Hi, everyone, it certainly gives one a lift to read such great success stories! I have perused the site in general for some time but never took time to read any of the forums. I can certainly relate to the thrill of being pain free after years of struggling along with it.  Beef was my (main) nemesis along with all dairy products.  I could eat a serving of beef and be almost completely disabled in twenty minutes! Believe it or not, it took a long time for me to tie these together! I suppose one reason being that the problem came on gradually over a period of years. Just after I began to suspect the beef, someone introduced me to the BTD. Of course, it all instantly made sense to me! But the main reason I am posting, I have found a little remedy that helps my knees and other places when I overdo, indulge, etc. (sugar and potatoes are my biggest temptations). The remedy is massaging with caster oil. I had read about this for some time but finally decided I would try it.  I bought a small bottle of Swan's - $1 and almost completely unscented, and massaged it all around my knees. I really can't describe my amazement at the difference I felt in just a few minutes! Later, I had severe pain on the tops of my shoulders after trying a new exercise and decided to try this caster oil treatment on those places.  It had the same effect there as it did on my knees! It is a wonderful feeling.  I have never experienced anything like it with any other rub-on treatments. I have no idea why it works better than other products, but I'm certainly thankful that I finally decided to try it.  I have told several others about it and it has worked for them, too, but, no doubt, this wouldn't work for everyone because of different causes of pain. I might add that I do take Deflect daily and other things that help these problems, but this is just an instant relief that comes in handy now and then. I look forward to reading more success stories from others.  I have never seen this diet fail for anyone I know who has tried it.  I just heard about a man a friend of mine had recommended it to who was extremely overweight and miserable.  He started on the diet and lost 25 pounds in three weeks and is overjoyed with how much better he feels!!!!! My youngest son was horrified when he came down with extreme pain in his stomach and prostate.  He called me just terrified.  It was on the weekend, he was out of town and away from any doctors we knew. (Which was a good thing!) My brain went into a whirl, of course, but I began to question him about what he had eaten. He knew I was using the BTD but hadn't seen any reason to change his own way of eating. Well, he had eaten a LOT of beef-related items the day before and I told him that I felt that was his problem.  I sent him to the HFS for disgestive aids and pretty soon he started feeling better.  As long as he stays away from beef and dairy products he has no problems, but as soon as he eats any of it, the pain returns. When he and his friends grill steaks, he has his BTD foods at the ready!! Everyone have a wonderful, painfree day!
Eddie

Eddie,
welcome!
and thanks for so many great tips and success stories!

Hi!
Well I am unable to order the secretor test as they do not ship to Canada.  
I have an old neighbour/friend who I will ring up and see if I can have it delivered to they're summer home in the USA, they visit there often and it's close by. All I know is it says not available in Canada, but hmmm, maybe they can ship it, and they are just saying it's not in a store in Canada...dunno, will look into it furthure.

Had some slip up lately and I sure reget it....can not believe how I ate all the wrong foods all my life! Next time anyone says they have an upset stomach, my first question will be, what's your blood type (amazing how most people don't know though), second will be what did you eat?

Hi Eddie and welcome!
Thank you for sharing your stories and wow! Caterer Oil??? I will pass that one along to anyone I know that has joint pain and see what happens. I'll try it too!
Red meat, wheat and dairy are my big ones ... I HAVE to stay away from it.
We were all at the Keg Steak and Seafood House last weekend, everyone was ordering steaks and prime rib, anyhow I ordered the salmon and a lobster (I know, lobster is an avoid), but it has been so long and I was celebrating, had broccoli and rice with it-so not too bad a meal. I actually felt ok. Another night I was making lasagna...WHAT WAS I THINKING???? As I was cooking the beef I realized..."I can't eat this! There's beef in it, never mind the pasta, cheese etc." So I continued and knew that my husband would eat it anyhow. I had a small small small plate. NEVER AGAIN! My guts were killing me, even hubby's were not at the're best. In general though I really stick to the diet and feel very good about it.
One night  after Xmas we went to the inlaws for dinner, she said she would be making a pot roast. Oh that's nice I said. I'm thinking ok, I will get through the night, I'll just eat the veggies. (she forgot that I didn't eat meat) But we have to be polite when out for dinners etc. I don't expect everyone to cater to me. (one friend did though, it was amazing! She called every day asking questions what I can eat etc,. She made an amazing meal fit for an A) Anyhow....at dinner, I only ate the veggies but they were dripping in gravy, wouldn't you know it, my stomach acted up within 20 minutes. The next day was not the greatest either.
Point being I guess is the slightest thing can really set you off if you have changed your eating habits, I always thought it was normal to feel ill all the time. (you know what I mean)
Back on track again and enjoying it as always.
First item on my shopping list tomorrow is Caster oil, can't hurt to try. Thanks for the tip Eddie! And good luck with your BTD, sounds like it's going great for you!

