Headache Prevention Recipes

1. WARNINGS:
1. For those with food allergies, the food treatment methods described here are dangerous and have no useful potential.  Consult a food allergist to determine whether you have a food allergy or a food intolerance before you consider using these methods.
2. This recipe should never be used on foods which have previously produced dangerous hypersensitive reactions.
2. Oil Spraying Procedure
Follow either Step B1 (the quick method) or Step B2 (the thorough method).  The thorough method has a slightly better probability of success but is considerably more laborious.
1. Obtain a spray can of olive oil, if possible, since spraying is the most efficient method to apply oil to food. If you are intolerant of soy, which is normally present in olive oil spray cans, or if you use an alternative oil not sold in a spray can, you can purchase a reusable non-aerosol vegetable oil sprayer.  Of course, you can also pour olive oil directly out of a bottle but that method is overkill insofar as headache prevention is concerned. Treat the food with a very modest amount of olive oil (one minimal squirt from a spray can should be adequate), and optionally with the antacid described in Part D.
2. [Follow this procedure only if Step B1 is unsuccessful in preventing a headache]

   Put the food into a food chopper and add roughly 1/4 teaspoon of olive oil and an optional 1/4 teaspoon of antacid per cup of food (i.e. about 1 part of each additive per 200 parts of food).  Chop the food into pea-sized bits or smaller.  Mix some water or cooking oil into the chopped food if the food appears to be too dry for the additives to thoroughly penetrate into it.



Preparation of a Powdered Mineral Supplement
Follow either Step C1 (the shortcut method) or Step C2 (the customized method). If putting a powder onto your food bothers your sense of aesthetics, you can try adding the powder prior to steaming the food in a steamer. Since the minerals have very little solubility in water, you won't lose much of the supplement by this procedure, and you will make the powder much less visible.
1. Despite extensive Web searching, I have only found one multi-mineral supplement that offers an array of minerals at good dosage levels in powdered form without a hodgepodge of other substances:

   Full Spectrum Mineral Caps (NOW Foods)

   This supplement consists of capsules which can easily be pulled apart and put into a shaker for sprinkling onto food. A light sprinkling over the whole food surface is all that is necessary.

   I have tested this supplement but cannot effectively use it because I have an intolerance for potassium chloride, and perhaps for one or more of the other ingredients. If you are fortunate enough not to have intolerances for any of the ingredients, you can try testing it on a fruit or vegetable for which you have a mild intolerance. If you have problems with this supplement, you will probably have problems with any other powdered multi-mineral supplement that you may be able to locate. In that case, the only viable alternative will be to follow Step C2.

2. To aid anyone who wants to prepare a customized powdered multi-mineral supplement, I am providing a table of ingredients which can be conveniently obtained from a single vendor (Organic Pharmacy). If you use the links in the following table, you will be taken to pages that describe each supplement. The amounts shown in the right-hand column correspond roughly to a 4-day supply at the recommended daily dosages. For supplements that are encapsulated, you will have to pull the capsules apart before putting them into a shaker. Optionally, you may want to add about 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to neutralize whatever acidity may be present in the mixture.

Supplement Name	Mfr	Rel. Amt.
Calcium Carbonate	NOW Foods	4 tsps
Iodine (Kelp)	NOW Foods	0.5 tsp
Magnesium Oxide	NOW Foods	1 tsp
Zinc Picolinate	NOW Foods	1 capsule
Copper Sebacate	Nutricology	2 capsules
Chromium Picolinate	NOW Foods	2 capsules
Selenium Citrate	Pure Encaps.	1 capsule



Preparation of a Home-Made Antacid
This step is not needed by those who are not sensitive to acidic foods or those who prefer to use a commercial antacid.  This homemade antacid has the advantage that it is cheap and can be applied to food via a pump spray bottle.  If you use this homemade antacid, take heed of the following warnings that appear on commercial antacid containers, and which presumably also apply to the homemade antacid:
1. Ask a doctor before use if you have kidney disease.


2. Ask a doctor or pharmacist before use if you are taking a prescription drug.
Slowly add baking soda to a few ounces of vinegar in a wide-open storage container until the baking soda no longer dissolves.  If you add the baking soda too quickly, you will get an excessive emission of gas bubbles and the vinegar will likely erupt out of the container.  Put the vinegar solution into a pump-spray bottle and flush the nozzle to purge any foreign substance that may be present in the nozzle.