07 Apr 09 UNDERSTANDING ALLERGY: THE PESTICIDE-FREE DIET

Allergy to pesticides (which may be petroleum-based chemicals) is related to allergy to food additives, and can make the task of isolating exactly what a person is allergic to even more difficult, especially when that person is very sensitive.

‘A person may eat some grapes today and they don’t bother him. But three days later, he may eat grapes that were sprayed with chemicals, and those grapes bother him,’ said Dr Falliers.

Dr Theron Randolph tested patients who swore they were allergic to peaches. After eating peaches from the supermarket, one patient developed a rash and welts, another had an attack of asthma, and a third a headache. When they ate peaches picked from an abandoned orchard where the fruit wasn’t sprayed, all three felt perfectly fine.

‘One good effect of this discovery,’ writes Dr Randolph, ‘was that patients who had long stopped eating fruit, from the belief that they were made sick by it, were able to start again, provided they ate only organically grown, uncontaminated fruits.’ (An Alternative Approach to Allergies, Lippincott & Crowell).

Tree fruits – such as peaches, apples and cherries – are sprayed with more chemicals, more often, than almost any other crop. But virtually no commercial produce escapes the blizzard of pesticides (insect and rodent killers), herbicides (weed killers) and fungicides (mould inhibitors). And once food has been sprayed, no amount of washing will get rid of it. Paring does no good, either. Chemicals penetrate the skin of the growing fruit or vegetable and infiltrate the pulp itself. So if you are chemically sensitive and you suspect allergy to chemical food sprays, eating only organically grown produce may be the only way to achieve total relief. Shop around for a local supplier or track down the nearest co-op.

Avoiding pesticides is one of many good reasons to plant a home vegetable garden – plus a couple of fast-growing dwarf fruit trees, even if you have just a few square yards of available space. Canning, freezing or drying your harvest gives you a year-round supply of non-allergenic fruits and vegetables at the right price: low.

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