27th April 2017 Event at Arlington Arts (Newbury) – Sensitivities, Chronic Inflammation and Autoimmunity

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Sensitivities, Chronic Inflammation and Autoimmunity
How food and environmental choices can impact your long-term health

Thank you to everyone that attended this event. We had 157 people turn up………..

You can view Part 1 of this seminar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFOV00Phs7Y

Research shows that unidentified sensitivities (to both food and the environment) are often implicated in the development of and/or perpetuation of a number of chronic health conditions including but not limited to eczema, joint pain, IBS, indigestion, depression, anxiety, headaches, fatigue, weight gain, congestion and heart palpitations.

This seminar provides you with an easy to understand overview of the following key topics:
1) What is the difference between an allergy, sensitivity and intolerance?
2) What impact might unidentified food and environmental sensitivities behaving on your health?
3) Coeliac disease and non coeliac gluten sensitivity – the differences
4) Why simply cutting gluten out of the diet is not enough if you are a diagnosed coeliac
5) Sensitivities and autoimmunity
6) Items to carefully consider when choosing a sensitivity test
7) Personalised dietary and lifestyle interventions and the road to health

 

 

Histamine Intolerance – Are You Reacting to ‘Healthy’ foods?

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Occasionally I see clients not reacting as you might expect to a clean healthy nutritional protocol (containing fermented foods, meat/fish, vegetables, fruits and nuts/seeds) and sometimes their original symptoms might even be exacerbated. When this happens I always suspect ‘histamine intolerance’.

Histamine intolerance (too much histamine) can manifest itself as any number of symptoms including but not limited to skin problems, insomnia, light headedness, palpitations, low blood pressure/fainting, muscle pain/cramps, joint pain, tinnitus, depression, unexplained bruising and rosacea.

Histamine is a chemical that is secreted by specialist immune cells as a response to help protect the body against infection. A histamine response is involved in the typical symptoms that are associated with mild allergic reactions (e.g hay fever & hives) and this is why antihistamines are often used to help manage such reactions.

Histamine intolerance occurs when the body has too much histamine. This happens when the supply of histamine exceeds the ability of the body to break it down. The effect of histamine on the body is cumulative – visualise a barrel with holes in the bottom being filled up with water. The water represents histamine and the holes the enzymes that break histamine down. If the amount of water entering the barrel exceeds the amount escaping, then the barrel will eventually overflow (this is the point at which the body has too much histamine).

The irony of histamine intolerance is that the foods that you are often told to consume on a healthy plan are the very foods that contribute the greatest histamine load! These include raspberries, avocados, spinach, meat stocks, citrus fruits and fermented foods (including certain strains of probiotics). The key to balancing histamine (stopping the barrel overflowing) is to both reduce intake and support the optimal degradation of histamine. It turns out that some of us are less able to produce the enzymes required to break down histamine. An imbalanced microflora is also significant contributor to elevated histamine levels. Enzyme and histamine levels can be tested for and then an appropriate strategy implemented to help regain control of key symptoms before revisiting the careful reintroduction of healthy higher histamine foods.

If you are a coeliac, is a gluten free diet enough?

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So if you do have coeliac disease (see post http://entirewellbeing.com/coeliac-disease/ for more information on this condition), do you just simply cut out gluten and everything will be alright?

If only it were that simple……..

Although the majority of newly diagnosed coeliacs will experience substantial improvements in their symptoms within the first few weeks of cutting out gluten, research shows that between 10 and 15% of coeliacs continue to experience health problems even when following a gluten free diet. These are called ‘non-responsive coeliacs’. This might be (and often is) explained by unintentional gluten contamination (it is very easy to get ‘glutened’ – and it only takes one eighth of one teaspoon of a gluten flour to reignite the immune response and ‘contamination’ can also come from hundreds of non food items including shampoos and cosmetics). However, between 1 and 5% of coeliacs develop what is called ‘refractory coeliac disease’ (RCD) where any gluten (even levels found in foods termed ‘gluten free’ e.g. bread) cannot be tolerated. This is a very serious sub category of coeliac disease and can lead to significant health problems if not managed appropriately.

Excluding unintentional contamination and RCD, the other key reason for symptoms not improving on a gluten free diet is ‘cross reactivity’.

Research shows that there are a number of other food proteins that can cause the immune system to react in a similar way to gluten, thereby potentially perpetuating chronic inflammation and the destruction of the villi (the finger like protrusions in the small intestine that are damaged by coeliac disease). We know that around 50% of all coeliacs cross react with casein in dairy. Other cross-reactive gluten free foods include oats, yeast, rice and corn (consumption of these foods are actively encouraged as a coeliac). Maybe this is why only 8% of adults with coeliac disease experience complete healing of the villi on a gluten free diet and why there is evidence of poor vitamin status in coeliacs who have been on a gluten free diet for 10 years?

In summary simply excluding gluten from the diet is not good enough. If you are a coeliac some of the key questions that you should be asking yourself include:
1) Might I be exposing myself to gluten contamination from my environment (e.g. skin care products and cosmetics)?
2) What gluten ‘cross reactive’ foods might I also be reacting too?
3) How much damage has been done to the digestive system (prior to diagnosis) and what extra support do I require to help repair this damage?
4) What impact has coeliac disease potentially had on my overall nutrient status?

These questions and more can be answered by working with a suitably skilled and knowledgeable functional practitioner.