I am writing on what I suppose is a fairly personal matter but I have no qualms about sharing such things. If you have been suffering some of the same symptoms it may be worth looking at some of the matters I have mentioned below and seeking advice.

Please understand that what I am writing does not comprise medical advice.  It is just me trying to figure stuff out.

After many years of difficulty with my stomach and its performance I have been seeking advice and today I attended with Francoise a consultation with a dietitian and an acupuncturist by the name of Stacey Beckitt.  She is very intuitive and perceptive and has been helping me  recently.  If you would like a reliable person and you live in Bath you might want to have a look at Stacy’s website,  https://staceybeckitt.com/

The problem with prescribing anything by way of a regime is that each person is different. They have different tolerances to different things and may have inherited certain weaknesses and qualities from, for example, their parents and it could go back to some condition when the patient was still in the womb.  Also we don’t know in each case the effect of eating one type of food with another.

I don’t mind discussing my situation because we all have bodies and we all have to look after them. The problem is that a lot of food is manufactured without considering our health so for example homogenized milk has had its structure changed  and cannot be digested by the body and so goes into the veins.  For this reason I was advised to try KoKo milk or almond milk.

I was told that porridge has the ability to raise blood sugar. This hit me like a bombshell because I thought porridge was ‘good for you’. I’m now going to mix it with stewed apples and nuts to mitigate the effect and also buy organic porridge.

I understand that I may be intolerant to histamine.    Histamine intolerance means you have high histamine levels in your body. It can happen if your body cannot break down histamine. It can affect multiple systems in your body, but gastrointestinal symptoms are most common.  Histamine is a chemical responsible for major functions including sending messages to your brain, and triggering the release of stomach acid to help digestion.

When there is too much histamine or it can’t break down properly it can affect your regular body functions. Gastrointestinal symptoms are the most common and include digestive issues, abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, constipation,  flatulence, nausea and vomiting.  Well I seem to have a enough of those symptoms.  I was recommended to have a test.

Tomatoes have high histamine.  I love them.   They are best grilled. If they are fried, I get symptoms. It was suggested that I use coconut oil which is much better than sunflower oil. It may be that the wrong type of fat is a trigger. Olive oil is as good as coconut oil.

Many people suffer from dehydration and it is the most common cause of symptoms. If you drink coffee, you need to have three times the volume of water to make up for the caffeine in the coffee. The same applies to tea,  there is also caffeine in the tea.  Coffee is a diuretic and takes some minerals and vitamins out of the body.

Not everyone knows that when you drink water it needs to be digestible and if you place a grain of rock salt under your tongue and leave it to dissolve and then drink the water the system will be able to absorb it more.< >An Epsom Salt bath is a good way of taking in iidine and indeed magnesium<

I have a time-related problem in that I seem to have more trouble with gastric juices in the afternoon then the morning.  In other words I produce less digestive acid in the afternoon and I found in recent years that my main meal should be at lunchtime.

I thought that in the afternoon I would start on herbal teas  as ordinary tea or coffee and cake can repeat on me in short order.  We discussed chamomile and ginger tea but for me, avoiding peppermint tea would be a good idea.

We also discussed having tinned foods including tinned rice pudding. It may be that there are small amounts of chemicals in them that affect the digestion and I was told that even with iron pots there is a certain effect which is deleterious.   I made a vow that I would try to make my own rice pudding, which I adore, and only put the minimum necessary ingredients.

Alcoholic drink I find a problem, I can drink small amounts of white wine but pinot gringo from a bottle I get in a supermarket is more deleterious than the same named wine bought in the Wetherspoons by the glass.   I did a dowsing and found that red wine and rosé wine had no effect but white wine was indeed deleterious.

Evidently, an Epsom salt bath is a good way of taking in magnesium and most of us are deficient in this substance.  General information, deficiency here causes your thyroid not to produce enough thyroid hormone, which can cause other health conditions.

Also, we need to pay attention to our iodine intake, an English medical website says that iodine deficiency affects about 2.2 billion people worldwide and it is most common in developing countries where people may lack access to enough healthy food.

