Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health
Grow Youthful: How to Slow Your Aging and Enjoy Extraordinary Health

Allergies

Allergy versus intolerance

Causes

Symptoms

Common food allergens

Testing for allergies

Prevention / remedies / cures / treatment for allergies

References

Allergy versus intolerance

Allergies and hypersensitivities are when your body's immune system has a response to an allergin (trigger). In the case of an allergy, antibodies (IgE) are produced by your immune system. With a hypersensitivity, there are no antibodies.

Food intolerance, on the other hand, does not involve the immune system. Food intolerances are the most common cause of digestive problems, and can also cause other symptoms such as headaches and fatigue. Some people are also intolerant to specific chemicals such as salicylates, caffeine, amines, glutamate, and food additives, colourings and preservatives.

Food intolerances can lead to irritable bowel syndrome, and may be related to malabsorption.

More and more people are getting chronic allergies. An allergic reaction is your body's response to what it thinks is an invader. The most common allergens (triggers) are foods like nuts, fish, shellfish, citrus and eggs; dusts; mould; cleaning and other household chemicals; pollens and animal dander.

Causes


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Symptoms

The symptoms below can range from mild to severe. In the worst case, people develop life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis with difficult breathing, rapid swelling of the throat or tongue, a sudden drop in blood pressure, and loss of consciousness.

Common food allergens

Food allergies are particularly common today, with a wide range of foods affecting different people. The allergic reaction can sometimes occur within minutes, but other foods only show their affect after a day or several days.

Testing for allergies

Your doctor can test for specific allergies. You can also do an elimination test, where you eat nothing but safe vegetables and other safe foods for ten days. You then gradually re-introduce suspect foods, one-by-one at subsequent meals. Eat a large quantity of the suspect food, and measure your pulse before and after, and each half hour after. Try to ensure all other conditions remain the same. If your pulse goes up significantly, or you suffer other allergic reactions, you are probably allergic to that food. Of course, you can be allergic to several foods.

Pulse rate increase. A faster hear beat is a home test of whether you are allergic to any substance. Settle comfortably for a few minutes and then take your pulse. After noting your resting hear rate, take a safe amount of the substance you are testing for. Note your pulse rate in the minutes, hours and days after taking this substance. Sometimes your pulse rate will go up immediately and obviously after ingesting the substance, but often you will need to keep a diary of your pulse rate and test multiple times. Of course, try not to change any other factors which may also be allergens or triggers.

Prevention / remedies / cures / treatment for allergies

If you use any of these remedies, please come back next week (or whenever you have an outcome) and let us know about your experience. Please leave a comment as many people are interested.

See details of remedies recommended by Grow Youthful visitors, and their experience with them.

References

1. Bill Hesselmar, Fei Sjoberg, Robert Saalman, Nils Aberg, Ingegerd Adlerberth, Agnes E. Wold. Pacifier Cleaning Practices and Risk of Allergy Development. Pediatrics. Published online May 6, 2013. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-3345.