Herbal Health

All the companies listed below provide a mail order service.

Bakery products and flours

The following firms supply bakery products and flours by post, including special mixes and food substitutes. Custom Bake will supply baked cakes and other products, using any ingredients you specify.

Cantassium Foodwatch International

Custom Bake Nutricia

Diet Care Suma

General Designs

Organic foods

Church Farm Natural Foods (London area)

Countryside Wholefoods Naturally Yours

Green Farm Foodwatch Organic Farmers and Growers

Infinity Foods Suma

Organic fruit and vegetables Organic Farmers and

Growers Red House Farm

Church Farm

Countryside Wholefoods

Natural Foods (London area)

Organic meat, conservation-grade and additive-free meat, poultry, sausages, ham, bacon

Church Farm      Organic Farmers and Growers

Greenway Organic Farms Pure Meat Company

Heal Farm Real Meat Company

Longwood Farm Red House Farm

Murray Meats

Natural Foods (London area)

For sausages made to your recipe:

Church Farm

Heal Farm

Red House Farm

For goat’s meat:

Murray Meats

Goat’s cheese, goat’s milk powder

Countryside Wholefoods Paxton & Whitfield Suma

Green Farm Foodwatch

Market Pantry Natural Foods (London area)

Sheep’s cheese, sheep’s milk powder

Foodwatch International Suma

Market Pantry Natural Foods (London area) Sussex High Weald Wells Stores

Paxton & Whitfield

Yogurt culture, cheese culture, rennet

Smallholding Supplies

Suma

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The pattern of disease varies widely. Some people develop allergies very early in life, develop new allergies readily and have wide-ranging problems for most of their lives. Other people can show no sign of trouble, and then develop one or more allergies much later in life, often for no apparent reason. The severity of reaction also varies greatly from individual to individual.

The first time an allergen is encountered, it sets off the primary response from the immune system, to manufacture antibodies to it. No reaction will occur at this first meeting; it is not until the next encounter, or often some time later if you have a particularly heavy exposure to something, that you will react.

Babies in the womb can become sensitised to substances, especially foods, passed from the mother, so they can appear to be born with allergies. Preconceptual and antenatal care can help avoid or minimise this and it is worth taking precautions if you have any history of allergy in the family, not just in the mother (> CHARITIES).

Sensitivity to allergens can vary a great deal. Some people find, for instance, that if they eliminate allergens from their own home or work environment, they can tolerate them reasonably well when they meet them elsewhere. Some people, who live abroad for a while and then return to the UK, find that their level of tolerance to native pollens can change. Other people find, however, that their sensitivity remains very high and lifelong after initial sensitisation, and they have to take extreme care to avoid allergens completely.

The immune system appears to be able to recognise molecules or substances that are related to each other. This means that you are more prone to develop an allergy to something chemically or biologically related to a substance you are already allergic to. In some people, this never happens, but in others, ‘cross-reaction’ or ‘cross-reactivity’ is quite a strong phenomenon. You may need to take care to prevent cross-reaction.

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