What Causes Allergies and Sensitivities?

Western dietary habits have changed drastically over the last hundred years. The biggest changes have been the refining of food, use of food additives, and the increased consumption of animal products. We also have more atmospheric pollutants and suffer more mental and emotional stress. This additional burden placed on the body contributes enormously to the prevalence of allergic symptoms.

The incidence of sensitivities and allergies may be greater than the incidence of any other type of illness affecting people. There may be 60 percent of the population with unknown food sensitivity and about 95 percent of these people going undiagnosed. A person who suffers from various unrelated symptoms that produce a multitude of minor, chronic complaints is a candidate for the diagnosis of sensitivities. Besides food, consider chemical, pollution, and other environmental sources as possible causes. The following is a list of factors that make the body susceptible to allergies and sensitivities:

Allergies and sensitivities can be the underlying cause of any number of common health complaints. Certain people develop sensitivities to normally harmless substances, resulting in symptoms affecting any part of the body. It could be affecting your digestion or breathing. You might have the pain of arthritis or headaches, or you may suffer from depression, or skin rashes. The list is endless. Symptoms usually occur only after repeated exposure to the offending substance. Some of the most common conditions and symptoms are:

The Diet of an Infant

Until about four to six months of age, a human infant cannot digest any food except breast milk About that time the intestines become lined with a substance that protects against allergies and disease by producing the digestive enzymes necessary for the proper digestion of starches. A food introduced to infants too early in their development will not digest properly and can leak through the lining of the intestine and out into other parts of their bodies. The immune system guards us against foreign invaders, such as germs and viruses, but doesn’t recognize this undigested food as a “normal” part of the body. It treats these foreign food particles as an enemy and attacks them as if they were unfriendly bacteria or germs. The immune system never gets a chance to develop fully. This immature, struggling system  weakens, gets confused, and develops an intolerance for prematurely eaten foods.

Children who are breast fed usually eat fewer starches and get a better diet. This gives them a healthier start in life. If the mother is also watching her diet and not eating the wrong foods, the baby’s risk of illness is significantly reduced. Unfortunately, many infants usually start out life with the wrong diet. What foods do we feed an infant who is not breast fed? Commonly, we use cows’ milk sweetened with corn syrup or dextrose-maltose (both from grain), pabulum (more grain), egg yolk, dry toast and teething biscuits (wheat), and soy milk. What are the most common food sensitivities? They’re milk, wheat, corn, egg, sugar, and soy. It is essential that the first foods given to an infant be at the right time in development and as close to their natural state as possible.

Some infants are highly sensitive to foods the nursing mother is eating. Their allergic properties can come through the breast milk to affect the baby. About the time children are weaned from breast milk, their diet increases in allergy-causing foods. Most adverse reactions from eating these new foods go unrecognized. An intolerant food eaten by a child often continues to be eaten into adulthood. The child usually recovers from any acute symptoms, but the adult now has chronic problems that may persist. Months or years after a period of infection, stress, or other illness, additional symptoms start to develop and worsen if the food sensitivities go unrecognized. The symptoms that were minor at the beginning have become conditions called arthritis, hives, irritable bowel, or migraines.

Addiction

If a child’s system has to cope with a stressful diet, malnourished body, and a stressful home life, the natural response is to reach for sweet-tasting, rapidly absorbing, high-energy foods. Most readily available sweets contain milk, wheat, corn, eggs, and refined sugars. They are highly addictive substances and may cause a feeling of lethargy, like a natural tranquilizer. For a while it seems to make the stress more bearable. The more stress there is, the more the need to get the “fix.” It takes increasing amounts to feel “normal.” As this hidden addictive process develops, the craving increases. If they do not eat the food, they experience the symptoms of withdrawal, depression, anxiety, and irritability. The foods a person craves and eats most often, or consumes in large amounts, are the most likely ones to cause an adverse response.

