My atopic library.

Okay, I've been researching allergy/health issues for a few years now, which led me to research on diet, which, it turns out, was triggering my health issues.  My atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis, and all the things that went along with those, like insomnia, chronic fatigue, mid-life squidge, etc., were caused by my genetic predisposition to atopy, triggered by what I was forcing my body to process, mostly food.  But at this point, I've read and watched so many books and documentaries/programs, that I can't recall all of them and which one said what.  So, for my own sanity, and in case it might be helpful to others interested in atopy, food allergies, weight loss, or just good health, here's the library as it stands today (March 2012):

November 2013 update:  I had a relapse of my atopic symptoms in the summer of 2013 -- my allergic rhinitis, bloating, inflammation, and skin problems crept back up on me while I was not paying attention.  Conclusion = simply avoiding my allergens (wheat, dairy and eggs) was not sufficient.  So I had to dig deeper and go back and look at the underlying problem, which is not the food allergies, but a damaged intestinal lining, known as "leaky gut."  It took me a couple of months and lots more research, but I am back on track and getting better every day now.  It turns out that there were lots of things that I needed to do in order to heal my gut, including, for example, not having alcohol for a while.  OUCH!!  Yes, I stopped drinking any alcohol for 2.5 mos.  And used digestive enzymes, probiotics, glutamine, vitamins, and fermented foods, as well as daily green juice and cooked instead of raw vegetables, to name just a few things.  But it seems to be working and I am feeling and looking better again.  I have come back here, once again, to update my library with reading recommendations.  Enjoy.  TAG, 11.19.13

Books -- going Old School:

Hidden Food Allergies -- by James Braly, M.D.  My first eye-opener.  He explains that there are two types of food allergies.  We are all familiar with IgE-mediated allergies that can cause anaphylactic shock and death, most commonly to tree nuts and shell fish.  But other foods cause an allergic response mediated by IgG, which is a delayed-onset response that occurs less immediately, more likely 2 hours-two days after consuming the food. (Note that many more conservative physicians/scientists refer to IgG-mediated immune reactions as food "intolerance," rather than allergy, because the first allergies discovered were the IgE-mediated allergies.  So there's a reluctance to acknowledge the delayed-onset reaction as "allergy."  When I refer to an allergy, I'm talking about both -- either/or.)  The most common food allergies are dairy, egg, and wheat -- which happen to be my personal enemies.  This book touches on the basics of how our immune system works and focuses on typical food allergens and methods for stopping/reversing the immune response/symptoms by identifying and avoiding the foods/allergens and using supplements and other techniques.  He relies a bit heavily on supplements, but his book saved my life a few years ago, so I will never be anything but grateful for his work.

Food Allergies and Food Intolerance -- by Jonathoan Brostoff, M.D.  I couldn't finish this one.  I'm sure it has a lot of good technical information in there, but it is densely packed and does not flow well, but jumps around and was a real snooze to read.  And I also bought way too many books at once, and since this one was a boring read, I just couldn't finish the whole book.  My bad.  but it's in the library, and maybe I'll get back to it one day.

How to Live Longer and Feel Better -- by Nobel laureate Linus Pauling.  Mr. Pauling was a genius who has been much-maligned by the traditional medical establishment, because he believed that vitamin C supplementation is important for disease prevention in humans (we are one of only two animals that do not manufacture vitamin C internally).  He makes an excellent case for the use of vitamin C to treat many kinds of illness, including cancer.  I came to Mr. Pauling's work because Dr. Braly recommends taking large-dose vitamin C for allergic reactions and documents his clinical success in treating food allergies and addictions with large doses of IV vitamin C in the short term.  Since relatively small doses of vitamin C seem to help me when I'm having an allergic response, I thought I'd read more about it, and I enjoyed it.  Mr. Pauling also argues that sugar/sweeteners are bad for us -- gee, you think?!

Brain Allergies -- by William H. Philpott, M.D. and Dwight K. Kality, Ph. D.  This book has an unfortunate and off-putting name that I think is not a good descriptor.  Basically, they outline evidence that food allergies can cause mental illness.  And it makes sense if you think about it -- our brains are part of our bodies, and if food can clog our arteries, cause inflammation, create immune-system responses in other parts of our bodies, why wouldn't it also affect our brain?  And these gentlemen document clinical evidence of diagnosis and successful treatment of mental illness caused by food allergies.  They lost me, however, when they started to talk about the use of magnets to treat illness.  I'm at that section of the book now, and I'll have to get back to it later and update this info -- I'm skeptical on the magnet stuff, so we'll see.

Suicide by Sugar -- by Nancy Appleton, PhD.  Ms. Appleton has a PhD in nutrition and takes us through the problems and diseases caused by our addiction to sugar and other sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup.  Fascinating statistics on what sugary-sweet foods have done to our health and how we're exporting that bad health wherever we take our Western Diet.  Ms. Appleton also wrote a book called Inflammation, which I read after this one.  I read Inflammation because allergies are all about inflammation.  She goes through the causes of inflammation in our diet, which include, of course, sweeteners, and ACE (which is an acronym for something like carbon or charcoal that forms when we cook meat at high temps), and some other stuff I cannot remember.  Looks like I need to revisit this book.

Dealing with Food Allergies -- by Janet Bickerstaff, PhD.  I bought this one at the same time I bought Hidden Food Allergies.  I found Hidden Food Allergies to be more readable and practical.  Dealing with Food Allergies is a really old-fashioned, conservative view of food allergy and intolerance.  This author believes that the only way to truly diagnose a food allergy is by elimination and then reintroduction in a controlled setting.  And that may be correct, technically, but are you kidding me with the amount of time and effort?  Plus, I had so many small symptoms that I had difficulty diagnosing a reaction -- particularly when the reaction is taking place many hours from consumption of the food.  I kept a food diary for months and couldn't make heads or tails of my problem.  In hindsight, I can see that I was consuming dairy, but I had no idea what was going on at the time.  I found the IgG ELISA test recommended by Dr. Braly, which gave me detailed results for 96 foods and showed severe reactions to dairy and egg and a milder reaction to wheat to be a much faster and easier way of identifying my food allergies.  And, upon application of the test results to my diet, my symptoms either improved or disappeared entirely.  So personally, I recommend Hidden Food Allergies over this book.

