While we are on the subject of past exploits, I have an update for you all.
In my book Diet Wise, I told the case of Cliff (his real name). He is case #2 in the book and I included his story, because at the time of completing the book, I received an e-mail from him. Cliff had been surfing the Internet and found my website and written to me, full of the delights of life and exploring the new technology. He was by then 88 years old.
Cliff first came to see me in 1985, when he was 69 years old, with a tale of woe. All his life he had been sick and debilitated. He suffered frequently from what lay people called “bilious attacks” in those days: headaches and vomiting. Nowadays we would call them migraine attacks or “abdominal migraine” when the stomach is so upset.
Cliff’s condition was so bad that on the train ride to the honeymoon destination, he had needed to lie down with his head resting on the lap of his new bride (no, he was not drunk, but certainly reacting to food at the wedding feast, as we shall see).
In 1953 he underwent a partial gastrectomy, on the recommendation of a local professor who had diagnosed a stomach ulcer. It didn’t work. Twenty-one years later he was subjected to a vagotomy (severing the important vagus nerve to the gut). Again the procedure didn’t work – wrong diagnosis and wrong therapy.
By the time Cliff consulted me, he was so weakened that he had difficulty shaving. He would lather up and then have to rest; then shave a little and would need another rest; and so on. He was a very sick old man and felt ready to die.
Fortunately, this was an easy case – allergic to beef and dairy products. I told him to avoid anything from a cow and he has never looked back. He and his wife Joan (who was also a patient of mine) are a game elderly couple, still actively engaged in church and community work. Both claim that they feel fitter and happier now than at any stage in their lives. In fact Cliff boasts he’s healthier today than he was sixty years ago. That’s the power of diet wise eating.
Nice story, of course. That was circa 2005.
But it got a further boost this very week (March 8th), with yet another hail and hearty email from Cliff:
Hello Keith,
My daughter is typing this for me as she is faster on the keys than I am.
Just thought that you may be interested to know that I will be 93½ next month. I was just thinking that, when I first met you, I didn’t imagine that I would live to this age such was the effect of food allergies on my health. I did have a slight stroke 3 years ago which has left me with some problems with swallowing, but that aside I am generally quite well, not bad for 93. Blood pressure etc. all good.
I have this last year been getting to grips with a laptop. On a good day [I think he means Internet reception] I am now able to receive e-mails and I enjoy looking things up on Google. My Grandson went travelling in Thailand recently and I looked up places that he was visiting, such as the White Temple.
Did I mention that Joan and I have moved to live in Port Sunlight, Wirral, a very interesting and pretty place?
I hope that you and your family are well.
Best regards,
Cliff
Gotta love that guy!
Keith you are an inspiration to Humankind
Please keep it up
Frikkie
And I would like to say a personal thank you for your wisdom, Dr. Keith!
After an extremely stressful 18 months at work, I started to suffer terribly from IBS and terrible heartburn, night after night, destroying my sleep, whatever I tried.
Thanks to your wonderful e-book, I took your advice to heart, started a strict exclusion diet (rice, pears and lamb) and little by little worked out what I was sensitive to….magic! All my problems resolved in a matter of days. What’s more, I lost a stone in weight without trying – even though my favourite safe food is chips!
However, in my case, I am sensitive to a lot of foods – dairy produce, wheat, rice (cost me some problems at first until I worked out what it was), quinoa, chicken, eggs, onions, some nuts and seeds and more – quite a long list. For four years I have managed things with my diet, preferring to focus on the ‘glass half-full’ rather than the glass ‘half-empty’, but it makes eating out very tricky, as there is so much I have to avoid. Now I am taking things further, and working with a brilliant Indian homeopath, and slowly, slowly, things are starting to improve, and my reactions are diminishing or even disappearing. I hope eventually to be able to eat normally again – but I will always be careful not to OD on wheat, dairy etc.
And so grateful to you for pointing me in the right direction!
Dr. Keith,
Publish this where ever it will help others. I am 70 and for years raised and/or used mostly organic fruits, meats, eggs, dairy, coffee and fruit. However a couple years ago started having attacks of diverticular disease and frequent contispation. Very painful and frighting. I started using a special aloe product and continuued to have attacks less frequently but obiviously just treating the symptoms and my doctor and specialist just did the CAT scans, etc and said yes you have a problem. After research I discovered your book, Diet Wise and followed it to the letter starting summer 2011. I found a number of toxic foods for me and eliminated and retested, etc. I am a new person today and living without dairy, coffee, wheat, white potatoes. No attacks for 10 months. I have recommended the book to many and some have tried it and found what I found. Thanks Dr. Keith for the blessing that your writings have produced! Take care,
Allen, Palatka, FL
I love these stories Allen!
It’s better than all the caffeine in the morning to give my day a zing!!
Keith