Food Allergies and Reactions
There is much debate among doctors and researchers about food allergies and reactions. Many define a food allergy strictly as a reaction of the immune system that causes overproduction of histamines with symptoms including hives and difficulty breathing. These allergies can be life-threatening. Food reactions, however, are much more common but less well-understood and documented. Food reactions create havoc with digestion, causing gas, diarrhea and a long list of seemingly unrelated symptoms not normally associated with allergies, including stomachache. Some physicians totally disregard food reactions, while others claim that they are the cause of up to two-thirds of undiagnosed physical and emotional symptoms. If you have a sensitivity to a particular food, herbs may offer help.
No one knows exactly why some people react poorly to certain foods while others do not. We do know that incidence, or at least reports, of such food reactions has dramatically increased since 1980. Medical experts have theorized that stress, immune system disorders, environmental pollutants, lack of immunity from infant weaning or poor dietary habits might all play a role. Heredity, digestive problems and even emotions may also come into play. If you have impaired digestion, asthma, migraine headaches or an immune disorder, you are more likely to develop bad food reactions than those who don't suffer from these conditions. But it seems that anyone, even healthy individuals, can develop these problems.
According to Joseph E. Pizzorno, N.D., and Michael T. Murray, N.D., authors of A Textbook of Natural Medicine, a reference book for naturopaths and even medical doctors who use natural methods in their practice, 60 percent of Americans may react adversely to some food. Many go undiagnosed, however, because few doctors recognize or even think to look for the signs. These include skin rashes, eczema, breathing difficulty, migraine headaches, blurred vision, muscle aches, nervous tension, fatigue, behavior swings, anxiety and even manic depression. Food reactions have been blamed for some cases of paranoia, loss of sight and hearing, hallucinations and catatonic stupors.
Food reactions can be extremely difficult to detect—it can take hours, even days, for symptoms to appear. According to a study conducted in 1973, a delayed reaction is suspected in most such cases. Was the culprit the corn you ate three hours ago or was it that ice cream last night? Could it even be both? Diagnosing food reactions is also tricky for other reasons: It may not be the food itself, but the colorings, additives or artificial sweeteners in the product that cause the problem.
To complicate your detective work even more, the body can respond to food reactions by releasing hormonelike substances that give you a "pick-up." You feel great at first. And when those substances wear off and the unpleasant symptoms kick in, who would think to blame food eaten hours earlier that made you feel so good? In fact, a desire to experience the hormonal uplift can make you unknowingly "addicted" to the very food that is causing your problems. One way to test for problem foods at home is through an elimination diet. Remove one of the suspicious foods from your diet for one week, then start eating it at every meal, for three days if it takes that long, to see if a reaction occurs.
Even after a problematic food has been identified, medical science leaves you with little more than a life of dietary restrictions and a slight hope that the symptoms will someday go away. Herbs combined with temporary diet changes, however, offer something that conventional medicine does not: the possibility of a cure. You could, of course, simply eliminate problem foods from your diet, but remember, the basic concept of holistic healing is to heal the body, not just treat symptoms. It is important that you address the underlying cause as well as the symptoms by improving digestion, liver function and immunity and reducing stress.
One cause of a food reaction is the entrance of poorly digested foods into the bloodstream. When this happens, the foods are treated as invaders and the body reacts negatively. A simple and effective measure is to improve digestion with herbal bitters and natural digestive aids such as papaya, pineapple and ginger. See "Indigestion" in chapter 36.
One of the key factors in keeping allergies and reactions in check is maintaining a strong immune system. Allergic symptoms occur when the immune system mistakenly recognizes a food, such as milk or wheat, as foe instead of friend and attacks it. The immune system must be operating at peak efficiency in order to recognize when something is an invader and when it is not. It may seem odd to recommend immunity enhancers when the problem is that the immune system is already overactive, but you must remember that the system works not only to stimulate immune functions but also to keep them in check. Marshmallow, chamomile, licorice and echinacea help the immune system achieve this balance. Since nervousness and stress are known to impair immunity and can make any allergic reaction more severe, you may also want to refer to "Stress" in chapter 20.
Garlic, onions, licorice and chamomile have all been found to reduce inflammation by decreasing the body's production of histamine, prostaglandins and other inflammatory agents. Chamomile, licorice and marshmallow work not only to stop the inflammation and the allergic reaction, but also to improve digestion and reduce allergic responses in general. Chamomile does this even after the offending food has been eaten. A German study suggests that one way chamomile achieves these results is by stimulating the production of cortisone in the body.
Food Reaction Tincture
1 teaspoon each tincture of chamomile flowers and dandelion root
½ teaspoon each gentian rhizome, licorice root and marshmallow root
Combine ingredients. Take half a dropperful an hour before each meal. You could also use these same proportions to make a tea, although gentian is extremely bitter.