Hay Fever and Allergies: Discovering the Real Culprits and Natural Solutions for Reversing Allergic Rhinitis -- by Casey Adams, PhD.  I just finished this book and found it to be extremely helpful and interesting.  I was a bit reluctant to get on board with his conclusion that meat and animal products (hello, dairy and eggs) cause allergic rhinitis, because I was just embracing meat as one of the only things other than fruits and veggies, that I can eat.  But I must say that it is consistent with my own experience in cutting back on animal proteins (eliminating dairy and eggs has done wonders for me) and with the studies covered in Forks Over Knives, which I watched about the time I was finishing this book.  He goes through the entire immune system and how it functions, which is great info -- I was really overlooking my mucosal membranes, which are one of the first barriers to the prevention and/or elimination of toxins/allergens.  He explains what is good and bad for allergic rhinitis and asthma (and should apply equally to my atopic dermatitis), and addresses natural treatments (like herbs) used today and for hundreds of years all over the world.  The main thing I took away from this book was the need to replenish my probiotics -- I didn't appreciate how important they are to immune system health until I read this book.  And before you get all "Oooh, 'natural' treatments!" on me, why not?  Why would you rather take a pill (that has often been synthesized from a plant or plants and chemically altered so that a drug company can patent it) than eat something all natural, or change your diet to a more healthy diet?  Besides, you know what Western medicine has for you?  Two things:  steroids (no one thinks these are good for you long term) and antihistamines (which are a short term attack on some of the symptoms and do not treat the problem).  I was on 5 different antihistamines at one point with no relief.  And steroids just made me eat everything in sight, so that when they wore off and I rebounded a week later, I was just fatter and more miserable.  In fact, I was so desperate that I tried acupuncture, Chinese medicine (I was making a stinky tea that included cicada bug shells), and just about anything and everything to get relief.  So herbs that have been used for centuries for healing doesn't seem weird to me at all.  (I'm having a cup of Yogi Immune Support tea right now and it is delicious AND good for my immune system.)

Natural Solutions for Food Allergies and Food Intolerances: Scientifically Proven Remedies for Food Sensitivities -- also by Casey Adams.  Funny, I'm reading this now and am liking it better than his other book!  But then I didn't realize that it was even the same author until just now.  This book obviously focuses more on food allergies, which seems to be the root of not only my atopic dermatitis, but also my allergic rhinitis, which has almost cleared up since changing my diet.  He goes through how our immune system works, as in his other book, but I'm only about half way through this book.  So far it is an informative and interesting read and I recommend it, even though I'm not done with it.  Essential info for anyone with atopy or food allergies.

Good Calories, Bad Calories -- by Gary Taubes.  Now THIS is a tome, if ever there was one, but well worth the read. In fact, I think every person living in North America ought to be required to read this. He goes into great detail to explain how the myth of fat = cholesterol = arteriosclerosis developed and has been aggressively defended by the medical community.  He explains that health and weight are not just a matter of eating less and exercising more -- that what you eat matters.  He argues that refined carbohydrates like white flour and easily digested starches and sugars are the problem, not fat.  Hmm, sounds consistent with all the other data re a plant-based diet.  Definitely convincing and fascinating evidence that sugars and refined carbs (white bread, bagels, crackers, white rice, etc.), not fat, not salt, are responsible for obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and all the related diseases of civilization.  A bit hard to reconcile with Forks Over Knives at first glance, but see my later post on this topic.  The one thing that everyone agrees on universally, is that whole, organic vegetables and fruits are really good for you and that processed foods are bad for you.  I still think that dairy is bad for people when consumed in the amounts in the modern American diet and more and more sources are in agreement.  And that may be a function of the processing -- we're not drinking raw whole milk, we're eating massive amounts of processed milk and cheese food products.  And I will not be eating anything but organic meat in future for so many reasons I cannot recount them all here, but watch the movie Fresh and Forks Over Knives.  And I will only be eating organic meats in small amounts.  But thank God I can still eat some (organic) bacon!  If you can't deal with the 500-page book, try Gary Taube's video lecture or his shorter book, Why We Get Fat.

Digestive Wellness -- by Liz Lipsky.  This is an excellent, comprehensive, easy-to-read book that covers leaky gut and most of the many, many manifestations of inflammation and illness that arise from leaky gut, including eczema, allergies, asthma, psoriasis, acide reflux, GERD, anxiety, schizophrenia, fibromyalgia, IBD, Crohn's, Celiac disease, etc.  She covers how leaky gut works and causes illness and then tells you how to heal the gut.  THIS IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WITH ANY CHRONIC ILLNESS, including mental, as well as physical, issues!  I cannot emphasize enough how important these concepts are for anyone and everyone.  Our wellness or disease begins in the gut and this book not only explains how and why, but also tells you how to fix it, which means fixing the cause of your illness, instead of just controlling the symptoms with a lifetime of expensive drugs.  Read this.  You will not be sorry.

Clean Gut -- by cardiologist Alejandro Junger.  He goes beyond his first book (Clean, which I used for a 3-week cleanse in early 2013) and recognizes that many of us need to heal our leaky guts.  He has a detailed protocol for doing so with a clean diet and many many supplements.  I'd rather not depend on supplements long term, so I used his protocol for 2-3 months and since my gut is healing, I am hoping to stop most of the supplements and am not re-ordering them as I run out.  I will keep up the probiotics and the glutamine for a while and as I have issues, but I hope to have healed my gut enough to get my nutrients from my foods.  But this is a good reference for healing leaky gut and I would recommend it to those looking for a guide.

Grain Brain -- by neurologist David Perlmutter.  I cannot praise the writing or the organization -- it's a shotgun in every chapter without any logical path.  But for anyone who still thinks that eating grains, even "whole grains," or sugar, or other refined carbs, is good for you, this should convince you otherwise.  He explains how these foods damage our bodies with an emphasis on our brains.  I wanted to read this to better understand how I can change my diet and my life to avoid the Alzheimer's disease that afflicted both my mother and my grandmother.  I clearly have a genetic predisposition, so I read everything I can about brain health.  This is just reinforcement for my decision that I will never eat wheat again, and will probably avoid all grains for the rest of my life, except possibly some rice or quinoa on occasion.  Another book I highly recommend if you're willing to wade through it for the good information.

