Fw: [SoFlaVegans] Allergies Linked to Diet

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----- Forwarded Message ----Dly Plzr <dlyplzrSoFlaVegans <soflavegans >; SoFlaSchools <SoFlaSchools >Sunday, February 24, 2008 7:45:34 AM[soFlaVegans] Allergies Linked to Diet

 

Allergies Linked to Dietby Konrad Kail, N.D. and Bobby Lawrencewith Burton Goldberghttp://innerself. com/Health/ kail_konrad_ 53104.htmNutritionist Lindsey Berkson, M.A., D.C., of Santa Fe,New Mexico, sees today's typical American diet ascontaining too few foods. "Unfortunately, mostAmericans tend to avoid variety and commit the dietarysin of monotony," she says, "eating the same foodsmeal after meal, only disguised by different names."They also consume food not according to what is bestfor them but according to what tastes best to them.According to Dr. Berkson, the American menu isactually made of various combinations of the samefoods, usually wheat, beef, eggs, potatoes, and milkproducts. For example, she points out, a breakfast ofeggs, sausage, white toast, and hash browns is

thesame as a lunch of a hamburger, white bun, and fries,which is the same as a dinner of steak and potatoes orwhite pasta. James Braly, M.D., medical director ofImmuno Laboratories and author of Dr. Braly's FoodAllergy & Nutrition Revolution, concurs with Dr.Berkson's perspective. He reports that Americanstypically get 80% of their calories from 11 types offoods, and that among these foods are the most highlyallergenic: milk, eggs, wheat, rye, nuts, and soy.What's the connection? A leaky gut.If you suffer from intestinal permeability andconstantly eat the same foods over and over again,undigested molecules from these foods will frequentlyleak into the bloodstream, activating an allergicresponse. "A repetitive diet can contribute greatly tothe development of allergies," says Marshall Mandell,M.D., medical director for the New England Foundationfor Allergies and Environmental

Diseases. "If someoneeats bread every day, for instance, he could easilydevelop a wheat allergy due to the immune system'scontinuous exposure to it."A main step in eliminating allergies is to vary yourdiet. If you are no longer triggering allergicreactions and sending your immune system into chaos,you can begin the process of healing your leaky gutand immune function. The rotation diet is a good wayto change your repetitive, allergy-inducing eatinghabits.Allergic Addiction SyndromeDo you ever crave a particular food? Can't imaginegoing through the day without bread or cheese orchocolate? You may believe that these urges are good,that your body is signaling you that it needs thesefoods to remain healthy. However, these cravings oftenmean the exact opposite -- that your body is beingassaulted by these foods. This is called the allergicaddiction syndrome.Allergy

to addictive foods develops as any otherallergy does -- with a leaky gut and improperdigestion. One day you eat cheese; for some reason,your gastrointestinal system is unable to fully breakdown the cheese molecules. Some undigested moleculesescape through the intestinal barrier and enter yourbloodstream, leading to sensitization. When youconsume cheese again and macromolecules again leakthrough the gut wall, an antibody-mediated allergicreaction ensues. Among the chemicals released duringthis immune process are narcotic-like substancescalled opioids, which help the body deal with ("mask")the discomfort caused by the allergic reaction. Theseopioids are like tranquilizers with a boost; they giveyou an immediate physical and emotional high. After awhile, the inflammatory response subsides, and so doesthe opioid high. Your spirits and energy levels flag.As with any addiction, you will

begin to crave thisopioid lift and the food that triggered it. The moreyou eat the allergenic food, however, the more damageit does to your body. The type III (arthus) allergicreactions that occur during allergic addiction damagecells. Additionally, the constant release of opioidchemicals and accompanying stress hormones (such ascortisol, which also provides an energy boost)exhausts the adrenal glands and the nervous system.Without the food, you will begin to feel withdrawalsymptoms, including nervousness, shakiness, fatigue,weakness, perhaps headaches. But you need to eatlarger quantities of the allergenic food for yourbrain to release greater amounts of feel-goodchemicals to fight the withdrawal symptoms. Over time,you will truly be addicted to the offending food,bingeing on it, while your body deteriorates as aresult of the allergic inflammation.Dietary LectinsIf

