Welcome to the Mind Body Spirit podcast.
I'm your host Kim Shepard,
Combining science and intuition to support your mind,
Body,
Soul wellness journey.
Today's podcast is about allergies.
Clinically as a naturopath I see a lot of people coming through with allergies to lots of different things.
And the most common presentation of it we come through is eczema.
There's some other people who come through with hives,
We can get gut issues,
But a lot of people are finding that their skin is really irritated.
So it's really important to identify the underlying cause as to what is actually causing this allergic response within the body.
And for many people it can be due to food sensitivities.
And it might be that they're eating too much of a food that their body is actually not wanting to eat.
Or perhaps they're eating it so often on a daily basis,
Or sometimes with every meal three times a day,
That it's building up in their body too fast.
The body is not getting a chance to be able to metabolize it and be able to eliminate it from the body in time before it's actually reintroduced again in the next meal.
So the most common food sensitivities that we see,
People clinically coming to me for a bit of support.
The top two is gluten and dairy.
And many people find that dairy is something that will upset their stomach,
But I do see it causing a lot of asthma,
So skin issues,
But also a lot of ear,
Nose,
Throat issues.
So people who might present with that post nasal drip where they're constantly having to snort back into their throat.
They might present with a bit of a glue ear.
So they've got all these ear infections that are presenting often,
Or they might be really congested in the sinuses.
So when it comes to a food sensitivity,
It's not always going to be present within the gut.
It might even be seen in symptoms within the lungs as well,
Because there's a very strong connection between the gut,
The lungs and the skin.
So quite often just eliminating those foods,
And even within a week,
People can see a pretty big improvement within their health and their well-being.
And I don't like to eliminate foods unless it's necessary,
Because if your body is able to tolerate food and you can appreciate the flavor of it as well,
I like people to be able to enjoy it.
So for some people,
It might be that they have a sensitivity to lactose,
So to the milk sugar.
And some people switching from just full cream milk to a lactose-free provides them the relief that they've been looking for.
For some people,
They might notice an improvement,
But are still presenting with symptoms that might actually be the milk proteins that they're reacting to.
So in that case,
Then I'd say try a plant-based alternative just to see how the body responds.
And there are heaps of fantastic plant-based options these days.
Even for myself,
I've been sensitive to dairy.
I was diagnosed at the age of six,
And that took quite a few years even to get that diagnosis,
Because I had really severe asthma.
And I was having trouble breathing and had to go to the hospital a few times because I stopped breathing.
And back then,
There wasn't a lot of options of having a plant-based alternative.
So even for me back then,
My options were just trialing goat's milk,
Which I was still sensitive to as well.
But these days,
We have got oat and rice and almond and soy and a whole bunch of different other options as well.
So dairy is something I see in clinic a lot that people react to.
And I always like to use the motivation that if you want to be able to get off dairy,
But you're lacking the motivation of being able to get off it because you're hooked to the flavor of it,
Then I just think about the function of milk.
The function is designed to make a baby cow grow fat and fast.
And as adults,
We don't usually need that type of support.
So if it's something that it might be that maybe you just reduce the amount of it,
And that makes it an easier transition for you to kind of wean yourself back off dairy.
So gluten being the other thing that people react to,
I quite often see that present with eczema as well.
And even for me personally,
If I was to eat gluten,
Usually within at least three hours or the next day,
My hands will start to break out in eczema.
So I get quite an irritating response from gluten as well.
And there's many people out there who are celiac,
But there's many people like myself who aren't a true celiac.
But we have what's referred to as a non-celiac gluten sensitivity.
And even when I've got patients working with celiac specialists as well,
Some of the specialists are coming back and saying that they don't fully understand all of the genes involved yet when it comes to diagnosing someone as celiac.
Because I can have a patient with full-blown celiac symptoms,
They're doubled over in pain,
Yet they don't have the known celiac gene being present to give them that diagnosis of being a true celiac.
But the clinician,
The celiac specialist will even say,
Look,
But you're clearly coming back with this celiac response.
There's something else that they're not quite understanding yet,
The science behind that.
So gluten is really common.
And even when I looked at the research of it,
It's not necessarily that we're always reacting to gluten.
We could be reacting to the pesticides and the chemicals that are on the grains as well.
Because our body is designed to be able to digest and metabolize and absorb nature,
But not the chemicals.
And that's where our body can become burdened with these chemicals because they are just naturally present in so many different things and not even just our foods.
So they're the top two that I really do see people coming back with these allergies.
The other two common ones are soy,
Which I'd say is number three,
Peanuts and corn.
But then I've still seen people react to other different foods.
So in clinic,
I have a food sensitivity test that I request for patients that is done via a finger prick test or a blood test,
Which they would go to QML here in Queensland in Australia.
And it checks 96 different foods.
There's tests that can check up to 146,
But I find most of my patients don't eat that wide a range,
A variety of foods.
And 96 is usually incredibly comprehensive.
And it provides people some answers to let them know what it is that they're actually reacting to.
