naturopathy for allergies

Latest Allergy Articles

Intolerances and sensitivities are IgG reactions rather than IgE.  They start several hours or days after exposure to the allergen.  For this reason, it can be difficult pinpointing what the cause of your reaction is (can you recall what you ate nine meals ago?). An IgG blood test may indicate if you have any IgG reactions.  IgE and IgG tests are two completely different tests.

IgA antibodies are also present in mucus membrane secretions.  These are found in the nose, sinuses, lungs, vagina and in your gut.   A form of IgA called Secretory IgA (SIgA) forms a sticky, protective lining of mucus and your first-line of defence against parasites, bacteria, viruses, fungi and toxins.  These invading pathogens get trapped in the mucus and neutralised.  A lack of SigA disables your first line of defence and pathogens can survive and cause problems.¹

If you have eczema it is likely you also have allergies, and if you have both eczema and allergies you may also develop asthma.  They are all linked by your gut health.

Allergies have become pandemic.  Since your gut houses 80% of your immune cells it makes sense that your gut health reflects your overall health and immunity.

If you diet is high in sugar and processed foods this causes inflammation and makes you acidic.  Pathogens, parasites, fungi and pathogenic bacteria thrive in acidic environments and high sugar diets.  Furthermore, sugar and processed foods damage your beneficial bacteria.  The result is you can no longer fully digest your food, so undigested particles of food are left to ferment in your stomach and feed pathogens.  This leads to leaky gut, when undigested particles of food pass through your gut into your blood stream, stimulating an immune response and consequent allergy symptoms.  Leaky gut accounts for at least 50% of all chronic health complaints and auto-immune diseases, including allergies, asthma and eczema.² Leaky gut compromises your overall health and if unaddressed will lead to more serious health problems.

• Outdoor (diesel fumes, pollens)
• Indoor (chemicals in your furniture, carpets, cleaning products and cosmetics)
• Internal (leaky gut and dysbiosis leading to infection by parasites, pathological bacteria, Candidiasis …)

Digestive problems, dysbiosis, a poor diet, chronic stress, too much alcohol (alcohol increases the permeability of the intestinal lining leading to leaky gut)⁶, a diet high in sugar and grains and your toxic load all damage your gut. 

So do environmental toxins such as chlorine in your tap water, fluoride in your toothpaste, mercury fillings, pesticides and antibiotics in your foods (if you don’t buy organic).  Drugs such as aspirin, NSAIDs, the contraceptive pill and antibiotics also damage your gut microbiome.

• Anxiety
• Bloating
• Brain Fog
• Congestion
• Diarrhoea
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Hormonal problems
• insomnia
• Joint pain
• Mood swings
• Skin rashes like eczema, rosacea and acne
• sore throat
• Stuffy nose or rhinitis
• Tummy aches
• Weight gain
• Wind

If your allergy is severe you need immediate medical treatment since you might suffer from anaphylactic shock.  If you carry an EpiPen you should use this.  If you break out in painful hives take the antihistamines your doctor prescribes. 

In the long-term however, you want to understand the root-cause of your allergies and start to heal your gut.  As Dr. Leo Galland states in his book ‘The Allergy Solution’ “The secrets to reversing allergy are on the inside of you, not on the outside.”⁵ The best approach is the functional medicine four steps of healing:

• REMOVE food, drink, toxins and pathological bacteria that are damaging your gut
• REPLACE with healthy foods which support gut repair and calm inflammation
• REPAIR using targeted supplements
• REBALANCE with probiotics, digestive enzymes and other supplements

Look out for more information on these steps in future blogs

1. If you have allergies, I recommend GI Effects by Genova Labs in order to obtain a comprehensive picture of your gut health.  This indicates if you have parasites, pathological bacteria, whether you have sufficient upper and lower gut beneficial bacteria and much more
2. To test for leaky gut, you can do the Intestinal Permeability test by Genova
3. To check for bacterial growth in your small intestine the SIBO test can be done.  I tend to do this test only if the GI Effects have not indicated the root cause
4. Cyrex run allergy and intolerance tests

References + Reading

1. GAPS, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, Medinform 2010, page 28
2. http://www.functionalmedicineuniversity.com/public/Leaky-Gut.cfm
3. https://draxe.com/4-steps-to-heal-leaky-gut-and-autoimmune-disease/
4. https://chriskresser.com/got-allergies-your-microbes-could-be-responsible/
5. The Allergy Solutions, Dr. Leo Galland, Hay House, 2016 (page xviii)
6. The Allergy Solutions, Dr. Leo Galland, Hay House, 2016 (page 14)