Gut Permeability

A number of studies show people with food allergies having increased intestinal permeability. That permeability further increases after the ingestion of an offending food or allergen. Many people with yeast overgrowth in their gut also have hard-to-treat sensitivities. Yeast grow quickly in the intestinal tract and irritate the lining causing it to become inflamed and less efficient in handling food. The walls of the intestines become more permeable and start to allow allergens across the intestinal lining triggering more sensitivities.

The gut lining was thought to be an impermeable barrier to proteins and large poly-peptides. There is now evidence that large molecules can and do pass through the human gut intact into the bloodstream, even in normal conditions. This intestinal permeability or “leaky gut syndrome” may help explain the effectiveness of enzyme therapy in the management of food allergies and sensitivities.

Permeability changes occur as a result of several factors besides eating the wrong foods. This could include the overgrowth or imbalance of intestinal flora, chronic nutritional insufficiencies, and various bacterial and viral intestinal infections as well as yeast. Food without fiber can promote this bacterial growth. People given medication to stimulate intestinal motility had a reduction in bacterial overgrowth and a significant improvement in abdominal symptoms. The body depends on the natural barriers of the skin, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract to protect itself from toxic substances, a refined diet, medication, allergens, and a stressful lifestyle. Additional stressors cause this permeability to change.

A study evaluated 32 children, average age 13 months, for the effect of cows’ milk on intestinal permeability. Most of the children developed symptoms after a challenge with dairy products and had a further increase in intestinal permeability. This confirms that a child’s early diet can lead to the development of food sensitivities. Increased intestinal permeability allows more pathogens and antigens across the gut membrane into the general circulation. This increased burden of toxic substances escaping from the intestinal tract places a big demand on an immature immune system. The risk of further allergic insult also increases.

People with increased intestinal permeability are usually those with malabsorption and malnutrition and intestinal infections. They are people taking chemotherapy and non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen and aspirin. Alcoholics have elevated permeability that can persist in some cases for up to two weeks after drinking stops. Damage to the small intestine from infection and diarrhea causes poor growth rates and failure to thrive in children. The intestinal barrier becomes less efficient with age causing more toxins to cross the barrier.

The inability to digest foods or derive adequate nutrition from them, begins to weaken a growing child causing more allergies and infections to develop. The child gets an antibiotic for the infection, often resulting in the colonization in the bowel of a yeast called Candida albicans. When the gut contains an overgrowth of yeast, the lining becomes more permeability resulting in even more allergies and sensitivities.

The Incomplete Digestion of Foods, especially Protein

Food sensitivities result when foods, particularly their protein components, do not completely digest. They result in incompletely digested proteins (peptides and polypeptides) acting as allergens. When these components absorb into the body, the immune system does not recognize them as nutritional and beneficial. It responds protectively by producing antibodies to that food and starting a series of reactions affecting many tissues and organs. The results can be allergies and sensitivities to various foods.

If a food only partially breaks down, especially the protein from gluten (from grains) and casein (from dairy), the results could be the production of toxins in the gut. If absorbed into the blood and transported across the blood-brain barrier, these proteins could have an effect and produce the behavioral abnormalities seen in food sensitivities. Numerous research papers confirm this fact that protein mixtures from gluten and casein can influence behavior. The proteins could come from other foods that do not break down adequately in the digestive tract. We are not sensitive to foods, but to incompletely digested foods. Poor digestive functioning and/or poor dietary choices can also lead to the accumulation of toxins in the digestive tract from the oxidation of fats and oils as well as the fermentation of sugars.

Eat a food repeatedly and it is likely you will develop some antibodies to that food. The person then tests “allergic” to whatever is habitually eaten. If you change your diet and get retested several months later, you may find yourself sensitive to a variety of new foods. Avoid some of these problems by eating a rotation diet and avoid a concentration of one type of food at a meal. You are a candidate for food sensitivities if you are a “junk food junky” thriving on refined sugar, and hydrogenated oils and fats. You develop more cravings to these substances because your appetite center begins to malfunction. Consuming sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and taking drugs can also upset the body’s chemistry causing undigested food to get into the bloodstream resulting in food allergies and sensitivities.

