I’m allergic to sugar, corn, wheat, oat, egg, cow’s milk, chocolate, soy, citrus fruits, and peanuts.  Sugar, corn, and eggs are almost ubiquitous in processed foods, so I avoid processed foods as much as possible.  Scan the Alkaline Acidic Food Chart on my website and prepare your SAFE LIST as follows:

80% should be foods that are 5.0 or greater on the Alkaline Acidic Food List. (Akaline Foods)

20% can be foods that are less than 5.0 on the Alkaline Acidic Food List. (Acidic Foods)

I have a SAFE LIST of more than 50 safe foods.  I rotate these foods liberally.  People who have food sensitivities are usually not eating a large enough variety of foods.  Somehow, the body gets uses to the same old foods. To avoid this potential problem, have your SAFE LIST ready when food shopping.

My SAFE LIST

Alkalizing Water (detox),Watermelon, Cayenne Pepper, Kelp, Mangos, Papaya, Parsley, Grapes, Watercress, Wheat Grass Juice, Asparagus, Kiwis, Pineapple, Vegetable Juices (done with blender to retain the fiber), Apples (all types), Avocados, Berries (all types), Carrot, Carrot Juice, Celery, Swiss Chard, Garlic, Leafy Greens, Lettuces (all variety except Iceberg), Pears, Pumpkin, Spinach, Apple Cider Vinegar, Bell Peppers (all types), Broccoli (fresh not frozen), Cabbage, Ginger fresh and powdered form for seasoning), Basil, Celery Seeds, Dill Leaves, Rosemary, Kale, Peaches, Radish, Raspberries, Almonds, Cherries (all types), Cloves, Coconut (Fresh), Coriander, Cucumbers, Curry Powder for seasoning, Tumeric, Miso, Okra, Paprika, Pickles, Sea Salts, Taro, Tomatoes, Water Chestnut.
 

Cinnamon seasoning, Flaxseed, Flaxseed Oil, Olive Oil (cold-press, extra virgin), Coconut Oil, Onions, Tofu, Yogurt, Dried Beans (all types, sparingly), Cranberries, Macadamias, Walnuts, Rice, Tapioca, Fish (Fresh water Salmon, Black Bass, Red Snapper), Green Tea, Black Tea, Chamomile Tea, Black Pepper, Shrimp (sparingly), Scallops (sparingly), Chicken (not fried), Turkey, Beef, Pork, Lamb.

If you are trying to rebuild your alkaline reserves, then the ratio should be even higher. (Like 90% /10% Alkaline Acidic Ratio)  After you have rebuilt your alkaline reserves, you can maintain the reserves by staying with a minimum 80% Alkaline Diet (All foods with 5.0 and greater Residual Ash PH).  Therefore, the three macro catergories for food, Protein, Fats, Carbs, are satisfied consistent with the Alkaline /Acid Ratio.  Proteins: Meats, fishes, and other seafoods.  Fats: Olive Oil, Fish Oils (Omega 3 EPA/DHA), Flaxseed Oil, Cod Liver Oil, and Coconut Oil. Carbs: Mainly complex carbs from vegetables.  (Skip the simple refined carbs like breads, pastas, etc.)   This diet is not only alkalizing, but it’s not inflammatory either.  PN people generally have low-grade inflammation so eating more inflammatory foods don’t help. 

Good food can become bad food with bad cooking methods.  ex: Fried Tomatoes. Generally, stick with raw when possible, steam, broil, bake or light stir-fry. Main reason is because high heat cooking like deep-frying or microwaving will destroy the food enzymes, turning living food into dead food.

Take digestive enzymes with each meal so you can have great digestion.  Poor digestion is partly responsible for problems like Leaky Gut, IBS, Yeast, and Food Allergies.  Digestive enzymes will have things like Protease, Amylase, Lipase, Ox Bile Extract, Diastase, Papain, Bromelian, Betaine HCI, Pepsin, etc.  A great systemic enzyme to use for low-grade inflammation is Wobenzym N or Vitalzym.

