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In general terms, an allergy is a disorder which is brought about when the body adversely reacts to substances normally considered harmless. A true allergy is one which evokes certain medically recognizable responses in the body's immune system.

Whereas non-harmful substances are metabolized effectively and broken down into approximately forty essential nutrients, allergenic substances are not. They clog the bloodstream and lymph system and are absorbed by the tissues, where they can continue to accumulate until ingestion of allergens ceases. Even then it will be days, weeks or even months, before this accumulated toxic matter is slowly dispersed by the overworked kidneys and liver.

In recent years, it has become evident that there are other types of sensitivities particularly relating to food and chemicals, which whilst not allergies in the true medical sense, are just as devastating in their effect on the body and the life of the sufferer. How the mechanisms of these sensitivities work is not fully clear. For our purposes the term allergy will be used in its broadest sense, to cover all types of adverse reactions by the body, to various substances, known as allergens.

Causes:

These will be dealt with in more detail in later chapters. However, in general terms, there appear to be two categories of allergy illness. Firstly, there is the specific allergy, caused by a partially digested food substance entering the bloodstream through the intestine and causing a toxic, chemical reaction. Normally, when a food substance enters the bloodstream, enzymes and white cells in the blood, complete the digestive process. However, in an allergic person the immune system does not respond normally. It is now known that damage to the small intestine, caused by incorrect feeding as an infant, is one major cause of this. Metabolic and digestive disturbances, resulting from severe illness and genetic defects are others.

Secondly, it has become increasingly evident that in recent years, people are developing a wide range of multiple sensitivities which appear to be caused by the accumulated toxic overload of our twenties century, Western lifestyle. Over the past thirty years, the human body has been subjected to processed foods, together with their chemical additives, in ever-increasing quantities. Combine this with chemicals from other sources, which are polluting both atmosphere and soil, and we have an increasing toxic situation in the body which is making a lot of people sick. Unfortunately, this form of illness is difficult to diagnose, and will remain so until more doctors begin to take an interest in clinical ecology; a branch of medicine which has evolved in America to deal with illness caused by the individual's environment.

Symptoms

If you suffer from any of the following medical problems on a recurring basis, you may well have an allergy to one or perhaps several substances in your diet and environment - headaches, colds, catarrh, sinusitis, hay fever, aching, skin rashes, overheating, irritated bowel, constipation, urinary infections, joint and back pain, excessive sweating, indigestion, flatulence, asthma, accelerated heartbeat, blurred vision, tight facial muscles, slurred or awkward speech and many others.

Other more general symptoms but equally as important as indicators of allergic reactions are: tiredness, depression, loss of concentration, florid face, memory difficulties, insomnia, heaviness or dullness, rheumatism, arthritis, abdominal swelling, cold feeling and many others. Many people have been going to their doctors for years and complaining of one or several of these symptoms. Time and time again, nothing further has been done for them, except a prescription for a palliative drug.

A classic example of a symptom which has been causing doctors to scratch their heads for years, is the migraine headache. Recently, London's Institute of Child Health tested eighty-eight children with severe migraine headaches. Each was placed on a special diet designed to avoid as many allergy-inducing foods as possible. The result was that eighty-two children, 93 per cent, were completely free of headache while on the diet. Foods were than reintroduced, one at a time, and all eighty-two relapsed. Finally, when the offending foods were sorted out, it was found that seventeen were allergic to one food only, while the remaining sixty-five were allergic to several foods. The most common of these were: cows' milk, eggs, chocolate, oranges and wheat, followed by cheese, tomatoes, fish, beef and pork. It was also found that the children were usually very fond of the provoking food.