you've ever read the diet book Eat Right 4 YourType by Peter D'Adamo, N.D., you're familiar with theconcept of lectins, types of proteins found in beans,grains, and soy, as well as in pollens, bacteria, andviruses. These proteins are able to bind with specificsugars on the surface of all cells of the body. Thisfeature enables lectins to clump cells together forvarious biochemical functions, some of which arebeneficial. Lectins found on cells in the liver's bileduct bind with bacteria and parasites, clumping themtogether, and facilitating their elimination from thebody. Lectins can also perform pathogenic roles; forexample, lectins on bacteria and viruses stick likeVelcro® to mucosal linings in our body, causingirritation and infection. Dietary lectins areparticularly damaging to the gastrointestinal linings.One study found that dietary lectins, especially thosefound in lentils, induced

a significantly largerelease of histamine, causing tissue inflammation.Soybean and wheat lectins can produce an increase inpermeability in the cells they bind to, often leadingto cell death. Further, lectins can cause theintestinal villi (the fingerlike projections that givethe intestine its absorptive surface area) to atrophy.Some lectins also cause illness in individuals withcertain blood types, while promoting health in thosewith different blood types. Blood is classified intofour blood types or groups according to the presenceof type A and type B antigens on the surface of redblood cells. These antigens are also calledagglutinogens and pertain to the blood cells' abilityto agglutinate, or clump together. Blood type Acontains antibodies to type B, and vice versa. Bloodtype O carries antibodies for both type A and type B.Blood type AB has no antibodies to any blood type.Blood

type is considered relevant to food allergybecause agglutination also occurs in the body inresponse to lectins.Lectins are found in 30% of the foods we eat; theyhave characteristics similar to blood antigens and canthus sometimes become an "enemy" when they enter thebody. Nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S.,author of Your Body Knows Best, notes that there are65 different lectins known to have an agglutinationreaction in the body, leading to intestinal damage,disrupted digestion and absorption, and food allergy,among other health problems. Milk lectins are similarto type B blood cells. If someone with type A bloodconsumes milk, anti-B antibodies will be mobilized,causing an allergic reaction. However, milk isgenerally well tolerated in people with type B blood.Gluten, a lectin found in wheat and other grains,counteracts strongly with type O blood and tends tocause

gastrointestinal inflammation. Tomatoes provokestrong reactions in type A and B blood types, but areoften properly absorbed by types O and AB.In general, our immune systems protect all of us --regardless of blood type -- from lectins entering thebloodstream. However, according to Dr. D'Adamo,approximately 5% of dietary lectins do enter ourblood, likely due to intestinal permeability.Commonly Reactive FoodsIf you were to ask ten doctors to name their patients'top offending foods and food additives, chances aretheir lists would look similar to this one, compiledfrom patient tests in my practice. Testing was donewith electrodermal screening. Note that these foodsand additives are found, in varying combinations, inmost processed foods.Item Tested Testing PositiveWheat 73%Egg 70%BHA (preservative) 70%BHT (preservative) 70%Fluoride 70%Corn 68%Peanut

68%Cow's Milk 68%Soy 68%Red Dye 68%Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) 68%Nitrates 65%Nitrites 65%Sulfite 65%Yellow Dye (tartrazine) 62%Bluy Dye 62%Sorbic Acid 62%Sulfur Dioxide 57%%Violet Dye 57%Chicken 57%Turkey 54%Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein 51%Beef 46%Nutrasweet™ 46%Chocolate 43%Bacon 43%Tuna 41%Tabasco Sauce 41$PorkCane SugarLectins and Cross-ReactivityOver the years, physicians have noticed that somepatients who are allergic to certain pollens are alsoallergic to certain foods. For example, people withragweed pollen allergy often are allergic to foods inthe Curcubitaceae family (watermelon, melon, andcucumber) as well as banana. Why is this so? Itappears that lectins are partly responsible for thiscross-reactivity -- edible plant foods contain lectinsalso found in common pollens. This may also be thereason that