Your list may vary somewhat since everyone’s body is different.  I know from my communications with others that they have other diseases besides PN, which would restrict their diet even more than my diet.  The best place to start is with the Alkaline Acidic Food List, pick out more than 50 foods, stick with the 80/20 ratio, rotate the foods liberally, fine tune it by paying attention to your body’s warning signs, and that should eliminate the majority of food allergy problems.  If after this, people are still experiencing allergy problems, then I suggest getting tested because your allergies may no longer be just foods, but environmental allergens like ragweed, pollens, animal dander, etc.  NAET, Electrodermal Testing, Blood Test, Allergy Patch Test, Alcat,  E-Rast are some examples of allergy testing.
 

Winning the War against Immune Disorders and Allergies
Ellen W. Cutler, D.C.

She goes into a lot more details about these two subjects, Allergies(as related to Immune Disorders) and NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques).

Say Goodbye to Illness
Dr. Devi Nambudripad, originator of NAET
 

For Allergies/Immune Disorder/Ellen's Book:

http://www.allergy2000.com/

For NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques)
by Dr. Devi Nambudripad:

http://www.naet.com/

 

Questions and Answers

Some of the foods on your list are inflammatory.  How doe it affect PN?

I agree.  Some of the foods on my list are inflammatory.  But these foods provide micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, amino acids, good fats, etc. necessary for optimal health.  For example, some strict vegetarians are deficient in necessary amino acids found only in meat, fish, eggs, and poultry.  Five critical amino acids lacking in the typical vegetarian diet are Lysine, Methionine, Carnitine, Taurine, and Tryptophan.  Protein is necessary for a strong immune system.  An acidic food like cranberry is good for liver detoxification.  The key is having strong alkaline reserves to neutralize the acidic and sometimes inflammatory foods, leaving the beneficial micronutrients to nourish your body.  With great alkaline reserves, you should have no PN setbacks, even when you eat some acidic foods.
 
How would your diet change, if any, for people with diabetes and are overweight?

I’m not the best person to give you specifics because I’m not diabetic or overweight.  But here’s my general answer to your question.  My Alkaline Acidic Food Chart is just a starting point.  It’s a template for you to make better food choices consistent with the 80%/20% ratio.  Certainly, when you have other health issues, you may need to restrict your diet more than I do, or restrict it differently than I do.

Since you are diabetic, you have to watch your blood sugar levels very carefully.  Therefore, a glass of carrot juice is fine for me, but may be a bad idea for you because the concentrated sugars from just the carrot juice can change your blood sugar levels dramatically.  That’s one reason I prefer to use a blender for my vegetable and or fruit juicing.  This way I get the benefits of the juices and the fibers, as nature intended.  The most valuable kitchen appliance you can own for great health is a blender.

For overweight people, I would change several things.  I would still use Olive Oil to cook, but instead of taking Flaxseed Oil and or Cod Liver Oil for the Omega 3 fats, I would substitute those fats with Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) and Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA) found in Borage Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Black Currant Oil, etc.  Secondly, I would eat more cranberries and drink 100% pure unsweetened cranberry juice just to help detox my liver, which is a main organ to process fats.  Also, I would increase my lecithin intake to help emulsify the fats. Lastly, I would highly recommend reading, understanding, and know which foods are High and Low on the Glycemic Index.  The best book on High/Low Glycemic Index relative to Fat-Storing Carbohydrates is:

The Complete Guide to Fat-Storing Carbohydrates
By Glycemic Research Institute  

How do you know if your alkaline reserves need rebuilding?  How do you know when you have sufficient alkaline reserves?  When are you done with rebuilding?

If you consistently eat a Standard American Diet (SAD), which is mainly a lot of processed foods, cooked foods, pre-packaged foods, little to no raw unprocessed foods, bad fats, simple refined carbohydrates and overeating animal proteins, you are overly acidic.  Also if you are chronically over stressed, that drains your body of alkalizing minerals like Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, etc.  Add to that, if you also have a set of health problems that are chronic, then just from clinical observation, you are overly acidic.  But just for the scientific types who need test results and data to back up the clinical observation, you can test your Urine and Saliva PH for starters using PH paper.  Next, you can prepare a food journal recording EVERYTHING you eat during the next two weeks and then compare it with the Alkaline Acid Food Chart.  Remember what cooking method, if any, you used since you can turn an alkaline food into an acidic food.  Ex: Fried Tomatoes.  Be HONEST with yourself!  What percentage of acidic foods are you really eating?  Clearly, rebuilding your alkaline reserves is just the beginning to healing.

