Re: Mediterranean diet / flushing

[Guest guest]

Hi Alena,

Yes, there were tomatoes, but only available in season for a month or

two. I have to ask my mom if they canned tomato sauce or if they

dried tomatoes. About red wine, I remember having homemade wine when

I was there and it was white. I remember you could buy red wine at

the store, but I never remember having or seeing homemade red wine.

I'll have to ask my mom or dad. About the wine itself, the custom is

to have half a glass with dinner and fill the other half of the glass

with water. If you're thirsty for more, you have to have water or

you'll get chided for drinking too much. You're not supposed to have

more than that. I don't know if the custom was because they didn't

have much of it in the old days to go around or if it's societal

pressure against too much drinking.

My family is from the NW part of the country, by the islands of Pag

and Losinj for those who know where those are (and I realize those

references are very obscure). It's sunny and hot (around 80-85 during

the summers), but the other seasons are fairly cool. When it's winter

it snows and the days are very short.

Women and children had to work out in the fields. Men didn't have to

work much - hunting or fishing - but not every day. Also, people

stayed indoors and took naps from after lunch to about 3-4pm.

About tomatoes being a trigger, they aren't for me, but are for some.

I think you just have to test them out for yourself to see.

Thanks for the compliment about the Adriatic coast. It is very

beautiful. I wish I could be there right now.

Take care,

Matija

> Matija mentioned that there seemed to be a large number of people

affected

> by rosacea on the island her family came from. It is true that they

probably

> ate typical Mediterranean diet which is considered to be quite

healthy; on

> the other hand, I was also thinking they were receiving a large

dose of

> sunshine, at a time when there was no sunscreen or sunblock

available.

> There are also two other factors - red wine is very popular in

Croatia, and

> I would assume that tomatoes were significantly represented in

their diet.

> When I was diaganosed with rosacea 8 years ago, my derm told me that

> tomatoes are triggers. Yet I did not see them mention in any of the

archive

> files. Is it still true? Are tomatoes triggers? I also believe that

the list

> I was given at that time, mentioned chocolate (which I can live

very easily

> without, unlike most people) and ice cream. Can anyone comment on

this?

> (and by the way, Matija, I think that the Adriatic coast is one of

the most

> beautiful places on this Earth).

>

> Since my flare up, I am back on tetracycline (less than a week) and

I stuck

> to my cabbage regimen every night, with the exception of one, when

laziness

> got the better of me). Already on Saturday, I could say that the

one cheek

> and the chin are completely back to their normal colour - no sign of

> redness. My left cheek, which was significantly worse, is still

showing a

> circular patchin the middle, about an inch in diameter, which seems

to be

> the epicentrum of my rosacea. No more breakouts though, the skin is

smooth

> though the patch is still visible. I am not wearing any foundation

at all.

> I wish I could figure how to control flushing. I am not sure if I

mentioned

> this in my last post, but I am usually very cold at work (sit at the

> computer all day) and in spite of wearing a thick sweater, I

have " attacks "

> when I am very cold, my hands are so frozen I can barely type, yet

my cheeks

> are burning. This typically happens early in the day and get better

later

> on. On those ocassions, the red in my face becomes more noticable.

> especially in the patch on the left cheek.

> Same thing happened to me on Saturday - I was in my car, there was

a nice

> sunshine, the car was nicely warm but not overheated - all of

sudden I could

> feel the fire in my cheeks and when I looked in the mirror, the

patch on my

> left cheek was not red, but almost purplish. However, these

episodes come

> and go, but I wish I could control them better. Otherwise, my skin

has none

> of those sensations that troubled me a week ago - the burning, the

tingling,

> the itching.

>

> Alena