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 Reprinted from issue 1 of Naturally Good Magazine.
What Allergies Really Are and Their Relationship To A.D.D./A.D.H.D. Symptoms and Other Diseases
Allergens are a common problem in this era, as are the pharmaceutical drugs that are designed to help us deal with them. An allergy prone individual has to take a pill every twelve hours endlessly if he trusts orthodox medicine to treat him, and this is merely treating the symptoms. Allergies are technically incurable because they are actually symptoms of a greater problem within. The allergic symptoms are attempts by the body to defend itself, so it is impossible to stop these histamine reactions, and it is unwise in the long term to try, but such is orthodox medicine. Alternative medicine deals with the root causes of problems, instead of merely symptom suppression, and so there are vastly better options available with holistic methods.
Allergies are caused by the overgrowth of candida albicans. This is a type of yeast that thrives in the gastrointestinal tract whenever the body is acidic. There will always be some of this yeast, but it is balanced by healthy bacteria known as intestinal flora inside anyone having good health. Intestinal flora helps in the digestion process, and it aids in neutralizing toxic materials. The flora is beneficial bacteria, while candida is a parasitic yeast, which robs the body of nutrients, and it increases the toxic waste products that the body must eliminate.
With ideal health, the flora bacteria vastly outnumbers and persistently overwhelms the candida. The job of the flora is to provide additional immune system support to the dirtiest parts of the human body, where the normal immune system cannot compete with all the pathogens unaided, and to aid with proper digestion. Your life depends on those little guys protecting your body.
When an overgrowth of yeast overwhelms the flora, it causes various health issues. Excessive yeast creates a toxic state for the digestive system from its waste products, which ultimately trickle into the rest of the body: triggering allergies from an immune system already made hyperactive by the overwhelming fungal invaders. The result is the symptoms of illness, as well as preventing the body from absorbing useful nutrients. The impaired absorption of nutrients combined with an onslaught of candida waste products (with the related allergic and immune responses) begins the vicious cycle of declining health, and infections. The results include fatigue, headaches, mood swings, depression, poor memory, lack of concentration, sweet cravings, carbohydrate cravings, and the further weakening of the already compromised immune system as these issues snowball.
Ironically, candida usually undergoes a massive growth spurt after taking antibiotics. This is partly due to antibiotics being somewhat more fatal to the good bacteria, which normally keeps candida growth in check. Unfortunately, when antibiotics are discontinued, the immune system is left weakened, which places the candida in a position of advantage. For someone who has just stopped taking antibiotics, the best thing that he could do for his body is to begin eating large amounts of plain yogurt (preferably organic). Flavored yogurts contain lots of sugar, which can feed the yeast, and therefore may actually cause the the condition to worsen.
Our Over Driven Immune Systems, Bastardized Sugars, and Toxicity
Because sugar fuels candida, the people who eat a diet high in carbohydrates are most likely to experience allergies and immune system problems. The worst of the sugars are the white, refined sugars (which have been bleached and otherwise chemically bastardized), and the high fructose corn syrups. It is the sugar loving yeast that is additionally the main cause of both dental cavities and bad breath. People with strong immune systems rarely get cavities or bad breath, for instance.
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Treating candida through diet is a surprisingly easy task. For any person wishing to cure his generalized allergies, the reduction of his carbohydrate intake is the first step. The results can make a person's life significantly easier, and even eliminates the depressions of some people. It involves the avoidance of foods which are based on yeast or refined carbohydrates such as white bread, white rice, mushrooms, and beer. Note that whole wheat products and brown rice are fine in moderation, because foods are naturally good until they are altered by the chemical industry. These foods were never white in nature, and never existed until the 1950's, when the chemical industry decided to enhance and enrich our foods with chemical processing, including the use of chlorine bleach. The food remnants of bleaching are incredibly bad for the body, as well as being quite toxic to flora: hence the issue with 'white' products, such as white flour, white sugar, and white rice. (Whitey really is keeping us down.)
Eliminate refined sugars, and replace with fruits whenever cravings for sweets occur. Honey is a great sugar substitute that has compounds to help balance blood sugar levels, and what is even better is that honey has naturally occurring antihistamines that are produced by bees to protect themselves from pollen, since they spend most of their lives being covered in it.
Soft Drinks Are Even Worse Than You Were Told
Avoid soft drinks, and this is the most important of all the suggestions overall. Soft drinks majorly lower a body's pH and thereby its oxygen content. They even release carbon dioxide (from carbonation) into the body, furthermore flushing out the body's critical oxygen. The artificial sugar of soft drinks, high fructose corn syrup, is an abomination so bad that it will require a separate article just to discuss it at some future date. Both the sugars and the carbon dioxide feed the fermentation that candida uses for fuel.
Especially avoid soft drinks with sodium benzoate, because sodium benzoate directly attacks the immune system to trigger allergies. Tests conducted in 2005, and paid for by a concerned soft drink industry whistle-blower, showed that certain sodas and juices had benzene levels up to ten times higher than the U.S. drinking water limit of five parts per billion. Benzene is classified as a known carcinogen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and is directly linked to leukemia. Benzene can form in beverages that contain either sodium benzoate or potassium benzoate, when combined with ascorbic acid (a.k.a. 'erythorbic acid' and 'vitamin C') according to the F.D.A.. (Leave it to the chemical industry to find a way to make vitamin C dangerous.) Heat and light exacerbate the benzene formation in sodas with these ingredients. The benzene limit for drinking water does not even apply to soft drinks, which have much less stringent quality standards. Thus, sodas with obscenely high benzene content are perfectly legal in the U.S..