The Detox System

Being hypersensitive depends upon the person’s hereditary predisposition and environmental vulnerability, the individual biochemistry, and the toxic load at a particular time. The causes are different for each individual, each person having their own unique total toxic load. It is interesting that medicine tries to treat everyone the same as if they appear to have the same problem, such as allergies. They ignore that once the body becomes overloaded and unable to handle the incoming toxins, further exposures cause a back-up of undetoxified metabolites that damage other regulatory enzymes and proteins. The taking of some medication, especially drugs, may inhibit the digestive process enough not to allow the body to properly handle the detoxifying process.

Chemicals and heavy metals contaminate our food, air and water. If an individual’s detoxification system works efficiently, then a fair amount of these toxic agents do not cause a problem. If there is a large toxic burden, even the best system does not work well enough and the individual gets sick. If the system is impaired due to genetic or nutritional defects, the body will simply store large amounts of these toxic agents. The detoxification system cannot function at its optimum and becomes overloaded. Unmetabolized chemicals begin to back up with other detoxification pathways becoming damaged and the body becomes intolerant to new irritants.

Due to the processing of foods and changes in the diet, there is a decline in consumption of nutrients that are necessary for these pathways to function correctly. Wrong eating hampers the detoxification system with sugar being the worst problem. Sugar can alter the function of regulatory proteins and enzymes just like any toxin, and does. It is hard for our body to work properly when it is being fed industrialized, excessively processed, and chemically-laden foods.

Liver Congestion

Liver congestion due to an improper diet may be a factor in allergies. The allergic reaction is enhanced if you add digestive enzyme deficiencies. Undigested foods usually stimulate the immune system to increase histamine. The liver normally detoxifies histamine, but if it is compromised and not functioning efficiently, the histamine can build up and trigger  symptoms. The excessive use of over-the-counter antihistamines may cause more liver damage allowing the liver to handle histamine less and less. The body’s liver produces the most effective anti-histamines available to neutralize the allergic or sensitivity reaction. Under normal circumstances the individual never notices a problem. A liver that is “plugged up” with toxins and fatty tissue cannot neutralize an allergic reaction. Reactions clear up amazingly quickly when the liver is functioning properly. A toxic level of heavy metals in the body can further affect the liver’s ability to detoxify.

Celiac Disease

In some cases there is so much damage to the intestinal lining that a disease called “sprue” or “celiac disease” develops. A person has an intolerance, especially to gluten-containing grains. This causes malabsorption of any grain containing this protein. Because of the damage to the intestinal lining, other foods may not be tolerated either. This is often true of foods that are raw or rich in fiber. The digestive tract becomes irritated causing the intestinal villi to lose their normal ability to function, resulting in decreased absorption. The bowel walls become thin and allow toxic substances into the bloodstream. This results in allergic reactions.

Histamine Release

A naturally occurring product of cows’ milk, a peptide called Beta-casomorphine-7, can induce a reaction in a type of white blood cell called mast cells. This results in a histamine release. This food-derived peptide can escape digestion and be absorbed intact into the bloodstream. When this happens, a food reaction occurs, but it won’t show up on lab tests that measure the classical types of allergic reactions that look for IgE or IgG antibodies. Other foods demonstrate a similar reaction. This may explain why the conventional “allergy” tests are not adequate to test this type of food reaction. It seems there is a separate mechanism not related to immunity, but to digestive toxins. Because there is no evidence of the allergic reaction (IgE, IgG) in most people with food sensitivities, many doctors conclude that they are really neurotic. Having only one type of “allergy” test may not include all the information needed for treatment.