One way to tell if you have sufficient alkaline reserves is look at your clinical responses.  When you eat some acidic foods, do you have adverse reactions, or does it make your PN worse?  If yes, then your alkaline reserves are still low.  When you have sufficient alkaline reserves, eating some acidic foods should not set you back and make your PN worse.  You should be able to continue improving since there are more than enough alkaline reserves to neutralize the acidic foods.  Some may ask why eat any acidic foods if the key is alkalizing?  The reason is because we do need certain fats and proteins for our overall health.  Those are generally acidic foods.  But by sticking with the 80%/20% ratio, you assure yourself that you have more than enough alkaline reserves for optimal health.  You are done with the rebuilding phase when you have no more setbacks.  Simply stated:  Rebuild your alkaline reserves with over 80% alkaline foods.  Maintain your Alkaline reserves with 80%/20% Alkaline Acidic ratio.

What do you think about fish in the diet?  Concerns about Mercury?

Fish is not a mainstay of my diet as I get all the Omega 3 fats I need from Fish Oil and Flaxseed Oil.  I chose fresh water Salmon, Black Bass, and Red Snapper because I like those fish and they are relatively safe from contamination by Mercury, PCB, etc.  The fish I would absolutely avoid based on EPA safety guidelines are Swordfish, Chilean Seabass, Tuna, and Alaskan Halibut.  Concerns about Mercury is a valid one.  The more we can do to avoid it, the better off for our overall health.

I have very dry skin in addition to PN, which I feel makes me itch more.  Do you have any recommendations for very dry skin?

Very dry skin will make you itch more and is another warning sign that internal changes need to be made for long-term healthy skin.  However, let me give you some short-term external changes you can make that should give you some temporary relief for very dry skin.

Use pure glycerin soap for washing, and don’t use typical soaps that are too alkaline and will further dry your skin.  Your skin is naturally slightly acidic.  Therefore, you want to use soaps that are either neutral in PH, or slightly acidic to maintain the acidic mantle of your skin.  If you cannot find pure glycerin soap, then washing without soap would be better than washing with alkaline soap, at least for the short term, until you make the internal changes below to correct the dry skin.

Use skin care products that contain aloe vera, borage oil, vitamin E oil, or humectants.  Humectants are substances that attract water to the skin, helping it retain moisture.

Use a humidifier especially in the winter as this will help reduce the amount of moisture lost by the skin from evaporation.

Certain drugs and diuretics will contribute to dry skin.  Under active thyroid is also a possible reason for dry skin, and should be checked if all the recommendations here still don’t give you substantial relief from dry skin.

Long Term Internal Changes:

Three reasons people have very dry skin are:

1) They don’t drink enough water and or don’t eat enough water containing foods.  The typical Standard American Diet (SAD), contain many processed and refined foods, devoid of water. 

Solution: Drink more water and eat more water rich foods including raw vegetables, fruits, increase sulfur foods like onion and garlic, and avoid foods that have a diuretic effect like soft drinks, sugar, alcohol, and caffeine, as these foods drain fluids and essential minerals from your skin cells.

2) Nutritional Deficiencies especially Vitamin A, B, E, Zinc, C with bioflavonoids, Selenium, and Essential Fatty Acids (EFA).  These deficiencies need to be corrected for healthy skin.  EFA deficiencies are a major problem in the Western SAD. 

Solution: Correct the vitamin deficiencies and increase your EFA intake.  Sources of Omega 3 EFAs are Flaxseed Meal, Flaxseed Oil, Fish Oils EPA/DHA), Cod Liver Oil, Walnuts, Almonds, etc.  Omega 6 EFAs are Borage Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Black Current Seed Oil, etc. If you eat a Western SAD, it’s more likely you have an Omega 3 EFA deficiency rather than an Omega 6 EFA deficiency, so adding more Omega 3 EFAs is reasonable.  If you are diabetic or on blood thinners, please check with your doctor as EFAs can affect blood sugar levels, and have a natural blood thinning effect.
 
3) Enzyme and Stomach Acid Deficiencies:  All the nutritious foods don’t mean anything if you don’t have sufficient enzymes and stomach acids to digest and absorb the nutrition in the food. 

