The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Cookbook: Delicious, Wellness-Enhancing Recipes Created Especially for Cfs Sufferers

Addresses the need for CFS sufferers to control their disorder through diet, and offers recipes for simple, healthy meals

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFIDS), referred to here by its old name, CFS, remains a mystery, with viruses, lifestyle, environment, stress, allergens and genetic predisposition all fingered as possible causes. Hale, a television journalist who contracted CFIDS in 1984, and her husband, Miller, a screenwriter, outline a two-tier diet strategy of avoiding "forbidden foods" and include recipes that she found helpful while ill. Their belief: candidiasis--a systemic fungal condition--is responsible for many problems experienced by CFIDS sufferers. Avoiding specific foods, they reason, will alleviate symptoms and improve the body's immune system. On their forbidden list for the first part of the diet, which can last four months or more, are many meats; dairy products; caffeine; wheat flours; processed foods and those containing sugar; products made with yeasts; fruits and juices; and some vegetables. Yet Hale and Miller don't back themselves up with medical studies or references, save for the views of Murray Susser, M.D. And some of their choices are iffy. Would anyone but a nine-year-old need a recipe for hot rice cereal? Nutritional information is not provided in recipes. Perhaps more disheartening than unrealistic recipes (imagine an ill person looking for a can of snails in the supermarket, or for wild rice, pine nuts and exotic grains in a health food store) is their basic dietary advice. Having CFIDS is difficult enough; severely restricting diet on the unfounded premise that food allergies are responsible is cruel. To be sure, many CFIDS sufferers are allergic to various foods. But ironically, corn, a food relied on by the authors, is known to cause problems for those with food sensitivities. Individuals with CFIDS would do best to check with a physician or registered dietician for nutritional advice, rather than follow the unsubstantiated diet recommendations here.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Chronic fatigue syndrome, purported to be a disease of the immune system, is said to affect five million people in this country. The recipes here are divided into two phases: the first and most stringent for people newly diagnosed with the illness or in need of drastic dietary changes, and the second offering a greater range of foods. A sound philosophical attitude dominates. For people with allergies, the diet omits sugar, dairy products, fruits, wheat and rye, and all foods containing yeast. There is a definite emphasis on healthful recipes that are appropriate for anyone interested in changing eating habits or losing weight. The recipes include lots of fresh herbs and spices to enhance flavors, as well as unusual ingredients, such as squid. Alice Joyce