Digestive Enzymes

The gastric secretion of hydrochloric acid was studied in 200 asthmatic children. Eighty percent had lower than normal levels of this acid in their stomachs. The deficiency was more prevalent in children below the age of seven. Asthmatic children with low hydrochloric acid received supplements before or during meals, along with pepsin to assist protein digestion. They improved significantly within three months. Any weight, sleep, or appetite problems usually corrected immediately. Removing the food intolerance from the diet or desensitization of the foods with homeopathic drops usually stops the asthmatic attacks. The gastric levels of hydrochloric acid rise as children get closer to puberty and spontaneous remissions are common around this age.

The secretion of hydrochloric acid also declines with age. Consider having testing done to determine hydrochloric acid levels since the deficiency can lead to many symptoms. If this is the cause of your digestive problems, a trial of betaine or glutamic hydrochloric acid will correct your food problem. One of the least expensive forms is betaine hydrochloric acid tablets. Most people can tolerate 325-650 milligrams a day. Since there is a danger of gastric irritation when using hydrochloric acid supplements, consult with a health practitioner trained in its use. Stop or reduce the dosage if you have any digestive symptoms, such as burning. The addition of apple cider vinegar fortifies stomach hydrochloric acid and adds flavor to food.

Enzymes derived from Aspergillus oryzae and other fungal species are effective in the treatment of a broad range of human diseases. In certain cases, fungal or plant enzymes are more effective than enzymes derived from animal sources. It seems that Aspergillus-derived enzymes can digest dietary proteins and polypeptides that leak into the blood stream as food antigens because of inadequate protein digestion. Many of the enzymes derived from this fungus and related fungal species are very stable and have a high activity under a broad range of pH conditions.

Not everyone needs hydrochloric acid or pepsin to help break down foods. Plant enzymes can help a wide variety of conditions including celiac disease, maldigestion, malabsorption, lactose intolerance, and fatty stool. Food allergies and sensitivities often improve when using digestive enzymes. It is advisable to consult a health practitioner to determine the type of digestive enzyme necessary for your particular problem.

Some people do not produce the enzyme to properly digest milk. This is not a milk allergy or sensitivity, but a condition caused by the lack of an enzyme, a lactose intolerance. It may have always been there or occurred later in life. If the lactase levels are too low or missing, milk will not digest and instead ferments. This causes gas, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, or many other reactions. Taking acidophilus does not correct this problem. Many people benefit from the addition of an enzyme to their milk to break down lactose or by buying lactose-reduced milk.

Abnormal Gut Flora

People with food intolerances may have abnormal gut flora, but pathogens are not present.  Food sensitivities may be a disorder of bacterial fermentation in the colon. Abnormal bacterial flora is common in people with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis as well as Crohn’s disease and chronic yeast infections. E. coli is a bacterium present in the stool in higher percentages when people have a variety of food-related autoimmune problems such as Crohn’s disease. Correct this problem by rebalancing the gut flora in the intestinal tract.

Intestinal microflora is greatly influenced by our eating habits. Under normal conditions, good bacteria produce a variety of vitamins in our digestive tract. Due to the typical poor diet, usage of broad-spectrum antibiotics, corticosteroid, and birth-control pills, the internal environment has become polluted. The balance between humans and their microflora has changed a lot. This contamination plays a significant role in the integrity of the intestinal lining.

The excessive uptake into the circulation of toxic food, bacterial, fungal, and viral antigens causes a continued immune response contributing to increasingly adverse reactions. Toxins can also be produced by organisms, such as bacteria, during an infection. The antibiotics kill the bacterial, but liberate its toxic contents into the body. If instead, the immune system is supported, the white blood cells will engulf intact the bacteria, removing them safely from the body.

