Just say, "No!"

"Just once won't hurt." It's just a little bit, it can't do any harm." Word of Wisdom temptations? Nope-- Dairy! After four months of no dairy, and feeling great with no post-nasal drip or congestion, I made a casserole containing Ricotta, Gruyere, and Parmesan. Yikes! Less than an hour later I couldn't breathe out of my right nostril and the post-nasal drip was giving me a sore throat. I stayed home from work the next day due to my "cold" symptoms, but the coincidence of having them come on so suddenly right after my dairy splurge convinced me it had to be an allergic reaction. After two days I was ok, (what cold only lasts 2 days???) with just a bit of mucus still bothering. So I'm back on the no-dairy wagon, sure now that it's not just the lactose, but the casein as well. So glad it's something I can control via diet and not have to be on meds or suffer seasonal allergies anymore!

Good news, bad news

I had an "aha" moment during another news flash about the problems with statin drugs. I knew Red Yeast Rice was a natural substance that provided the same cholesterol-lowering properties of statins, but (I assumed) without the side effects of being a "drug." I've been taking Red Yeast Rice for several years and it has lowered my cholesterol from 270 to 171 while actually raising the HDLs. About a year ago I developed a pain in my right arm muscle that I attributed to overdoing it on the weight training, but no amount of tapering off or stopping upper-body weights altogether made the pain go away. I wondered if maybe the Red Yeast Rice was causing muscle issues like a statin. I went off it, cold turkey, last week and 5 days later I don't have the pain in my arm....So, that's the good news. The bad news is my cholesterol is probably creeping back up into the 270s again. At this same time (synchronicity at work) I read this article on foods that fight allergies, (my "seasonal" allergies have decided to be year-round) and almost every one of them also lowers cholesterol! So here is my new "diet": dark red and purple-colored foods, green leafy vegetables, turmeric (hello, curry!), onions, berries, cabbage, cauliflower, nuts, oranges and lemons (especially the pith--I now eat one whole lemon, pith, rind and all, every day!)

New angle

I know I'd tried similar drastic measures before, but after reading this article about the link between dairy + sugar and upper respiratory allergies, as well as joint inflammation, I decided today to go cold turkey on the dairy and sugar. I've been suffering from post-nasal drip since November and I've felt arthritis-type pain in my fingers, toes, hips and knees for awhile now. I'm going to give it 6 weeks of strict compliance and see if it makes a difference. Wish me luck! [p.s.: to get ready for it, last night I ate 5 mini Milky Way bars and a bag of Pirate Booty Cheese Puffs...]