These breakfast options may be mixed and matched to keep breakfast interesting and varied. You can have two or more options at one meal if hunger or calorie expenditure dictates. You can mix the options in any way. You can borrow from any of the options to make up your own option. Make sure that any changes you make are conducive to sound digestion and appropriate food combining. The options pertaining to high cholesterol sufferers may also be used by those with normal cholesterol. The high cholesterol options normalise cholesterol levels, they don’t reduce them to below normal. Try to vary your diet—it pays not to have the same option on two consecutive days.

OPTION 1

A fresh fruit salad (no canned fruits) with 60-180 g (2-6 oz) of raw nuts, sunflower and/or sesame seeds.

Weigh the nuts and seeds out and eat according to your size and how hungry you are. Puree the nuts and seeds in the blender for toddlers. Brown rice bubbles (the brown rice ones available at the health store) may be sprinkled over the salad in addition to the nuts and seed or instead of them—whichever you prefer. Puffed brown rice must be eaten if cholesterol levels are high. If they are very high add rice bran as well. Rice bran lowers cholesterol, just like oat bran. If constipation is a problem, add wheat/oat bran.

OPTION 2

Stewed fruits—any variety, as long as they are fresh. The same nuts, seeds and puffed brown rice mentioned in Option 1 may be added to the stewed fruit. Also a little milk (cold or warm) and honey or spices (see ‘Recipes’) may be added for flavour. Put nuts and seeds through the blender for toddlers. Puffed brown rice must be eaten if cholesterol levels are high. Add rice bran if the levels are very high. A dressing of cold pressed vegetable oil and lemon juice dressing may be used on the fruit salad or stewed fruit. Apricot kernel oil is good. Add wheat/oat bran if constipation is a problem.

OPTION 3

One to three eggs (depending on your size) cooked anyway you like with one to three slices of wholemeal bread (yeast-raised), toasted, with a thin spread of butter. You may have 30 g (1 oz) of bacon, salami, ham or a sausage occasionally.

Don’t have Option 3 until, or unless, your cholesterol levels are normal—check with your doctor if you are unsure. If having your eggs scrambled, as an omelette or quiche, make sure you add the egg shells (crushed to a fine powder) to enhance the calcium content of the meal. If having sausages, have only those made on the premises by your butcher. These sausages have less MSG, metabisulphite, nitrates and other chemicals in them.

OPTION 4

Savoury mince on wholemeal toast (yeast-raised). Have a thin spread of butter if cholesterol levels are normal. If they are high, brush some olive oil on the toast (the way the Italians do). Eat according to your size and hunger. Don’t overdo it.

OPTION 5

Wholemeal toast (yeast-raised) and 60-240 g (2-8 oz) of cooked fish with parsley, onion and tomato.

Occasionally some canned fish such as tuna, salmon or sardines may be eaten. The wholemeal toast may be made from wheat, rye, oat, arrowroot, millet, buckwheat or soya flour—preferably stone ground. A thin spread of butter may be used—olive oil if the cholesterol levels are high. Don’t fry the fish if the cholesterol levels are high—steam or lightly grill instead.

OPTION 6

A bowl of untoasted muesli or a bowl of puffed brown rice, either home-made or from the health store, with milk but no sugar in it.

Add oat bran to the muesli if the cholesterol levels are high. A little honey may be added for flavour. Eat according to size and hunger. Don’t overdo it. Add wheat/oat bran if constipated.

OPTION 7

Wholegrain cereal or porridge made from oats, millet, buckwheat, cooked as kasha, with some milk or cold pressed oil (olive, sunflower, sesame or apricot kernel) over the top.

Add oat bran if cholesterol levels are high. Honey may be added to flavour. No sugar. Eat according to size or hunger. Don’t overdo it. Muesli tastes great cooked as a porridge—dried fruit and all. Add wheat/oat bran if constipated.

OPTION 8

]/4-]/2 cup of cooked brown rice with olive oil over the top. This is for those with high cholesterol. If your cholesterol is normal you may add a little butter and a handful or two of cashew nuts to the cooked rice. Add wheat/oat bran if constipated.

OPTION 9

Steak and eggs: 120-240 g (4-8 oz) steak and one to three eggs with one to four slices of wholemeal toast (yeast-raised) with a thin spread of butter, though preferably olive oil, on it.

To be taken only if your cholesterol levels are normal and only if you have a day of strenuous physical activity ahead (for example, a surfing or windsurfing competition, mountain or rock climbing, a long trek or a clay spent concreting or loading trucks). Not to be had if you are sitting in an office or motor car all day, or visiting friends. Eat according to your hunger and size. Don’t over-eat, or you won’t be able to perform effectively.

OPTION 10

A toasted wholemeal cheese sandwich (on yeast-raised bread) with onion, tomato or mushroom if desired.

OPTION 11

A glass of fresh fruit or vegetable juice (any variety) with 1 tablespoon of brewer’s yeast powder, 1 teaspoon of dolomite powder and 1 dessertspoon of lecithin granules. Mix thoroughly and add a little honey to flavour.

This isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, even though the most nutritious of all the breakfast options. It is excellent for high cholesterol. Make sure you sip it slowly and mix it with the saliva in your mouth—it won’t digest properly otherwise. Add wheat bran if constipated. Diabetics, pre-diabetics, hypoglycaemics and those who crave sweets should have this three times per week for the duration of this program, to balance the sugar levels.

OPTION 12

Three or four whole fresh fruits (any variety) and 60 g (2 oz) of nuts (any variety—or sunflower or sesame seeds).

About an hour after breakfast, or just before leaving the house for work, have a 230 ml glass of fresh juice (fruit or vegetable) or water with l/4-l/2 teaspoon of glucose powder if required.

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You can get delayed reactions to a food, and withdrawal symptoms after eating it. If these occur within the next day, or two days, after eating a food, they can be hard to tell apart, although withdrawal symptoms have certain characteristics. If you feel well on eating a food, and do not feel ill until several hours after a meal, this is most likely a delayed reaction. If you feel ill the next day, it can be either delayed or withdrawal reaction. Either way, it is the food you ate the day before that is upsetting you.

If you get unexplained reactions, keep a note of the foods you ate the day before and see if there is any pattern. Proteins and grains are particularly prone to cause delayed reactions.

Delayed reactions can occur up to several days after eating a food. This is more common in cases of dermatitis. To track this down, you may have to eat suspect foods only once every two weeks and see what happens. Long delayed reactions of this kind are very rare in children, who usually react within a few hours of eating a food.

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Candida is a yeast that is found naturally in the gut. In some people, the natural balance of the gut is disturbed and Candida overgrows. This is called candidiasis and can cause various symptoms, sometimes severe. Some people with food sensitivity and chemical sensitivity have candidiasis as well and the symptoms can be confused. In some people, treating the Candida overgrowth can improve their tolerance of foods and chemicals.

Candida infections are found in the gut, throat, mouth, anal passages, vagina and in damp areas of the skin. Thrush is the name for Candida infections in the mouth and vagina.

The principal symptoms of candidiasis are thrush, itchy anus, cystitis, bloating, diarrhoea, recurrent fungal infections of the skin, headache, migraine, joint pains, aching muscles, eczema, psoriasis, sinusitis and nappy rash in babies. Craving for sweet foods is also a primary characteristic. You can be allergic to the yeast Candida itself, in which case you will experience the usual symptoms of allergy.

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The most common reactions caused by clothing are breathing and nasal symptoms, and sensitive skin, but other symptoms can result. Do not therefore exclude clothing as a possible sensitiser just because your symptoms (such as arthritis or headaches) seem remote.

Clothing can cause allergic or sensitivity reactions not just by contact with it, but also by inhaling fibres from the clothing, or inhaling chemicals used in, or applied to, the materials. Contact with fastenings, trimmings, linings and elastic can also give trouble.

Clothing may appear to be the prime suspect if you have persistent problems whatever you wear, but there are other possible candidates which may be worth checking before you pursue clothing further.

The cause of persistent symptoms could be your laundry agents, or products you use as toiletries, cosmetics or for personal hygiene.

If you have occasional, rather than continual problems, these could be caused by dry-cleaning fluids. Check to see if wearing dry-cleaned clothes matches the pattern of your symptoms.

Minute spores of moulds cling to clothes unless they are bone dry. If you are unusually sensitive to moulds, these tiny traces can upset you. Make sure that clothes are kept very dry, especially before wearing. Change out of clothes if they become damp or sweaty.

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For a full explanation of what chemical sensitivity is.

For precautions to take with bottle-feeding equipment, teats and nipple shields, smoking, creams and ointments used by breastfeeding mothers, water for drinking or bottled feeds.

The avoidance measures for babycare that follow cover the following topics:

• Toiletries, ointments and home medicine

• Laundry agents

• Nappy changing

• Vitamins, medicines, vaccinations and toothpaste

• Clothing, fibres and fabrics

• Baby equipment and furniture

• Buying and using secondhand

• Toys, books and games

You do not need to carry out all of these avoidance measures. Select the ones which seem easiest or most helpful. Only if your baby is very sensitive, or if you or other members of the household are very sensitive to things you use for baby, do you need to take comprehensive measures.

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Paper and books can be prime sources of moulds in your environment. The dusty, fusty smell that rises in libraries, or from old books, is from moulds as much as from dust.

Avoid wallpaper in your home, if possible. Moulds feed not only on the paper, but on the glues that bind the paper to the wall as well. If your plaster is in reasonable condition, there is no need to have any wallpaper at all; even lining paper is not essential. Remove old wallpaper and keep the walls simple.

To cope with moulds on books, if they cause you problems, avoid old paper as much as you can. If you are a student, do not study in a library. Avoid old filing cabinets or stores in offices. Keep books behind glass or cupboard doors, or covered with a washable cloth, to stop moulds dispersing. Vacuum books down, with filters if possible, to remove the moulds. Keep temperatures constant, and humidity at 50-65 per cent RH to prevent growth.

Moulds cling to letters and parcels delivered in autumn and winter. Air and dry them before opening, if you are very sensitive.

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