ALLERGY: THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IN OVERDRIVE

Allergies are best regarded as abnormally excessive reactions to otherwise harmless substances. However, allergies are becoming much more common for reasons that are not well understood. The orthodox approach to allergies is to suppress the symptoms with anti-histamine or steroid-based medication, but these can cause side effects, so many people turn to natural therapies for help. Homeopathy and herbal remedies are very often effective treatments for hayfever, house dust allergy and skin reactions to food, such as 'hives' (urticaria).

Prevention is another approach. One way to avoid the substances, known as allergens, to which you overact. This can be difficult when the allergens that affect you are numerous or have not been identified with certainty.

Preventing Allergies
Some doctors believe that you can benefit from even a modest reduction in exposure to the allergens that affect you, especially when this reduction is coupled with other lifestyle improvements, such as:

• Eating Optimum Diet, to keep your immune system healthy and working effectively.
• Avoiding the chemicals that are added to food and minimizing your exposure to other chemicals. In this way the burden on the immune system is reduced, so it is better to react normally to other substances and avoid allergic reactions.
• Paying attention to psychological health, as there is a growing awareness among scientists that our emotional and immune system are closely connected.

A healthy diet should include 3-5 portions of vegetables and 2-4 portions of fruit each day.

Food Allergy
True food allergies are normally lifelong reactions to a particular food. The food are usually easily identified and can be avoided. Allergic reactions to food include digestive upsets, a runny nose and watery eyes and the itchy rashes that are sometimes known as 'hives' or urticaria.

More seriously, food is one cause of a condition that doctors called anaphylaxis. This is a potentially life-threatening reaction that ofen starts with swelling around the mouth and throat, but also affects the whole body. It can be fatal if not treated urgently with medicine. Any swelling around your mouth after eating, or a serious reaction to an insect bite or sting. merits a consultation with your doctor.

Food Intolerance
Food intolerance is a more controversial subject than food allergy. The symptoms include a rapid heartbeat or sudden exhaustion after eating, painful joints and digestive discomfort, and generally feeling unwell. Many people refer to these reactions as 'allergies', but doctors usually disagree because the underlying causes remain unknown and may not even involve the immune system.

Food intolerance often results from food that are eaten every day, such as wheat and cow's milk. Finding alternatives to these common food for two or three days each week may help to reduce the risk of developing intolerance. For example, wheat can be replaced by rye, barley, rice, corn or other sources of starch, such as beans or root vegetables. Cow's milk can be replaced with soya or nut milk, or milk from another animal such as a goat or sheep. Many people find that the food which upset them change over time and it is often possible to reintroduce the offending food after they have beeen excluded fo a while. However, it is best then to avoid eating these more often than twice a week.

Excluding a wide range of suspect food from the diet can cause nutritional deficiencies and sadly, there have been some deaths from malnutrition when a strict exclusion diet has been followed unwisely. It is, therefore, essential before changing your diet to seek guidance from a qualified health professional with a special interest in allergic illnesses, especially if you seem to be intolerant of several food. Doctors who practise environmental medicine recommend minimizing the risk of developing food intolerance by eating fresh food in season and eating as wide range of different food as possible.