better this season. Better Nutrition v61, n4 (April, 1999):44 (1 pages).COPYRIGHT 1999 Intertec Publishing Corporation, a PRIMEDIA Company. All rights reserved. How to feel better this season
What
do you think of when you think of spring? If you're allergy-free, chances are this sweet-scented season brings to mind visions of tulips and cherry blossoms. However, if you're among the more than 50 million
Americans who suffer from allergies, spring brings to mind watering eyes, a tickling throat, a runny nose, incessant sneezing, headaches, and itching. The main culprit at this time of year is usually pollen.
Of course, spring is not the only season in which allergies strike. There are allergies lurking year `round in the form of dust mites, mold spores, foods, cosmetics, paint, cleaning products, latex, pet
dander, and tobacco smoke, to name just a few. And, allergic people are usually sensitive to more than one allergen.
Exactly what is an allergy? According to the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of
America, Washington, D.C., an allergy is a specific reaction to a normally harmless substance, one that does not bother most people. Allergies do have a genetic component -- if only one parent has allergies,
chances are one in three that each child will have an allergy. But if both parents have allergies, chances that their children will have allergies rises to seven in 10.
The rise of indoor allergens
So
much emphasis is now placed on tighter insulation in homes to preserve heat in winter and cool air in summer that little thought is given to the fact that such measures also seal in pollutants.
In his
classic book, An Alternative Approach to Allergies, Theron Randolph, M.D., perhaps the greatest clinical ecologist of all time, writes: "... indoor air pollution is eight to 10 times more important as a
source of chronic illness in susceptible people than is ambient air pollution. Outdoor air pollution tends to be intermittent and variable, while indoor air pollution is constant."
Some modifications
can be made in your home environment to help reduce the level of allergens present. One of my patients seemed to sneeze at the very thought of house dust, so I advised him to get rid of all carpeting and go
back to wood floors, and to replace dust-collecting, open bookshelves with glass-door book cases.
Food allergies
According to the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, approximately 1 to 2
percent of adults are sensitive to foods or food additives. However, 8 percent of children under the age of 6 are believed to have food allergies.
I believe that eating processed foods causes a large
percentage of the problems, because they contain many ingredients that trigger allergic reactions, including asthma. These aren't always listed on labels: hidden sugars, sodium, MSG (the flavor enhancer),
gluten, corn syrup, and peanuts -- among a host of others -- as well as chemical preservatives, artificial colors, artificial flavors, and emulsifiers.
Noted for bringing on attacks of asthma are the food
additives: sulfites and sulfur dioxide. Banned from being sprayed on restaurant fruits and vegetables to keep them fresh looking, sulfites find their way into bottled and colored soft drinks -- unless their
labels state "no preservatives."
Wine, beer, and vinegar also contain sulfites, as do dried fruits, such as apricots, unless labeled "sun-dried." Most sausage is full of sulfites, and
also contains nitrates and nitrites that can contribute to cancer, in addition to allergies and asthma. More than a dozen of my patients have cleared up their asthma and allergy symptoms -- such as sneezing,
eye-watering, or itching -- simply by eliminating processed foods and adding organically grown fruits and vegetables and whole-grain products to their diets.
Taking a closer look at asthma
According to
the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, between 14 and 15 million people in the United States have asthma. Of these people, 5 million are children.
Asthma symptoms include coughing,
chest tightness, wheezing, and shortness of breath. While its exact cause is not known, asthma attacks are often triggered by allergens, such as pollen, dust and pet dander, certain medications, foods and
food additives, cockroaches, and more. Because it is allergies that trigger asthma, an expression we often hear in the medical profession is "Every allergic person is not asthmatic, but every asthmatic
person is allergic."
Asthma is a very serious disease, and it is on the rise. According to the Children's Health Fund (CHF), New York, the number of children hospitalized for asthma nationwide has
increased fivefold over the past 20 years. While treatable, if not managed properly asthma can be fatal. In fact, CHF reports that over 3,800 children and young adults under age 25 died from asthma
nationwide between the years 1980 and 1993. The good news is that, when managed properly, asthma is a very treatable and "beatable" disease.
Supplements for support
For those suffering with
allergies, I often include a multimineral supplement containing 1,000 mg of calcium and 500 mg of magnesium, along with an additional 500-mg capsule of magnesium, as it is a relaxant helpful in preventing
spasms of bronchial tubes.
For cleansing of toxins from the body, those specializing in herbs for allergies have patients add three to four glasses of pure water to their usual daily intake, and recommend
for them to drink a large cup of red clover tea in the morning and evening. Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as regular exercise, accelerate bowel movement for further cleansing.
Other herbs
that help ease, or alleviate, asthma symptoms include chamomile, garlic, ginkgo, marshmallow root, and mullein for asthma prevention. In my own experience, the herb, passionflower, is excellent for asthma,
as it relaxes the smooth muscles that spasm during asthmatic attacks.
Three homeopathic medicines that have been found effective for asthma and other allergy symptoms include Calc Phos, Kali Phos, and Mag
Phos.
So, you see, there's no need to suffer through your allergies, whether they be environmental- or food-related. Keep some nutritional friends nearby for help and relief. John W. Tintera, M.D., in the
1950s, developed a phenomenally successful method of coping with asthma and allergies by strengthening weak adrenal glands with adrenal cortical extract.
Tintera's findings, included in the book, Adrenal
Syndrome, by G.E. Poesnecker, N.D., D.C., are explained: "In more than 20 years of a busy practice [as an endocrinologist] with thousands of patients," states Tintera, "I've yet to work with
an allergic patient whose troubles weren't basically due to his poorly functioning adrenals, or who wasn't relieved when his adrenal glands were put in proper working order."
I have chosen to adapt
his method for helping patients in my practice cope with allergies and asthma by also focusing on adrenal gland health. My experience with patients suffering adrenal weakness and overwhelming fatigue is that
they not only recharged adrenal function and regained energy, but also overcame their allergies. I start with a betaine-hydrochloride supplement with pepsin, as most patients are low in digestive acids,
especially those who are middle-age and older.
A deficiency of stomach acids blocks digestion of foods and ability to gain maximum values from it, contributing to under-nourishment. Undigested food often
ferments in the small intestine, creating gas and pain. Acid formed from this process can eat away some of the intestinal lining, permitting toxins to enter the bloodstream, thus potentially causing allergic
responses; this is called "Leaky Gut" syndrome, and is caused by chemicals we ingest in foods and from the air we breathe, as well as from smoking and over-indulging in coffee or alcohol.
Another part of my recommended daily regimen is raw adrenal glandular extract. Other parts of the program include: vitamin A from fish oils (10,0001.U.); vitamin C (1,500 mg daily in three divided doses);
100 mg of pantothenic acid (supported by a B-complex capsule with at least 50 mg of the major B fractions); 400 I.U. of vitamin E; and an echinacea-goldenseal capsule twice daily. Each of these nutrients
supports adrenal gland health, and, so, works well in a treatment program to help those suffering with allergies and/or asthma.
Stephen Langer, M.D., practices preventive/nutritional medicine in Berkeley,
Calif. He is co-author, along with Better Nutrition contributor, James F. Scheer, of Solved: The Riddle of Illness, a perennial best-seller. Stephen is also president of the American Nutritional Medical
Association in Berkeley.