Parasites

A parasite infection in the gut can cause symptoms that are hard to diagnose. Warning signs include constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating, irritable bowel syndrome, muscle aches and pains, anemia, allergies, skin conditions, nervousness, peptic ulcers, sleep disturbances, chronic fatigue, and other immune dysfunctions. A study of 275 individuals with symptoms of peptic ulcer disease, hives, sinusitis, and even allergies showed the cause could be Helicobacter pylori. The concentrations of gastric acid were significantly lower than normal in patients with Helicobacter pylori. After treatment to kill the bacteria, the acid concentrations increased. This bacteria infection causes a reversible lowering of gastric acid concentration that may predispose the individual to gastric cancer and peptic ulcers.

Helicobacter pylori bacteria may underlie other stomach problems and be indirectly involved in food allergies and yeast overgrowth. This bacteria can destroy the cells that produce stomach acid. Stomach acid (hydrochloric acid) has several functions. It kills undesirable organisms and dissolves food into a mush easily assimilated in the small intestine if the food is first chewed properly. Without enough stomach acid, the food will not digest resulting in malabsorption leading to malnutrition. If this organism is in the stomach, it may explain why there is low stomach acid. This can also result in an irritable stomach, or the inability to tolerate raw fruit or vegetables, acid foods, or spices. Helicobacter pylori may be the link between low stomach acid and food sensitivities, yeast problems, and a host of other digestive problems. Laboratory tests can determine if this organism is present in the stomach.

Adrenal Insufficiency

The adrenal glands are two almond-size glands that sit above the kidneys. They produce a variety of hormones, including cortisol, an anti-inflammatory hormone that normally serves to prevent allergic reactions. When exposed to an irritating substance, the body increases its production of these anti-inflammatory hormones. This usually prevents an allergic response from occurring. Many people suffer from allergies because they are not producing the proper amounts of adrenal gland hormones.

An adrenal insufficiency is the major cause of allergies to pollen, dusts, molds, animal hair, foods, and environmental pollution and chemicals. Other underlying causes of improperly functioning adrenal glands may be nutritional, insufficient stimulation of the adrenal glands by the pituitary gland, or the inadequate transport and utilization of adrenal hormones by the body. This problem becomes worse when accompanied by fatigued or emotional stress. The difference in many cases between having a reaction, or not having one, is how weak and over-stressed the adrenal glands are. Being under prolonged psychological stress causes the depletion of the adrenal glands. This sets up a cycle of stress, adrenal exhaustion, and allergic reaction.

Reactions can occur from certain drugs or toxins introduced into the body. Copper toxicity is a major contributing cause of allergies, especially when associated with low adrenal levels. If the body cannot respond normally because the adrenal glands are exhausted, then allergic reactions to many chemicals, foods, or inhalants occur. Usually other symptoms are present, such as decreased energy, temperature adaptation problems, weakness, a tendency to catch whatever comes along, etc. Adrenal support is important in the treatment of any kind of hypersensitivity.

One of the main reasons that adrenal glands do not function properly is due to poor nutrition. These over-stressed glands do not function properly with a diet of sugar and refined carbohydrates, alcohol, caffeine, and other substances that put excess burden on them. I have seen sudden recoveries from just supplying needed nutrients such as a B-vitamin called pantothenic acid or vitamin B6, stabilizing the blood sugar, and eating a nutrient-rich diet. Many people benefit from the antihistamine properties of vitamin C, especially in the treatment of asthma and inhalant allergies and sensitivities.

Improper Dosage of Vitamin and Minerals

Supplementing with the improper dosage of vitamins and minerals can unbalance the body’s chemistry and cause reactions. Common examples are giving high doses of B-complex vitamins to fast oxidizers and giving copper to a slow oxidizer. A particular nutrient in a food, such as the high copper levels in soybean, can cause a reaction to that food if there is already excessive copper in the body.

Cosmetics

Eliminate cosmetic sensitivities simply by avoiding these products. Be aware that many chemical substances absorb through the skin directly into the blood stream. The chemical ingredients in cosmetics are the cause of many problems on or near the areas they touch. The symptoms may not even seem related, such as headaches, sinusitis, or sore throats.

