Dear Heidi, Thank you so much for answering my question on white spots on the skin. I went to Web MD to check it out a bit more and it seems I have all the criteria needed to attract "tinea vericolor." Namely, I sweat a lot, am prone to getting athlete's foot and live in a humid, hot climate (FL). So there I have it ... I think perhaps I'll try the Heallix although it seems like it may take a year or two to clear up.

And thanks also for the ranch recipe. I've written it down and am very eager to try it. I'll let you know how I make out.

And as for the kefir, it never even occurred to me to try the stuff in a blender with fruit! What a great idea, maybe it's thickness will be a plus when it comes to making a "shake!"

Thank Henriette for her advice to Sally in the same column (July 27th). As a type B who hasn't lost any weight (my own fault though, the death of my father plus moving to another town really threw me for a loop, i'd eat anything available or that didn't run away from me first!) I am now getting back into the diet but am really craving the grains and dairy. I needed to be jarred back into reality and realize I need to cut those two categories down and really "beef" up the fruit/veggies, lamb and fish!

It's nice to have other B's that know what it's like. Anyhow, sorry for rambling on and thank you once again for all your help! Please keep up all the great work!!! Carol

Lovely!! Pleased to hear it, Carol ~ I'm sure your new resolve with serve you well... and I think you were wise to "do what you needed to do" when such enormous burdens were on your shoulders. Bless you, and do write again! :-D

Hi Heidi! Just a quick comment for Carol about kefir. Yes, it comes out lumpy and sort of like sour milk, but if you stir it (just a spoon is fine), it smoothes out nicely. When I first started using it, I used equal parts (1/2 cup) plain kefir (flavored has lots of sugar!) & vanilla soymilk (silk)--just mix with a spoon--it's delicious! Now, after having gotten used to the taste, I use equal parts plain kefir & skim milk (as I'm a B-, nonnie). My father likes to drink it straight, thinned out a bit, because it reminds him of lassi (an Indian drink he had back home as a child). A fellow B friend uses it in her protein shakes with berries, a scoop of whey, and water because it thickens up the shake nicely without having to add milk. Just my two cents. --M.K.

Many thanks, M.K.! :-D

Abby's mac may have crashed (On the Diet Topic For 27 July 2003) if there was not enough memory allocated to the browser that her version of AOL uses to read a particularly long On the Diet Topic. Increase the amount of memory for that program or for AOL and it may work better. Tom

Ah, that should have occurred to me... in my case, I had to adjust the pagefile size for certain sites, but it seems Abby's machinery requires a bit different treatment -- much appreciated, Dr. Polymath! :-D

Hi Heidi! I was really interested (and motivated) after your answer the other day regarding pimples on the butt. Do you know the cause of pimples on the upper arms? I've been after the answer to this for years, and wonder if it's the same as for those butt ones. The other answer I've been searching for is the cause of dandruff, both on the scalp and the eyebrows. Any clues? These problems seem to be improving very slowly on the B diet (minus meat at present, although I did actually eat lamb twice on vacation - first time in 12 years). Thanks for any help, Ann.

Hey there, Ann!! Well, both can be traced to fatty acid imbalance, along with avoids such as corn and too much in the way of grains. Certainly, these 'detox'-area complaints fade quite steadily on the diet. Are you using the MFC drink with flax, fruit & lecithin?

Another great help is exercise, which I'd suggest in conjunction with just a tiny bit of lamb or turkey or even beef now & again -- as a B neg, you need it, dear! Give it a good solid effort, and include yer fishies as well... with time, you'll look back to wonder how you ever managed without your bennie-protein foods! Best wishes, and let me know how you do! :-D

Hi Heidi, Thanks for answering my question about pastuerized eggs. Couldn't find any that are both organic and pasteurized. They are pasteurized by immersing them in warm water for a period of time depending on their size but does not cook the egg while in the water. It is all computerized. They are not powdered egg and the shells are intact. Maybe someone else knows of a company who has organic and pasteurized. The Egg Beaters have guar gum and a bit of corn oil to add back the vitamins/minerals their processing destroys.