people with allergies to latex alsoexperience banana allergy.Here are some other common instances ofcross-reactivity that may be due to shared lectincontent:* Birch Pollen -- apple, carrot, potato, kiwis,and hazelnut* Mugwort pollen -- carrot, celery, nuts, mustardgreens, and legumes* Grass pollen -- tomato, potato, green peas,peanut, watermelon, melon, apple, orange, and kiwi* Plantain pollen -- melonThe Candidiasis ConnectionThere are more than 400 species of bacteria living inthe human body and the majority of these bacteriareside in the gastrointestinal tract. Under conditionsof intestinal health, "friendly" bacteria (such asLactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum)predominate and contribute to digestion and theoverall health of the body. But, increasingly, theshift observed today is towards a predominance ofpathogenic bacteria, a

condition of intestinalimbalance called dysbiosis. The unfriendly orpathogenic bacteria that dominate the intestinesimpair digestion, the absorption of nutrients, and thenormal elimination cycle. They also provoke allergicreactions to food and contribute to the erosion of theintestinal mucosa and the infiltration ofinappropriate substances into the bloodstream -- acondition referred to as "leaky gut syndrome."Dysbiosis is considered a primary cause or majorcofactor in the development of many health problems,such as rheumatoid arthritis, acne, chronic fatigue,depression, digestive disorders, bloating, PMS,cancer, and food allergies. Of the pathogenicorganisms most significantly implicated in foodallergy is the yeast Candida albicans; its overgrowthis called candidiasis.The modern North American way of eating is largelyresponsible for dysbiosis. The foods we eat are

notpure and, to an extent, full of poisons. The typicaldiet is replete with meat products, which containlarge amounts of chemical residues from the pesticidesand herbicides used in livestock feed, and hormonesand antibiotics used to make the animals grow largerand more rapidly. Ingestion of antibiotics, eitherthrough food products or prescribed medications,severely alters the intestinal flora by killing offbacteria, including beneficial microorganisms. As thebacterial communities repopulate after prolonged useof antibiotics, the colonic environment favors thegrowth of disease-causing organisms in lieu of thehealthier bacteria.We also tend to eat too many of the nutritionallywrong foods. Consider the huge amount of sugar andrefined carbohydrates found in what's called theStandard American Diet (SAD). It is a sad diet indeed,for it has led to a nation with a staggering number

ofobese individuals and has caused chronic aberrationsin the digestive flora. The SAD decreases the amountof intestinal secretions that aid in the properbreakdown of foods and this favors the overgrowth ofpathogenic microorganisms.This article is excerpted from Allergy Free, 2000, byKonrad Kail, N.D. and Bobby Lawrence with BurtonGoldberg. AlternativeMedicine s.com.http://www.Alternat iveMedicine. comAbout the AuthorsKonrad Kail, N.D., is co-owner of Naturopathic FamilyCare, Inc., a naturopathic group practice in Phoenix,Arizona, that provides integrated -- conventional aswell as complementary and alternative -- medicalservices, emphasizing prevention and naturaltherapeutics. Dr. Kail was certified as a Physician'sAssistant and received a B.S. in

Medicine from BaylorCollege of Medicine in 1976 and a doctorate inNaturopathic Medicine (N.D.) from the National Collegeof Naturopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in 1983.He is a Fellow of the American College of NaturopathicFamily Medicine and Minor Surgery.Bobbi Lawrence is a freelance writer based in LarkspurCalifornia.Burton Goldberg, Ph.D., Hon., has publishedAlternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide, a1100-page reference book, hailed as "the bible ofalternative medicine". For information, go to www.alternativemedi cine.comLive Simply So ThatOthers May Simply Livehttp://groups. / group/Yoga- With-Nancy/http://groups. / group/SignSoFla/http://groups. / group/SoFlaVegan s/http://groups. / group/SoFlaSchoo ls/____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Search. http://tools. search.. com/newsearch/ category. php?category= shopping

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