FOOD ALLERGIES - CAUSE OF MANY IMMUNE DISORDERS (Copy)
Your diet is the foundation of your recovery, whether from cancer, Long Covid or chronic Lyme and co-infections. Eating allergic foods is a hidden cause of chronic inflammation. It can keep the immune system too busy to get on top of chronic infections. The variety of allergy symptoms and complex nature of allergic responses explain why food allergy is not taken seriously by conventional pharmaceutical-led medicine. As there isn’t a convenient drug to suppress a symptom, patients end up having to do the detective work themselves. To find out how to do this and why it is so important for maintaining health and recovery, please read on …
Allergy starts early
Eighty percent of out immune system resides in our intestinal lining. In early infancy, the pancreas and digestive system are still immature and not able to produce enough enzymes to fully break down complex foreign proteins from foods other than breast milk. When such proteins are partially digested, larger fragments can pass through the gut lining and trigger inflammation, immune reactions or sensitivities.
An adult’s intestinal lining usually allows very small molecules - around 15,000 - 20,000 Daltons (a Dalton is a unit to measure the mass of atoms, molecules, proteins and other microscopic particles) - to pass through, whereas an infant’s more permeable gut can allow much larger protein molecules of up to about 35,000 Daltons to cross into the bloodstream. These larger, partially digested proteins can be recognised as “foreign” by the immune system, triggering inflammation or sensitivity reactions.
As soon as the infant is given foreign proteins in the form of powdered baby milk formula, its intestinal immune system is alerted and sensitised to these foreign proteins. The immune system then makes memory cells and antibodies in the minute lymph follicles in the intestinal wall called Peyer’s Patches. Therefore, an immune reaction in the gut involves the whole immune system.
The foreign cows’ milk proteins in baby formula are casein and beta-lactoglobulin. Both can trigger immune reactions. Cows’ milk protein is one of the most allergic foods on the food allergy scale. An infant made allergic to cows’ protein will be allergic to milk for life. That is why lactose-free milk is not a solution (lactose is natural milk sugar) - it is the proteins that are the problem! Other frequently occurring allergies acquired as an infant include gluten (proteins in certain grains), hen’s egg protein and nuts. The latter can be problematic as they are often added to milks and chocolate.
Allergy symptoms change over time
When food allergies or sensitivities develop early in life, the symptoms may not always stay the same over time. If the person continues eating the allergic food regularly, the immune system can react differently as the body develops. A child sensitive to cow’s milk proteins may first develop digestive upsets or eczema, but later experience chronic ear, nose and throat problems such as glue ear, repeated tonsillitis, enlarged adenoids requiring grommets, and later sinus congestion and asthma. The ongoing immune irritation shows up in many different tissues, not just the gut.
Symptoms of food allergy
The symptoms of food allergy or sensitivity are very diverse and can mimic a variety of other conditions.
Food allergy symptoms in infants can include:
*Cramps
*Cradle cap
*Hives/eczema
*Itching/rubbing at the face/ears
*Red rash around mouth and body
*Restless sleep
*Reluctance to feed/drink
*Oral thrush/bacterial infections
*Vomiting/spit-up/reflux
*Diarrhoea
*Mucus in stool
*Bloating/excessive gas
*Colic-like crying after feeds
*Respiratory symptoms i.e. runny nose, wheezing
*Irritability/arching back after feeds
Food allergy symptoms in children/adolescents can include:
*Recurrent infections i.e. tonsillitis, strep, colds, flu.
*Environmental allergies (hay fever, animal fur etc.)
*Behavioural/cognitive/mood problems (often mistaken for psychiatric disorders)
*Joint problems
*Skin problems - itching, scratching, rashes etc.
*Gastro-intestinal problems (diarrhoea/constipation/IBS etc.)
*Hormone problems (heavy periods, no periods etc.)
*Developmental disorders
*Colitis
*Headaches/migraines
*Food addiction
*Overweight/underweight
*Chronic fatigue/hyperactivity
*Fussy eater
*Failure to thrive/reach full ability potential (could be academic/sports/socially)
Food allergy symptoms in adults:
*Chronic low grade stealth infections (viral, bacterial, fungal)
*Aut-immune conditions
*Chronic intestinal conditions
*Crohn’s/colitis
*Fibromylagia/muscular pain (via histamine/serotonin action)
*Depression/mood swings/bipolar
*Chronic fatigue syndromes
*Migraine
*Arthritis conditions
Food allergies are often “masked” in adults through weakened immunity over the years. Other factors like chronic infections and accumulation of toxins (via dental amalgams and other sources) mask adult food allergies. That is why, in chronic illness, I always review diet as a first step and remove the key allergic foods to take the pressure off the immune system. By doing this, many patients have had a significant improvement in many symptoms, before we begin to tackle the main issues like immune suppression and infection.