Thanks for the welcome!  Shasha, I laid the law down to myself the time I ate a small amount of potatoes cooked in beef broth at someone's house! I can sort of, somehow, deal with potatoes once in a while but NO beef products of any kind except real yogurt and I have to limit it somewhat.  I thought I was going to have a panic attack my stomach was hurting so bad after I ate that potato\beef broth stuff.  It is almost like our stomachs are telling us that, by cracky, we have something good going now, finally, and you aren't going to mess things up!!! A's are supposed to be able to eat mozzarella cheese, and I have bought it numerous times hoping I could eat it and every time I say I will NEVER buy it again because I cannot digest it even with plenty of pills that are supposed to help! I hope you can get the secretor test somehow.  I need to have it done too, but since I have done so well so long, I have sort of put it off. It is next on my list, though. After I posted that about castor oil, I was reading a link Dr. D. posted about breast cancer and a further article about cancer in general by the same author:   http://www.vitalitymagazine.com/node/340  
[Nutritional Strategies for Cancer Prevention and Recovery | Toronto Canada alternative health natural medicine green living]   In this article, she recommends castor oil packs to detox the liver. It feels exactly like poison is coming right out of the place where the pain is when you massage it in. I was not surprised when I read that she suggested this to detox the liver. If you can't get Swan's, get one that says it is unscented or something like that.  From what some have told me, regular castor oil doesn't smell that good! But Swan's can be worn all the time and you don't notice it. Take care of yourself! Eddie

I went to the link you posted....LOVE IT!
Thank you!  

Hi Sasha,
Good to hear some news from you - although! my, you were so strict before Xmas. I thought you were quiet and perhaps...... only joking!!
Have you got your bread machine going yet? We're so enjoying the spelt bread and my husband eats spelt spaghetti and pasta things (not sure what they're called), not me though, can't stand pasta at any price!!
Have submitted my secretor test and should get the results any day - hope I'm a nonnie, 'cause I enjoyed some lamb last Sunday!

Good to hear from you Eddie, another Type A to keep us company. Personally, I haven't eaten beef for many a year because of the BSC in England, so don't miss it at all. But I do like other meats..... not supposed to be good for us. I eat hardly any fish except tuna, just don't like the taste - it's too 'fishy' for me!!
I'm going to tell my mum about the castor oil, do you think it would help her arthritic neck?

Hi, Janet, the castor oil certainly might help your mom, and it is so cheap she wouldn't have much to lose if it didn't! It is too bad you don't like fish. I love it but not the ones that have a lot of fishy taste. I buy frozen cod and enjoy that very much. Sadly, we don't have a good fish market here so I have to buy frozen. I am not about to buy this stuff sitting around for days in a grocery store. Eddie

Eddie, where do you live? if you don't mind me asking.
Trouble with my mum is that she doesn't take other people's advice - especially one of her daughters, so I'm thinking of how to approach it!!

Hi, Janet! I had to smile when you wrote of your mother not taking other people's advice! Of course, we all know that there is plenty of "advice" around that is not worth bothering with, some of it might work for one person and not another, etc., etc.. I live in the USA. Yesterday morning I got up with a bad catch in my neck after sleeping on the wrong pillow.  After a couple of hours of this misery, I decided to try the castor oil.  In another couple of hours the pain was completely gone!  Before, when I would have this problem it would be around for at least 24 hours. Most people who know me are well aware of how skeptical I am, so I can certainly relate to your mother! I suppose my skepticism is why so many of my friends are willing to try something I have mentioned to them that has helped me. Maybe you could offer to gently massage your mother's neck with this nice oil you happened to have in your handbag! Good luck!