Any other suggestions for using uncooked eggs to make homemade mayo?

I found the unsweetened carob chips. They are by NOW and are called carob drops. I think my very sensitive to chocolate daughter is going to love them. Thanks again Heidi. Nina

Hey there, Nina! I've heard a number of anecdotal measures some folks take to fend off infection just in case the bacteria is present, but I've not verified any of them. There's further info from Conrad, below, and a note about carob chips as well, but I'd like to just maunder a bit on this topic for a moment.

In the interest of public safety, I must say that salmonella is around. It is present on eggs laid by infected chickens, and on eggs laid into poorly sanitized infected egg flats, and the risk exists for humans eating those eggs. Because I care about the food I put into my body, I care about the quality of life and good management of the flocks who lay the eggs I eat. This is the crux of the matter. Healthy, ranged, unmeddled-with birds do not spread salmonella through their eggs, and health-conscious organic chicken farmers do not expose their valuable layers and products to the kind of barbaric factory practices which allowed these bacteria to mutate and create a public nuisance in the first place.

A question arises that, if one's immune system is particularly vulnerable or compromised in some way (infants, people with AIDS or cancer, or the very elderly), shouldn't one use only thoroughly-cooked eggs (and meat) to be sure of avoiding bacteria? Perhaps. But cooking the life out of any possible contaminant-carrier seems more extreme to me than getting verifiably clean food from healthy animals as a rule. However, not everyone feels that way, and I think that anyone who doesn't check their food sources is indeed much better off with well-done and hard-boiled, and whether they are hale or ill is moot.

Mayonnaise was invented in 1756 by the French chef of the Duc de Richelieu, who had planned an egg & cream sauce but found at the 11th hour that no decent cream could be found. Like any master chef, he proceeded through necessity to invention, and devised an emulsion of the eggs with olive oil instead. The achievement was named in honor of the Duc's victory at Mahon. "Mahonnaise."

:-)

So, for nigh on 250 years, cooks & chefs have been making mayonnaise at home or in the professional kitchen just as Richelieu's chef first made it: with FRESH high quality raw eggs, oil, and vinegar or lemon juice. I have been doing it myself the same way for years now. I don't feel I'm playing Russian roulette --rather, I believe that I'd be remiss in my responsibility to myself AND to the Earth if I chose to eat sub-par food of any kind, so by the time I get round to making mayonnaise, I'm taking no risks at all. The problem is prevented at the source.

In browsing around on the Salmonella topic, I came across the following transcript of the FDA/USDA Egg Safety Public Meeting -- April 6, 2000. Take a good, slow read through it. There are tips and clues everywhere. Read between the lines. I was rather entertained by what was said, what was hinted at, and certain deafening silences -- and my resolve that healthy, ranged, unmedicated birds shall be the only mothers of MY eggs was strengthened and validated.

Enjoy the topic ~~ there are no easy answers, but there are some real good ones! thanks again, dear... and read on! :-D

Re Nina's query regarding a source for unsweetened carob chips. Here in Denver,I buy them bulk packaged from Vitamin Cottage, $4.38/pd. They are Sunspire Brand. They are also available from Whole Foods or Wild Oats Markets. Note, although called unsweetened, carob is actually quite sweet by itself. There are some sweetened carob chips so be sure to carefully read the label. Enjoy! Conrad

Well, that explains where the unsweetened carob (bulk-packaged) at my own HFS comes from. :-D thanks for that, and I'm sure Nina's group will appreciate the tip! :-D

With respect to the 26 July question on pasteurized eggs, it is my understanding that terms such as "cold pasteurization, electronic pasteurization, pasteurized and pasteurization" are currently being allowed to be used on a variety of food products incuding eggs, as euphemisms for irradiation. However, the label "organic" would preclude irradiation or any of its euphemisms; so, for someone like myself who considers all irradiated foods as avoids, buying only organic eggs is or soon will be the only safe bet. Al

That's a provocative bit of research, Al ~~ thank you very kindly for posting it! "Fills in some blanks" for me, and for others as well, I hope!! thanks again! :-D