What makes a substance that is normally harmless suddenly become an allergen? Things that promote allergies must have been added to our environment or else things that protected us must have been removed. In fact, both these statements are true.

Modern food production methods have done much to create chemical imbalances in our bodies. Essential nutrients are frequently removed by processing, including those very minerals upon which our immune systems depend. The effects of mineral deficiency are progressive and wide-ranging. Take, for example, magnesium; a few of the many symptoms of this vital mineral are cramps, fatigue, fluid retention leading to liver problems, and lack of digestive enzymes resulting in failure to process foods. It is of course the inability to break down a particular type of food that is a primary cause of the allergic response to that food.

The effective processing of foods is also totally dependent on gut health. If the mucus lining which coats the entire gut wall  is compromised in any way, excess protein will break through the damaged lining into the blood stream. All blood initially goes from the gut to the liver where the ‘foreign’ material is destroyed, but if it becomes excessive the liver is unable to cope, and the material enters the main bloodstream, triggering the allergic response. Histamine is released, causing the allergic symptoms. Cortisol from the adrenals will normally modulate any inflammatory process but when the adrenals are weakened inflammation gets out of hand. Weak adrenals lead to hormone imbalances, toxins continue to accumulate causing joint and muscle conditions, and nutritional deficiencies are seen to abound. Every system is affected. As a consequence allergies are not confined to food intolerances; any part of the body can become over-sensitised to absolutely any substance, even something as innocent as water.

What causes the damage to the gut lining? The list is long, and in addition to the processed foods already mentioned, along with their chemical additives and preservatives we can include antibiotics, steroids, the contraceptive pill, and a host of environmental chemicals – even the chlorine in the water we drink. Furthermore, with so much emphasis on sterilisation and pasteurisation the gut flora is not always adequately replenished.

The digestive system is the key. 70% of the immune system is estimated to reside in the gut. The only sure way to banish allergies is therefore through a program which sets out to repair the damage with particular attention to the digestion and elimination channels.