Insights for Navigating Allergies and Autoimmune

We're talking more than pollen here. Stress, sleep, diet and environment all play an important role in allergy and autoimmune.

Is this the year of allergies?

Here in the Midwest, we’ve been hit with weeks of “poor air quality” days as the smoke from Canadian fires has migrated south and passed along the airstream south of the lakes and northeast into Ohio.

It’s been a weird time for everyone with allergies and asthma who are more vulnerable to wild events like this. I’ve heard of a lots of itchy, scratchy eyes, “my eyes just keep watering” type of experiences as well as the more risky airway issues with normal everyday breathing that has become more difficult.

It’s not just the pollen count outside from the trees nearby. It’s the heat, the humidity, the chemicals and carcinogens we are breathing in on a daily basis. As RFK Jr. has mentioned on many occasions, our children are being born into a toxic soup of chemicals manufactured by industries we know, like petroleum, solvents, absorbents, soaps and detergents, perfumes and fragrances, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, as well as food, plastics, and agriculture.

👇👇👇 Highly Recommended Reading 👇👇👇

More and more people today are having adverse reactions to food.
Consider 100 years ago compared to today. How many children do you think had common peanut or tree nut allergies? The rates of increasing food sensitivities and genuine food allergies is alarming to anyone in the food and nutrition world. It’s already enough of a challenge to walk people through a dairy-free, gluten-free diet for 3 weeks to see a difference, but nowadays kids are sensitive to all sorts of stuff.

Avocado, Mushroom, Tomato, Strawberries, Banana are just a handful of the odd food allergies I’ve witnessed in my short career. We see much more of the standard: wheat, soy, corn, egg, fish and shellfish, tree nuts, and dairy milk. These are classified as the top food allergies in America according to the FDA.

And if you didn’t already know, there are major differences between an intolerance, a sensitivity, and a full on allergic reaction. The allergy is the only one to think about carrying an epi-pen to treat in an emergency - and that’s just it, an allergy can be an emergency. ⚠️⚠️⚠️

Our symptoms of allergies are often provoked by a chemical called histamine - which I will be discussing more in a future newsletter all about POTS and MCAS.

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for regular stories and even more sharing of high quality holistic health insights you deserve to know.

There are many theories behind what has sparked our surge in allergies over the last 100 years, and while these theories give us light to the matter, they fail to attribute the cause in whole. It’s much more likely that there are multiple factors involved.

The hygiene hypothesis - in a few words is the idea that kids need to be exposed to germs in order to develop healthy immune systems. The lack of common natural exposures to dirt and microbiota through the lack of nature, a rise in cesarean births, and destruction of the immune system through chemical antimicrobials, antibiotics, germ-killing aerosols, and hypervigilance by parents, schools, and hospitals to make sure they hyper sanitize every surface in sight “to prevent spreading germs”

Then we have ideas around the farmhouse kids who grew up on the farm, were exposed to thousands of animal and plant species of bacteria, fungus, viruses and more that helped them develop a strong and robust immune system, which has led to many studies showing a much lower rate of allergy in “farmhouse kids” as compared to their inner city counterparts. 🌱

As someone who regularly practices lifestyle medicine with his patients and clients, I cannot emphasize enough how profoundly impactful has been the deconstruction of the routine human lifestyle over the last 100 years. We no longer see the sunshine, no longer go hiking or walk miles a day outdoors, we no longer eat real, whole foods in moderation, we no longer get regular physical activity, and nor do we preserve any downtime to recoup and recover after a stressful day and a stressful week.

Recently, the U.S. surgeon general has come out to (yet again) assign loneliness as a “silent killer” and true epidemic across this country, negatively affecting health, healing, and disease rates for Americans. Stress impacts every area of the body with physical, emotional, psychological, social (and what I believe to also be spiritual) implications.

It’s no secret to those who work in public health that both stress and loneliness have been slowly killing people for decades. The Huffington Post published a piece almost a decade ago calling loneliness the silent killer. Since 2013, we’ve seen hundreds of other discussions and public health statements come out about the issues surrounding both stress and loneliness.

