>> "No form of vinegar changes body pH or has any effect on toxins. The body's natural processes, mediated largely through the liver and kidneys, eliminate waste products and toxic substances." It's as if you are still rejecting the efficacy of Cinchona bark for treating malaria because the Amazonian Indians haven't discovered the formula for the quinine it contains. Instead, they say that the bark of the Cinchona tree contains the spirit of the God Xohopichulato, which destroys the evil spirit that causes malaria. If you want to rest in your beliefs that there is no Xohopichulato and therefore Cinchona cannot help with malaria, fine. Just don't pretend it is science. It is arrogant ethnocentrism, not scientific empiricism. Your arguments are based on an arbitrary and artificial definition of the word 'toxin'. You are ignoring the fact that ordinary substances can build up to toxic levels under many conditions - for example, glucose can build up to toxic levels when there is insulin resistance. In such a case, anything that reduces insulin resistance or lowers glucose levels would in fact be a 'detoxification' process. Likewise, immune hormones like the interferons and interleukins are necessary under certain conditions, but at higher doses (ie when there is infection or chronic inflammation) they often cause side effects that range from unpleasant to lethal. In SARS, H5N1 bird flu, and other killer influenzas, the body's immune system destroys the body. Immune hormones that might sometimes be beneficial are produced at toxic levels. This is quite different from your idea of metabolic toxins that are normally handled by the kidneys and liver. The short chain fatty acids present in vinegar (acetate, proprionate, butyrate) have been repeatedly shown to lower inflammatory cytokines (which have been implicated as a contributor to migraines). These simple compounds also affect levels of leptin, adiponectin and other compounds that regulate glucose, and there is research implicating this in the pathogenesis of migraines. You have stooped to pseudoscience by refusing to look at the evidence that vinegar can dramatically change certain chemicals in the body. You seem to take comfort in linguistic tautologies about 'toxins' that have little bearing on the underlying facts of the matter. Here is a link that might be useful: Glucose, Adiponectin, Immune Hormones and Migraine.

lydia -- the 100+ food Elisa test sounds very interesting. I may give that a try, eventually. I'm convinced that I have quite a few food allergies. I used to throw up when I was given white milk as a child. Never drank any once my mother figured out the cause. Except in elementary school when I was forced by a teacher and I threw up. Funny how I was able to drink chocolate milk, though. I read later (as an adult) that in fact the chocolate in chocolate milk reduces the allergic reaction. Anyway, regarding food allergies, I know I'm sensitive to wheat though I'm not a celiac. I am also sensitive to dairy. (Ask me why I can't give up my goatsmilk yoghurt, this is the last frontier for me, hope to give it up eventually.) I subscribed to the test at http://www.enterolab.com/ which is where I got the results about wheat and dairly. The test was expensive. I think over $300.00. Glad I did it though. Sounds like the Elisa test may give you the same results plus some. This food allergy thing is tricky, I think. One of our dogs now it seems has food allergies. I asked the vet to test and she said that testing for food allergies is not very reliable (for dogs). I wonder if this is true for humans? A food elimination diet was the only thing she could recommend plus eating only a particular type of dog food that was "engineered to have a small enough molecule size so it doesn't trigger the allergic reactions" (her words). I was amazed and am wondering if raw food has "smaller molecules" than cooked food, HA, HA. Perhaps moite's methods that she got from her doctor about measuring her pulse rate may be the best way. I'm going the simple route with this raw food diet (for now) because it meets many other needs also. I had a great day yesterday. I went the whole day without the "wave of tiredness" that comes over me every day after lunch. I hope it wasn't an anomaly. Bad news is that with the raw food diet, there is a "detox phase" initially where some claim that you are ridding your system of toxins. The detox phase can produce acne which is what I just got yesterday. I haven't had a pimple on my face for many years but I have two now. Oh well. If my energy level stays good, I'll have to add that as one more reason why I'm glad I found this diet. I was craving cooked food day before yesterday but managed to get by without it. Hopefully those days will get less in number. This was kind of like craving a cigarette after quitting, as I remember it many years ago. Keep us posted about your food allergies. I'm becoming more and more convinced that for some of us, they are literally killing us or are reducing our quality of life (for some of us) to a very very large extent producing chronic problems and diseases that mainstream medicine doesn't have a clue. In my case, I definitely feel like I've become a guinea pig for trying out different "cures". I'm hoping that raw food will by my answer. I realize that because there is no definite proof, I could be wrong on this but as my DH says, it's gotta be better than being so overweight and hungry all the time. We were killing ourselves eating cooked food so how could this be any worse.