I learned that our body doesn’t naturally make it, so our diet is the only way to get it. Adults typically require 150 micrograms per day. Pregnant women need 220  micrograms per day,  while those who are nursing need 290 micrograms per day.

I discussed the recommendation of having A sweet course before the main course which sounds daft but if you have sweet sugar food first  and then the main meal on top of it, it will start to ferment and create some of the symptoms that I have.

Use of words chapter 53

This all started off when Stacey said that she would ‘ponder on’ the best advice to give me.  As you know, I am an extreme case of someone who loves word definitions and the use of English language in general. We discussed pondering vs. mulling over vs. cogitating.  Each of these words means about the same thing but the context is different  and should be taken into account.

Here are some more words that cover this situation such as thinking about or thinking over, pouring over, weighing up, contemplating, wrestling with, musing, deliberating,  brooding, speculating, fretting about it or even ruminating though I thought that was for cows.

So, when we are faced with a decision,  how we react to it depends on what sort of situation it is. I would not brood  about buying a house but I would do plenty of weighing up and calculation.

If I was proposed to in marriage I would mull over it if I did not have enough information. If I saw something about the prospective partner that concerned me I would wrestle with it.

Cogitate is quite an interesting word in that it is something imagined or pictured in the mind., a particular idea that might challenge our capacity to think or reflect.

If I were to fret about something that would mean that my previous experience of a situation had been unproductive and I’m trying to find the least bad way of getting through something
Morrisons buffet lunch

I know I’ve mentioned this before but near Stacey there is a large Morrisons branch and they offer this great Meal Deal for four pounds. You get a medium sized plastic container which you fill with cold salad type food and then with that you can have some healthy fruit juice and some crisps or for the princely sum of four pounds.  We did our duty in this respect and then went off to the Central Gardens to eat it.  A passing pigeon took a momentary interest in my crisps but decided after a short while that the food was not up to the standard that they were accustomed to.

Noisy bus journeys

Oh dear, I’m about to reveal my intolerant side yet again. I have already confessed that I don’t like people shouting into their phones, using the loudspeaker on their phone for everyone to hear and shouting loudly.   With buses you have to pick your time. Anytime after school closures or when people are going home after work, is going to be an exercise in tolerance.

I don’t mind school children because they are normally well behaved if noisy but when the buses are full you have to  accommodate someone sitting next to you and I much prefer two seats for myself as most people do

I took the 172 which is the long route from Bath to Bristol via Radstock.  If you want to get to Bristol quickly you take the Express bus which leaves once every 15 minutes.  Behind me sat a lady trying to control three rather noisy children. What gets me is that when they scream suddenly without reason. Well of course they know what the reason is but us mere mortals do not.   Also the child was poking its hands into my seat area. I couldn’t be bothered to react on this occasion and just moved away a bit.   It must be far worse for plane journeys of say five hours.  I have read that some parents let their children run around the plane and cause mayhem without any attempt at control.  The little darlings must not be disciplined.
This sentiment is not in my book. How can they grow without boundaries?

Anyway, I have lived to tell the tale so I suppose  in cases of acute irritation I could move from the top Deck to the bottom but of course I could be going from the frying pan into the fire.  There are perhaps other factors more important.

The mystery of why people still wear masks.

At Bath bus station there was an older woman asking travel advice from two inspectors. I think she wanted to go to Winchester. That would be possible via Warminster or she could go directly from Bristol to her destination. The elderly lady seem quite confused. What I noticed was that she had a mask on  and tied firmly around her face and it was absolutely filthy.

Why are people still wearing masks when their effectiveness has been disproved so many times over it is beyond a joke? Why are they not allowing their breath (waste products) to exhale and why are they inhibiting the inflow of oxygen. It is a great environment for bacteria to thrive.  If I asked  them they would take offense so what is the point.

I need to do a couple of gardening jobs this week but the forecast is for heavy rain from tomorrow evening so once again the weather wins.