Identifying Adverse Food Reactions

For the past 40 years the numbers of asthma and allergy sufferers have been steadily climbing. In 2005, 54% of Americans showed a positive reaction to skin-scratch testing for at least one allergen. If you polled your friends today you would likely find several who are avoiding gluten, dairy, or some other common food. Why are allergies, intolerances, and adverse reactions to foods becoming so common?The increasing load of environmental toxicants in our food, air, and water has been shown to cause an immune system imbalance that leads to increased rates of allergies, and a reduced ability to fight infections.  The toxicants that cause this include ones that we all breathe daily: diesel and gasoline exhaust, as well as plastics and a host of other compounds. In addition to the increased environmental toxicant burden that is causing people’s bodies to be increasingly reactive, the food supply is also to blame.Food intolerances (with the exception of gluten intolerance) are caused by an insufficiency of digestive enzymes to break down a specific food. Adverse food reactions can have an immune component (insufficient levels of digestive enzymes), a compromised mucosal barrier (low secretory IgA and leaky gut), as well as dysbiosis. A person can also be allergic to the very enzymes that are used to break down the foods we eat. Once cleared for the sensitivity, an allergy sufferer can be started on digestive enzymes to aid with their digestion. Another major component are the TH-2 cells which are white blood cells that are used by the body to deal with allergies. Sometimes these cells are not functioning in the way they were meant to function. In cases like these it is important to aid the body with homeopathic remedies to allow these cells to start functioning in the way our bodies were originally designed. Adverse food reactions can in many cases be eliminated, as the body heals.