Solution: Make sure you have sufficient digestive enzymes and stomach acids to digest and absorb the nutrition in the food.  If you have any potential ulcers, then don’t take a stomach acid like Betaine HCL. A good digestive enzyme formula should have most or all of the ingredients listed above.

Quick recap for dry skin:
 
1)  Eliminate the allergic food triggers listed above.  Very important and that’s why it’s the first step.

2)  Eat an alkalizing diet from your 80/20 safe foods list.  Construct your safe foods list using the Alkaline Acid PH Chart.

3)  Make the long-term internal changes by correcting the three main reasons for dry skin (lack water, nutritional deficiencies, enzyme and stomach acid deficiencies).

4)  If you still don’t see enough improvement in your dry skin after doing 1,2 and 3, then have your thyroid check.

5)  If you still don’t see enough improvement in your dry skin after doing 1,2, 3 and 4, then NOW do allergy tests since your situation may not be just internal problems, but external problems too (allergies to pollen, ragweed, animal dander, etc.).  If money is no problem for you, you may do all five steps simultaneously.  I’m lucky I have the money to do different tests.  But I realize not everyone has the money to do the thyroid test, allergy tests, etc, so I recommend doing the first three no cost steps, and if necessary, do step 4, and if necessary, step 5.

I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.  It’s under control with drugs. Does this mean my original PN diagnosis was wrong?

Your original PN diagnosis is not necessarily wrong since it is possible to have Type 2 Diabetes and PN simultaneously.  I hope you don’t use drugs long term to control your Diabetes since it’s a disease that’s usually curable with lifestyle changes.  You did not mention what drugs you are using so let me mention two drugs in particular and call it to your attention.  Pioglitazone Actos) and Rosiglitazone (Avandia), used for Diabetes, can potentially cause or worsen congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema, of which both conditions can be life threatening, as people have died because of it.  Taking a chance with these Diabetic drugs may be necessary if you have morbidly high blood sugar levels.  But if you just have a borderline case, I highly recommend you make some lifestyle changes so you don’t have to bother with Diabetic drugs and its potentially deadly side effects.

The rotation diet I recommended above using the foods from the 80/20 safe foods list is not only great for PN people, but a great start for diabetic people too.  Since you are diabetic, you will need to restrict your diet more than me.  Avoid simple refined carbs, sugars, and processed foods.  Avoid the High Glycemic Index foods and Gluten food groups to further customize your safe foods list.  Exercise more because when your muscles are strained, your blood glucose enters the cells without insulin, and is a great way to burn it up.

Reduce your stress because chronic stress can bring on chronic high insulin levels, and eventually insulin insensitivity (Type 2 Diabetes).  If you still don’t response to diet, exercise, and stress reduction, then you may need to add supplements like Chromium, CoEnzyme Q10, Vanadyl Sulfate, Gymnema Sylvestre, etc. to get your blood sugar levels back to a healthy range.  By doing these things, you not only can cure your Diabetes, but it will help your PN and overall health.

I’m confused.  Is the blood test you recommended to help with PN diagnosis the same blood test for allergies?

This is a great question.  Let me clarify.  The recommended Blood Panel in the article “A Beginner’s Primer for Newly Diagnosed PN People” is different from the Blood Test for Food Allergies.  The Blood Panel is really a more general and comprehensive blood test to help exclude other possibilities, thereby strengthening the confidence of a PN diagnosis.  In a typical Blood Panel, there is a measurement for Eosinophils, which when elevated or out of range, could indicate an allergic reaction to something.  But this general Blood Panel will not tell you what specifically you are allergic to.  Nonetheless, I still feel it’s necessary to have the Blood Panel and Urine Test as detailed in the “Beginner’s Primer” because you do want to be as confident as possible that you have PN, and not just a wrong diagnosis.

I should have been more specific in this article, “Allergy and the PN
Connection?”  There are many different allergy tests available but the specific blood test for Food Allergy I recommend is called “IgG4 Blood Test” by Metametrix Lab in Georgia.   I recommend doing the no cost steps first. However, if money is no issue, or you just cannot or would not do the initial three steps, then skip to this blood test, as it will test about 100 food items for you.

Relative to PN, is there a difference between food allergies versus food
sensitivities?