The H Factor -- by James Braly and Patrick Holford -- authors of Hidden Food Allergies.  This is all about homocystein, which is a marker for many chronic illnesses (esp heart disease), including my biggest concern, Alzheimer's disease.  Homocystein is an indicator of how well your body is performing methylation, which is critical to health, especially brain health.  I probably cannot summarize this accurately, but found it very interesting.  Interesting and persuasive enough to have my H level checked and to supplement with the recommended supplements, including B vitamins.  I plan on checking my levels again in two months, as they recommend, to see if there has been any improvement.  Nov. 2013.

Forks Over Knives -- the book basically covers the info from the movie (see below) and includes some recipes.  I did a whole post on how to reconcile this book with Good Calories Bad Calories.  Basically, they do not have any empirical data to support the claim that meat or naturally-occurring fat is bad -- their arguments were based on studies involving dairy protein, not meat.  All the evidence in Good Calories, Bad Calories and many other sources indicates that organic meat and good fats (fats in organic meat, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, for example) are good for your body and your brain.  I think most Americans eat way too much meat, especially factory-farmed meat, and that's bad, but I absolutely disagree with the unsupported conclusion of this movie that all meat and oils are bad for you.  And they also eat wheat and other grains, which have no nutritional value and are actually bad for us.  I appreciate the plant-based diet advice -- we need to eat more vegetables, but you should read some of the other materials on this page for better information.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Plant Based Nutrition -- goes through the benefits of a plant-based diet and the nutrition provided by plants (versus what most Americans eat) and how to eat a plant-based diet.  Includes some recipes and meal plans.  So far I'm just flipping through it.

Cookbooks:  too many to mention.  Most Vegan books didn't help me much, since I'm not that into tofu fake meat -- I'd rather eat nicely-prepared vegetables, beans, fruit, etc.  Plus I hardly ever use the recipes anyway -- I just look up a recipe on the internet.  And I avoid wheat, which Vegans use heavily.  I like Jamie Oliver for fun cooking videos and books.  Get what works for you.

March/April 2013 update:

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living, by Volek and Phinney (doctors of medicine and nutrition) -- more information on decreasing your carbohydrate intake and health benefits.  Goes through all the mechanics/physics/chemistry of what happens when you do and do not avoid carbs, and, obviously, explains why carbs are bad for you.  I am wholly on board with the conclusion that carbohydrates (primarily sugar and other refined carbs, usually found in breads, cereals, crackers, etc) are bad for you, and carbs are making all of us fat and sick.  I just wanted to get a bit more information and I found this helpful.  Once you understand how the body processes carbs (Good Calories, Bad Calories was excellent for this), you kind of know all you need to know -- don't eat them.  I read it, it had some good information, but it wasn't new to me and wasn't all that memorable, probably because I was already on board the low-carb train.

Eat to Live and Super Immunity, by Joel Furhman, M.D. -- I read his books because he advocates a diet that is close to what I believe is healthy -- basically no processed foods, no sugar, and mostly whole plant foods.  He does not vilify all oils/fats like the Forks Over Knives crowd, and I appreciate that.  He does, however, make the point that it is better to get your fat from unprocessed whole foods like nuts and avacados.  I like either one of these books for someone who just doesn't know what "healthy" really means -- he covers it all in a way that most people can understand and have the patience to read.  He includes recipes and menus for those who need a little kick start on eating healthy non-processed foods.  I made his ketchup recipe, because I had never ever even heard of anyone making ketchup -- I thought there was no choice other than the processed junk full of sugar.  But there IS!!  And it is pretty darn good -- just had some home-made baked-potato fries with my ketchup tonight.  So I would recommend these books to anyone and everyone.

Pandora's Lunchbox -- Another eye opener.  An excellent explanation of processed foods and the additives they contain.  I had no idea what all those additives in processed foods were/are, or how/why they got in there.  She doesn't go into what they do to you when you eat them, but it's fascinating and frustrating to read all about what's really in our food.  Sad. 

Clean -- by Alejandro Junger, M.D. a cardiologist who had his own health crisis and wanted to treat the cause, not just the symptoms (amazing how doctors will actually look for a cause instead of treating symptoms with drugs when it comes to their own health).  He wound up using and advocating a whole foods/non-processed diet high in vegetables and fruits, with a periodic cleanse to allow the body to rid itself of the toxins that build up from our daily exposure.  I like this book (and am currently attempting his 3-week cleanse), because his "cleanse" is nothing more than an elimination diet -- he recommends that you cut out all of the most common allergens plus alcohol for 1-3 weeks and then re-introduce them one at a time to see if you react.  While billed as a cleanse, it is really a method for healing from, and diagnosing, IgG-mediated allergies.  It's great, because it will halt inflammation that the majority of Americans are experiencing from the standard American diet of processed food products full of GMOs, nutritionless-carbs, and allergens.  And it will tell you if you have an allergy or sensitivity to these foods.  Great for those who don't want to spend hundreds on an IgG ELISA blood test.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle -- by Barbara Kingsolver.  Great book about eating locally.  If this book isn't the Bible for locavores, it should be.  She explains how bizarre, costly, and unsustainable it is to eat bananas in January all over the U.S.  Yes, we can, because oil has been cheap.  But we shouldn't.  Not only because it is costly, harms the planet, and is not sustainable, but because the produce has been deprived of lots of nutrients and flavor in order to make the journey from South America or France, or wherever, to your Safeway.   Another fascinating and informative book.

Video -- it's quicker and doesn't hurt your brain as much:

Forks Over Knives -- documentary (with stupid name that tells you nothing about the content) focusing primarily on the work of two physicians, who each came to the conclusion (separately) that animal proteins (that means dairy, eggs, and meat, not just meat, and not just red meat) cause most preventable disease, including cancer, obesity, type II diabetes, and heart disease.  Fascinating look at their work and conclusions and the positive, disease-reversing results obtained by people who switch to a plant-based diet.  I'm seeing the conclusion that a plant-based diet prevents disease and is basically the only really healthy way to go in more and more sources.  And, of course, a plant based diet is not only better for our health and nicer to animals, but it could dramatically impact global warming, since animal production creates more green house gases than even transportation.  Animal production is second only to energy production in causing global warming. So I don't have a problem with telling people not to eat factory-farmed meat, or even all meat.  But I do not think their conclusion that all meat is bad for us, or that all oil is bad for us, is supported.  The cited evidence deals with dairy, not meat and not good natural oils.  So good movie, with some not-so-good conclusions.

