What exactly is an allergy or sensitivity?
Although some substances, such as arsenic, cyanide, or mercury, are toxic to anyone, some substances such as cat hair or peanuts are harmless to most people but a minority react to them as if they were toxic. Such a reaction is called an allergy or sensitivity.
What’s the difference between an allergy and a sensitivity?
Although the terms are often used interchangeably, technically there’s a difference. With an allergy but not a sensitivity, the immune system is involved in the reaction. An allergic response might be difficulty breathing or hives; a severe allergic reaction called anaphylactic shock can be deadly.
Sensitivity, sometimes called intolerance, is rarely severe, and symptoms are much more varied. Food intolerance often but not always shows itself as digestive upset of some sort.
What kinds of substances are people likely to be allergic or sensitive to?
There is almost nothing in the world that someone wouldn’t be sensitive to, but some things are much more allergenic than others. Among food, for example, the most common allergens are wheat, corn, soy, dairy, and yeast. Other food-related allergens are nearly any food additive such as colors, flavors, and MSG; artificial sweeteners, and sulfites used to preserve some fruits and vegetables.
Anything that enters the body by any of the three routes can cause a problem. The three routes are ingestion (eating or drinking), inhalation (such as chemicals, pollen, and mold), and topical (touches the skin).
Isn’t it obvious that you have an allergy or sensitivity?
Although an acute allergic reaction is quite unmistakable, many if not most chronic allergic and sensitivity symptoms aren’t recognized as such. In fact, they might be a cause of, or mistaken for, any number of illnesses.
What are some of the symptoms of allergy or sensitivity?
In addition to the symptoms of acute allergy such as breathing difficulty and hives, there are many symptoms that you might not attribute to allergy or sensitivity:
- Rashes, including eczema and psoriasis; a baby’s diaper rash can be caused by allergy to something it is eating, including something in the diet of a breastfeeding mother
- Sneezing and dripping; along with itchy, watery eyes, these are most likely symptoms of inhalant allergy such as pollen or animal dander
- Coughing, phlegm and throat clearing – dairy products in particular can be the cause of a buildup of phlegm
- Sore throat – this is often due to wheat allergy
- Ear infections and earaches – dairy is usually the culprit
- Weight gain and loss – sensitivity, especially to food, can cause unwanted weight gain as the body retains water to try to dilute what it sees as a toxin. Weight loss can occur when food allergies interfere with digestion and utilization of nutrients.
- Trouble breathing, including wheezing and chest tightness, asthma
- Stomach pains, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, constipation – gastrointestinal symptoms are one of the most common signs of food intolerance, including celiac disease when gluten is eaten, or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Headaches
- Joint aches – often the nightshade vegetables – tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant – are responsible
- Fatigue – an example is the common midafternoon energy slump, which might well be due to a reaction to something you had for lunch
- Brain fog, trouble concentrating, lack of mental clarity
- Irritability, anxiety, depression
- Hyperactivity – sugar is a major player; just ask any teacher of children the day after Halloween or Easter
- Allergic addiction – a craving for that which you are reacting to is common
What causes allergy and sensitivity?
Toxin overload is a major cause. The immune system is so overloaded that it can’t handle one more thing and reacts. Another way that toxins contribute to allergy is that toxins combine with the body’s cells and tissues; the immune system goes after this hybrid of self and non-self. The relationship between toxic overload and allergies has been amply demonstrated by many patients who became less allergic in general after undergoing detoxification through sauna, chelation, diet, or other means, as described in the book Detox or Disease, available at CAM.
What are you eating your food with? The mercury, nickel, or other dental material used in your teeth can be swallowed after you chew and cause problems in your body, including what looks like a reaction to the food you just ate.
Microorganisms, internal or external, can cause allergic problems. Dust mites, which live on dead skin in bedding and elsewhere, are a common allergen; suspect these if your symptoms are worst in the early morning. Larger kinds of bugs such as cockroaches are a common cause of asthma and allergy in children who have them in their homes.
Leaky gut, discussed in another article, is when proteins that haven’t been fully digested and broken down leak through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream. The immune system sees something in the bloodstream that doesn’t belong there, attacks, and is then primed to attack the next time that food is eaten.
What if you seem to be reacting to almost everything?
Some people seem to react to almost everything, whether it is fumes in the air or food. Such people have to take precautions not to be exposed to such things as paint, formaldehyde, glue, solvents, or pesticides. They might have only a small list of foods that they can eat without problems. This condition is called multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) or environmental illness (EI). It is discussed in detail in the book Ending Fatigue, Pain, and Reactivity, available at CAM.
Although avoidance of those things to which you know you react is a good first step, one key to overcoming MCS are eliminating toxins, not just from the environment but from the body through a variety of detoxification measures. Another key is to strengthen the immune system so it can more readily discern what it should be attacking and what should be left alone; nutrition is one of the ways to help the immune system.
How can you know what you’re allergic to?
There are a number of tests, such as blood tests and skin-prick tests, that can detect allergies. Unfortunately, though, these tests don’t pick up sensitivities, those reactions that don’t involve the immune system.
One test for food allergies is to monitor your pulse before and after eating a suspect food. Your pulse will often speed up when your body is exposed to the stress of a food to which it is sensitive.
Dr. David Nelson does computerized testing at CAM that can determine allergies and sensitivities. Muscle testing can be used, in which the tested muscle – usually the arm – goes weak if the body is exposed to something harmful or to which it is reacting.
What can be done about allergies?
As discussed above, keys to eliminating allergies in general are avoidance of toxins and detoxification, and also boosting the immune system’s effectiveness. There are also treatments geared towards individual allergens, discussed in the article on Allergy Desensitization. One of the great things about taking care of some of your allergies is that your body and immune system, no longer burdened by those particular allergies, may stop reacting inappropriately to others, related and otherwise, so one treatment often takes care of more than one allergic problem.
