Food Allergies & Food Intolerance
The subject of food allergies and food intolerance’s is very complex, and many factors can contribute to their cause and increase the symptoms.
There have been over 70.000 new chemicals introduced into our environment since 1950, which places great stress on our immune system.
This coupled with over consumption of foods, malnutrition due to the refining process of our foods, along with excessive sugar consumption, could set up our bodies to a weakened state, and thus, a hypersensitive immune system.
In other words, the immune system is so used to warding off toxic substances that it will at times think that a harmless substance is also something that it has to react to, and therefore will release histamine to ward off that substance.
The term food allergies and food intolerance is really not exactly the same thing.
An allergy is a hypersensitivity to a substance that is harmless to most people. Due to a dysfunction in the gastrointestinal tract, medically known as "leaky gut syndrome,” the intestinal wall becomes too porous, allowing undigested proteins and other foreign substances from food to pass from the intestinal lumen to the bloodstream. When this occurs, the immune system is forced to continually attack these invaders whenever they are consumed.
In its attempt to protect the body it creates a specific antibody to that food. The next time the person eats that food; the immune system releases chemicals and histamines in response. Therefore, a true food allergy will usually cause an almost immediate reaction, such as a rash or ill feeling. In other words, a food allergy is an immune system problem.
Some examples of allergens are sulfites, artificial food colors, artificial preservatives, and nitrates.
Antibiotics, caffeine and alcohol, chemicals and other environmental pollutants, stress, poor diet, parasites, yeast and bacteria could all contribute to a leaky gut.
Food intolerance or food sensitivity is basically a digestive problem. That is, due to a weakness in the digestive system, the intestines, therefore allowing some of the undigested food particles to enter the bloodstream as toxins, cannot assimilate that particular food properly. This can cause various symptoms such as headaches or bloated feeling.
A typical example of food intolerance is dairy products; the problem being the lack of the lactase enzyme needed to properly digest the lactose, or milk sugar
Allergic symptoms in immediate reactions occur within two hours of eating. Allergic symptoms (food intolerance’s) in delayed reactions do not appear for at least 2 hours, not infrequently showing up 24 to 48 hours later (there are even reports of delayed symptoms appearing 3 to 7 days after eating).
To detect the allergic foods here you will need the skills of a health professional who is smart about food allergies and the use of laboratory immunoassays needed to help you discover what foods you’re allergic to.
To give you a little idea of how far reaching allergies are; some eczema and psoriasis patients have discovered that the detergent used to launder their clothes was aggravating their skin condition. This shouldn’t be too surprising; detergents are made from harsh chemicals after all!
To learn more about food allergies and food intolerance’s read: Food Allergies and Food Intolerance: The Complete Guide to Their Identification and Treatment by Jonathan Brostoff.
The following are some of the more common foods that are known to cause allergic outbreaks in many people, although it can conceivably be any food or even non–food, that will cause you problems.
- Wheat
- Dairy products
- Corn
- Sulfites
- Nuts
Healing Allergies
There are many things you can do to minimize your allergic reactions.
Just because you are allergic to a specific food, does not necessarily mean you will always be allergic to that food.
In most instances, the underlying cause of food allergies is a hypersensitive immune system that is overloaded with toxic waste matter. Taking measures to detoxify your system from the accumulated waste, and at the same time strengthening your immune system with the proper vitamins and minerals, can greatly reduce the allergic reactions.
In regard to food intolerance’s, the goal should be to strengthen your digestive system by following the plan spelled out in the page on digestion.
It is an established scientific fact, that, the gastro-intestinal tract is a significant location for immune function. There are concentrations of immune (i.e. lymphoid) tissues throughout the intestines.
I would especially strongly recommend taking a digestive enzyme supplement such as Omegazyme, produced by Garden of Life, in order to streamline the digestive process.
Additionally, I would recommend taking a probiotic supplement that contains the live culture called Lactobacillus Acidophilus.
Researchers have found that introducing good bacteria into our intestinal tract could hold the key to preventing eczema, rheumatism, asthma and allergies.
Probiotic’s help to maintain a healthy digestive system by maintaining a balance between the harmful and beneficial bacteria in the gut.
Probiotic’s are especially important in the control of food allergies because of their ability to improve digestion, by helping the intestinal tract control the absorption of food allergens and by changing immune system responses to foods.
Lactobacillus Acidophilus has been shown to enhance the immune system and to promote the formation of antibodies, therefore reducing allergic reactions in the process.
I would highly recommend a product called Primal Defense, produced by Garden of Life. This product contains seven kinds of beneficial acidophilus plus 100 naturally occurring vitamins, minerals, and live enzymes.
Keep in mind that, a healthy body is more resistant to allergic attacks, whereas poor diet, stress, and insufficient sleep can all predispose your body to allergic reactions.
The following are practical steps that can be taken to minimize allergic reactions.
If you are allergic to a particular food, or foods, you will:
- Have to abstain from eating all of the foods that cause your allergic reactions for a period of time, in order to let your body recover from these irritants. The more you eat the allergenic foods, however, the more damage is done to your body.
- Stop consuming foods that are harmful to the body.
- Consume lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially the deep green vegetables. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices are much more beneficial as will be explained. Many people have reported dramatic allergy relief when following a juice fast. The reason for this would seem to be that vegetable juices purge the toxins from the liver and lymph glands, and simultaneously flood the body with essential vitamins and minerals.
Strengthen your immune system with the proper vitamins and herbs such as:
Vitamin C: which is known to be a strong immune system builder, and a natural antihistamine capable of blocking the effect of inflammatory substances some people produce in response to many common allergens.
Vitamin C is found in abundance in citrus fruits such as oranges, freshly squeezed orange juice and grapefruits.
You can also try a vitamin C supplement that contains pure Rosehips, as Rosehips are very rich in vitamin C. Be careful though, not all supplements that claim they contain Rose hips are beneficial; some of them only contain traces of Rosehips. You can also try Rosehips Tea.
Additional supplements that can be beneficial in strengthening the immune system are:
- Evening primrose oil
- Borage oil
- Omega-3 flax oil
- Selenium
- Vitamin E
- Zinc
Mineral rich foods such as:
Green Magma and Wheat Grass Juice Powder.
I would strongly recommend taking a whole food supplement product such as Perfect Food, manufactured by Garden of Life, instead of taking standard supplement product.
Licorice Root can have a very potent effect on the immune system. A recent study found that licorice root actually stimulates the production of interferon, the critical chemical in the immune system that could be the key to preventing and treating many immune response deficiency diseases such as allergies and arthritis.
Exercise: Constant exercise is extremely vital for good health in general, and especially when it comes to healing allergies.
