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Better Health Update #28 - Monte Kline, Clinical Nutritionist

Allergic Sensitivities

Allergies are one the very most important health problems, even though most people will tell you, "I don't have any allergies." A study in the Journal of Allergy and Applied Immunology of 1000 supposedly "normal" people found that 50% of them had allergic sensitivities! According to biochemist Stephen Levine, allergies are the most frequently unrecognized cause of illness in the United States. Dr. Macharness, an English allergist, says at least 30% of illness is completely due to allergy. Looking at notes from one of my wife's nutrition courses while she was in college, I found that even in their very orthodox approach the instructor stated that 30% of the population has a food allergy and 10% have a major allergy.

ALLERGY OR SENSITIVITY?

Technically, the medical definition of an "allergy" is an antibody reaction that can measured on the skin, blood, etc. It is an immune system reaction to a substance. A rather limited number of people have "allergies" within this restrictive medical definition. Thus, most people don't think they have any allergies, and most medical doctors don't regard allergies as a pervasive health problem.

Most natural medicine practitioners, myself included, use the broader term of sensitivity. Sensitivities are not necessarily an immune system, antibody response that would show up on a traditional allergy test. Rather, they may manifest with almost any negative symptom. Sensitivities are basically digestive reactions rather than immune system reactions.

SENSITIVITY SYMPTOMS

The two most common symptoms of particularly food sensitivities are:

1. Fatigue
2. Indigestion

Almost everyone experiences these symptoms, yet hardly anyone would associate their fatigue or indigestion with a food they've just eaten. But there are a lot of other possible symptoms of food or environmental sensitivities:

This is just a partial list. As you can see, about any type of symptom you might name might be caused by an allergic sensitivity. That doesn't mean all of the above symptoms are allergy related, just that they may be and often are. This very wide range of possible symptoms also means that many allergic sensitivity problems are either misdiagnosed or undiagnosed.

The mental illness connection with allergic sensitivities is particularly interesting. I even read of one case where a man had been locked up as a mental patient in an institution for 20 years only to find out that his "mental illness" was totally cured when the foods he was allergic to were removed from his diet!

ALLERGIC SENSITIVITY CAUSES

Very technical explanations can be given as to the immune system mechanisms that cause true allergies - where the body fails to differentiate harmful from harmless substances, or even from the body's own tissue.
I feel a better explanation, that encompasses the "sensitivity" as opposed to "allergy" definition, is that of toxic overload. Basically our bodies can only handle so much toxicity and then it has to spill over into the blood stream. Allergic reactions may result from the immune system's response toward these toxins.

The big question then is, "How does the body get so toxic in the first place?" There are two main causes:

1. Toxic Input: Junk Food - If you're eating dead, refined, adulterated food, your body is not getting the proper fuel. Foods that are devoid of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes cannot produce a healthy body. Such foods also contain outright toxins in the form of pesticides, preservatives, and other chemicals. The liver and other detoxifying organs are overwhelmed causing toxins to spill over into the rest of the body.

2. Poor Digestion & Elimination - Even the most nutritious and healthy foods can become toxic in your body courtesy of a poorly function digestive tract. A lot of the problem here is originally caused by spending most of our lives eating junk foods, which have progressively diminished the body's ability to produce the necessary digestive juices and to stimulate normal bowel peristalsis.

3. Emotional Stress - Digestion and elimination problems also get caused by emotional stress, though. When you're under stress, the number one area of your body to "feel" that stress is your digestive tract. One doctor said in a book on emotional stress and health, "The colon is the mirror of the mind." And how true that is! Emotions tied up in your guts are probably the number one cause of poor digestion and constipation. Toxicity, and ultimately allergic sensitivity, result.

One interesting theory in this regard is that when you happen to eat a particular food when under emotional stress you may "program" your body to a continuing reaction to that food. It's kind of like that food is recorded in your emotional memory.

4. Overeating a Particular Food - The excess of nearly any food can likewise lead to a sensitivity to that particular food. Your digestive system can only handle so much, particularly if it is somewhat impaired from years of eating the wrong foods, in the wrong combinations, at the wrong time, not chewing thoroughly, and under emotional stress at the time of eating. Undigested or partially digested foods remain, provoking a sensitivity reaction to the perceived "toxin."

