Medical

There are two types of food allergy or sensitivity; “immediate” and “delayed”. Not to be confused with food “intolerance” such as lactose intolerance (milk sugar), these allergies are true immune responses with potentially far-reaching adverse effects in the body. The immediate reactions (IgE mediated) are those which people usually are aware that they have. We have all seen this type of reaction in a child getting up from the table showing an entirely different personality from when he sat down.  Such allergy symptoms occur within an hour or two after eating the food. It is easy to make a correlation with how one feels an hour or two after eating an offending food.

On the other hand, the delayed allergy reactions (IgG mediated) may not occur for from a few hours to even a day or two after eating the food. For example, it is not uncommon for a person having an asthma attack today as a reaction to the food he ate yesterday, never dreaming of a connection between the two. It is these delayed allergies that go overlooked in medical offices everywhere. They wreck havoc in people’s health and lives for years, sometimes a lifetime, without being identified. When identified and properly treated, food allergies and sensitivities can become a fading memory in a child’s life giving an outcome of freedom from symptoms that may have plagued him/her for years.

The most accurate diagnostic test for food allergies is what is referred to as an “elimination diet”. The problem is that the eliminatin diet is very difficult to accomplish.  Fortunately, there is now available a simple blood test which will screen for dozens of food allergies on one blood sample. This is the IgG test mentioned above. There are a few labs that have perfected the test to within acceptable tolerances of accuracy and the results they are providing us are truly fantastic. Blood tests are available for both IgG and IgE mediated allergy thus eliminating the need for the skin scratch testing.  Visit our Food Allergy pages for all the details.

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Allergy and Allergy Symptoms Relief

There are two types of food allergies, immediate and delayed.  The delayed reaction type of food allergy or sensitivitiy which I will discuss in detail in an upcoming blog post, is commonly overlooked in medical evaluation because the testing has until recently  had small margin of error.  In recent years that has changed, but the information is yet to reach the average doctor, especially regarding the association with autism. Common allergy symptoms frequently associated with food sensitivity, many of which are also included in the autism symptom picture include:

• Acne
• ADD, ADHD
• Adult ADD
• Adult ADHD
• Autism
• Arthritis
• Asthma
• Bed-wetting
• Chronic fatigue
• Chronic sinus problems

• Craving of sugar or sweets
• Craving of most any food
• Depression or anxiety
• Fibromyalgia
• Headache
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Intestinal yeast infections
• Skin rashes
• Yeast infection symptoms

Sadly, these are the some of the most frustrating conditions to both physician and patient, yet, the food connection is usually overlooked!
There are eight foods that account for 90% of the allergic reactions and food intolerance responses: cow’s milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans, etc.), wheat, soy, fish and shellfish.

In my next post I will discuss delayed reaction food allergies and their hidden impact upon your health.

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The Allergy You Didn’t Know You Had

If you are certain your allergy symptoms are from environmental allergy such as tree  pollen, there are certain non-prescription remedies  you can do for relief.  As I mentioned in a previous post, allergies can be from food sensitivities as well as environmental and I will discuss food allergy at length later.

The first thing to do for environmental allergies is to escape them when possible.  This time of year that means staying inside as much as possible.   When you cannot stay inside, be sure your indoor air is filtered.  Even though it may be great to sleep with the windows open at night, that is an opportunity to give yourself  a few hours freedom from the pollen. Keep the windows closed.  I would suggest you get a good air filter for the bedroom and use it during allergy season.  Better yet, get a  filter for the entire house.

Nutrients known to be beneficial for allergies include vitamin C, bioflavonoids, vitamin E, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, quercetin, pantethenic acid, and Omega 6 fatty acids. Herbal remedies include echinacea, Siberian ginseng and garlic.

The Metagenics company sells an excellent product, UltraCare for Kids which is GFCF, formulated for allergic kids and has an accompanying parents’ guide including diet.  I really like the product and recommend it all the time.  Metagenics only sells through health care professionals so if you would like to get some UltraCare for Kids contact me and I will forward the instructions to get it through our clinic web site.

Meanwhile, as I said last week, get your whole family on vitamin D for maximum boost to your immune system.

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The Allergy You Didn’t Know You Had

Allergy season is upon us.  We’re talking about allergy symptoms on a seasonal basis here.  As a side note, if you experience allergies such as chronic nasal drainage, I would propose that your problem is a food allergy.  If your allergies are environmental, not food related, yet persist year around, you will want to consider such things as household chemicals and related products.  More about that on another post.

How you react to allergenic substances depends upon the strength of your immune system.  Visualize your immune system on one end of a teeter totter and allergenic substances piling up on the other end.  Components of the pile of substances could be tree pollen, dust mites, certain foods or any of a multitude of other things, any one of which could create allergies for you.  As they pile up, eventually they will outweigh the immune system and tip the teeter totter to their side.  That’s when your allergy symptoms begin.

I will explain more about the subject in upcoming blog posts.  Meanwhile, the best immune support product for you to take is Vitamin D.  I recommend 4000 to 5000 IU per day for adults and 1000 to 3000 IU per day for children depending upon the weight of the child.