Colds and ‘flu are viral infections that take hold when the body’s resistance is low. The body’s resistance drops because we are tired due to over-work, over-exercise, over-socialising, restless, broken sleep, crash diets, skipping meals, and the lack of protein, vitamins and minerals in our diet. In other words, when we’re stressed out. The most significant stress that can trigger viral infection is chilling of the body. Colds are so named because we get them when we’re cold. Viral infections produce toxins and these toxins float through the bloodstream causing irritations in the body’s tissues and aggravating irritations that already exist. In this way colds and ‘flu can trigger allergies and exacerbate allergies that already exist. Asthma caused by colds is called ‘hypersecretory viral asthma’ and is very common in children.

Asthma, acne, eczema and arthritis are particularly affected by colds and ‘flu. Head colds, sore throats and chest colds cause mucus to drip down the back of the throat (especially while asleep) causing irritation of the windpipe and asthma attacks. Low grade colds and ‘flu can smoulder away for weeks and months preventing asthma and other allergies from responding to treatment.

Colds and ‘flu will not go unless the body is sufficiently rested, properly fed and kept at an even, warm temperature. If you feel an attack coming on take time out to rest in bed and take a complete multi-vitamin and mineral formula. It’s better to nip it in the bud so you can be back at work fighting fit in a day or two. If you soldier on, as many do, you’ll find it will drag on for weeks. This will reduce your productivity at work and start your allergy symptoms up again.

A return of your allergy symptoms when everything was going so well on the program and you were practically allergy free, can be so disheartening as to cause you to give up and break the program before you are properly desensitised. It’s not worth it. Colds and ‘flu are so easily prevented. The moment you feel one coming on, go to bed with one of the standard remedies available from the chemist. Get your doctor to recommend the right one for you. If taken early enough these remedies are fantastic at knocking out colds and ‘flu before they take hold. If they have already taken hold, these remedies are not very effective.

As with asthma you must keep the bedroom window closed while you are in bed. By all means leave the bedroom window and door open all day, in fact even up to the point of going to bed at night. Close the window just before turning in. You can leave the door open if you like. Don’t have the window open if you are in bed all day with a cold.

Draughts at school cause many colds, ‘flu and asthma attacks in kids. Talk to the teacher and get him or her to close the windows on one side of the classroom. Kids can work up a sweat from playing at recess. Asthma, sore throats, colds and ‘flu can develop when a draught blows on a moist body. Nylon wind breakers must be worn by kids playing outside in cold winds. Cold winds cut right through woollen sweaters and chill a perspiring body.

Cracker night and winter barbecues can be another problem. Don’t stand too close to smoking barbecues and bonfires. The smoke can cause asthma. Don’t take off your jacket or sweater because the fire is making you hot. The back of you will chill even though the front of you is warm. Asthma, colds and ‘flu will result.

Ceiling fans, floor fans and air-conditioners are out until such time as you’ve completely overcome your allergies. They create draughts that keep house dust, dust mites and the pollens and moulds growing in plants perpetually airborne, thus aggravating asthma and sinus problems. The mucus that results provides an excellent breeding ground for bacteria and viruses, giving rise to colds, ‘flu and sore throats. The air-conditioners in cars, trains, coaches and planes are diabolical. Turn them off wherever possible or at least train the jet stream away from you. If positioned directly on the body this jet stream causes significant chilling and is one of the main reasons people don’t overcome their asthma, colds, ‘flu and sore throats.

Summer colds, ‘flu and asthma attacks frequently develop as a result of swimming in the afternoon. Cool on-shore winds always blow in from the sea in the afternoon and those who don’t thoroughly towel themselves dry the moment they come out of the water are prone to chills. Swim in the morning only or in sheltered home swimming pools. All asthma sufferers should wear a wetsuit vest while swimming and should not stay in too long. Watch out for the afternoon southerlies, get out of the water the moment they hit.

The big problem with colds and ‘flu is that they produce mucus which, in the horizontal position during sleep, drains down the back of the throat and into the windpipe causing asthma attacks. Broken sleep results and this in turn fatigues the body making it hard to get the body’s resistance up to the point where it can kill the cold or ‘flu virus. This is why colds or ‘flu must be nipped in the bud with adequate bed rest, adequate wholesome food, a complete multi-vitamin and mineral supplement and a cold remedy recommended by your doctor.

Remember: Cold feet cause a reflex chill through the rest of the body. Wear socks to bed in winter so that your feet are kept warm when you get up. Don’t wear open sandals or thongs on winter days.

Around 70 per cent of body heat is lost through the head (heat rises). Don’t leave the house with damp hair. Wear a hat or beanie on cold days. Put on a thick dressing gown even if you shower first thing. The thirty to sixty seconds between getting out of bed and under the hot shower is enough to chill you. Chilling also reduces the white blood cells’ candida-killing ability.