Well Sasha - it's official, I'm a SECRETOR, just got my test results.

great ! )

Janet,

How do you get castor oil in Spain?

Susana,
what name does it go by, in Spain?

Just purchased some today for my husband and it's working!
It's called 'aceite de ricino', found it in the dictionary.

Eddie, many thanks, even mentioned it to my mum on the phone today. Can't do as you suggested, I'm in Spain, she's in England!!

Janet, I'm happy you've found the castor oil and that it has worked for your husband! I think it does more than simply alleviating pain when it is massaged into the skin and plan to do a little research on it. It never occurred to me that your mother didn't live close by! I don't know why because I've never been able to live near my mother either. I do hope she will give it a try.

Hi Eddie,
I'd be really interested with any research you come up with. It seems so simple, cheap and yet I'm sure is overlooked as 'old fashioned'.
As for my mum, well I'll wait and see. I'll talk to one of my sisters who may actually rub it in!!
Thanks again.

Well, I see Dr. D is writing about bok choy.  I just discovered this interesting vegetable a few months ago.  I was looking for something to use in place of cabbage and was I ever happy for this find.  I use it in soup, but I don't bother with cooking the white stuff longer than the leaves the way he did.  I wash the leaves and process them for a few seconds so they aren't huge, slice the "stalks" the way I would celery in the processor and throw it all in. Ummmmm! My sister and I came up with about five different veggies this one reminds us of and the taste really adds a lot of flavor to soups. I like the baby bok better but am not able to get that around here very often. I miss tomato in soups very much but this helps A's have a better soup.

Oh my so much going on here!
Congtatulations Janet, but sorry your not a nonnie!

I bought some Castor Oil today at the HFS. IT's called The Palma Christi Cator Oli. It was 13.95 Canadian for 16 oz. It says Hexane Free, whatever that is. I want to try it on my aches and pains, like me too Eddie, waking up with sore neck/shoilder a lot and the chiro costs a fortune every  time for him to work it out. Also I will take some to my Nan (grandmother)  tomorrow. Will just happen to have some on me and offer to rub it into her sore spots! She's 91, a young English gal full of spunk, but things are stating to slow her down now. I hope this helps.
Everyone, go to the web site that Eddie suggested, do a search for Castor Oil and tons of info will come up. Lot's of articles I have noticed too in magazines about the wonders of it.

Here try this....the whole site is great!

http://www.vitalitymagazine.com/node/228

Janet,
is it not 'recino' instead of ricino? )

LOVE YOUR LIVER | Toronto Canada alternative health natural medicine green living
This article confirms everything I have been thinking about castor oil and a whole lot more.  It is amazing that so much has been written about this simple little oil, and here I have only recently become aware of its wonderful qualities.  It is no wonder that I have such a nice feeling of well-being when I use it - besides getting rid of pain! The person who actually got me started using it was a 91 year old woman who said she had been using it for forty years and her joints were in wonderful shape.  I am sure it was doing a whole lot more for her besides helping her joints after reading these articles! As this article says, I had also noticed that the skin soon absorbs the oil. One article I read said it would stain clothing but I have not noticed that yet, anyway. I also take the milk thistle they mention in this article for the liver. I don't drink anything except water and try to stay on the BTD, but in the past I have been exposed to different chemicals while gardening "INorganically," using herbicides, insecticides and breathing gas fumes from gardening machines, etc., so I think I need to look after my liver.

http://www.vitalitymagazine.com/node/228 The link didn't work so here is the address for the article.

Sorry, Sasha, I didn't notice that you had posted the same link earlier! Maybe I need to start looking for something that says LOVE YOUR BRAIN!

!
No problem, Eddie. I printed it out and faxed it to my dad, and emailed to others.
I tried it tonight 2 times now, after the first rub, it wasn't long before my shoulder was feeling GREAT! I was amazed! I put on an old sweatshirt in case it stained, but haven't noticed. Rubbed it in real well.
I used it on my husband too as he is going through some painful stuff, he actually said he felt pretty good, said he thought it was working.