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead -- I almost forgot this one!  And it was a favorite.  This 40-something Australian man (Joe Cross?) suddenly developed chronic hives.  He was also overweight.  He decided to go on a "juice fast" for 60 days while traveling across the U.S.  and talking to people about health and diet.  He doesn't explain how he came to this decision, but he must have done some research and concluded that this was the way to get well.  So he did.  He ate nothing but juiced fruits and veggies for 60 days.  He lost a bunch of weight (don't recall how much) and met and motivated other people who tried it for 10 days or longer, and also improved their health.  (I don't know why he didn't make smoothies instead of juicing, because then you get all the fiber and the nutrients in the fiber, but I guess this was more of a cleanse/fast-type of short-term diet followed by better eating habits and physical activity in the long term.)  Joe met a trucker in AZ who was obese and also suffering from chronic hives (urticaria).  This trucker called Joe and Joe helped him get started and the trucker guy lost tons of weight and got well and motivated half his town to juice, etc.  I think the lesson here is, again, that fruits and veggies are good for you.  The standard American diet, not so much.

Food Inc. -- documentary about agribusiness and where we get our food, especially fast food.  It is eye opening and every person in the U.S. needs to understand, at least a little bit, that our food system is run by businesses (BIG businesses, not family farmers), and it's all about $$$$, NOT what is good for our health.

King Corn -- similar to Food Inc., but I thought less informative, but then the focus is more narrow.  They follow two young men who decide to look at the ubiquity of corn and the effect of government subsidies on corn, by planting an acre of corn.  This is also good information and we all ought to be aware of the impact of governmental interference in the food supply chain, based, primarily, on the interests of agribusiness, which have very strong lobbies and LOTS of representation in D.C. in the FDA, the USDA and other departments.

Fresh -- my NEW FAVORITE!!!  This is such an excellent look at our food industry and more importantly the organic farming movement.  It talks about what is wrong with our system but it also spends a lot of time with modern day organic farmers who talk about their operations and you get to see and compare the differences and understand why organic is so much better for farmers, the environment, animals, plants, and you.  For those who don't like to be told what NOT to eat, this is an excellent positive affirmation of what you SHOULD eat.  Awesome movie.   A must see for everyone.

Food Matters -- my new new (I watched this on April 29, 2012) favorite?  An easy-to-watch documentary that confirms everything that I've been reading/seeing repeatedly: the modern American diet is making us sick, and we can get healthy if we choose to eat an organic plant-based diet, mostly vegetables, and including plenty of raw, unprocessed, uncooked, organic produce.  They also address the failure of the modern medical establishment to address nutrition as a cause of, and cure for, disease.  I had reached this conclusion on my own, after modern medicine was able to do exactly nothing for my allergies and their miserable symptoms.  Another nail in the coffin of Western medicine and the modern American diet.  Some people aren't ready to hear this information, which isn't new.

March/April 2013 update:

Genetic Roulette -- eye opening documentary about genetically engineered foods/GMOs.  This is a must see for everyone, and particularly for anyone with atopy.  Many scientists are suggesting that leaky gut may be caused by the bt toxin in GMO corn, soy, etc.  And since leaky gut plays a large part of my food allergies, I found this concept fascinating.  The movie also goes into the devastating effects of big ag's GMO crops and the toxic pesticides that are now in those crops, or used on those crops (and on our soil, our water, and everything else they contact), in the US and worldwide.  EVERYONE should watch this and understand what these chemical companies are doing to us and to our planet.  It was just a real wake up call and I will never eat another GMO as long as I live if I can avoid it.  FYI, any corn, any soy, canola oil,  and/or rapeseed oil, is loaded with GMOs and all the toxic effects that go with them, so unless you want to kill yourselves and our planet, avoid any non-organic foods with those ingredients.  Buy organic and certified GMO-free food.  READ LABELS.

Hungry for Change -- Another look at what we are eating and what we should be eating.  At a minimum, they get across the point that we should not be eating sugar and processed food.  They are advocating a primarily, if not completely, plant-based diet.  And I'm okay with that -- there is really no conflict between low-carb and plant-based diets.  Many Vegans eat a very unhealthy diet by eating loads of breads, cereals, crackers, cookies, sweets, etc.  Vegans need to understand that carbs are bad and that low-carb doesn't have to mean an all meat diet, and non-Vegans need to understand that while meat may not be causing heart disease and other illnesses, whole plant foods are much healthier for our bodies -- you just get more nutrition from a well-made salad than from a steak.  Extremists on both sides of this debate need to be open to these possibilities.  I eat mostly Vegan, but will eat meat if I KNOW that it is fed a natural (usually grass) diet with no hormones or antibiotics.  I prefer certified organic, happy, and local, but will settle for non-GMO in a pinch. 

The internet -- it's as ubiquitous as corn and can be just a silly:

I spent many sleepless nights on the internet in search of help.  It took me four years to find the information that helped me.  Most of the information out there is in Reader's Digest form and dumbed-down to the lowest common denominator -- not much use.  Here's what I would recommend, once you get tired of Googling "itchy rash" and have determined that you're atopic.  Or if you just want to be healthy.  But in the end books are best -- no one is giving away information that they have spent their life developing for free.  They need to make a living.  Buy the book.

TheDr.com.   I had never really heard of this guy, Dr. Tom O'Bryan, until I got an email about his "Gluten Summit" in November 2013.  He interviewed of the world's leading experts in both Celiac and non-Celiac gluten sensitivity.  This included an enormous amount of terrific information that I never expected to get from this "summit."  These experts were amazing resources and covered a surprising range of physical and mental health issues, such as autism and anxiety, and MS and other issues I never expected to hear about related to gluten/dairy sensitivity and intestinal permeability.  This summit was so excellent that I recommend looking at his website for information about gut health and chronic illness.  I was amazed at how far-reaching the effects of gluten sensitivity really are.  I think you will be too.

Wikipedia.org.  Wikipedia is usually reliable and has pretty good summaries of atopy, atopic dermatitis, and food allergies.  They also cite their sources.  This is a good place to start if you are new and need to understand the basics of atopy and is a good source of information to explain things for your friends and family who may not understand why you won't eat pizza any more.

