Some Reader-to-Reader posts and this & that. Still weathering the tail-end of the unforeseen storm here. :-) enjoy!



Oh -- and a note to Sara D: your post noted you're a "blood type (secretor)," but didn't give the ABO type. Please do! thanks!! ;-)



For everyone asking about various testing forms (ELISA, vega, etc.), and why your test results differ from the food list recommendations: Those tests are far less reliable than the BTD lists in terms of hard data, and results will vary between practitioners, even between the first time you do it and two weeks later. It's up to you, of course, but we never advise anyone to start eating avoids because the XYZQ test said it was OK for them. Be safe, OK?



Another note: I do get mail occasionally from type As who are on acid reflux drugs of some kind, who ask if their "high stomach acid" means they can eat the avoid meats for type A. Nope. The poor digestion they are experiencing is due to LOW stomach acid, leading to inability to digest the inappropriate diet they've chosen (food & secretions sit in the stomach and bubble, bubble), resulting in reflux and concomitant complaints. Although the adjustment from meat-heavy fare to fish, fowl and plant proteins is difficult for the emotions, it is wondrous for the tummy (and everything else). A wee reminder, and hope it's timely! :-)

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just a short note to thank Abby for her kind advice about taking veg gly and other stuff with me from England. i´m already in Madrid but have to go back to collect some stuff so I´ll stock up then. it´s lovely here but they sneak pork into everthing, even green salads. they have museums dedicated to the stuff! take care, Olympia.

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Hi Heidi, I agree with your tip to Josie about using the type O PolyFLORA from North American Pharmacal. It is great stuff for digestive discomfort. Being type O also I find eating walnuts is very soothing to the gut. Hope this helps a bit! Stay well, Pat

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Hi Heidi, Please ask Nina to try & add my name to the nonnie list again. My email server was temporary down. Sorry for the inconvenience. Your column is a highlight to my day! Blessings, Nancy

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Hi Heidi, thanks for the advice about grains and sugars. I'm trying it out and will let you know how it goes. As far as stir fry sauces, I'm definitely talking about homemade! Anything pretty much goes really in terms of ingredients--I'm just wondering about ways to get around the ever present cornstarch and white/rice/cider vinegar in recipes. Thanks a lot! Caroline



Caroline, use arrowroot instead of cornstarch -- just dissolve it well in a little water before adding to the heat. Lemon juice (full strength or dilute) works nicely in most recipes calling for vinegar. ;-)



Still calling for recipes from the cooks out there! :-D

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Hi Heidi, here's a good tip for Melinda who had trouble with jawns clenching at night. This really helps: http://www.dr-johnston.com/NTI.html http://www.nti-tss.com/ It is a God's send for all us suffering from bruxism - not to mention migraines ;-) AND it is FDA-approved! Smiles from ingrid in sweden



RE: REQUEST FOR VEG GLY IN SWEDEN (for Marie!)



Marie, what you can do right now is try looking in shops which sell massage oils. Vegetable glycerine is a major item there. Also, when doing a web search, be very careful of the spelling, as a single letter off will give you no results at all. Best wishes, and enjoy the summer! :-D



Ingrid is indeed reading ;-) no small feat as I am constructing a much bigger veg garden ;-) so I can grow MORE, and Marie should contact www.crearome.se they sell veg glycerin for cosmetics which is safe to eat and use. I still don't use it in my morning tea - I FAIL to see why honey is an avoid for a O nonnie :-(( but when I run out ( it is only a teaspoonful each morning) I shall reconsider :-) perhaps.....LOL! All the best from ingrid in sweden

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For mucus buildup, my hfs recommended Fenugreek. She asked me if I had a problem with dizziness, and I said that I could hardly swing on the swingset with my son, or watch him play video games. She asked if my head felt heavy, and I told her when I bent over it felt 100 lbs in weight. She asked if I had a recent sinus infection, and I had one almost a year earlier. She told me the antibiotics clear up the infection to allow to breathe, but it just packs the mucus in our sinuses, and it never goes away. Fenugreek releases this mucus buildup and I feel so much better.



Also, with a heavy flow - I had good luck this month with a yoga pose - "downward dog". Start out on your knees, then raise to all fours and hold for a minute or two. I did it at the start of the cycle and repeated several times a day. Thanks for all your help! Amber

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Hi Heidi, I have two short? questions. First is a question about yeast. Do brewer's yeast and debittered brewer's yeast have the same nutritional value and how do they compare with 'nutritional yeast flakes'? I have started taking the debittered brewers but is it as healthy for me as one of the other ones? Secondly I have a question about compliancy as I am a bit confused as to how the term is used. Does 100% compliancy mean that the person is eating only beneficials? Does 80% compliancy mean the the person eats 80% beneficials and 20% neutrals? When people talk about not being totally compliant does that mean they are eating some avoids? I would really like some clarification on this as I could find nothing under compliancy on OTD search. Well it looks as if these 2 questions grew into several. I got carried away! Would really appreciate your help. Sharon



:-) "Nutritional yeast" tends to be purpose-grown and fortified, whilst "brewers' yeast" is the plain item, often the byproduct of brewing. Compare your brand's nutrient list with a nutritional yeast product like KAL to get the specifics on how your product compares with nut-y.



"Compliance" is a vexed subject in some ways. Unless the speaker indicates whether avoids are being eaten, one can't know by the use of the term compliance. There were many incomplete discussions of it on the old message boards, with no actual consensus reached. Some say 20% avoids is 80% compliance, and others hold that '% compliant' = '% beneficial minus % avoid' -- with the neutrals excluded from the equation.



I think of it as a sliding scale rather than an account of proportionate bennies, neutrals & avoids. Low compliance (it's still compliance) would be following the diet haphazardly or casually, but still making a gesture at following it. Medium would connote eating a range of neutrals and beneficials in any proportion, and some avoids to a lesser extent. High compliance implies a firm and often strict commitment to avoiding all avoids, and to maximizing beneficials in the diet. Perhaps I should factor in the type-specific activity level as well. But you get the idea, I think. :-D