Food Allergies

Food allergy, intolerance and sensitivity – homeopathy can help

Food intolerance is a trendy topic. All sorts of food sensitivity testing is available left, right and centre. And all sorts of symptoms are attributed to some kind of food allergy or intolerance. I get a good few clients with food intolerance every week. Gluten and dairy are nearly synonymous with poison these days, and most patients I see have eliminated or significantly reduced these food groups. Food intolerance comes up particularly often in cases of skin and digestive system problems. The more food allergies the person has identified, the more limiting their life becomes. The need to plan and prepare for any outing or holiday becomes a necessity. But being constantly on guard in order to avoid certain foods costs us freedom and spontaneity. I think health is synonymous with freedom. When we are truly healthy, nothing inhibits us from living to the fullest. Are you trapped in the cage of food intolerances? Do you want your freedom back? Homeopathy for food allergies and food intolerances will help.

Gluten intolerance and homeopathy

Gluten intolerance is at the top of the list of the most common food sensitivities. People connect all kinds of symptoms to gluten intolerance, including fatigue and low energy, depression, bloating and tummy aches, constipation or diarrhoea, eczema and aggravation of auto-immune conditions.

It is true that the protein in wheat is tough on our digestive system. What’s more, the epidemic proportions of gluten intolerance these days may be linked to glyphosate toxicity. Glyphosate is a chemical found in the notorious Roundup. Farmers spray wheat crops with Roundup to speed up the harvest. The chemical kills wheat plants so that the grains dry sooner and more consistently. This gives the farmers more control over when they can harvest crops. So whether you suspect you have gluten intolerance or not, it is wise to stick to organic grain. Furthermore, prepare the grains using the traditional method of soaking or sprouting to make them easier to digest.

As for homeopathy for gluten intolerance, the remedy is always individualised just like in a treatment of any other condition. Some homeopathic remedies that helped quite a few of my patients with gluten intolerance include:

• Carbo-veg
• China
• Nat-mur
• Kali-carb

Milk / dairy allergy or intolerance and homeopathy

I often see this in babies. Many develop problems when parents start supplementing with formula. And some can’t even digest mother’s milk. The most common symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. Constipation is also frequent. Many babies suffer from reflux and colic. Skin issues come up often too, such as nappy rash and eczema.

Many remedies can help such cases, too many to mention. For example, Aethusa may help a baby who has projectile vomiting after a feed, the vomit may come out in large curds. Or Mag-carb, known as “the orphan remedy”, when the very essence of nurture – mother’s milk – is rejected by the baby’s body.

Homeopathy for food allergies and intolerances – my approach

I am a classical homeopath. When I work on a case, I always look deep, at the root cause of the disease. I synthesise a case into a meaningful totality, into one sentence that will explain and link all of the patient’s symptoms.

In my post-graduate course I studied the concept of health and disease in depth. I truly believe that a thorough understanding of homeopathic theory and philosophy is a must if you want to achieve deep and long-lasting results. I don’t take shortcuts no matter how hard and time-consuming the right path of case analysis and synthesis may be. And one of the things I have come to understand is this: chronic disease does not have an exciting cause.

Hunt for the culprit – is it worth it?

The crazy amount of money people spend on various food sensitivity tests amazes me. The bill can run into thousands. When they get the results, the list of offending foods is as long as my arm. People put in an incredible amount of work into eliminating all the possible triggers. And yes, for a time it helps, the symptoms abate. But after a while, something else begins to trigger them. People eliminate that too, feel better for a while and then the next thing comes. And so on. This is because chronic disease, unlike an acute disease, doesn’t have an exciting cause.

Eating gluten doesn’t create the disease, it only acts as a trigger that makes the symptoms worse. In homeopathy we call these triggers modalities – what makes your symptoms worse and what makes them better. Modalities don’t create the disease, they only cause the symptoms to be more or less pronounced. And what are the symptoms? They are a means of communication. Symptoms are not the disease, they are merely a language that our bodies use to convey that there is an imbalance, a disease.

So what’s the strategy?

When we are healthy, we should be able to digest and assimilate any type of food, provided it’s fresh and of good quality. And as far as food is concerned, if our diet is varied and nutrient-rich, we will remain in health.

Now, of course, if you can clearly see that eating something always makes you sick, you need to avoid it – but not indefinitely. You only need to avoid it while you begin your homeopathic treatment that will restore your health. Avoiding foods that trigger you at the start of the treatment is wise because this allows your body to concentrate on healing without wasting energy and resources on recovering from triggers. But when you regain your strength and vitality, it is time to re-introduce the full spectrum of quality food not only for maximum nourishment but also for the pure joy of life. Every meal can be a celebration of what life has to offer, it’s such a shame to voluntarily limit yourself.

I see this in my practice all the time. Food that used to floor people doesn’t make them sick anymore. Causes no symptoms whatsoever. And this is how it should be in a healthy person.

Embrace the deliciousness of life and have what your heart desires. Of course, junk food is not one of those foods I’m calling you to embrace. I don’t advocate loading yourself with fast food or sugar. My personal food-bible is a book by Sally Fallon called ‘Nourishing traditions’. I also like the Weston Price foundation for their sensible approach, “inclusive, not exclusive”.

Hope I’ve convinced you to bank on restoring your health instead of looking for another food to eliminate. Health is freedom. Savour life, it’s delicious.