DermnetNZ.org.  I should send these Kiwis some flowers.  This is where I first got good scientific information about the mechanism of atopic dermatitis, which explained to me for the first time why my skin was so dry and scaly, and how the lack of a normal skin barrier made my issue not simply inhaled, or even ingested, allergens, but also contact allergens.  This information, which most doctors apparently don't think YOU need, was critical for me in changing my habits and finding a moisturizer that replenishes my missing lipids and creates a faux skin barrier (CeraVe is magical and I had tried every other "anti-itch" and hydrocortisone cream known to man and Walgreen's with no relief).  So thank you NZ docs for publishing medical data on the web and making it readily/freely available to the public.  Try getting any published US study off the internet without being an MD and a paying member of the website/organization.

Youtube.com.  There are many fantastic lectures freely available on youtube.  The lecture by Gary Taubes explaining the material in Good Calories, Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat (the short version of GCBC) is here.  Another excellent lecture by Dr. Robert Lustig along the same lines is here.  If you do nothing else, watch these two videos and cut sugar from your diet.  Note that I have transitioned from strictly atopic issues to general health issues.  As I have healed my immune system and learned more and more about health and nutrition, I have had to focus less on my atopy and have been able to focus more and more on improving my general health.

TED.com.  They have great, short talks by knowledgeable people.  It's not as in-depth as a book or a published medical article, but they're trying to grab your attention in only 10 or 20 minutes.  Just search for talks on health or diet -- there's some interesting stuff on there.

Amazon.com.  Say what?  Yes, Amazon.  Because that's where you can find all the books and movies above.  And you really will need to get some books if you want valuable details regarding diagnosis and treatment -- they aren't dispensing it for free on the internet.  Plus Amazon's got reviews.  Hard to beat.

The end of the road?  I think just phase II (or III?) of my life.

Where all this had led me to date:  As hard as it is to accept and to change, I concluded a year ago that I must eliminate dairy and eggs from my diet.  I initially thought I could eat wheat sparingly, but now I tend to think I must avoid wheat and all other grains permanently.  And my health has improved dramatically when I have followed the advice of these experts regarding intestinal permeability/leaky gut.  I've been anti-sugar for a year or two, and I've recently concluded that everyone, not just atopic me, should eat almost no sugar, dairy, egg, or wheat.  That means all the crap we've been calling food since about the 50s is off the menu.  I don't even go to Safeway any more, since most of the stuff they sell there isn't really food -- it's processed food product created and sold by agribusiness at a huge profit.  Yes, it's convenient, even delicious, but it was making me sick, and apparently it's making most other Americans sick as well.  I think you cannot go wrong with organic vegetables, fruits, and limited amounts of organic meat.  And fat and salt are not your enemies.  In fact, your body, especially your brain, needs both salt and fat.  Just eat the good kinds, not processed oils derived from corn, safflower, canola, etc.

Anyway, even if you don't read anything else, read your food labels -- I mean it, every single one of them -- you'll be surprised at what's in there.  And read the ingredients, not the "nutrition" information.  If you are eating foods that are good for you, you don't need to worry about calories or the % RDA of some vitamin.  Even sugar can be identified by reading the ingredients.  Manufacturers play games with the mandatory nutrition information and you are better off relying on the ingredients (just be careful about vague ingredients like "natural flavoring," as that could mean anything).  Better yet, skip the reading and buy foods that don't have labels, like organic broccoli!  No label required.

Vegan in the hood. A Green review.

So I tried a Vegan restaurant last night.  I'm thinking it's nice to have options for dining -- maybe I might want to eat out some day, right?  Plus I'm looking for a caterer for my 50th birthday party, if I have one (another story).  So I grab my buddy Mary B, who is super dependable for dining and everything else.  And Mary knows food.  

In my quest for local Vegan (it's got to be out there -- I can't be the only freak in Central Phoenix), I Googled up a neighborhood Restaurant called Green.  Green is on 7th Street just North of McDowell and South + West of an old favorite, the Coronado Cafe.  I checked their menu on line and it looked promising based on the sheer VOLUME of Vegan.  They have pages and pages of Vegan food -- appetizers, pizzas, burgers, "bowls," and salads.  You name it, they make a Vegan version.  My only concern was the heavy use of fake meats (tofu central) and cheeses and the quantity of wheat.  But I was assured they offer gluten-free options at Green, and I can eat wheat every once in a while, so I was up for that.  But in the end, I should have listened to my gut.

So off we go to Green.  (I should comment that the building is way cute, with an awesome metal spiral staircase and a wall made from old car doors and a front garage door that opens up on nice evenings like last night.)  And I'm so excited to eat "normal" food in public for the first time in forever, that I immediately focus on french fries (they offer fries smothered in Vegan chili), artichoke dip,  non-eggrolls, and a veggie burger.  Mary wisely had a salad.  In my rush to "normal" foods I went heavy on the wheat and fried foods, and I think (okay, I KNOW) that was my mistake.  The chips with the artichoke dip (which was good) were kind of like a cross between pita chips and corn chips.  I don't know what was in them -- they're described as corn chips, but they seemed like they had wheat and they were definitely deep fried and heavy.  So I liked the dip, but I couldn't eat a lot of it with those chips.  Moving on, I went for the non-eggrolls.  And they were not bad, but had a heavy wheat exterior and were, yes, deep fried.  The filling was excellent, and if there had been a greater ratio of filling to deep-fried roll, they would have been quite good.  As it was, it was mostly deep-fried dough.  So another item that seemed like a good idea, but I probably wouldn't order again.  And then I get my burger.  And that first bite was satisfying -- I don't usually get to bite into a burger.  Pickles, tomato, lettuce, ketchup, mayo -- the works.  And the patty was pretty good, from what I could taste of it.  But it's a smallish veggie patty on a largish refined wheat bun.  So I can't taste much of the patty with all that bun, and by the time I get about half way through it, I'm feeling stuffed.  Between that bun and all the fried wheat that had gone before, I was feeling like I'd eaten my favorite childhood stuffed hippopotamus.  (What was her name?)

Now, a lot of this overly-stuffed feeling was my own fault for ordering all that deep-fried wheat.  My bad, I get it.  But this brings me back around to my initial assessment of the menu and the very first tip I put out there in my very first post on this blog -- don't try to make fake whatever.  Fake burgers, fake pizzas, fake cream dips, fake "wings," fake meat entrees....  These things will just NEVER taste like the originals, so why try so hard to force it?  Why eat a fake version of something that is BAD for us and we're trying NOT to eat?  It just reinforces the mental/emotional desire for those forbidden foods and the habit of eating them.  I knew that going in, but I was sucked into old habits and the desire to be like everyone else.  I just wanted a burger and fries like everyone else, dammit.  But it was a mistake.  The whole meal was really heavy and not all that satisfying.  I would have been happier with a salad.  Yes, even I can't believe I said that, but I would have liked the salad better.  Mary's 3 Green salad was very good -- it was full of palm hearts, green olives and things other than just boring leafy greens.

