MD Cause: Food!

MD Rx: Anti-inflammatory drugs, immune-suppressing drugs, epinephrine injections.[1] 

ND Cause: There is a medical condition called "Leaky Gut Syndrome." MDs do not believe that it exists. Naturopathic doctors believe that Leakey-Gut Syndrome is the operative cause of food allergies. In order to understand this mechanism behind Leaky-Gut Syndrome, we need to have a cursory understanding of how digestion in the human body works:    

• The goal of digestion is to break-down molecules of food into smaller and smaller pieces so that they can be absorbed into the bloodstream.   

• The first step in this domino-chain of digestion is the mouth. The teeth mechanically grind the food into smaller and smaller pieces. The saliva in the mouth begins the process of chemical digestion.    

• From the mouth, food goes down the throat into the stomach. The stomach is where the “lion’s share” of digestion occurs – and it is 100% chemical. The stomach is basically a great big bowl of acid. In a healthy stomach, solid food is digested-down into a liquid slurry which then leaves the stomach and enters the small intestine.   

• The job of the small intestine is to absorb and transport into the bloodstream what it has received from the stomach. The structures in the small intestine which absorb nutrients into the bloodstream are called "intestinal villi." There are literally billions of villi and microvilli found in the (approximately) 9 feet of small intestines in your body. If the villi are damaged, then microscopic holes are created in the wall of the small intestine. This is where the term "Leaky- Gut" came from.   

• If food enters the bloodstream trough these microscopic holes instead of through the villi, then the immune system is triggered. Much the same way as border guards look for illegal immigrants coming into a country, the immune system is programmed to detect and destroy anything that has entered into the blood through improper channels. 

• So, when a molecule of organic egg (for instance) enters into the bloodstream through a hole in the intestinal wall, an immune response is capitulated. There are a number of reactions that occur once the immune system attacks, in this case, the egg protein.

•  The immune system attempts to destroy the protein by dissolving it interestingly enough in acid or attacking with a free radical. If there are a lot of egg proteins that the immune system is attacking, then inevitably the tissues adjacent to these egg proteins will experience collateral damage. 

• The immune system also builds antibodies to the egg protein. Now - every time in the future that the immune system encounters an egg protein in the blood - even if it entered there properly through the villi, it will attack and attempt to destroy it.  Chronic inflammation is the hallmark of a food allergy.

• Food allergies can be diagnosed with blood work, but there is debate in naturopathic circles as to which blood tests are the best. I am of the opinion that the "Carrol Food Intolerance" (1) testing is superior to all other types.

  My Rx: In addition to the 90 EN:      

  • Maqui-Plus: 1 bottle per 50 pounds per month for the first month, in divided doses. 1 bottle per 100 pounds per month for months 2 and 3. You shouldn’t need to take this for longer than 3 months. The operative ingredient here is a liquid extract of Aloe-vera juice, which is very soothing to inflamed mucous membranes.     

  • Beyond Tangy Tangerine tablets: 1 bottle per month if above 100 pounds, in divided doses. If below 100 pounds, then take 1 cap per 25 pounds per day. The active ingredient here is “Pre-Pro” which is a most excellent blend of pre-biotics and probiotics which go a long way towards helping the small intestine to heal itself. 

  • Cell Shield RTQ:1 bottle per 100 pounds per month in divided doses. The operative ingredient here is "quercetin." Quercetin knocks down the allergic response that your body creates. It is kind of like putting ice on a bruise.     

  • More important than nutritional supplementation in dealing with food allergies, is the COMPLETE elimination of the 12 bad foods, and discovering and eliminating the foods that you are allergic to with the Carroll Food Intolerance testing. You should eliminate the 12 bad foods for the rest of your life and the foods that you test positive to with the hellcat testing for a minimum of six months. After six months is up you can reintroduce (one at a time every 2 days) the foods that you were avoiding from the Alcat test. Wait 48 hours after re-introducing them and see how you feel. If nothing aggravating happens anywhere in your body after reintroducing a food that you were previously allergic to then the odds are high that you can eat it again with impunity. 

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(1) Call my office for a Carroll Food Intolerance Test Kit.