The answer is yes and no.  Yes, there is a difference between food allergies versus food sensitivities in terms of severity.  But in terms overall health, I would say no.

Food allergies generally refer to foods that will cause an acute physical
reaction ranging from very mild to deadly.  In extreme cases, I've heard of people dying from just eating some peanut sauce because they were severely allergic to peanuts.  Food allergies will also show up on standard test like blood test and present clinical symptoms.

Food sensitivities generally are much more mild and will cause chronic
subclinical reaction, like low grade inflammation.  Generally, these
subclinical symptoms don't always show up on standard test like blood test, but nonetheless, can damage your health long term.

Therefore, when it comes to food choices, I don't assess the food based on whether it will affect my PN.  I assess the food based on whether it will benefit my overall health.  For example, I'm not allergic or sensitive to
soda.  But soda has absolutely zero health and nutritional benefits, so it
doesn't belong in my diet.

Start identifying your allergic foods by trial and error, or blood test as
described above.  Then eliminate all your allergic foods.  Next, put together your 80/20 Alkaline Acid safe foods list of over 50 foods to rotate liberally. By having a large safe foods list, you assure yourself that you will not be eating any one particular food too frequently, creating a food sensitivity. Also, since 80% of your foods are alkaline, or more if you are rebuilding your alkaline reserves, there should be no problems with low grade inflammation since most inflammation is caused by acidic foods, not alkaline foods.

You recommended using the IgG4 Blood Test.  My allergist recommended using the patch test and if necessary RAST.  What's the difference and which is more reliable?

Here is a good website for your reference with good background information. 

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0ISW/246/112728008/p1/article.jhtml

In terms of reliability, no food allergy test will have 100% accuracy or
confidence, because there are just too many uncontrollable variables for anyone to reasonably expect it.  RAST, by most professional unbiased analysis is about 80% accurate or confidence.  ELISA is more accurate than RAST for food allergens.  RAST was originally used to measure the amount of IgE antibodies in the patient's blood, and is more suitable for measuring environmental allergens.  Later, they added testing for IgG antibodies using radio labeled anti-IgG, and forcing RAST to test for IgG too.  For environmental allergens, RAST is okay.  But for food allergens, ELISA would be my first choice and RAST would not even come in second.  ELISA uses enzyme labeled instead of radio labeled, and hence the name.  ELISA is a more comprehensive test because it can test for IgG1, 2, 3, 4 (all of the G subclasses), IgM, IgA, and IgE.

If reliability and confidence in the findings is your highest objective, and
money is no issue, then ELISA is the gold standard for food allergens.  To increase the confidence, you can also request to have split sampling where your blood is sent to multiple labs and then you can compare the results and look for any out of range variances.  Next, you can do a dark field microscopic analysis, followed by a pulse test, electro dermal testing, etc.  There are many more tests that may increase the confidence and support the findings by ELISA, but at some point, the cost for all these additional tests will be prohibitive for some people.

That’s why I recommend the IgG4 blood test, and perhaps IgG1, as it is only a part of ELISA, because the cost is significantly less compared to doing the entire ELISA.  The G4 subclass is looking at the delay food allergic reaction, and is most likely the problem areas for PN, autoimmune, and autoantibodies. If we were looking for implications for other diseases, then the full ELISA may be justified.  I’m not saying the other information from the other subclasses is useless.  But for the purpose of determining whether a food is a problem or not, the IgG4 findings are enough because my decision is not based solely on the test, but also compared to my clinical food history.  If a food comes up negative, you can be reasonably confidence it’s not a problem food relative to PN.  This confidence is as high or higher than any other food allergy test currently available.  Again, we are not talking about environmental allergens. If a food comes up positive, then it’s a matter of severity ranging from very mild to extremely allergic.  The severity is irrelevant to me because as long as it comes up positive, regardless of severity, it’s eliminated from my diet.

When I combine my clinical food history, and pay attention to my body’s warning signs, the finding from an IgG4 test is sufficient information for me to change my diet accordingly.  But for those who may need more information so they could feel more confident in the information’s reliability, you can order more tests until your heart’s content.  The bottom line is how much information do you need, and how much more are you will to pay in terms of additional tests, before you can feel comfortable enough to take positive action!  That question only you can answer.