Too many people have to deal with allergies. Allergies refer to an atypical reaction to a foreign protein that the body usually interprets as harmless. In the case of an allergic response, the immune system goes to work to fight off the protein, resulting in symptoms such as a swollen tongue or hives. These reactions are fairly fast. People with a nut allergy or seafood allergy usually know what the offending item is as the reaction begins within minutes after exposure.
Researchers estimate that about 20% of people in the industrialized world have allergy symptoms and the number seems to be increasing. The respiratory system is the most common target of allergy symptoms including allergic rhinitis and asthma. Estimated health costs including missed work or school, physician visits and sometimes hospitalization for these two symptoms is nearly $20 billion a year in the U.S.
So why are allergic responses so pervasive? If you talk to 100 doctors you are likely to get 200 opinions as there are no concrete answers yet. I think it is a result of the changing nature of our chemical environment including food additives, pesticides and herbicides. I suspect that vaccines play a role as well. This notion is not popular in modern medicine as vaccines are considered one the pillars of success of the medical model of health.
To understand peanut allergies and vaccines it helpful to know the word adjuvant. This a substance that is able to increase the reactivity to the vaccine itself. Peanut oil is used as an adjuvant to many vaccines. The first study of peanut allergies was in 1973 and shortly thereafter, vaccine manufacturers were no longer required to include the adjuvants. That is now considered proprietary information so you don’t really know what is in the vaccines. Not even the package inserts will give you the full picture.
It is helpful to separate food allergy from food sensitivity. Food sensitivity is usually a delayed reaction and is IgG or IgA or IgM mediated. These are different categories of immunoglobulins. The peak reaction after eating the offending food might take 18 to 24 hours. Sometimes it can take months for the reaction to calm down after eating that food. An example of this is gluten. Although it is possible to have a wheat allergy, most of the time we are talking about a gluten sensitivity and that is a different beast entirely.
I have seen food allergies come and go. By that I mean, in some cases avoiding the allergen food for a couple of years before reintroducing it can result in a lack of symptoms. I have also seen some decent response to treating allergies with energetic methods such as TBM or NAET (which is an adaptation of TBM). It has been my experience that these techniques work best with allergies and not as well with sensitivities. Your mileage may vary, however.
If you have a life threatening reaction to a food such as your throat closing up, you will want to be cautious about putting that food back in your diet. Everyone I know with a food allergy is understandably cautious and always has an epi-pen.
So what do you do if you know that you have a peanut, seafood or some other type of allergy? The answer is the same for most problems; find out what your body wants to be healthier and start giving that to your body. At the same time, find out what your body doesn’t want and eliminate that. This is the basic recipe for health in general and also applies to allergies.
I recommend that you find out what foods and other things you might be allergic to such as molds, pollens, etc. You might want try those energetic techniques listed above. Another option is to try allergy shots but in my experience, they are not as effective.
For people with sensitivities, we recommend taking the Cyrex Labs antibody tests. Arrays 3, 4 and 10 are designed to help you understand what your body is reacting to. Elimination and/or energetic treatments can be helpful but I have seen better results from energetic treatments with allergies than sensitivities.
Supplements like Apex Energetics Turmero or EuroMedica Curcumin, Vitamin C and Vitamin D can help your body modulate these reactions too. Don’t forget to support your detox system by taking care of your liver health and supporting glutathione levels.
Like many conditions your allergy and sensitivity reactions will have some unique qualities. You will have to gather as much information as possible about your particular case and take steps to improve your overall health. Know that as you work to modulate your own symptoms, you are not alone.
