Help for Allergies and Inflammation

This is the time of the year when many people suffer with allergies.  From sniffling, sneezing, and postnasal drip to sinus congestion, headaches, and feeling run down, allergies can affect your life in myriad ways.  I want you to know and understand that the allergen is not the problem. 

We blame our condition on the season, the pollen and other environmental factors.  If the season or the pollen were the problem, everyone would be suffering with allergies.  Ask yourself: Why can one person sit in a pollen storm and not have a problem, while another could have a flower pass under his nose and have an allergy attack? 

The problem is not the pollen, the problem is the body's inability to process the pollen or environmental stressor. The body is unable to manage inflammatory levels, which are produced in response to certain environmental substances.  This causes immune hyperactivity, one of the challenges that faces us in modern society.

Take Calcium

The ability to buffer acidity (pH) within the body through proper calcium intake is one of the most important ways we have to fight allergies and inflammation.  In most cases, supplementation is necessary.  However, many people supplement with a form of calcium that is very difficult to digest - Calcium Carbonate.

 Check your calcium supplement.  I believe that calcium lactate is the best and easiest form of calcium to digest and absorb. Calcium Carbonate is like stone. It is very difficult to break down and digest, making it unusable by the body.  If you are taking this form of calcium, you may be wasting your money. 

By keeping the body alkaline (calcium is one of the most alkaline minerals on earth) and balanced, we can reduce the inflammatory and allergy responses resulting from acidosis (abnormal condition of excess acid in the body).

Food Allergies

Another solution to reducing inflammation is to rid the body of its chronic inflammatory stressors, especially allergies. Many environmental allergies that we suffer are actually secondary allergies being driven by primary allergic responses, mainly to foods. In clinical practice, it has always been obvious that when basic food allergies are corrected, environmental sensitivities vanish.

For example, by taking a person off of a basic food allergy like milk or wheat, there will oftentimes no longer be an environmental sensitivity to cats or dogs. The basic four food allergies are wheat, milk, corn and soy.  Try to avoid these food substances, one at a time for a few weeks and see if you notice a change.  Usually within three days of elimination, chronic inflammation reduces and allergy sensitivities down regulate.

Although change will continue for months after eliminating a basic food allergy, change is felt immediately, sometimes as increased energy, clarity of mind, digestive wellness, and a reduction of symptoms.  Upon re-introduction of an eliminated food allergy, one may notice an immediate inflammatory response such as a rash, itching or burning eyes. It may also cause aching in the body. In practice, this approach to allergies has been so successful that I do not consider the environmental allergies until the basic food allergies have been eliminated.   

Join us for a complete look at allergies and inflammation on Tuesday, June 23, at 7:15 p.m. at Panera Bread in Rocky River.  We will take a deeper look into the causes of allergies and what you can do naturally to eliminate them. This includes your body’s pH balance, inflammatory burdens, digestive health and how it all plays a role in allergies. Please call 440-331-4744 to reserve a space.

Bryan Ruocco

Dr. Bryan Ruocco is a local chiropractor and wellness advocate. He owns and operates the Power of LIFE Wellness Center in Rocky River. Dr. Ruocco graduated from the prestigious Life Chiropractic College in Marietta, GA. He graduated in the top of his class and received Magna Cum Laude Honors. 

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Volume 2, Issue 11, Posted 4:17 PM, 06.03.2015