About The Author
Jeffrey Zavik is the founder and CEO of one of the world’s leading medical laboratories focused on immune system response. His early interest in health led him to begin his career in the health field more than 29 years ago.
He was the General manager of one of the world’s first anti-aging and longevity centers.
His interest there brought him into the world of medical testing and the quest for increasingly precise means of understanding how the immune system reacts to its environment.
His innovations in immune system response testing and detection of food toxicity have helped thousands of concerned clients enjoy new levels of wellness.
In addition, Jeffrey frequently lectures on a range of health and longevity topics. His opinions have been quoted in a variety of publications, and he is the author of the book, “Toxic Food Syndrome.” He is also a frequent guest on radio and television talk shows.
And when he’s not traveling and lecturing, Jeffrey enjoys snowboarding…having been trained by his teenage son.
He also loves to garden “the lazy way,” using raised beds and very little effort. He has written “The Lazy Man’s Guide to Veggie Gardening,” and personally manages over 40 (4 foot by 8 foot) raised beds, growing virtually every vegetable you can imagine.
He is happily married for over 20 years and feels one of the secrets to his long marriage is the fact that he and his wife have “walked in each other’s shoes” – Jeffrey stayed home for 4 years raising their teenage children, while his wife, Cher, managed and directed their medical laboratory.
With mutual appreciation for each other’s roles, they deepened their friendship and their bond as a couple.
Introduction
Symptoms for most people are minor. They come and go occasionally without much fanfare. In fact, it’s often a sign that your body is working reliably and your immune system is responding as it should.
A chronic symptom may tell another story.
It could be pointing to an immune system that is relentlessly pounded by “unknown” and “unseen” troublemakers…
…. making life miserable for the sufferer.
As problems first appear, home remedies and over-the-counter medicine seems to “cure” the persistent headache, itch, or upset stomach.
Ahh! Relief!!
After a week…a month…even a year…it’s back.
Head pounding, itchier, stomach aching more than before…and the remedy doesn’t seem to work like it did before.
Trips to a doctor or a specialist begin…and (thankfully) powerful pharmaceuticals can provide complete and permanent relief for some…
…but many don’t get the relief.
The symptoms may clear up for a while…but as soon as the medication stops the problems return…more unsightly or irritating than ever.
Many sufferers decide to “give-up” and “just live with it”…
Recent advances in medical technology are shedding new light on this difficult problem…but many sufferers commonly make a series of mistakes as they pursue relief…and those mistakes mean that some continue to suffer needlessly.
It is my sincere hope that an insight, recommendation or thought in this report may assist you (or someone you love) in getting permanent relief.
Mistake #1 – Thinking That You’ve Tried Everything
Most chronic symptom sufferers naturally follow a typical pattern in an attempt to clear up their uncomfortable, and sometimes embarrassing, problem.
When the symptom first appears…whether it’s a headache, rash, excessive gas, or a little depression…the typical symptom sufferer goes to the local drugstore, and looks for over the counter relief. They try this powder. Or that lotion. A little of that paste. Or, they take some extra vitamins.
Perhaps one of the remedies they try works a little…or at least for a little while. But then the symptoms return with a fury.
When over the counter medications fail, and as the symptoms persist, many visit their doctors. Some see a general practitioner. Some head straight to a specialist.
Sometimes, sufferers learn that there’s a name for their problem:
Migraines, eczema, irritable bowel, clinical depression …symptoms number in the thousands.
Sometimes not. Sometimes, the doctors shrug…say they’re not sure what it is…
But since over the counter medications failed, they issue prescriptions…maybe an oral antibiotic, a more powerful pain reliever, or perhaps special lab tests.
Sometimes they work.
Sometimes they don’t.
Sometimes, prescriptions work for a little while. But just like with over the counter medications, the symptoms can come back…with a vengeance.
Or, sufferers decide that the prescription side effects are worse than the symptom it’s supposed to be treating, and they simply give up.
There seems to be no clear cause. And no clear solution.
So sufferers learn to live with it. They wear clothes that cover up more of their skin. Or they double up on medication, something to provide at least some relief.
Or, they bear the discomfort and perhaps embarrassment of being in public and social situations with chronic and persistent, nagging symptoms.
Does this sound like you? Or like someone you love? You may not have followed that exact pattern, but if you’ve been suffering with chronic symptoms, you’ve probably been through a similar routine.
You think you’ve tried everything.
But maybe you haven’t.
Most people typically don’t think of the possibility of food allergies and food toxicity. You probably haven’t either. But chances are good…that if you’ve tried everything else, you may be allergic to certain foods.
Conclusion: Rapidly changing technology is revealing new and better insights into the correct course of therapy. Food toxicity analysis can be a powerful tool in helping you understand the cause and effect relationship between the foods you eat and the chronic symptoms you have.
Before you make the investment in lab work, a simple “symptom spreadsheet” can give you a pretty good indication if food allergies might play a role in your symptoms. Research has uncovered that certain (seemingly unrelated) symptoms indicate food allergy may be a problem.
Mistake #2 – Relying Too Heavily On The Symptom Relief Approach
Your body usually lets you know when something is wrong. It presents you with symptoms.
In your case, the fact that something’s wrong may show up as recurring headaches. Itchy red patches. Swollen areas. Constipation. Excessive gas. Or something else. And modern science has given us scores of fantastic drug treatments and therapeutic approaches to combat your symptoms.