Drugs and Vaccines

Another common cause is the use of drugs and vaccines. It is common to see skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis occur soon after a vaccination, especially repeated vaccinations. The cells providing us with a normal immune function can be damaged by many vaccines, some drugs, and massive chemical exposure. The thymus gland that supplies these cells is also damaged. Antibiotics are famous for allergic skin reactions that can be difficult to resolve.  Once a foreign substance enters the body, however the route, the possibility of allergic reactions increases.

It is hard to tell what comes first: the deficient immune system, the allergic child, or antibiotic overuse. Is the child born with undiagnosed food allergies and sensitivities causing symptoms, such as ear infections, that are treated with antibiotics?  Could it be that the overuse of antibiotics causes an immune deficiency and allergies?  Does it really matter which came first?

The Improper Cooking of Foods

There is good evidence that the longer a food cooks the more difficult it is to digest and metabolize. Foods cooked at high temperatures stay in the gut longer making them more difficult to digest. We have been eating foods for centuries with certain chemical configurations. Food heated past a certain point will change its chemical configuration so much that the body does not understand these new configurations. We do not have the enzymes to digest these new chemical structures easily. Processes that drive up the temperature to the point of change are deep-frying, pasteurization, and barbecuing.

If you cook food past 112 degrees, you will make the enzymes in the food unavailable and have to use your own enzymes to digest the food. The pancreas makes enzymes to help digest food, but it becomes taxed if overused. The immune system becomes activated when these overcooked foods are eaten. It should be keeping foreign evaders away, not having to deal with undigested food. If the immune system is capable, it will do what the digestive system cannot. It will treat the undigested food as a foreign invader and try to rid the body of these particles by escorting them out of the body. When the immune system is called on continuously to repeat this action, it becomes exhausted and unavailable to protect us from infection and illness.

Behavior Problems and Mental Disturbances

When Greece faced a starvation period during the Nazi occupation, there was a marked improvement in mental disorders among the population. Many of their favorite foods were unavailable, such as wheat and other gluten-containing grains. The sensitivity to gluten may be the link to some forms of schizophrenics and paranoid patients. Controlled fasting in the old U.S.S.R. was used in treating patients with schizophrenia and other mental and physical illnesses. It involved total abstinence from certain food for 20-30 days. Only patients who did not respond to other treatments elsewhere were accepted. The treatment for chronic schizophrenia was effective in more than 84 percent of cases. There is now a place in the U.S. that offers hope in cases of mental illness.

If a food only partially breaks down, especially the protein from gluten (from grains) and casein (from dairy), the results could be the production of toxins in the gut. If absorbed into the blood and transported across the blood-brain barrier, these proteins could have an affect and produce the behavioral abnormalities seen in food sensitivities. Numerous research papers confirm that protein mixtures from gluten and casein can influence behavior. The proteins could also come from other foods that do not break down adequately in the digestive tract.

Today’s food supply makes it easy to choose poor diets. Even in 1987 the Journal of Applied Nutrition suggested the connection between food and behavior. It is finally being accepted in some conventional medical practices, as it has always been in alternative medicine or with holistic health practitioners. Vitamin deficiencies and the chemical contamination of our food may be just as important as purely emotional stress in the development of mental and functional disorders. This relationship has been slowly received by the average medical doctor.  They usually just dismiss nutrition as irrelevant.

Some controversial findings say delinquent children consume far more milk than non-delinquent children. This seems related to homogenized milk more than pasteurized milk. In England where they do not homogenize milk there is no known link between delinquency and milk intake. This information has been vigorously suppressed by companies that have a financial investment.

California has recently approved legislation allowing studies to see if there is an association between nutrition and criminal behavior. This will include the use of a trace mineral analysis as a tool to determine the benefit of improved nutrition. Certain mineral patterns are present in the criminal population. Type-A episodic criminal individuals have low zinc levels, high copper levels, and high manganese levels. In excess, these metals become toxic. Cadmium and lead are also highly toxic to the brain. It seems that the levels of lead and cadmium are in the 90+ percentile in the Type-A criminal.

