Annette had an addictive allergy to corn. At first she refused to believe this because she only ate cornflakes and she did not have a craving for corn.
However, when her lifestyle and diet were fully analysed it was found that she was eating corn every day. She regularly licked stamps and envelopes (the glue contains corn resin), ate bacon (corn-cured), took aspirin, used baking powder, drank bourbon and instant coffee, used bottled French dressing on food and a spray-on starch when ironing. All of these contain corn. All day, every day, Annette was bombarding her liver enzyme chains with corn and because much of her diet was refined junk foods (containing corn) she was not getting vitamins and minerals needed to rebuild the enzymes as they wore out.
Annette’s overt allergy was to the eggflip she had every morning for breakfast. It was the only thing she felt she had the slightest craving for. On rising each morning she felt and looked terrible. Thirty minutes after the eggflip she began to come to life. However, taking her off milk and eggs did not give her withdrawal symptoms, nor did it ease her fluid retention problem. It turned out that the brand of glucose she used to sweeten her eggflip was manufactured from corn, and it was the glucose that took her out of her withdrawal each morning. Because Annette’s routine brought her into contact with corn so frequently she was able to keep her addiction topped up throughout the day. It was only during her eight hours of sleep that withdrawals set in and she developed a craving. By the time all the corn had been removed from her diet, she was left with a simple regimen. She was only to eat fresh fruit and vegetables (nothing canned or frozen), freshly killed meat or chicken, fresh fish (nothing tinned, frozen or cured), fresh eggs, homemade bread (using flour, water and yeast only), fresh bottled milk, butter and cheese. Look familiar? Sure it does, it is simple, wholesome food on which our grandparents fared so well.
At first Annette baulked at the idea of living on such basic foods hut eventually gave it a go. Once she had gone through the withdrawal, 6.5 kg of fluid and fat dropped from her body. The ruddiness went from her acne and the pimples began to shrink. Within two months she began enjoying the foods she was eating. At restaurants she chose simple meat, fish, chicken and vegetable dishes. She came to realise just how much of a useless habit her old eating pattern was.
The hardest thing for her was giving up her gourmet club activities because most other life revolved around drinking and eating. But her new shape, appearance and well-being made her want to make the change. She took up golf and joined a hiking club where she made lots of new friends and met her husband.
At last contact with her she was very happy. Her new lifestyle was meeting all her needs instead of just some of them. She had two new interests, new companions who did not pressure her back into junk foods and a social life that revolved around fresh air and exercise rather than food and wine. But her love of food was not lost and she learned to create delicious meals with simple food. They kept her looking and feeling good. Today, when Annette and her family eat chicken it’s not the fast-food version. Annette can tolerate chicken but not chicken with chemical flavourings and colourings.
*30\18\9*
