Allergies and Food Intolerances as Well as -Intolerance
Many foods that can be consumed by the majority of people without any problems cause allergies and food intolerances in certain individuals. Depending on whether the body’s immune system is involved in these reactions or not, a distinction is made between intolerance, allergy and food intolerance.
The typical intolerance reactions, in which the immune system is not involved and therefore there is no IgE-mediated histamine release, are lactose and fructose intolerance as well as histamine intolerance.
The cause here is congenital or acquired enzyme defects, which means that these nutrients cannot be adequately digested and then lead to classic symptoms such as:
- Abdominal pain
- Diarrhea
- Flatulence
- Heartburn
- Feeling of fullness
These intolerances depend on the amount ingested, and often a restricted and controlled intake is sufficient to alleviate the symptoms.
Allergies and food intolerances, in which hypersensitivityreactions to mostly harmless substances from the environment occur due to a misdirected or overreactive immune system, play a far greater role in my practice.
Symptoms and Triggers of Allergies and Food Intolerances
The organism now forms various defense substances to ward off these supposed “attackers” and thus trigger the typical symptoms:
- Watery eyes,
- Rhinitis (runny nose) or blocked nose
- Urticaria (itching)
- red spots on the skin / eczema
- Asthma (bronchospasm)
- up to anaphylactic shock
Many of these allergies are generally known. Triggers are classically:
- Pollen
- Insect venoms
- House dust mites
- Animal hair
- Molds
- Food
- Metals
- Medications (antibiotics)
Challenge Diagnostics
Food allergies are often caused by damage to the intestine, a damaged intestinal flora or a so-called leaky gut, which leads to a disruption of the barrier function of the intestinal mucosa, antigens can pass into the bloodstream and then cause the symptoms.
Since the symptoms, especially in the case of food intolerances, can occur up to 72 hours after contact, it is often difficult for the patient to find out what is triggering these symptoms.
My practice works with various
highly specialized laboratories
that specialize in the diagnosis of various allergy types and intolerances.
These include:
- Type I allergy (pollen, animal allergies, house dust mites, insect venoms, food)
- Type IV allergy (metals, medications, food)
- Intolerances to food additives
- Food intolerances (lactose, fructose, histamine, celiac disease)
- Leaky gut and malabsorption
Therapy at Eumunys
In particular, food intolerances can have a major impact on the immune system. Therefore, as part of the treatment, a
diagnosis of the intestinal flora
as well as an
intestinal rehabilitation
and
nutritional therapy
make sense. Further measures to treat allergies and food intolerances come from the field of
immunotherapy
or
microimmunotherapy
.