There is also a Type-B sociopathic personality, although the profile is harder to identify.  Their cadmium levels are extremely high. Most of these people receive psychiatric counseling and are put on drugs instead of looking at their biochemistry. The biochemistry of the individual is not a consideration, usually. Cadmium is very toxic to tissues and can make other toxins in the body even worse. Even if lead levels are lower because of the Clean Air Act, do not expect major behavior improvements until they lower the cadmium levels.

Often, children who have behavior problems are just put on a drug, such as Ritalin, instead of searching further for the source of the problem. One example was a young boy who lived near a smelter that was a source of many toxins. His copper levels were off the chart and his zinc levels were quite low. The zinc-copper ratio was 1 to 1 where ideally it should be 8 or 12 to 1. A deficiency of zinc helps copper become toxic. Copper is a highly irritating trace element at high levels and can cause hyperexcitability and irrational behavior. His manganese levels were also in the ninetieth percentile. He was charged with attempted murder at the age of 9.  In the past he had been on eight different medications to control his behavior, and was presently on Ritalin. After a year of treatment to reduce his toxic metal levels, the boy returned to normal behavior without Ritalin.

Here was someone who would have probably spent his life in some sort of institution, but instead he graduated from college with a good grade average and has a better-than-average chance of a normal life now. Multiply these results by the thousands out there who probably have similar problems and you wonder how many people could be helped. It is possible to identify these profiles early if doctors know what to look for. Unfortunately, medical doctors usually know little about using trace mineral analysis to reveal heavy metal toxicity.

A study of violence-prone and emotionally disturbed male children found an increase in cadmium, lead, copper, manganese, iron, nickel, and calcium, but decreased phosphorous hair concentrations. The increased manganese and decreased phosphorous hair concentrations were related to the emotional disturbance. These results suggest biochemical differences existing between being emotionally disturbed and violence-prone male children and just  emotionally disturbed male children. It seems abnormal biochemistry of the body sets the stage for emotional problems when brought on by environmental stressors.

Over the last decade similar conditions have manifested, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, and the Gulf War Syndrome. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and other behavioral problems are epidemic in our children.  Allergy problems such as asthma increase yearly in both frequency and severity. Cancers unrelated to smoking seem to be everywhere when compared to twenty years ago. Are these illnesses directly and indirectly the result of a toxic environment? Large segments of the population now seek alternative approaches for these problems, because the conventional drug-oriented medical system has few answers and may even contribute to the problem.

In one study there was an association between recurrent ear infection in infancy and later hyperactivity. Children with a history of ear infections usually receive repeated and prolonged courses of broad-spectrum antibiotic drugs. These drugs cause alterations in gut flora including the proliferation of Candida albicans (yeast). Changes in the gut’s permeability promote the absorption of food antigens (allergies) that play a major role in causing hyperactivity, attention deficits, and related behavior and learning problems.

Sulphur

Sulphur, an indispensable element in human nutrition, binds with a variety of toxins in the body that are then excreted. Proper sulphur oxidation requires molybdenum for enzyme activation and enough dietary sulphur levels to ensure that the pathway can be completed. The body needs a constant intake of assimilable sulphur to perform these functions. If this process is defective, it is possible that symptoms or even illness might result from an overburden of toxins. A significant percentage of asthmatic children have defective sulphur pathways. This is common in nearly all “universal reactors” and the majority of those highly sensitive to foods, inhalants and chemicals.

Raw Foods

Some people find they cannot tolerate foods raw, but can eat them cooked. Others find they cannot tolerate foods cooked twice. An example would be to have no reaction to the roast beef on Sunday, but the roast made into Shepherd’s pie causes indigestion on Monday. You may tolerate foods in small amounts, but not in large amounts. There are people who complain about symptoms after taking nutritional supplements. A particular food product or chemical used in the manufacture of the product may be the reason for the adverse reaction.