It’s important to remember that when dealing with food allergies, these are affecting 80% of our immune system. That’s a huge chunk and when it is inflamed, irritated and preoccupied in dealing with food particles it perceives as a threat, your immune system is not going to concentrate properly on getting control of Lyme, Bartonella, Coxsackievirus, Epstein Barr, Sars Cov-2 or whatever other infections happen to be present. Therefore, you could say that consuming food allergens attacks the individual on two fronts - firstly, starting an inflammatory cascade within the body and secondly, preventing the immune system from performing its surveillance and killing role. That is also why an allergy-free diet is important for cancer patients.
Doing the detective work
When considering food allergies, there are two main arms of the immune system to consider. One arm involves IgE antibodies which causes immediate reactions such as hives, swelling, wheezing, vomiting, or even anaphylaxis within minutes after eating the offending food. The patient usually knows what these allergens are from the instant reaction. The other arm involves IgG antibodies, which is associated with slower, more delayed immune responses. In this case, a reaction can take up to 3 days to occur after eating the offending food. These types of allergens are much more difficult to spot, especially if the offending foods are part of a person’s regular diet. That is where good patient-practitioner detective work comes in. A further difficulty is that the NHS only tests IgE allergic reactions and disregards IgG reactions, which it calls sensitivities, not true allergies. While it is certainly true that IgE reactions can be life threatening, my experience with IgG reactions, whatever name you give them, is that they can disrupt a patient’s life severely and should be addressed if the patient wants to get well.
Available allergy tests
*IgE allergens (plus Total IgE) foods and airborne allergens.
*IgG allergens with a lab that tests IgG 1-4 antibodies rather than just IgG 4 tests alone. These tests can cover a wide range of foods.
*Coeliac/gluten sensitivity panels - very important for distinguishing between Coeliac disease (an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks the gut lining directly after gluten exposure) and non-coeliac gluten enteropathy (where gluten is still causing significant health issues, but Coeliac disease is not present).
*Tissue Transglutaminase (TTG) tests - the most widely known is TTG2 - the primary screening for coeliac disease. But there are 5 other TTG tests, all related to gluten and its effect on other tissues than the gut. For example, TTG3 relates to how gluten affects the skin and TTG6 relates to how gluten affects the brain. The latter can be useful for dementia patients.
*Gluten Cross-Reactivity Testing - There are several foods, such as oats and coffee, which the immune system can mistake for gluten and reacts with the same symptoms as gluten on exposure. These foods are called gluten cross-reactors. This is a valuable test for autoimmune patients to reduce damage to tissues.
What I do with my patients
1.The first thing I do is remove cows’ milk products and gluten 100% from the diet and replace with delicious, nutritious and non allergic alternatives. A word of explanation is necessary here for both these foods:
Milk - The protein from cows’ milk is the most common food allergen. It’s in all milk products (yoghurt, cheese, processed foods; products containing milk powder are especially problematic such as chocolate, half-cream, and convenience foods). The protein content in cows’ butter is lower than other cows’ milk products as butter is mostly fat. However, in some individuals, cows’ butter can be a problem too. I therefore advise goat’s, sheep’s or nut butters. Another thing about cows’ milk is that it is intended to make newborn calves grow quickly. Growth signals in milk like IGF-1 switch on growth in the calf’s body. This is not desirable in a grown human or anyone concerned about getting cancer (see book Your Life In Your Hands by Jane Plant). Furthermore, milk leaves an acid residue in the body, one of the main reasons why humans lose calcium from bones. Therefore, to drink milk to prevent osteoporosis is nonsense. Calcium in milk is poorly absorbed. Pasteurisation may make this worse. When calves were given pasteurised milk as an experiment, they died. How to get calcium then? By eating green leafy vegetables. After all cows make calcium in milk from eating grass! Cows’ milk is also mucus forming which can fuel inflammation in tonsils, sinuses and certain viral conditions.
References:
*The Cow and the Coronary by Margaret Moss and David Freed (International Journal of Cardiology, 2003) Link between cows’ dairy and heart disease.
