Food Allergy & chronic Illness
Fatigue and musculoskeletal pain are
two of the most common human symptoms. Non-specific pain syndromes have been
described in the medical literature over many years. The onset of most viral
infections and many other well-known diseases begins with aching, fatigue and
cognitive dysfunction. Viral hepatitis, for example, may simmer for months
causing aching and chronic fatigue.
Nonspecific symptoms occur in the early stages of the other diseases such as
rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosis and multiple sclerosis. Different
causes can be suggested for generalized pain and tenderness. Food allergy and
other food supply problems are usually not considered. Toxicity from industrial
and domestic sources is also seldom considered. The recognition that chronic
pain can be an expression of non-specific hypersensitivity disorders has been
slow in coming. The acceptance of diet revision as a prerequisite for recovery
is even slower.
We are inclined to see digestive tract problems as a first step in the
production of fibromyalgia. Symptoms of gastrointestinal tract dysfunction are
central to the wider range of clinical manifestations of food allergy and should
be seen as evidence that there are problems down-stream (the rest of the body
and brain) related to the food supply. Other diagnoses cluster around the
central gastrointestinal tract dysfunction - migraine, fibromyalgia, depression,
chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, asthma, and arthralgias are typical associations.
Thus, a patient with irritable bowel symptoms, fibromyalgia, depression and
asthma may have 4 major manifestation of food allergy, not four separate
clinical problems. Increased entry of food antigens into the blood stream is one
way to explain this package deal.
Let us consider Dr. Kelly Krohn's (Oregon Health Science University )
description of symptoms associated with fibromyalgia. She stated: "The
majority of fibromyalgia patients have a large number of other symptoms - often
a major source of frustration and lead to a reduced quality of life. Many
physicians are not familiar with the polysymptomatic nature of fibromyalgia
patients. The most common problems are:
1. Abdominal pain - most often due to irritable bowel syndrome
2.
Numbness and tingling in the extremities
3. Cold intolerance -- often
associated with Raynaud's phenomenon
4. Urinary frequency and urgency - irritable bladder
5. Restless legs
6. Sleep apnea - more common in men with fibromyalgia
7. Secondary growth
hormone deficiency
8. Secondary psychological reactions
9. Sicca symptoms:
dry eyes and dry mouth"
We call this collection of symptoms the
type iii pattern
food allergy and invented the Alpha Nutrition Program to solve the problem.
A Look at the Symptoms
A.J. Rowe, T.G. Randolph, and Fredrick Speer were American
allergists who associated the pain-fatigue cluster of symptoms with food
allergies. Rowe described "allergic toxemia" in 1930 with the symptoms of
drowsiness, mental confusion, lack of initiate and ambition, irritability,
fatigue, aching, and a feeling of being poisoned. Rowe developed a number of
elimination diets to treat allergic toxemia and reported that a wide spectrum of
mental-emotional and physical symptoms could be relieved by diet revision.
Dr. Theron Randolph and Fredrick Speer also associated the aching and fatigue
with food and inhalant allergies. Speer referred to the
"allergic-tension-fatigue" syndrome and described "motor fatigue". Dr. Wm.
Knicker and a host of other researchers and clinicians studying food allergy
went on to describe a complex of immune mechanisms that play a role in the
chronic patterns of food allergy. Knicker advocated the concept of
"delayed pattern food allergy". The mechanisms of delayed pattern food allergy
are diverse, complex, and different from the mechanism that causes the hay fever
type of allergy.
A plausible explanation for the immune mechanisms which cause fibromyalgia
involve the following steps:
- The abnormal entry of large food molecules and bacteria into the bloodstream
- The formation of immune complexes
- The action of chemical mediators released by activated immune cells
- The activation of cell-mediated immunity
These food allergy mechanisms are not revealed by skin tests nor reliably by
any other test that is currently available. The Alpha Nutrition Program is designed to reduce food allergy, food toxicity
and to increase the beneficial effects of healthy foods. The most definitive
clearing program starts with a food holiday to find out what role food had be
playing in causing the illness. Food is replaced by an elemental nutrient
formula (Alpha ENF) composed of nutrients
in their pure for a clearing period of 10 days or longer. Alpha ENF allows a
sick person to return to a baseline of more normal functioning, with reduction
in levels of pain and tenderness. Increased mobility follows and exertional
tolerance is improved by slow, gentle increments in activity levels.
Some patients have lost tolerance to many foods and only feel well if they
eat a small number of carefully selected foods for period ranging from several
weeks to several months. Their tolerance to food usually increases within six
month to a year, but relapses tend to occur years later if they eat carelessly
again. Some patients are also hypersensitive to chemicals in their environment,
and often need special protection from cigarette smoke, household solvents,
perfumes and paints.