Food-Chain Toxins

The chemical diets and drugs given to animals contribute to our sickness. If we eat animal products then we also eat everything the animal ate. Antibiotics or hormones used in raising and treating animals end up in our foods. One allergy out-break was traced to the fish meal fed to pigs. The fish were treated with several chemicals and antibiotics. The widespread use of these toxins in the food supply has increased the risk of allergies. This exposure has increased faster than our bodies can handle the toxic load. A string bean grown in Mexican soil and contaminated with several pesticides can cause a much different reaction to our body than a green bean grown on an organic farm. Which green bean is being tested when you have allergy tests?

Additives

The waxes on vegetables and fruits used as a preservative and to make them attractive bothers some people. The additives in our food are another factor. Until we decide to eat pure food and drink pure water, there will always be hospitals filled to capacity. Unless we eat a proper diet, sickness is the result. Advertisements have brainwashed us about what we eat. It just means more money for the advertiser and less nutritional value to us. People are going to have to change their eating habits and demand pure foods, air, and water if they are going to stay healthy.

Mold, Dust, and Mites

The house itself may be a source of allergies and sensitivities. Millions of sufferers have toxic or allergic substances in their home. Damp basements harbor mold. Bedroom mattresses and bedding are good places to find house dust mites, dust and mold. Heavy curtains, upholstered furniture, and wall-to-wall carpeting is a haven for allergens. Don’t overlook the family pet as a never-ending source of animal dander and all the allergens they might roll in if allowed outside. Some homes may contain enough insect particles to cause symptoms.  Environmental control is important to treatment because avoiding or eliminating the allergen may be enough to control most symptoms.

It is estimated that 30 million people have dust mite allergies. Dust mites may be a factor in 50 to 80 percent of asthmatics, as well as in cases of eczema, hay fever and other allergic ailments. Some sufferers have sneezing episodes first thing in the morning, when making the beds or doing housework, but feel better when going outside. Others have stuffed-up ears, especially during the winter. The dust mites have droppings that contain a digestive juice from its gut that is a very potent allergen. It makes them one of the most common causes of allergy, along with animal dander, cockroach droppings and grass pollen. Unless the dust mite levels are controlled, the allergy will be hard to treat.

A typical used mattress may contain from 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. They are so small that thousands of mites can be in a single gram of house dust. These microscopic organisms feed on flakes of human skin and food debris in dust. They also live in carpets and other furnishings, but beds are their prime habitat. They like warm, moist surroundings, such as the insides of a mattress when someone’s in it. They also eat in bed. A typical mattress is well stocked with skin flakes, fungi, and other foods fit for a mite.

Mites are related to the spider and tick. Under optimal conditions, the mites can grow from egg to adult in a month and live for about another month. They are most abundant in wet, moist areas, and least likely in very high and very dry areas. Steam cleaners can kill the mites. Commercial mite-killing fluids don’t always get to the mites deep inside the mattress. Air ionizers also appear to be ineffective in dealing with them. The best solution seems to be lining the mattress and pillows in special plastic covers to separate the mites and sleeper. Clean the rugs weekly with a vacuum equipped with a good filter. Remove any bedroom carpeting or other mite friendly furnishings entirely. Avoidance is the key to dealing with any allergy problem, including dust mites.

Why Do Sensitivities Vary?

Have you wondered how sensitivities can vary from day to day or month to month? That’s because nutritional status, stress, and environmental factors all change constantly. This affects the immune response to any substance. A body that has a chronically stressed defense mechanism becomes increasingly susceptible. One of the most frustrating experiences is having repeated tests for sensitivities. After several months or years, you discover that another test reveals a whole new set of sensitivities. It should make sense to eliminate the allergens found in food, chemicals, drugs, and cosmetics, but if you do not strengthen the body’s immune system, there will be other allergies and sensitivities. Now, you have to