It's Eric Bakker, naturopath. I've often been asked by people, how do you find if you've got
an underlying allergy or sensitivity? Now, how do you know if a food's problematic to you? So,
should I stop that food? Should I stop eating tomatoes, and bell peppers, and grains because
someone's told me they got lectins in them and all this sort of business? Well,
the idea is only to avoid foods that are problematic to you at that time.
Many naturopaths, nutritionists, and chiropractors, and people like this...
I've been to so many conferences, and I've heard so many people talking that
the patients remain off these foods for life. I find that a load of nonsense.
People change. Their digestive system changes. Their gut changes. Their microbiome gets weaker
or stronger. So does their stomach, their pancreas, their small bowel. All these organs
can really step up to the plate and improve. And then, all of a sudden, that allergy is
no longer an allergy. All right? Many, many children grow out of allergies. Any doctor
will tell you that. Adults are the same. Adults can grow out of allergies as well.
So, remember, there are two types of animals we're dealing with here. We've got food intolerances,
and we've got food allergies. Intolerances is not implying that you've got an immune dysfunction
or immune problem with that food. An allergy is an immune mediated reaction versus intolerance
tends to be something else. And they often get all mixed up and confused by many people.
Intolerances often can be fixed up when the gut's restored or with a gut reset,
they call them [inaudible 00:02:02]. With a reset gut, you will find in many instances when
the pancreas is working better, particularly the pancreas, and the stomach is more powerful, that
underlying intolerance disappears. It's gone. The person can no longer experiences those symptoms.
I've seen this 1,000 times or more occur in the clinic. And it's the same with a allergy,
allergic response. Allergic responses are different in that they're immune mediated.
In this case, I'll have a much longer look at the patient's small intestine,
but I'll also look at the genetics to see is it a family issue? And with type one responses of IgE,
it can be. You're a red hair, freckled person, I've seen this. Worst case I ever had was a guy
from Scotland. I think he was in his 20s. The food allergy report came back with like 80%
of foods he was allergic to. And when I looked at the background, both the ma and the pa had asthma,
eczema, hay fever. It was coming from both mum and dad. And this was a serious case.
It took a long, long time to get this guy's skin clear, but we eventually got there. But
just about every protein food he reacted to. Now, it's an exceptionally rare case. You won't be in
that category. But how do you track down hidden and underlying food allergy or intolerance?
Allergies, we'll probably stick with. Intolerance is a little bit different.
With the allergies, the first thing I look at for a person
is I look very carefully at the case history to make sure that they are in that allergic category.
So, asking a lot of questions of that person. Did your mum react to this food? Did your dad
react? Have you got any siblings or anyone in the family? Is there any history of asthma, eczema,
hay fever? Anyone taking anti-histamines in the family? Have you taken them?
So, sometimes I get a patient in my room, it's almost like a kind of Al Qaeda interrogation. I
feel like I'm sort of interrogating the person, not quite putting a torch under their face, but
you sometimes feel like that's what's happening. So, yeah. But when you get that information,
it all makes sense then. You can really work it out. I cannot tell you how many times also I've
seen someone who's said, "Ah, by the way, I had an antibiotic last year. And ever since then,
I can't tolerate X, Y, Z food." I've heard that so many times.
And ask yourself that question, have you had any medical treatment? And then, X, Y, Z later,
months, weeks, or whatever later, you couldn't tolerate? See if there's any tie in there, okay?
Here's what I look for. Seasonal. Is it a problem you have come up at certain times of the year?
Because that could be, let's just say, hay fever or itchy skin. It could mean that you're eating a
particular fruit or food that's seasonal that's causing you the problem. I need to carefully
look at the symptoms and signs, what's happening. Signs are what I see with my eyes on your body,
or your breath, or your skin, whatever. And symptoms are what you're telling me.
Symptoms are subjective. You can tell me whatever you want. Whether I believe it or not's another
thing. And objective is what I see with my eyes, which I know, hopefully, is not deceiving me. So,
we've got to look at the subjectivity and the objectivity very carefully. That's a good
way to determine if there's an allergy or not. And then, of course, there's always the allergy
testing. I'm not really that fast on kinesiology, to be honest, holding to a substance, and then,
saying, yes, no, all this sort of business. I mean, sure, there will be some great
kinesiologists out there, but I just see a lot of this as woo, woo, pendulum kind of stuff. So,
I prefer blood testing, to be honest, or working clinically more with, as I said,
the subjective and objective symptoms. Tummy pains, itchy skin, itchy eyes,
unusual symptoms, strange symptoms that you haven't had before. Here's a key one. A person
has a strong desire for that particular food. If you got, let's say, an under 10 year old with an
unexplained symptom, look at the food that he or she is really screaming for or wanting, or
telling you, demanding that food. That's an allergy sitting there waiting. I've seen that a
lot of times with kids. Child could be screaming for oranges or screaming for a piece of cheese.
Allergy. Look at a family member who goes off to the refrigerator or pantry, whereas a particular
snack that they just can't live without. Allergy. So, something that you're drawn to
all the time is often something that can invoke an allergic response in your body.
Very, very common. Common thing to see. So, I hope that gives you a little bit of information on
allergies. Don't forget the seasonal, the unusual symptoms, the drawn to the food, the strange gut
symptoms, the doctor's visits that result in, well, we don't know what's wrong with Johnny.
Every doctor says that hasn't got a clue about an allergy. And sometimes, the tests they perform to
determine the underlying allergy, the RAST test, and also give false results. So, you could take
your child to the doctor, has a test, and the doctor says, "Nothing wrong with this child,"
and it could be. So, in that case, you may need to look further afield. Thanks for tuning in.