In the end, I am back at the beginning -- they should have done more with vegetables, fruit, legumes, and whole grains (there were not that many veggies on that huge menu -- it was mostly fake meat dishes and fake pizzas, etc).  The menu was like a Vegan time capsule -- they went vintage, tofu-crazy, "let's make fake burgers and pizza," Vegan, and not modern plant-based Vegan.  Where was the quinoa, the teff, the oat and rice grains/flours?  There is SO much that can be done with seasonal vegetables and the huge variety of grains available today.  (And I'm a bad cook that's only been mostly Vegan for a year.)  Most of the greens at Green were in a few salads.  What a wasted opportunity.  They need a giant chalkboard with a special of the day, so that they can use up whatever fresh local veggie is in season and about to go bad in the walk-in.  They could be converting people to a plant-based diet with delicious plant dishes, instead of trying to be a tofu McDonald's/ Pizza Hut/Dirty Drummer.

I might go back to try some more dishes -- again, the menu is just enormous and they have some Asian dishes that look promising.  But that enormous menu has very little in the way of dishes that are mostly veggies and legumes.  I mean, I could have come up with better non-meat/dairy/egg/wheat dishes in an evening.  Yes, even comfort dishes -- how about a quinoa spaghetti with marinara full of green peppers, olives, capers, garlic, etc.?  That's easy and delicious.  And if you must use the fake meat, you could offer a version with tofu ground beef.  How about using that deep fryer to make some delicious Brussels Sprouts as an appetizer?  And what about some green beans?  Who doesn't like green beans?  Plus they match the name.  Tofu ain't green.  They should have called themselves "Beige," or "Brown" for all the fake meat/tofu on the menu.

I'm sad to report that I was disappointed in this place -- I'd like to be more supportive of my local Vegan restaurant.  I just don't get the pages and pages of fake bad Western-diet foods.  Sorry Green, I'm not feelin' it -- you're a pretty unhealthy kind of deep-fried Vegan.  But the salad was good, and the skinny fries were also good, if not good for me.  And the building is charming/fun, if not edible.

Next up:  We try Pomegranates in Tempe.

To drink, or not to drink?

Not really much of a question.

Nope, not really.  Because now that I've given up every kind of food that is convenient and/or delicious (my God I'd kill for a doughnut some days), there is no way in H. E. Double Toothpicks that I'm giving up alcohol.  In fact, let me just take a quick break to pour a glass of my favorite cava, because typing about it has made me thirsty.  Okay, now I'm having second thoughts about pouring that cava.

Here's the deal.  And most of my friends just think I'm nuts when I try to explain this (partly because no one has the patience to participate in the extended boring conversation necessary to go through all this stuff, and partly because they just think I'm nuts).  But all my allergy books discussing atopy and food allergies indicate that a "leaky gut" is a contributing factor to the allergic reaction/inflammation caused by eating certain foods.  Huh?  Yeah.  Kind of like my hyper-permeable skin deal.  While all skin is permeable, mine is hyper-permeable, because of the defective filaggrin/loss of the normal protective lipid barrier -- so moisture gets out and allergens get in, making my skin dry, itchy, and more susceptible to allergens and more likely to react, blah, blah, blah.  That's why the CeraVe moisturizer works so well -- it not only restores the missing lipids, but provides a temporary simulated lipid barrier.  But I miss my lipids and hate my alligator skin.

Anyway, something kind of like that happens in the gut.  Your intestines have a mucosal lining and a filter system kind of like the cilia in your lungs.  And when this barrier breaks down, your intestines become more permeable and allow larger food particles to escape into your blood stream.  Your immune system sees these larger particles as aliens that need to be killed, just like a virus.  Hey, presto, allergic reaction/inflammation.  And what breaks down this lining, taxes your liver, and makes your intestines more permeable?  Yes.  It's my oldest and dearest friend, Alcohol.  SHIT.

So I KNOW that I need to quit drinking alcohol in order to allow my gut to heal.  I know that.  But it just ain't gonna happen.  So here's my compromise.  I will TRY to cut back.  No more private Thursday night parties of one while watching Project Runway.  No more celebrating Tuesday nights, just because it's nice out.  I can enjoy a Tuesday night with some green tea.  Sigh.  And on the weekends -- I promise to try to cut back.  Not easy when I basically have a party at my own house every Sunday night -- i.e., I don't have to worry about driving, or even stumbling, home, so I can drink as much as I (or my friends) can stand.  Another big sigh.  Dang it.  Life just sucks sometimes.  I really feel like that song, "Everything I Love is Killing Me."  Except instead of cigarettes, Jack Daniels and caffeine, it's cheese, Campo de Viejo cava and quiche.

Okay, I'm gonna go have that glass now.  But just the one -- it's a Monday.  And I shouldn't even have the one.  But Hoarders and Intervention are on tonight, and I like a glass of something while I make fun of the alcoholics and feel better about me.

HOLY COW: One side of bacon away from Vegan.

Just a few months ago, I was exploring the wonders of slow-cooked smoked meats on my Weber kettle.  I figured since meat was one of the few things to which I don't have a known allergy, I would embrace it.  Oh how times have changed!  From smokin' pork parts on the grill to abandoning all things porcine.  EVEN bacon.  I love bacon.  Tim M. gave me a whole cookbook of bacon recipes a few years ago.  THAT's how much I love bacon.  So giving up meat is no small thing.