*An Article On MILK - Why It May Not Be Suitable For Human Beings by Dr Patrick Kingsley (The New Medicine, 2013)
Gluten - This is a group of proteins found in certain grains (wheat, barley, rye, spelt, couscous). Like cows’ milk, it is a very common allergen known to trigger conditions like IBS, asthma, depression, eczema, menstrual problems, constipation and more. Even without triggering autoimmune coeliac disease, gluten will make the gut lining more permeable, opening the door to inflammation and more potential allergies. Commercial wheat is very different from ancient wheat strains recorded in Ancient Egypt. As part of the harvesting process, commercial wheat can be sprayed with the controversial pesticide glyphosate which damages gut bacteria (which brings us back to the home of 80% of our immune system).
References:
*Youtube presentation What’s With Wheat?
*Grain Brain (book) by Dr David Perlmutter
*Youtube presentation Dr Berg, The MOST Dangerous Food For The Gut.
2.I sometimes ask patients to keep a food diary for a while. This can help uncover suspicions about further food allergies.
3.When I suspect gluten cross-reactive foods (those that the immune system thinks is gluten, but isn’t, like oats and coffee) I suggest doing either a Provocation Challenge test at home (cheaper!) or running the Cyrex lab test for gluten cross-reactive foods. The Provocation Challenge test is done on one food at a time by eliminating the suspect food 100% for a specific time, then having a substantial portion of that food and noting any changes in symptoms (even subtle ones) over the next 3-4 days. Patients must be alert for the signs and be disciplined enough to do this trial properly. Eliminating gluten cross-reactive foods is particularly important when autoimmune conditions are present because tissue and organ damage are at stake!
When eliminating a food it is important to do it 100% with no slip-ups. This is because the immune system is trained to detect the smallest viral particles which can only are detected through a powerful microscope. “Just one bite” looks like the Titanic to the immune system which reacts every time, just as surely as you summon a lift by pressing a button. Dietary compliance is one of the top reasons I see for case failure. This brings us to food addiction.
Food allergy: food addiction
Food allergy and addiction can be two sides of the same coin. People can develop strong cravings for foods that are causing immune or metabolic stress. What somebody craves is often a major clue to their allergies.
This was certainly true for me as a child. I was born with an allergy to cows’ milk which may have had something to do with the fact that my mother was severely sick and could only drink large quantities of milk throughout her pregnancy. I was bottle fed and within days my hands were wrapped in mitts to stop me scratching the skin off my face. At first I hated milk and was a poor bottle feeder and then a typical fussy eater, causing a lot of worry to my parents. Then, with further exposures, I flipped over into being an addict, sneaking into the pantry to consume as much milk and butter as I could cram down my throat! Needless to say, my childhood was full of trips to the doctor with ear, nose and throat complaints, three tonsillectomies and one sinus operation! Not until I was 26 did one enlightened doctor suggest taking me off milk! I have now been cows’ milk free for over 40 years and get my daily calcium from green leafy vegetables, a far better source for my aged bones than milk!
I take food addiction seriously as it can be the first major stumbling block to patients on a recovery plan. Naturopathic doctor Sarah Myhill describes her personal food addiction test - if you can have one piece of something and can stop at that without needing to eat more i.e. a square of chocolate without needing the whole bar, you’ve passed the addiction test! I fail the chocolate addiction test miserably and that is why I only have chocolate (dairy-free) in the house twice a year (Easter and Christmas). And then someone has to hold me down while the chocolate is put away. If you can’t get control over food addiction, you may may need food addiction counselling, especially if the addictive food is bound up with unresolved past or ongoing emotional issues.
If you suspect that food allergies are keeping you sick and would like help with this, please get in touch with the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com to request a free 30 minute Enquiry Call or book an appointment. Please note that an Enquiry call is not a consultation but an exploratory call to see if this is a clinical approach you wish to pursue.To your very good health,
Suzanne Jeffery (Nutritional Medicine Consultant)
M.A.(Oxon), BSc.(NMed), PGCE, GNC, BSEM, MNNA, CNHC
The Good Health Clinic at The Business Centre, 2, Cattedown Road, Plymouth PL4 0EG
Tel no: 07836 552936/ Answer phone: 01752 774755
Disclaimer:
All advice given out by Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic is for general guidance and informational purposes only. All advice relating to other health professionals’ advice is for general guidance and information purposes only. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information provided with other sources. Patients and consumers should review the information carefully with their professional health care provider. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by other practitioners and physicians. Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages arising therefrom.