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I recommend getting rid of all aerosols, harsh disinfectants, cleaners and phenol products. Instead I recommend the following:

• Soda bicarbonate mixed to a paste for cleaning.

• Mix it. with cooking salt for heavy duty use.

• White vinegar for mould removal.

• Pure yellow laundry soap for personal washing, grated and pulped for laundry use (for machine or hand washing).

• Pure soap flakes are also a better alternative to laundry detergents and cheaper.

• Don’t bath or shower using perfumed soaps.

• Use washing soda to soften water for laundry use.

• Buy shampoos, conditioners and cosmetics that are free of petrochemicals (try the Herbon range).

• Use an aluminium free roll-on deodorant.

• Use the pump packs available in supermarkets instead of aerosol products.

• Use fresh herbs in the toilet instead of Bloo Loo and deodorisers.

• Plain sorbolene cream, with glycerine, makes a very good inexpensive body moisturiser.

This list was kindly supplied by a patient who once suffered from environmental sensitivities. She finally cured her husband’s itchy rash by getting him to eliminate perfumed soaps.

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If you want to be rid of an allergy, once and for all, you must stick religiously to your Anti-Allergy Program for at least three months. If you break the program in that time, even a tiny little bit, you’ll resensitise yourself and have to start a new three month period from that point on. There are no shades of grey with the Anti-Allergy Program, it’s very much a black and white situation. You’re either on it or you’re not.

Some patients find this three month mandatory time span hard to accept, especially if after a month or so all of their symptoms have disappeared. Some of them start to break the program a little bit at a time and if the symptoms don’t return, feel sure they are well. Most often when the program is broken there is an immediate reaction, though sometimes there is sufficient desensitisation for a delayed reaction to occur. If after a few weeks there is still no sign of the symptoms, people who have broken a program arc convinced they are fully desensitised and begin eating whatever they like. Without fail, a short time later, the symptoms begin to reappear and the dieter is back to square one.

A minority of my patients are actually happy to see-saw about like this. Choosing to stay on the program until their symptoms disappear then breaking it till they return again. At which point they go back on the program. Since this method will never cure your allergies I wouldn’t recommend it. The choice is yours.

It is most important to remember that just because the symptoms have disappeared, it does not mean you’re cured of the problem. Most people need at least three months to consolidate their desensitisation, even if their symptoms have disappeared in the first month. Some people, a minority, require six months and an even smaller percentage need twelve months to desensitise. People in this category need their treatment supervised and closely monitored by a doctor or naturopath to prevent vitamin and mineral deficiency developing.

Only 5 per cent of people don’t desensitise and have to stay away from the allergenic food for the rest of their lives. The advantage of desensitisation is that you can, after the period of total abstinence, go back on the foods you were once sensitive to. You win on two counts here:

1. You lose the symptoms that have been troubling you.

2. You are able to eat anything you like.

And all of this achieved with three short months of total abstinence from the offending food or foods. Some of these 5 per cent of people who don’t fully desensitise after ninety days on the program, and who aren’t prepared to continue strictly on the program for twelve months or more, find they can lead a very comfortable life if they stay strictly on the Ant i-Candida/ Anti-Allergy Program through the week and break it on the weekends only. Two days of breaking it in moderation is usually not enough to cause a flaring up of symptoms. In those who do experience a reaction the moment they eat a forbidden substance the symptoms are usually mild. The up side of being on the Anti Candida/Anti-Allergy Program is that after ninety days most people are so used to it that sticking to it five days per week and breaking it on weekends only is no problem to them. The discipline and routine of having to get up each day for work is conducive to staying on the program. Breaking it on the weekend when relaxed gives the body that feeling of joie de vivre that comes from a rest and a change. The balance thus struck between discipline and rest contributes to a balanced lifestyle and a balanced metabolism. Balanced metabolisms are less prone to reacting allergically to contact with foreign substances/allergens.

The combined effects of diet and rest are so successful because they raise the body’s resistance to allergies. A raised resistance is the greatest desensitiser of all.

Holidays often see a disappearance of allergies even though allergens are still present. Holidays are potent healers because they mean a temporary release from commitment and a rest from everyday routine. Under these conditions the body’s resistance soars. I’ve noticed that the further away from one’s place of work one holidays the greater effect the holiday has. It never ceases to amaze me how well allergic people feel when they travel to the other side of the world. Even though the climate may be unfriendly and the environment polluted their allergies invariably disappear for the time they are away, proving the healing potency of rest. It’s a pity that in our fast moving, achievement-orientated world rest is no longer taken seriously as a healing modality. Rest always has been and always will be the most potent healer of all. No matter how positive your attitude may be its limited if not backed up with rest.

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