Why would I do so?  Well, it's been an evolution really.  I've been reading a lot about atopy/allergies/hay fever/dermatitis, etc. in an effort to get healthy.  Because I'm tired of being sick and tired, and I have concluded that you just cannot leave it up to the average Western M.D., because they don't have the time or the right training to deal with this problem.  Doctors have no training at all in nutrition and are not trained to even consider diet as a treatment.  (Frankly, I blame big Pharma, but don't get me started on that right now.)  Doctors do not fully understand the immune system and atopy and there is, so far as they know, no "cure" for atopy.  So they treat the symptoms with pills.  And right now all they have are antihistamines and steroids.  Well, I've tried them, they don't work, they are expensive, I don't want to be on prescriptions meds the rest of my life, and I want to treat the cause of my atopy (or the closest thing thereto) not the symptoms.  SO, I've been doing a lot of recreational education.  And, if you're following along, it has really paid off.  I discovered that atopic dermatitis and hay fever made me a likely candidate for food allergies.  I discovered that there are allergies that are IgG-mediated (rather than IgE-mediated, which is the first type of allergy discovered and the only type of "allergy" that some conservative docs recognize -- the world was flat for a very long time).  And an IgG ELISA blood test told me that I'm allergic to dairy, eggs, and, to a lesser extent, wheat (not gluten -- just wheat, which means I can eat barley, rye and oats).  The new elimination diet has worked really well on my dermatitis and my rhinitis.  The rashes are basically non-existent unless I contact an allergen directly, and my nose is now used for breathing more than blowing out snot.  So far, so good.

But I was having some hay fever problems (i.e., pollens were kicking my ass) with our early spring here in the Valley of the Sun, and I dug into a book on Hay Fever and natural cures: Hay Fever and Allergies: Discovering the Real Culprits and Natural Solutions for Reversing Allergic Rhinitis, by Casey Adams, Ph. D.  I'm still only 58% into this book, which is very detailed and goes through the results of medical studies worldwide and includes traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic treatments for allergies.  I was skeptical throughout the first part of the book, where he outlines all the studies concluding that animal proteins/animal products are linked to hay fever and asthma (and thus atopic dermatitis as well).  I know my own experience has been that the dairy and egg (yes, diary and egg ARE animal products containing animal proteins) were causing my problems.  But meat?  Seriously?  My IgG blood test only showed a slight sensitivity to beef, so I figured I was okay with meat -- I could happily pork out (snort!). 

And then I found Forks Over Knives and Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  FOK is a documentary featuring the work of two old-timey Western medical doctors (yes, the same guys that normally push pills at us) who both concluded, separately, that type II diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and even cancer, are linked directly to animal proteins in meat, dairy and eggs.  Huh.  I can't go through the whole movie for you, but I highly recommend it to every person on the planet.  This information is not secret, and everyone should know it.  Eating meat, dairy and eggs not only makes you fat, it makes you sick.  Several studies have shown a very strong direct link between dairy protein (casein) and liver cancer (they use liver cancer, because it's easy to induce in poor lab rats).  I mean as strong a link as smoking and lung cancer.  That's pretty serious, and I really want to shout it to the world -- "Don't get milk!"  Or cheese.  Or butter, yogurt....

And Fat Sick and Nearly Dead is a documentary about some Australian guy with $$ (Joe Cross, I believe), who got chronic hives (urticaria) in his 40's and didn't want to be on steroids forever.  So he decided to go on a 60-day juice fast (not really a fast, because he was consuming large quantities of juiced veggies and fruit) while driving across the U.S. (not sure why his juice fast involved this Cross-country tour, or why it was the U.S., but whatever).  He lost about 100 pounds and cured his problem while convincing others to do the same, with equally excellent results.  Same deal with the people they followed in the FOK documentary -- everyone who kicked meat, dairy and eggs lost weight, reversed their diabetes and/or heart disease, had no recurrence of their cancer, and no longer needed their meds.  Pretty amazing results -- results that are unobtainable with pills.

So this has made me think.  As much as I don't like the conclusion, everything I am reading leads to the same conclusion -- our diet of large quantities of animal products/proteins -- meat, dairy and eggs -- is making us sick.  I think I can still eat some meat (bacon!), but I am determined to cut back. AND, I am determined to seek out local, grass-fed and free-range meats, rather than corn-fed beef cruelly-raised/slaughtered and pumped full of antibiotics to fight the problems caused by feeding them corn.  (Did you know that we could feed the whole world and then some, if we sent the corn we use to feed animals to people who need food?  But that's yet another issue I won't get into right now.  See Food, Inc. for a fascinating look at agribusiness.)  Note that these movies both recommend a plant-based diet, not necessarily a strict Vegan diet.  And nowhere in there does anyone say you can NEVER eat meat or dairy or eggs.  They just tell you that they are making you sick and you should be eating a plant-based diet.  So my conclusion is that you can eat animal products infrequently, but the overwhelming majority of your diet ought to be veggies, fruits, legumes, and whole grains (note that there are LOTS of grains other than wheat).

Who knew?  I never thought that at age 49 I would still be evolving this way.  But, as challenging as it is to eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from the diet, I'm gonna do it.  Because you only live once, and I want to do it right.  That, and I'm terrified I'll get Alzheimer's like my mother and my grandmother -- that doesn't bode well for me, now, does it?  Mostly Vegan it is.

One last comment.  A friend of mine recently suggested that I should read some nice fiction novels, hinting broadly that I ought to stop obtaining, or at least sharing, information about health and nutrition.  I am amazed, really amazed, as the resistance to such critical information.  People just don't want to hear it.  And, even armed with the information, they still don't want to change their handy, yummy diet of meat, dairy and eggs.  Wow.  I guess I am lucky that I got so sick that I had to do all this research to make myself better, because I am not sure that I would have had the willpower to do it myself if I had not been forced to do so.  But I was, and I am.  And I plan on continuing to educate myself about health and nutrition no matter what my friends may think.  Sorry Steve, but I will be annoying you further with information I think is not just important, but literally life or death.  I'd keep it to myself, but seriously, everyone should know.

Alright -- I've got to stop blogging and make myself something healthy for breakfast!

Next:  Should I really stop drinking alcohol?  Oh Hell.

Algae? Give me a big plate, please.

We'll come back to these later.
I just wanted to open with a happy photo.

Hmmm.  I continue to work my way through that book on allergic rhinitis, in honor of my spring allergies and the upcoming 5th Birthday of Itchy Rash (It's ready for Kindergarten, sniff!).  And I will now go look up the name of that stupid really smart book riiiiiii-ght now.  [Pause, while I look it up.]  Okay:  Hay Fever and Allergies: Discovering the Real Culprits and Natural Solutions for Reversing Allergic Rhinitis by Casey Adams, Ph. D.  Now, I know that I said that Dr. Adams explains things so that lay persons can understand them.  I lied.  Or I'm just overloaded, old, and/or stupid.  I'm stuffed to my figurative gills with frickin' ALA, DHA, mast cells, antigens, mucus linings, proteins, probiotics, prebiotics, and little teeny molecular sh!t I don't fully understand.  He obviously has spent his life studying this stuff and certainly understands it -- my brain just cannot hold any more detailed info.  So now I'm just reading to get the gist of it.  (What exactly is "gist" anyway?  Sounds icky.)

