Coca's Pulse Tests are extraordinarily useful and simple tools for at-home allergy detection. My clients have succeeded at using this approach without supervision. Coca's test works on this simple principle: pulse elevations are caused by any allergic reaction. If you know what your normal range of pulse rates are, you can isolate an offending food or substance and eliminate it. Success with Coca's Pulse Test requires only motivation and a little perseverance, because in order to test for food allergies, the diet must be restricted for a few days and your pulse must be accurately taken at specific intervals during the testing period. The test is based on measurement of the resting pulse rate, something most people have no difficulty learning how to do. The resting rate is how fast the heart beats after a person has been sitting still, comfortably relaxing for three to five minutes. When a person is active the heart beats faster than the resting rate. One measure of aerobic fitness is how quickly the heart is able to return to its resting rate. Well-trained athletes' hearts can adjust from working very hard to a resting rate in only a minute or so; those who are deconditioned can take three to five minutes for their heart to slow from even mild exertion to its stable, resting pace. Those who cannot readily find their own pulse on their wrist or throat can inexpensively purchase a digital watch that gives a pulse reading; this kind of watch is used by athletes to make sure their training pulse is in an acceptable range. Preparatory to doing Coca's Pulse Test it is necessary to as much as possible eliminate allergic food reactions. This requires the application of discipline for a few days before testing begins. Allergic reactions can go on for several days after a food has been eaten and if you are having a reaction to something eaten many hours or several days previously, it may obscure a reaction to a food just eaten. 1. Stop smoking entirely for at least five days before you do a cigarette test; allergies to cigarettes can take five days to clear. Besides, you shouldn't smoke, anyway! 2. For the first three days, count your resting pulse immediately after awakening in the morning (for one entire minute), and record the reading. 3. During the first three days, take your resting pulse half an hour and again one hour after each meal. It if has elevated more than 12 beats above the resting rate you found upon arising that morning, you may assume that some food at the meal you just ate was an allergen. Temporarily, eliminate from your diet all the foods eaten at the previous meal until you can check them one-by-one a few days later. At the end of these first three days you may not have many foods left that you can eat. That is okay and to be expected; it is time to begin adding foods back to the diet.