And for some people,
An allergic response can be immediate if they're anaphylactic,
Or it can take 30 minutes,
A few hours.
It could take until the next day,
Or it could even take three days.
Food sensitivities and allergies don't necessarily present immediately,
Which can make it a little bit difficult for people to distinguish what it is that they are reacting to.
Other allergies that people can be reacting to could be airborne.
So particularly in springtime with the change of the seasons,
I do see some people who move from interstate and then having to adapt to the natural fauna and flora within the environment can trigger allergies as well.
It can also be chemical allergies.
So being mindful of what you wash your clothes with and the products you use to clean your home.
There are chemicals everywhere,
And I don't say don't stress over it because stress will make your allergies worse.
But just being mindful of making healthier choices bit by bit,
Rather than putting the pressure on yourself that you need to feel like you make the best decision every time,
Which can be challenging,
Stressful,
Or it might be a bit expensive,
Because there are chemicals in our pillows and in our clothes and in our bed.
It's just a natural process of the modern day world.
So one of the most important things that we need to do in addition to identifying the underlying cause of what is triggering an allergic response with someone is managing their stress levels.
So when it comes to stress,
It is one of the most common things that I see flaring up processes within my patients' bodies.
So stress impacts your gut health,
And your gut has about 70% of your immune system residing there.
So we need your gut functioning really well.
And a lot of people that I meet aren't fully aware of what a healthy gut function is.
So I have recorded some other podcasts that go deeper into making sure that you've got a healthy gut response.
So check out podcast three and podcast five to learn more about your gut health.
Your gut is vital to supporting your allergies and your immune system.
Even making sure that people are getting the right support and right testing.
So I've got lots of different testing options for patients.
If they're getting allergic response within the gut,
I've got a stool test that I can request for them that is incredibly comprehensive.
And it's the most comprehensive test I have seen.
So it's a common one that naturopaths use,
But I haven't seen any other practitioners use it in my personal experience,
Except for one GP has requested it.
And it lets us know how the gut is functioning.
It talks about the good bacteria.
It checks for a huge variety of whether there's parasites or bacteria or viruses residing within the gut.
So it's really comprehensive.
So we need to get the stress under control.
So that ties into our mental health and our well-being.
And when it comes to feeling safe,
Supported,
Calm,
And having a healthy immune system,
This all connects back into our base chakra.
So we want to make sure that we're feeling grounded.
Someone who is presenting with allergies has often either been sick chronically.
So it could be that they find every couple of weeks they're catching the next germ going around.
Or it might be a child who's in daycare catching all of the germs that go through daycare.
It might be that someone has just been working really hard for at least six months is what I see.
But some people,
They don't come in until they've been working hard for years and they're burning themselves out.
And that's when they start to present with allergies.
Allergies could also present as hives.
So for me,
If I eat soy,
That comes through as hives for me.
And that's a pretty quick response for me.
But food sensitivities or responding to different environmental or chemical allergens can present uniquely new.
For some people,
It might be headaches.
It might be that it really affects your energy levels.
It can be so many different things.
So learning to recognize what the underlying trigger is and all of the symptoms that are presenting.
When we help you to learn what your triggers are and what's presenting,
This can help you to make better choices for you.
To support your body in feeling much,
Much healthier.
So if you're needing to balance your base chakra,
I do have a grounding guided meditation you can listen to as well.
And it might be that you need to spend some time with nature.
You need to block some time out in your calendar so you can enjoy relaxing in life.
It might be that you need to surround yourself with a color red or working with some crystals.
You might want to work with some smoky quartz or some black tourmalines.
Any of the black or the red crystals are usually very grounding.
And that can be something to support you to wind down at the end of the day.
It might be something that you have next to your bed if that helps to support your sleep.
Or it might be that you choose to carry a little tumble stone in your pocket or to have these crystals on your desk at work.
It's really important to have time out.
In a busy world,
People aren't necessarily doing what they uniquely need to help them to relax.
Insight timer is one of my favorite ways to support people to relax.
I'm always recommending people to listen to the amazing guided meditations or podcasts or yoga classes that are on this app.
It might be that people just need to take some time out and to spend some time in their garden.
And to get off their screens and to stop scrolling through technology.
Learning to listen to yourself is really important to help get these allergies under control.
When it comes to dust mite allergies,
That's usually someone who's been chronically stressed for years.
And the immune system has become hyper responsive.
It's overreacting.
And that's another really common one that I often see.
And they need to educate patients on how to support themselves.
So if you do have any questions,
Please reach out.
As a naturopath,
I'm here to support people with their goals.
To help them to empower themselves and to identify what they uniquely need.
Rather than feeling like you need to rely on practitioners to tell you what you need to do.
I love to support you to identify what your body is innately trying to communicate to you.
Because your body is incredibly intelligent.
We just need to slow down and learn to listen to it and have the right support around us.
So get in touch if you need any support.
I hope that you are all enjoying life and I'll chat to you at the next podcast.
Bye for now.
