The recognition of food sensitivity was first recorded by Hippocrates, who observed that milk could cause gastric upset and urticaria (hives). In the 1920s, W.W. Duke published articles containing his observations of foods causing allergic responses, resulting in bladder pain, gastrointestinal upset, Meniere’s syndrome, and headaches. We now know of the severe consequences of anaphylactic reactions some people have to peanuts and shellfish, creating life-threatening emergencies.

It is well-documented that the incidence of environmental and food allergen-induced medical conditions is on the rise, primarily in industrialized, first-world countries. In asthmatic patients, for example, it is now estimated that 72% of these children and 44% of these adults are afflicted with food and/or inhalant allergies.

Allergy Symptoms
Some of the common symptoms seen with allergies include sneezing, itching, watery eyes, asthma, and skin rashes. In severe reactions, there may be a rapid inflammation of the throat and upper respiratory tract, severely compromising breathing capability. But most people are not aware of the long-term, debilitating damage that allergens can cause to all body systems and organs, to include the following: anxiety, fatigue, depression, pain, recurrent infections, and arthritis.

Common Allergens
Common food allergens are found primarily in the following groups: wheat, dairy products, corn, tomatoes, citrus, shellfish, and peanuts. However, comprehensive testing is vital to detect other food culprits, as well. It is now well-documented and increasingly accepted in the medical community of the role of milk and dairy products in causing chronic ear infections in children. Research further points to the efficacy of removing these culprits from children’s diets, and less use of antibiotic therapy.

Common environmental allergens include: animal dander, dust mites, seasonal pollens, molds and chemicals, which seem to be growing in number with our increasingly toxic environment. Young children are at greater risk to exposure to these allergens due to their developing immune system.

Comprehensive Testing
The importance of environmental and food allergen testing can not be emphasized enough in today’s world. With the heavy reliance on allopathic treatment primarily consisting of antihistamines, decongestants, and steroids (which puts people at increased risk for infections and tumor growth, due to a depressed immune system), a host of negative side-effects begin to show up. Not removing the offending food and/or environmental allergen, coupled with the inappropriate medication(s), produces a “double-whammy” effect on the immune system, adding cumulative stress and toxicity.

Comprehensive testing to identify the allergen suspects, followed by the removal of the offending allergens, coupled with appropriate dietary, supplement, and lifestyle changes, can greatly improve one’s quality of life, while simultaneously preventing future, more serious and complicated health issues.

Recent and growing success has been documented in treating children afflicted with ADD/ADHD via the removal of offending allergens in their diet and environment. Unfortunately, dangerous and controversial drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall continue to be dispensed with reckless abandon. Protecting our children – our future – can be implemented through appropriate food and environmental allergen testing, followed by the removal of the identified agents, leading to not only the cure of the immediate medical problem, but prevention of additional, chronic disease processes in the future.