Week II in Hi-Energy (post "Detox"): Yesterday was my "first service" visit to the Gilbert, AZ office. (Btw, the contract states you have until 7 days or within 3 days of the first service date to cancel the program, whichever comes first.) Interviewed by a counselor regarding my first week of "Detox" whom when asked admitted to no credentials relating to nutrition, dieting or any medical field. After explaining the program guide booklet and selecting my food choices for purchase ($148.69--I bought extra boxes to accomadate food choices), she administered a 10-lead electrocardiogram. I learned this is a 5 and 1 program where I eat six (6)times a day. Five (5) times with their "Medifast" food and one (1) time, i.e. dinner from my home refrigerator. Dinner, or "Lean & Green", in one sentence is basically any lean meat, e.g., fish, chicken, pork, turkey, lamb and so on. You can go meatless with eggs. The "Green" is broken down chartwise into a low, moderate and highest carb count listing from their guide. Bottom line: After listening to the counselors about taking the upcoming urine test for Ketones, studying the guide and the Medifast food boxes, the Hi-Energy program offered here in Arizona--is the very same Medifast program offered online, or what is is offered at any Medifast facility (e.g. Texas). Online, you are offered an opportunity to start a franchise or join the program. See the link: http://www.medifast1.com/index.asp and you will know "Hi-Energy." Everything is there to include the program guides and food information. However, the this rabbit hole goes even deeper. These programs work by spilling ketones, or more simply put, changing the body metabolism to primarily burning fat stores in leiu of carbohydrates. At the deepest depth of this rabbit hole--you will find Robert C. Atkins, M.D. He wrote a #1 best seller called: "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" 2002 latest edition for $7.99. May he rest in peace. I own this book and lost 20 pounds on the Atkins diet serveral months ago. I've kept off the weight because my girl-friend who does the cooking always has presented my dinners with lean and green! Btw, a prevailing media misconception of Atkins is that there are no carbs on this diet. Actually, the first week "limits" carbs to 20 grams to induce ketosis, and thereafter to around 40 grams per day. If you look at carb gram counts in different foods-you will notice this is an abundance of food. It's dark in this hole . . . let me get my flashlight out . . . alias Hi-Energy at $924.00 plus food, or the Atkins book at $7.99 plus the frig and sensible grocery shopping? Here is a link that might be useful: Medifast is Hi-Energy

Weelll...I am seriously perimenopausal, and I quit smoking 33 days ago. I have refused to gain weight and get flabby and out of shape as I've aged (44 now). Since the day I quit smoking, I've lost somewhere between 3-6 lbs...I don't own a scale but have a dog who goes for weekly vet treatments so I weigh myself there. And I totally know what you mean by water weight (and gas bloating, OY!)...however this has nothing to do with your actual body mass. I stay the same weight as when I was 15 the traditional way. I eat well and exercise. I don't go to a gym, and I refuse to buy anything labelled low fat, lite, or diet. I don't wallow around watching TV and eating, I don't spend 20 minutes trying to get a close parking space, I take stairs instead of elevators when practical, walk my dogs most days. I eat tons of fruit & vegetables (because I like them.) If I want to eat a half gallon of high fat icecream in one sitting, I do. Then I eat a bit less the next day. I have not gone on a diet since I was maybe 19. I adore junky food but try not to eat it too often because I feel draggy afterwards. I don't like to take supplements, I hate the taste of soda & juice; I drink a lot of water. Not because its supposed to be good for me, but because I like it. My theory is: if you eat lots (I mean lots) of good stuff with plenty of fiber, you can get away with eating more fatty foods more often because they go through you faster. :) I did not grow up in America & have a different view of eating and food, though. But it does work for me.