“Environmental factors can also be big supporters of candida albicans’ proliferation. Exposure to pollutants such as pesticide residues, car exhaust, industrial chemicals and heavy metals (particularly those found in mercury/silver amalgam dental fillings) may encourage the growth of these ‛bad’ bacteria.”
― Leigh Erin Connealy, M.D.
How To Cure Yourself
Eat plenty of protein, with an emphasis on white meats (preferably free-range fed and organically raised), nuts, and beans. As always, include as many vegetables in your diet as possible. They provide core nutrients that are needed by the body in order to fully recover, and synthetic vitamins are not truly a substitute for vegetables. For sugar cravings, it is okay to cheat with fruits and pure fruit juices without guilt, because the body can handle the natural sugars much more efficiently than the engineered sugars, so fruit sugars do not generally fuel candida growth significantly. One general rule of thumb is that if an ingredient is made in a chemical laboratory, then it is toxic; and eventually there will be an incredibly high price to pay for consuming it.
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The protective and inflammatory properties of omega-3 fatty acids will also help with any allergy problems. For consuming omega-3, we recommend taking flax seed oil supplements daily for allergies, and overall health. You will find omega-6 throughout the modern Western diet, but there is very little omega-3 in comparison. Much more omega-3 was in our foods before chemical fertilizers depleted the farmlands of it, and again, this is yet another problem caused by another chemical industry 'solution'. Taking flax seed oil supplements helps to correct the imbalance in omega oils, since a body will convert the flax seed oil into the two primary omega-3 oils as needed, which means a body will get exactly the amount of omega-3 that it needs. Using flax seed oil instead of pure omega-3 (from fish) furthermore eliminates the risk of mercury contamination. We recommend using cold pressed flax seed oil in individual light resistant capsules to ensure that the oil is not rancid. Rancid flax seed oil is not only useless; it is a carcinogen. Eating flax seeds in foods is not recommended, because the essential oils become rancid when exposed to heat and light. Unfortunately, many organic and health based food producers appear to be unaware of this. Rancid oils create free radicals and are virtually always carcinogenic. Because of this, taking pill based supplementation is by far the safest way to go for omega-3 supplements.
For maximum absorption of omega-3, eat some sort of sulfur protein alongside it. Most commonly, cottage cheese is used to provide it. Even though, plain organic yogurt is a better option than cottage cheese, for it likewise suppresses candida. Sulfur proteins are the reason for eggs having their yellow color, so eggs are an excellent choice for complimenting flax seed oil too. Omega-3 combined with sulfur proteins are the main components of the anticancer diet known as The Budwig Diet.
“Over time, candida grows from a yeast form into a fungal form and starts creating waste products known as mycotoxins. Among the mycotoxins produced is acetaldehyde, a poison that is converted by the liver into alcohol. As alcohol builds up in the system, symptoms associated with alcohol intoxication develop. This is why one of the most common symptoms of candida is brain fog. ...In its fungal form, candida also grows long roots called rhizoids that puncture the intestinal lining, leading to a condition called leaky gut syndrome. This creates holes in the digestive tract, allowing candida [and its wastes] to pass through into the bloodstream.”
― Brenda Watson, Naturopathic Doctor
In our original article, we forgot to mention the benefits of cold pressed organic coconut oil. It has seemingly endless benefits, so we place it in the same category as apple cider vinegar. A little coconut oil every day will speed the metabolism, provide enormous energy, be a tonic for the thyroid, and attack yeast in both the mouth (i.e. plaque) and in the gastrointestinal tract (candida). Everyone should supplement with a small amount of cold pressed organic coconut oil every day, and of course, it can be added to foods. Just be wary of its inability to withstand high heat when cooking with it; lest one find himself with something rancid and unhealthy.
Prologue
The chances are that sooner or later, you will slip up and eat a Hershey bar. This is not the end of the world, and it is no reason to give up. Continued efforts will provide results in dissipating allergies, strengthening your immune system, and increasing your energy levels. These things should provide you with plenty of encouragement to keep going.
With a healthy diet that is low in processed sugars and synthetic chemicals, most allergy problems can be eliminated. These therapies, in addition to common sense remedies, such as using higher quality air filters, will yield very favorable results in the long term. Allergies are not normal, and neither are routine illnesses. We have been trained to believe that both are normal. The germ theory behind modern medicine has convinced us, and the establishment, that illnesses are more-or-less random events that may strike anyone at anytime, so that the causes of illnesses are either never fully explainable, or as is becoming the belief nowadays, they result from genetics. There is a reason for everything that happens, and this rule includes events of the human body. Illness symptoms are your body's way of telling you that you are doing something terribly wrong, and most often, it is the diet that is the most wrong. The establishment always ignores the most important factors of health, such as the immune system, which depends upon the diet. Allergies and illnesses are in reality the results of weakened immune systems, and they can usually be corrected without drugs. Following these recommendations will also help to remove toxins from your body, and will therefore generally help with other health conditions.
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