So here's what I have gleaned so far from Dr. Adams' book -- saving you, the reader, all that time reading technical shit that will just make your brain hurt.  You should eat fruits and vegetables.  ORGANIC fruits and vegetables.  Preferably raw.  And avoid meat, or at least red meat (I keep forgetting that animals retain toxins and the antibiotics that are pumped into them to make them able to eat an unnatural diet), along with dairy and eggs (interestingly these are my own personal villains and I was amazed when my rhinitis got much better when I stopped eating them).  Probiotics are good for your mucosa, and hence, helpful for your atopy.  The world, well the "civilized" world is full of toxins that we have made up and our bodies have enough to deal with in removing those, so that it can easily get overloaded when hit with unnatural foods on top of unnatural pollution, chemicals, perfumes, dyes, etc., to which we expose ourselves daily.  Adams has a really interesting discussion on pasteurization and how, while it is good for killing dangerous bacteria and extending shelf life, it also kills off good bacteria, like the probiotics that are naturally contained in unprocessed grass-fed cow's milk.  Basically, there are many reasons that we process foods the way that we do today, but all that processing is the Devil's work when it comes to our immune systems and atopy.  Some lucky people can deal with it.  Some of us cannot.

(Okay, totally off topic here, but I'm kind of tempted to get the EZ EYES bright yellow computer keyboard with enormous black letters.  Yes, I'm that tired of my old-lady vision, or lack thereof.  I'm falling apart --next stop Blue Blockers and one of those "Help!  I've fallen and I can't get up!" necklaces.  Aging sucks.)

Where was I?  Oh yeah.  That brings me to algae.  Sounds "weird," right?  Not so.  Bear with me, or rather, Dr. Adams (and others -- this is all consistent with multiple studies and publications out there).  Fish oil/omega 3 is good for us, right?  Yes.  It helps reduce inflammation (and atopy is all about inflammation).  Everyone's doin' it.  You can buy fish oil capsules at Costco.  Or you can get omega 3 from flax seeds if you don't want to eat/burp fish, because our bodies convert the EFA in flax seeds into the DHA that provides omega 3.  (Yeah, even I don't really understand it and I'm probably screwing up the explanation.)  Anyway, there is a better and more direct route to the DHA/omega 3s.  Where do the fish get it?  From the algae that they eat.  Duh.  So why not skip the fish (which can be contaminated by lead, etc., because animals cannot clear out toxins as well as plants can) and go directly to algae?  So that's it.  Algae -- a cleaner, more potent source of DHA/omega 3s.  And since I happen to be out of flax seed oil capsules, I have just ordered a shipload (in honor of the nautical nature of the item) of algae.  

Here we see my artichoke trying to
consume a small palm tree.

So now, I'm trying even harder to eat organic fruits and vegetables and am supplementing with probiotics and, soon, algae for my omega 3s.  (I'm still getting my omega 6 from evening primrose oil, at least until I find out that bat guano really is the best source).  As part of my anti-atopy efforts, I am slowly turning my backyard into an orchard/garden, where I can control the toxins I put into my foods.  Just this morning I picked a couple of red bell peppers and some tomatoes, and I have more tomatoes and fruit coming soon.  In fact, I am very excited about this whole garden deal, and I took some photos to document my ignorant bliss.

The peach nursery.

I've planted 18 fruit and nut trees out back now and am working vegetables into all my "landscaping," such as it is.  I used to plant pretty flowers.  Now I ask all my plants "What can you do for me?"  And they'd better come up with something good, if they want to consume my time, water, and compost.

Did I mention I have turnips, mache greens and kale right now too?  I had sauteed turnip greens for breakfast the last couple of days.  (Saute some garlic and a little chilli pepper in olive oil, add turnip greens and a teaspoon of mustard.  Pretty tasty for some strange itchy leaves.)

Which is why I was able to have THIS for a snack:

Not to worry -- these are dairy and gluten-free taters!  Yes, I found them at my new fave, Fresh & Easy.  They are "Smileys" -- wondrous concoctions of taters mashed into smiley faces.  What's not to love?  Maybe Satan's ketchup sauce filled with sugar.  But other than that...  Plus, I had those turnip greens for breakfast.  So back off.

Yum.

Snotty little probiotics.

Probiotics.  Are they the answer to all my atopic problems?  Could it be this freakin' simple?  Well, so far, the author of the book I'm reading on allergic rhinitis (I can't remember the title or the author, but see my last post) has made a very convincing case for....I don't know what yet, because I'm not even halfway through, and since I got the Kindle version, instead of a hard copy, I can't flip ahead, because if you flip ahead on the Kindle, you'll never know where you left off reading....argh.

Anyway, it seems that we have WAY more mucus in many more bodily orifices/cavities/spaces than I ever realized.  And all this mucus is supposed to protect us/our tissues from foreign things.  And all the mucus is supposed to have what we call probiotics, which are one of the first lines of defense against foreign stuff.  And when our mucus barriers break down and our probiotics get killed off with antibiotics and don't get recolonized, we go all wonky and the bad bacteria takes over in some places, and foreign invaders get through in others, etc., etc.  Inflammation, immune system suppression, hyperreactivity, runny nose, itchy throat and itchy watery eyes, gastrointestinal "issues," and funky female flora may ensue.

Because 50 BILLION active cultures CAN'T be wrong.

Given the strong build up to the case for probiotics, I decided that I had better (a) look into taking more of what I already have on a more serious basis, and (b) stock up, which involved both a trip to Wag's (after finding out that my local Hi-Health had moved) and several Amazon orders.  And, even though I spent part of my day freely inhaling pollens and other allergens at a dog agility fiesta in Tempe this morning, and I have gone well past the appointed hour for re-Zyrtec-ing, I feel better already!  Maybe it's a placebo effect.  (Maybe it's the 1.5 glasses of champagne.)  But I'm feeling fine.  And optimistic.

And, just in case probiotics (or a lack thereof) are what's wrong with the entire universe, I ordered some for the dogs and the cat too.  

You can not be too careful.

Here's to your intestinal fortitude.  And to the health of other mucosal-lined areas.

And now, back to A Man for All Seasons, nominated for I-don't-know-how-many Oscars, or frankly, why any Oscars.  But there it is.