i originally posted:
Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing their diet?
I don't mean, finding hidden food allergies and intolerances. And, I don't mean by being on a weight-loss diet. Fasting makes allergies less severe, so being on a weight-loss diet might also, somewhat.
But rather, and anti-inflammatory diet. Like the diet that helps people with rheumatoid arthritis, which inflames joints - low in arachidonic acid, low fat, with fish oil supplements. I'm not sure why low-fat would be anti-inflammatory, but 2 possible reasons: long term, a low fat diet decreases insulin levels (see http://www.lightlink.com/lark/comparison.html ), and lower insulin would mean that arachidonic acid is less converted into inflammatory compounds. Also, a low fat diet makes the blood less "sticky" so there is better circulation in small tiny blood vessels, so inflammatory compounds are cleared away from the area better.
Arachidonic acid is found only in non-plant foods, so a strict vegetarian diet has none of it. Or, one can limit arachidonic acid by keeping track of the animals foods one eats. So, has anybody found that going vegan helped their allergies?
I don't have typical allergy symptoms - no runny nose or sneezing - i get sinus congestion, inflammation which doesn't involve infection so far as I know.
Lacustral - 11 Jun 2004 18:45 GMT Don Brady wrote:
> >Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing > >their diet? > > I find that salmon does help - eat just a little once a day. Use wild-caught > salmon to avoid mercury. You can buy it frozen to reduce the cost from Whole > Foods. That's interesting ... but be aware that different kinds of salmon have widely varying amounts of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid in the diet decreased the anti-inflammatory effect of fish oil in the study on ppl with rheumatoid arthritis, and likely it has the same effect on sinus inflammation.
The salmon you get in the stores around here is Atlantic farmed salmon, which has a really HUGE amount of arachidonic acid in it. People on anti-inflammatory diets are told "avoid red meat and eggs" - well, 10 oz of Atlantic farmed salmon has 15 times the arachidonic acid that ground lamb does; and 10 oz of this salmon has as much arachidonic acid as about 40 eggs!
I think - but am not sure - that the farmed salmon tends to have a worse ratio of arachidonic acid to EPA/DHA than does wild salmon. So if you can get wild salmon, it might be healthy for you.
I suggest if you are eating fish for the omega-3's, checking in the USDA database to see how much arachidonic acid it has (20:4 polyunsaturated).
I have had awful, awful allergies this spring ... i have been eating the Atlantic farmed salmon for the omega-3's and giving myself a walloping amount of arachidonic acid at the same time, and I suspect this might be why my allergies are *far* worse than they were last year.
Laura
http://www.lightlink.com/lark/nutr.html has links to the study on arachidonic acid in rheumatoid arthritis, and to the USDA database ...
what i originally posted:
Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing their diet?
I don't mean, finding hidden food allergies and intolerances. And, I don't mean by being on a weight-loss diet. Fasting makes allergies less severe, so being on a weight-loss diet might also, somewhat.
But rather, and anti-inflammatory diet. Like the diet that helps people with rheumatoid arthritis, which inflames joints - low in arachidonic acid, low fat, with fish oil supplements. I'm not sure why low-fat would be anti-inflammatory, but 2 possible reasons: long term, a low fat diet decreases insulin levels (see http://www.lightlink.com/lark/comparison.html ), and lower insulin would mean that arachidonic acid is less converted into inflammatory compounds. Also, a low fat diet makes the blood less "sticky" so there is better circulation in small tiny blood vessels, so inflammatory compounds are cleared away from the area better.
Arachidonic acid is found only in non-plant foods, so a strict vegetarian diet has none of it. Or, one can limit arachidonic acid by keeping track of the animals foods one eats. So, has anybody found that going vegan helped their allergies?
I don't have typical allergy symptoms - no runny nose or sneezing - i get sinus congestion, inflammation which doesn't involve infection so far as I know.
Lacustral - 11 Jun 2004 19:00 GMT No, peanuts do not have arachidonic acid. Look them up in the USDA database. Arachidonic acid is 20:4 polyunsaturated, and it is not good for your body. Like cholesterol, it is only found in food from the animal kingdom (scallops, beef, fish ...)
Look at my webpage http://www.lightlink.com/lark/nutr.html for lots of useful information ... including the link to the USDA database.
Laura
what i originally posted:
Has anybody been able to make their inhalant allergies better by changing their diet?
I don't mean, finding hidden food allergies and intolerances. And, I don't mean by being on a weight-loss diet. Fasting makes allergies less severe, so being on a weight-loss diet might also, somewhat.
But rather, and anti-inflammatory diet. Like the diet that helps people with rheumatoid arthritis, which inflames joints - low in arachidonic acid, low fat, with fish oil supplements. I'm not sure why low-fat would be anti-inflammatory, but 2 possible reasons: long term, a low fat diet decreases insulin levels (see http://www.lightlink.com/lark/comparison.html ), and lower insulin would mean that arachidonic acid is less converted into inflammatory compounds. Also, a low fat diet makes the blood less "sticky" so there is better circulation in small tiny blood vessels, so inflammatory compounds are cleared away from the area better.
Arachidonic acid is found only in non-plant foods, so a strict vegetarian diet has none of it. Or, one can limit arachidonic acid by keeping track of the animals foods one eats. So, has anybody found that going vegan helped their allergies?
I don't have typical allergy symptoms - no runny nose or sneezing - i get sinus congestion, inflammation which doesn't involve infection so far as I know.
Steve - 14 Jun 2004 12:18 GMT Eat lots of ginger and flax
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