I didn't know what to expect with the tests as I'd never had this type of thing done before, so it was interesting to talk to Natalie, who does the testing, and have a look at the equipment that is used before she commenced. After taking down my particulars (name, address etc, d.o.b, she went on to ask about: any definite allergies I knew of (I react to the anti-tetanus jab and something in Vick's Cough medicine, so avoid both); the general state of my health and the current treatment I'm on; things that I feel seem to affect me; if I have headaches, upset stomach's and the like and various other things, so she could get a general overview before commencing.
This is a pic of Natalie and the equipment she uses (taken from the Earth Energies website):
It consists of the machine in the background which sends the electronic pulses through the probe she uses and into your hand or finger. What you can't see, because her arm is in the way, is the circular disk that's attached to the machine by wires and which holds the little test tubes full of little "pills" which are used to test for intolerance's. The first thing that happened was removal of all my rings (except my wedding ring which can't come off), then I had to hold what looked like a brass rod in my left hand - which was also attached to the machine by wires - whilst she used the probe on various areas in my opposite hand, swiping the metal end on a small piece of damp cloth before each application, and moving some little test tubes around in the disk container. I then had to change hands and the same procedure was repeated, though she had to turn the pulses down a little as I felt definite small belts from it this time. Every time the probe touched my hands the machine made an odd ticking noise, sometimes soft and sometimes a bit louder. This first procedure calibrated the machine, presumably to me.
Natalie then opened one of several boxes containing more little test tubes and told me that she would now be testing for food intolerances, whislt I had to hold the brass rod in my dominant right hand. The soft ticking from the box meant things were OK, a slightly higher tone meant moderate intolerance and a louder one meant high intolerance. The little test tubes looked a bit like this, but with plastic stoppers and not cork ones:
I didn't ask but guess the white "pills" contain the essence of each food. It's amazing how quickly Natalie was able to swap the test tubes, swipe the probes end on the cloth and apply it to the right side of my middle finger to test and repeat - very well co-ordinated and dexterous - though what really impressed me was that she could also hold a conversation whilst doing it all!
I noticed quite a few of the little tubes went back in the box the right way up but a few went back upside down..... those turned out to be the ones that I registered intolerances for.
The results showed moderate intolerance to: egg white and yolk; most dairy products, as in cow's milk, butter, cheese, sour milk and yoghurt; margarine; tuna fish; orange; banana; grapefruit; tangerine; lemon; garlic and paprika and a high intolerance to peas. The citrus I knew about because well before starting the candida diet I stopped eating and drinking them as they made my stomach very acid. The dairy I'd suspected for a long time because whenever I had any I saw a big increase in catarrh and sinus problems - when I stopped having yoghurt and cheese and reduced the amount of milk I had it improved. The butter is a little annoying, as we tend to use that for pan-frying fish and meat. Banana wasn't a surprise either, as when I ate them (pre-diet) they used to make me burp badly. The eggs and tuna were a surprise and was a bit upset about them showing up as I do like them, especially the tuna.
The upshot is I have to avoid dairy with it registering them all - it's olive or flax seed oil for pan-frying from now on and using an alternative to milk (rice, oat or soya milk - as reduced sugar as I can get it). Tuna I can try re-introducing after a four week break and see how it goes, eggs in six weeks and bananas would be OK in seven weeks (though they're still banned from the candida diet). I have to avoid using paprika and not eat peppered mackerel.... I'd decided to avoid the latter anyway last month as it kept giving me indigestion!
Next was the candida test, to see what effect the treatment is having. A good response should be between 90 and a 100. Unfortunately mine was down at 60, so something is going wrong and I had to chat to Jan about it. I will have a summary of the testing and recommendations posted to me in the next couple of days.
Whilst I don't understand all the ins and outs of how the machinery, electrical pulses and test tubes of pills work I feel it was well worth having it done, as it confirmed some of the suspicions I'd already had about certain things affecting me and set my mind at ease about others. It must work: how else could it have picked up on the citrus fruits intolerance when I don't eat them because I know they upset me? It also gives another overview to my health, what I take in and the effects they have, and how I can make further changes to my diet to help improve my health and reap long-term benefits from it. Now that can't be bad, can it? :0)
As this is already a long post I shall do a separate one about my session with Jan afterwards.
1 comment:
Its nice when you get confirmation from a test of something you already know yourself.
Post a Comment