FOOD vs. ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES

Most people think of "allergies" in terms of external environmental allergies to things like pollen, dust, and the like. As a result, drugs abound for treating symptoms - nasal sprays, pills, shots, you name it! As usual, this symptom-oriented approach misses the point.

According to Grady Deal, Ph.D., D.C. (and many other natural medicine practitioners), environmental sensitivities result from food sensitivities, or from toxins from unnatural foods. The progression goes like this:

1. First, we become sensitive to certain foods and food toxins.
2. Then we become sensitive to external irritants like pollen, dust, fumes, etc. as a result of the initial food sensitivities.

Conversely, the environmental sensitivity tends to clear up when the underlying food or toxicity problems are resolved. Dr. Deal writes:

Most allergies begin early in life as a result of feeding babies whole cow's milk, meat, eggs, sugar, cereals, etc. before one year of age. Babies lack the necessary enzymes to properly digest these highly allergenic foods.

This is why time and again research has shown that breast-fed babies are much less likely to develop allergies. The digestion and immune system of an infant are very sensitive. The easy digestibility plus protective antibodies in breast milk are God's best provision for an allergy-free life.

TESTING METHODS

1. Skin Tests - Perhaps the most familiar medical allergy test, this involves placing a potential allergen extract beneath a skin prick site. A reaction on the skin suggests allergy. Skin tests are largely dependent on the skill of the interpreter. They measure only IgE mediated responses (less than one hour), while many allergies are IgG mediated (longer time to reaction). Most practitioners don't regard them as terribly accurate, producing a lot of false positives and false negatives. While relatively inexpensive, they are most uncomfortable for the patient.

2. Blood Tests - Various blood tests are used more by natural medicine practitioners. RAST (Radio Allergo Sorbent Test) is the most common, where the blood serum is applied to a suspected allergen. A radioactive antibody is then added, followed by washing and a measurement of residual radiation. RAST also has the limited sensitivity of measuring only IgE mediated reactions. It gets pretty expensive with many tests.

3. Food Challenge - This method is featured in my Help Yourself to Better Health Manual and Tape Album. It's the next best approach to being tested at our clinic, and it can be done on your own. An Elimination Diet of typically low allergenicity foods is followed for three or four days. Then suspected foods are added into the diet one at a time, while watching for reactions. Increased pulse, fatigue, emotional changes or other factors may be indicative of a sensitivity reaction. Though considered very accurate, it's also very time consuming, and is appropriate only for food sensitivities.

4. Applied Kinesiology (muscle testing) - This test is used by many chiropractors and nutritionists. We use it in certain situations at our clinics. It's based on the observation that every substance has an electromagnetic energy field. When you bring a food or environmental substance into the body's field, it can have an effect, which can be measured in terms of muscular strength or weakness on an isolated muscle, such as the deltoid muscle in the upper arm. This is a simple, inexpensive, fairly accurate method.

5. Electro-Dermal Testing - The electronic testing we do at Pacific Health Centers measures the body similarly to muscle testing, only by measuring changes in skin resistance when a sample of the suspected substance is included in the electronic measurement. Simple, painless electronic readings are taken on the surface of the skin. I have found this method to be the best combination of accuracy, speed, immediate results, and low cost.

DESENSITIZATION

In conventional medicine, allergies are generally regarded as, if not permanent, at least long-term. Allergy shots, which are painful, expensive, potentially reactive, and a general nuisance, are about all that is offered. Natural medicine does have answers for most sufferers of allergic sensitivities. For over 10 years I have found the following approach to densensitize most food reactions within two or three months:

1. Avoid the food - This takes the immediate reactive pressure off the body.
2. Rebuild the digestive tract - Appropriate intestinal cleansing fiber or herbs, beneficial acidophilus bacteria, and a compatible digestive enzyme can deal with the digestive causes.
3. Homeopathic desensitizing drops - This is really the key to our approach. Using a homeopathic microdilution of the various reactive food or environmental substances has a neutralizing effect on those reactions, essentially re-tuning the body to not reacting.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this publication is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose illness nor prescribe treatment. Rather, this material is designed to be used in cooperation with your nutritionally-oriented health professional to deal with your personal health problems. Should you use this information on your own, you are prescribing for yourself, which is your constitutional right, but neither the author nor publisher assume responsibility.