Do you suffer from allergies?
Eczema? Psoriasis? Brain Fog? Insomnia? Chronic Pain? Arthritis? GERD? Cognitive decline?….
What do all of these have in common? The health of your Gastrointestinal Tract of course! As the wise Hippocrates knew millennia ago, ‘All disease begins in the gut.’ It has taken science way too long to catch up to this, but there have been tremendous advances in the understanding of our gut health in the last decade or so.
This is very important to understand. If you are suffering from allergies for example, and you go to your Allergist, or regular Medical Doctor, I can almost guarantee you they won’t ask about your diet or bowel habits. Instead they’ll want to either give you a prescription for something like Clarinex, or maybe run a skin prick test to assess what you’re allergic to. And most of us will comply with that.
The problem is that this Western Medical approach is only addressing the symptoms. You have a problem, so let’s suppress the symptoms with a pharmaceutical. This is the basis for the way our medical system works in the Western world. When you look at more traditional medical systems (say Chinese medicine or Ayurveda), the approach is drastically different. Rather than giving a pill for a symptom, they look at the whole person: organ systems, mental health, individual history, spiritual health, constitution, and how all of these systems interact with each other. The body is one unit, and what happens in one part of the body, effects every other part of the body and vice versa. And let’s not forget how our mental, social and spiritual health effect the health of the entire body as well.
So why do you have that allergy? I’m pretty sure it’s not a Clarinex deficiency. Wouldn’t you rather figure out why you’re having allergies and address the root cause once and for all? You don’t just get allergies, as if you’re born that way. (And here I need to clarify that when we say ‘allergy’ what we’re actually talking about in this article is ‘seasonal irritants’, or sensitivities to airborne particles. A true allergy is a life-threatening condition that you are likely born with, and you should strictly avoid. But when most of us are talking about ‘allergies’ in normal conversation, we’re actually referring to a histamine response the body produces in response to an irritant like pollen. For the sake of simplicity, I am saying allergy, which really means ‘seasonal irritant.’)
So do you want to take Clarinex for the rest of your life, or nip those allergies in the bud? More often than not, we can trace the cause back to the health of your GI tract. Like I said above, your doctor is not asking you how many bowel movements you have in a day, but he/she should! It works like this: you have an inflamed intestinal tract from a Standard American Diet, alcohol, stress, chemical exposure, medication, etc., this inflammation leads to a ‘leaky gut’ or intestinal permeability, where the lining of the gut is compromised. In a normal healthy intestine, there are ‘tight junctions’ that keep the intestinal cells closed together to prevent ‘bad’ things getting through (say, bacteria, heavy metals, airborne irritants, fungus, etc.), and to allow ‘good’ thing to get into circulation (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, phytonutrients etc.). When your gut becomes ‘leaky’ these tight junctions are compromised, and now the ‘bad’ things can get through. So now you have a scenario where the spring time pollen can make it past the lining of your intestinal tract, into your blood stream where the immune system recognizes a threat, and mounts a response. And viola, you have an itchy throat, watery eyes and congested nose. So not fun.
Well then what does Clarinex do? Clarinex and other ‘allergy’ drugs work in different fashions to suppress the bodies histamine response. Histamine is what causes you to have those itchy eyes and congested nasal passages. And while they might be effective for a while, they’re aren’t without side effects, and likely contribute to further intestinal issues as they can alter the beneficial bacteria in you intestines. This can lead to a plethora of other issues like I mentioned above. So, if you’ve followed me this far, you should be able to see that actually addressing the source of the issue- your intestinal tract, is the way to go if you want to address your allergies, and remain health for the long term.
So how do you do that? For one, try and minimize or avoid processed foods at all costs. When you go grocery shopping, you shouldn’t be reading labels, because you shouldn’t be buying food that has a label. Produce, pasture-based meats, eggs and fish, nuts and seeds. Our ancestors lived on this diet for millions of years. You can do it to. This is an essential first step if you want to make changes to your health. After you get that done, there are a lot of ways to address the health of your gut, but it’s highly unique to your own body and situation. It takes some investigation and fine tuning to make sure your addressing your needs appropriately. This can include lab tests, elimination diets, supplements, addressing infections, stress reduction, alcohol decrease, etc. It’s wise to contact a professional who is skilled in this area to help you make the most of your investment. If you’re up for the challenge and ready to make serious strides in your own health, give us a call today and we can help. Your congested sinus’s will be happy you did!
Cathy Cooke, BCHN, BBEC Holistic Nutritionist and Building Biologist is the founder of Whole Home and Body Health which provides EMF Assessments, Mold Testing, and Nutrition and Health Consulting located in Boise, Idaho. Cathy is available for consulting via skype and phone, and is also willing to travel as needed for home assessments. Schedule an appointment today!