Phobias
by Phillip Day

“All our research, everything in our clinical experience over the past twenty-five years, has convinced us that you can improve your emotional state by improving your nutrition; by making sure that every body cell receives optimal amounts of every essential nutrient.”
- Cheraskin, Ringsdorf and Brecher, authors of Psychodietetics

Profile
Previously with depression we examined the effects of high levels of the neurotransmitter histamine, which is used by the brain to regulate water usage, tears, mucus, saliva and other bodily secretions. Equally, low levels of this neurotransmitter may also create problems often linked to schizophrenia. This condition is known as histapenia.

Symptoms
Undue suspicion and paranoia of people. The ability to withstand pain well. Hirsutism (heavy growth of hair). Hard to achieve orgasm. Canker sores. Phobias and fears. Abnormal sensory perceptions – seeing and hearing things. Ringing in the ears (tinnitus). Excessive dental fillings. An absence of headaches and allergies.

Low histamine is often accompanied by high levels of copper, two factors in themselves which may produce abnormal behaviour. Many studies over the years have gauged the correlation between excess copper and behavioural abnormalities. Dr Michael Briggs from Wellington, New Zealand, for instance, postulated that many cases of schizophrenia could merely be copper poisoning. Dr Carl Pfeiffer studied the connection between histapenia, copper and behavioural problems with his patients for many years. He reports that a sub-group of around 50% of his schizophrenic patients were high in copper. Pfeiffer also noted that low levels of zinc and manganese were also implicated and that excess copper depresses histamine and can be implicated in copperised pipes which bring water into households. Abnormal lead and mercury levels are also well known to produce schizophrenic symptoms.

Histapenia-pellagra-estrogen link
Several studies have seen a link between pellagra, the classic vitamin B3 deficiency disease, and excess copper. Doctors Finddlay and Venter discovered that pellagra patients were also high in copper. Dr Krishnammachavi discovered this connection in India in 1974 and found that vitamin B3 appeared to regulate copper levels in the body.1 Vitamin C deficiency also seemed to raise copper levels, which in turn produced a vicious spiral, since excess copper is known to destroy vitamin C. Thus a combined deficiency in B3 and C works to elevate copper levels in the body, which in turn destroy further supplies of vitamin C.

Histapenic modality
Excess or dominant levels of the female sex hormone estrogen, which brings on the classic menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, depression and mood swings, are also known to raise copper levels, which in turn deplete Vitamin C. In the section on Heart disease in this book, we examine the connection between heart disease and depletion of vitamin C (scurvy), brought on by the dissolving of collagen, a tough, fibrous material which clads the cardiovascular system, giving it structure and form. In the 1960s, when the first contraceptive pill, Envoid, was introduced, healthy young women began dying from thrombosis. The contraceptive pill, with its elevated levels of estrogen, raises copper levels and depletes vitamin C. This excess of copper in turn depresses levels of histamine. Low levels of histamine produce inadequate levels of saliva, which in turn fail to protect the teeth from bacterial decay.

Take action
By restoring the balance of nutrients in the body, histamine can be brought to normal levels and the patient will experience relief from their symptoms. Any patient suffering from phobias, fears, hallucinations, or exhibiting many of the symptoms described earlier, can obtain a blood test to track levels of copper and histamine to determine whether they are histapenic. Histapenic patients may benefit from the following:

• DIET: COMMENCE THE FOOD FOR THOUGHT LIFESTYLE REGIMEN, increasing protein in diet. Ensure 80% of the diet is plant-based and organic, with 60-70% eaten raw. Oily fish (cold-caught (not farmed) salmon, herring, mackerel, etc.) and other foods containing the essential fats should be consumed. Take special note of the Foods to avoid section
  
• VITAL: Increase water intake to A MINIMUM OF four pints (2 litres) per day
  
• VITAL: Half a teaspoon (tsp) of unrefined sea salt or, best, Himalayan salt for every ten glasses of water, taken straight into the mouth in the morning (NOT sodium chloride, an industrial poison). Sprinkle a few flakes on your tongue and allow to melt upon retiring
  
• RESTORE NUTRIENT BALANCE: COMMENCE THE BASIC SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM, ensuring:
  
• Vitamin C complex, 25-30 g/day (see A Guide to Nutritional Supplements before taking)
  
• Optimise vitamin D serum levels to 70 ng/ml (see A Guide to Nutritional Supplements before taking)
  
• Niacin, 500 mg, am and pm (may cause flushing)
  
• Folic acid (B9), 1,000 mcg each am
  
• B12 injection, weekly or daily supplementation
  
• L-tryptophan, 1,000 mg at bedtime
  
• Zinc and manganese daily, as directed by your physician

Excerpted from The ABC’s of Disease by Phillip Day