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Rhinitis and Chinese Medicine
I am at my wit’s end with rhinitis. The hospital has given me nasal sprays and tablets which I have been told to take all year round. They told me the problem is triggered by dust, paint fumes, and pollution. I am 56 and work as a cleaner in an old people’s home and a doctor’s surgery.
Chinese medicine argues that the nose and the lungs are closely related and that the lungs and the large intestine are husband and wife. In acupuncture, there is a connecting point between them and what this means is that an overload of toxicity from the intestines can overburden the lungs.
Nelly Coadou, a nutritionist and Chinese herbalist who is also trained in iridology and acupuncture, says she suspects your allergies are linked with the perennial bad guy of ill health - a yeast problem. Yeast toxins affect many organs in the body and the symptoms can include nasal itching and rhinitis.
If you have taken antibiotics on a regular basis, if you eat a lot of chicken and red meat (the animals are pumped with antibiotics to promote more rapid growth and these chemicals remain in the flesh after slaughter), if you have low energy levels and if you constantly feel bloated you should suspect a yeast infection.
Hormonal disturbances, thanks to the contraceptive pill or Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), will also exacerbate the problem, as will dairy products - which encourage the growth of yeast in the intestine.
Coadou, who is the resident nutritionist with the Revital group of independent health stores in London, suggests you take steps to cut out dairy, yeast, sugar and meat (unless you buy organic produce) from your diet. You might also like to get a copy of The Yeast Syndrome by John Parks Trowbridge (Bantam Books, £5.95).
*Revital runs a mail order service and can be contacted on 0800-252875. A consultation with Nelly Coadou is provided free of charge for customers