Do we not think these have an impact on the overall health and vitality of someone’s immune system? Because they do.

Have you ever heard of someone giving themself a reaction to a certain food or environmental stimuli due to the stress they were under when simultaneously introduced to the routine food they used to be comfortable with? It actually happens more than what you would think and falls under the same template as a vaccine administration, in which an immune adjuvant is used to increase or prolong the host’s immunological response to the antigens presented in the vaccine.

Imagine stress as the adjuvant (or aggressor) that sparks an immune response to a certain food or chemical found in food that was layered into the experience of eating the food itself. People who live very busy lifestyles, who stress and worry a lot about things out of their control, and who eat on the go can be susceptible to this type of immunomodulation, self-inducing sensitivities or even allergies to certain foods by accident. Add poor sleep to high stress lifestyles and you have mitochondrial mayhem and weakened immune system.

If you want to live a happy, healthy life then you must protect your sleep and guard against stress. You must prioritize a healthy dietary pattern and healthy relationships in your life as well.

When it comes to allergies and autoimmune disease, there are so many things we can do to help support a healthier autonomic nervous system response to our environment such as vagal nerve stimulation, CBT, EDMR, Acupuncture, and others. We can also proactively support the immune system through daily hydration, herbal teas and tinctures, homeopathy, and other natural remedies. The common use of Elderberry comes to mind, as does something like ImmunoBerry™ Liquid, daily mineral and electrolyte balance. 🍋💧

First and foremost I would recommend working with someone on their everyday lifestyle factors such as food environment.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

What are they eating, how are they eating, when are they eating, and what does the home or work environment look like? It’s likely I would recommend an Autoimmune Paleo Diet (AIP Diet) for as little as 3-weeks to get started on a healthier healing dietary approach to support their unique needs with allergy / autoimmune during a flare.

Many people today are inundated with hundreds of toxic chemicals throughout the day from their morning facial routine to bedtime sheets and pillows washed with aggressive detergents and provocative fabric softeners.

Do we need all these extra layers of toxin exposure? Certainly not.

But we’ve been sold a long script of excessive consumerism to push us to purchase more and consume more of these toxic chemicals over the last 100 years. Our immune systems back then never had any exposure to today’s modern chemical warfare - so no wonder we hold toxic burdens from cradle to grave.

Just another reason why a quality detoxification process can be such a good tool to support the cleansing and renewing of the body and mind.

Getting rid of all the toxic junk we’ve been exposed to is ideal. We don’t need to be walking around with heavy metals, mycotoxins, or be complacent with these toxic chemicals swimming in our blood, lymph, and plasma.

For anyone truly struggling with a genuine histamine-allergy response, functional medicine practitioners will often consider the role of the DAO (diamine oxidase) enzyme that helps breakdown histamine from food in the body. This enzyme is naturally produced by the body to help breakdown histamine but can be deficient or malfunctioning (for lack of a better term) for some individuals.

Sometimes they need a little support so a doc might suggest taking some DAO support supplements through a detailed food log as they track symptoms and food intake. HistaEze™ and HistaGest-DAO™ are two commonly employed by Designs for Health as example. You’ll find similar formulary from other companies in this space too.

---

As always, I would recommend working with a qualified health professional (as always) when exploring different plans, protocols, and selecting any array of supplementation that may be helpful for you.

As a holistic health professional working with clients 1-1, I do a deep dive into someone’s individual needs and assess dozens of details that I take into consideration when helping equip and empower their health journey.

The human body is a fascinating thing; it has an incredible power to heal itself if we give it a fighting chance. For us to authentically do that, we genuinely need to swim upstream to fight the current waves rushing us in an unhealthy direction. And that’s why I’m here, to help us fight for higher health and greater autonomy in designing our lives for the better. 😎

---

All the socials:

· Instagram 📸 🌱 🌶️ · Facebook 😼📚

· Twitter 🐦 🐥 · LinkedIn 👔 👨‍⚕️ 💼

· Youtube 🎥 💡