Just about everyone knows having allergies is no picnic. But many people don’t understand that untreated allergies can set the stage for serious health problems that range from arthritis to a compromised immune system.

Our bodies have three main immune defense barriers that prevent harmful substances from entering our blood. The first barrier is the mucous membrane system found in our throats, lungs, and nasal passages. Our mucous membrane barrier prevents injury from inhaled allergy producing substances like pollen, dust, and animal dander. The second barrier is our skin. Our skin covers our muscles and organs and prevents injury from things we touch, like poison oak. The third, and perhaps the most important barrier, is the tissue that surrounds our stomach and intestines. Our guts have the greatest concentration of immune cells and tissues than any other part of the body. These tissues prevent infection and damage caused by allergens in our food.

When any of the three barriers is compromised, foreign molecules can enter into the blood stream, provoking allergic-like responses. These allergy-like responses eventually stress our immune system when chronic.  Damage and dysfunction of the body’s three barriers begins the process of becoming sensitized and allergic to new or additional substances.

One example of a fault in one of the barrier systems that may be familiar to you is damage to your skin. Any break in the skin - such as a cut, rash or scrape - that gets exposed to a allergy producing substance like poison oak may make you even more sensitive to poison oak the next time you become exposed to it.

We can also develop similar sensitivities towards foods if your bowel is inflamed by large amounts of incompletely digested food. Exposure to foods, when the bowel lining is inflamed can result in developing new food sensitivities. That’s because our immune system reacts to fragments of incompletely digested food entering the blood stream.

If you find that you are becoming sensitive to more and more foods, chances are good that your gut barrier has been compromised by inadequate digestion. Foods that you frequently eat may become more difficult for you to process and you may experience gastrointestinal upset or rashes after eating them.

Symptoms of food sensitivities may include fatigue, lethargy, clouded thinking, itching, insomnia, gastro intestinal upset, irritable bowel, achy joints, and chronic fatigue. How do sensitivities  produce these symptoms? Chronic untreated sensitivities  may eventually overwhelm the immune system and its three barriers, which sets the stage for chronic inflammation and immune related diseases.

Chronic sinus infections, and asthma for example, are only a small piece of the picture.  People with sensitivities may face development of autoimmune diseases where the body’s immune system begins to attack its own tissues if untreated. In the years that I have been in practice I have never seen a patient with an auto immune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or multiple sclerosis that did not also have symptoms of food intolerances, and compromised digestion prior to becoming ill.

If you’re finding that you are becoming sensitive to more and more foods, or environmentally sensitive to fragrances or cosmetics, chances are that one of your three barrier systems is weakened. If this situation goes unchecked you are likely to develop more sensitivities and allergies, which in turn will add more stress to your immune system.

Sadly traditional medicine does not have much to offer people who have food sensitivities. Patients are advised to avoid what they are allergic to. Avoidance can be a pretty difficult task when eating out, or eating processed foods.

Fortunately for people who have sensitivities, there are cost effective and natural approaches that can give you relief. The first step to improving your allergies may lie in testing for food intolerances and improving your digestive system’s performance. The next step to use is a revolutionary process called NAET (Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique). NAET utilizes points on the Chinese Acupuncture Meridian system and spinal points to retrain the brain and nervous system to no longer react to sensitivities. By combining digestive testing and NAET, patients are usually able to decrease their symptoms to without the costs of shots and the negative side effects of medications.

If you would like to learn more about how you can live your life without the symptoms of  sensitivites, attending one of our Free Seminars can provide you with the information you are searching for. View our Seminars page for more information about upcoming events.

2009, © Dr. Patrick Giammarise, DC