Unfortunately, more “cures” don’t necessarily equate to relief for everyone. As powerful as these new medications are, they don’t always “solve the problem” for everyone. While everyone wants cures, we live in a treat-the-symptom-culture, where the root causes of many irritations and chronic symptoms are ignored. Not on purpose. Not due to lack of knowledge. But because the cause and effect relationship is so difficult to determine. For example, it can take up to 72 hours for your body to react to a food you eat. And the symptoms can be subtle…anything from a skin rash to dry mouth and literally hundreds of other little “clues” that your immune system didn’t really appreciate one of the spices in that dinner you had 2 days ago at your uncle’s Greek wedding.
We are starting to peer through the door of mysteries surrounding many of these immune system reactions.
For example, the Price-Pottenger Foundation, a well-respected non-profit organization, promotes the research findings of two dentists who were frustrated by recurring dental decay. Doctors Price and Pottenger studied primitive, isolated cultures around the world, and found that when native people ate their own locally grown foods, they remained disease free.
But when these same natives left their homelands…and moved to nearby cities…where they began to eat everyday, common processed foods…they developed a host of chronic problems…the kinds of symptoms so common to our modern day lives. So the problem may not be cured by topical medications. Or by over the counter medicines. Or by oral antibiotics. Yes, they can reduce the symptoms—even if just for a time. But if you treat the symptom…and not the root cause…other, more debilitating symptoms often crop up. Either that, or, in some cases, you suffer with prescription side effects that could be worse than your symptom. In any case, you may not get the relief you’re looking for. If you’ve run the gauntlet…and have tried all you can to figure out what’s wrong…what’s causing your symptoms…and if you’ve turned to products…been encouraged at first…and then frustrated because your symptoms returned… You may want to consider the impact food may have on your immune system.
Fortunately there is a “needle-free” way to do this.
Conclusion: In Western culture we seem to rely more heavily on a symptom relief approach, and it doesn’t always address root causes. A narrow focus on symptoms can obscure the big picture.
But a lab-measured reaction of your body’s immune system to food clusters lets you pinpoint in a direct way both the symptoms—and the root causes.
Mistake #3 – Not Becoming Aggressive With The Pursuit of Relief
“Wait a minute!” you’re saying. “I HAVE been aggressive! I’ve done everything under the sun to get rid of my nagging symptoms!”
We’re sure you have. You’ve tried over the counter medications. Prescriptions. Vitamins. Maybe even alternative therapies that you read about on the Internet.
So it’s quite understandable, that after having been through every possible option you could possibly think of, to finally give up.
To say, “Oh, I’m just getting old.”
Or, “I’ll just have to live with it.”
Unfortunately, as we age, we are exposed to more and more toxins in the environment. More processed foods. More fillers. More binders. More spices.
Coming from every country…all over the world.
It wasn’t like that in the old days. For as long as man existed, up to a hundred or so years ago, people ate simple foods from their own backyard. Or from their neighbor’s backyard. They feasted on agriculturally grown and produced vegetables and staples—without pesticides—without packaging.
They raised livestock—without giving hormone injections and without feeding the animals artificially “beefed up” foods.
And chronic symptoms were minimal.
Not so today. Seems like just about everyone complains about something.
Not only are you constantly subjected to scores of unknown additives, fillers, binders and spices.
You’re subject to hormonal injections. Pesticides. Genetically altered and mutated foods.
While many of these things are surprisingly well tolerated by large parts of the population, a number of people “react.” But it’s hard to know what’s poison and toxic to your unique physiological system with so much variety in our diets.
If all you ate were naturally grown vegetables and potatoes, and chemically free livestock, you might be able to pinpoint which food is causing the symptoms—yourself.
But it’s nearly impossible in today’s world.
And as you’re exposed to more and more toxins, more processed foods and fillers, your symptoms tend to get worse over time as the levels of toxins build up in your body.
Your immune system becomes sensitized, so where it may have taken a lot of some food in the past to cause a reaction, it now takes just a little of that same food to cause the same reaction.
If your nagging symptoms have persisted to this point, they may not get better on their own.
Conclusion: Without a process for recording your symptoms, it’s difficult to reliably chart your sensitivity. By using a tool like the spreadsheet mentioned previously, you can quickly and easily develop and maintain a reliable picture that helps you understand where you might be food allergic.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, there are a lot more than 3 mistakes chronic symptom sufferers can make!
Instead of putting your energy, effort and money into more approaches that haven’t worked…
Or instead of giving up…and learning to “live with it,” it may be worth your time to take a more careful look at how one…or two…or ten of the foods you eat every day may be the root cause of your symptoms.
Take advantage of the spreadsheet tool offered.
It’s easy, and will show if you food allergies might be your problem.
There may be an alternative…even if you think you tried it all.
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3 Common Mistakes Most People Make When They Seek Relief From Chronic, Nagging Symptoms
…And How You Can Avoid Them
By: Jeffrey S. Zavik
First edition: February 2003. No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to digital copying and printing without the prior agreement and written permission of the publisher.
Copyright 2003 by Better Health USA. All rights reserved. You have permission to distribute this document in its entirety as long as it remains unaltered from its original form with all credits and copyright notices in place.
