An allergy may not be recognized as an allergy because it may not manifest as the instant skin rash or stuffy nose or swollen glands or sticky eyes. that people usually think of when they think “allergic reaction.”  Food allergies can cause many kinds of symptoms, from sinusitis to psychosis, from asthma to arthritis, from hyperactivity to depression, insomnia to narcolepsy—­and commonly the symptoms don’t manifest immediately after eating.  Frequently, allergic reactions are so low grade as to be unnoticeable and may not produce an observable condition until many years of their grinding down the vital force has passed.  When the condition finally appears it is hard to associate it with some food that has been consumed for years, apparently with impunity.

Thus it is that many North Americans have developed allergies to wheat, dairy, soy products (because many soy foods are very hard to digest), corn and eggs.  These are such common, widespread, frequently found allergies that anyone considering a dietary cause of their complaints might just cut all these foods out of the diet for a few weeks just to see what happens.  And individuals may be allergic to anything from broccoli to bacon, strawberries to bean sprouts.  Unraveling food allergies sometimes requires the deductions of a Sherlock Holmes.

However, food allergies are very easy to cure if you can get the suffered to take the medicine.  Inevitably, allergic reactions vanish in about five days of abstinence.  Anyone with sufficient self-discipline to water fast for five days can cure themselves of all food allergies at one step.  Then, by a controlled, gradual reintroduction of foods, they can discover which individual items cause trouble.  See Coca’s Pulse Test in the Appendix where you’ll find step-by-step instructions for allergy testing that are less rigorous, not requiring a preliminary fast.

Flour, And Other Matters Relating To Seeds

One of the largest degradations to human health was caused by the roller mill.  This apparently profitable machine permitted the miller to efficiently separate wheat flour into three components:  bran, germ and endosperm.  Since bread made without bran and germ is lighter and appears more “upper class” it became instantly popular.  Flour without germ and bran also had an industrial application—­it could be stored virtually forever without being infested by insects because white flour does not contain enough nutrition to support life.  Most health conscious people are aware that white flour products won’t support healthful human life either.

Essentially, white flour’s effect on humans is another demonstration of Health = Nutrition / Calories.  When the bran and germ are discarded, remaining are the calories and much of the protein, lacking are many vitamins and minerals and other vital nutritional substances.

Whole wheat bread has been called the staff of life.  In ages past, healthy cultures have made bread the predominant staple in their diet.  Does that mean you can just go to the bakery and buy whole grain bread, or go to the healthfood store and buy organically grown whole wheat flour, bake your own, and be as healthy as the ancients?  Sorry, the answer is almost certainly no.  There are pitfalls, many of them, waiting for the unwary.