If you suffer from impaired transit, diarrhoea or constipation, bloating and intestinal cramps, you may be afflicted with a condition colloquially known as “leaky gut”.

These symptoms are quite common, being reported in around 30% of the population. the proper medical term for the condition is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). while sometimes ascribed to psychological factors like stress or anxiety, IBS symptoms are more likely to have a physical origin. very common causes are lactose (milk sugar) or fructose (fruit sugar) intolerance, inflammation of the gut, bacterial overgrowth in the gut, gluten intolerance and type III food allergies. But what most people and physicians do not know is that these symptoms may suggest that you are suffering from leaky gut, a condition that can sometimes can be dangerous because it may cause other illnesses.

Leaky gut can cause an inflammation in the blood and even profound inflammation or auto-immune disorders. Leaky gut may cause chronic fatigue, depression, skin disorders, headaches and heart disorders. New research findings show that leaky gut is even associated with the onset of brain disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

How can we explain the association between leaky gut and these different medical disorders? In our bowel cavity there are many bacteria (collectively called bowel flora). Their number increases from the small intestine to the colon. These bowel flora ensure that food is properly processed and digested. They help to digest cartilage and fibres which we ourselves cannot digest. They are also important for the production of certain vitamins, such as vitamin K.

Hundreds of millions of such bacteria are present in the bowels of a typical adult and they may account for up to one or 1.5 kilogrammes of one’s body weight. there are 300 to 600 different types of gut bacteria. most of them are useful but there are also a few potentially dangerous varieties. Some bacteria contain a very toxic substance, called LPS, that is part of the bacterial wall. When small amounts of bacteria containing this toxic substance enter the bloodstream, our immune system mounts a strong reaction to eliminate the bacteria and the toxic substances contain. But when too many bacteria containing LPS enter the bloodstream a dangerous condition, sometimes life-threatening, may result. for this reason one’s body must be able to defend itself against these “bad” bacteria that are normally present in the bowel.

The primary tool our body uses to keep these bad bacteria under control is “good” bacteria (probiotics), such as milk acid bacteria (lactobacillus). When sufficient numbers of good bacteria are present, the detrimental bacteria cannot develop further. thus, milk acid bacteria function as a type of buffer which _ by virtue of their large numbers _ can catch and contain the bad bacteria. you can give nature a helping hand by taking probiotic pills.

A second line of defence against bad bacteria is the bowel barrier, a thin layer of cells and mucous membranes that is normally impermeable to bacteria, thus contain them in the intestinal cavity. Leaky gut arises when the bowel barrier is interrupted because the sticky substances that hold the cell walls together are disrupted. as a result, gaps arise between the cells and bad bacteria may use these openings to pass from the bowel into the bloodstream. this we call leaky or leaking gut. When bad bacteria penetrate the bloodstream they precipitate an inflammatory reaction and, as a consequence, cause the medical disorders described above.

There are several causes of leaky gut: inflammatory bowel disorders, such as Crohn’s and colitis ulcerosa; infections with yeast, such as Candida; infections with bacteria which cause gastro-enteritis, such as salmonella; long-term or very frequent use of antibiotics; repeated use of painkillers (NSAIDs) or alcohol; long-standing psychological stress; extended physical effort (athletes are particularly prone); and food allergies. In addition, very common conditions, such as lactose and fructose intolerance, may endanger your gut wall and promote leaky gut. A shortage of certain anti-oxidants may also increase the risk of you developing leaky gut. for example, when you have a deficiency of glutamine, painkillers can easily cause a leaky gut. this means that the presence of glutamine, an anti-oxidant, is obligatory in order to preserve a good bowel barrier and thus an adequate defence against the bad bacteria.

We estimate that around 50% of patients with depression, chronic fatigue and IBS also suffer from leaky gut. Phrased differently, leaky gut may play a role in the onset of each of these disorders. Although leaky gut is very frequent and a potentially dangerous condition it remains unrecognised in most cases. the diagnosis of the condition is very simple: one specialised blood and stool test can reveal whether you suffer from leaky gut or not. We would recommend that individuals who suffer from IBS symptoms have their blood and stool tested for leaky gut.

It is also important to identify the trigger factors that have caused leaky gut and IBS in order to eliminate these triggers. it may be necessary, therefore, to examine whether you suffer from lactose or fructose intolerance, small intestine bacterial overgrowth, inflammation of the gut, gluten or other food allergies, etc. Although many patients suffer from IBS and leaky gut due to lactose and fructose intolerance and food allergies, most physicians do not test for these conditions.

Our treatments are based on repairing the gut wall by treating with specific anti-oxidants, such as glutamine and zinc. Probiotics will help to reinstall a better equilibrium between the good and the bad bacteria. A specific diet will also help to repair the leaky gut.

New medications to treat leaky gut are likely to become available in the next few years. These medications are now being developed in the US and in Europe. Some are based on chemical compounds. others come from substances produced by living bacteria that have been found to strengthen the gut wall and repair leaky gut. Effective treatment of leaky gut and IBS also calls for the elimination of trigger factors. Therefore, exclusion diets and sometimes antibiotics or antifungal drugs to eradicate bacteria or yeast may be necessary. By following a proper course of treatment, IBS symptoms such as cramps, diarrhoea, constipation amd bloating will be considerably alleviated and should eventually disappear, while the potential danger posed by a leaky gut will be removed. this treatment will not only address the fatigue, depression, skin problems, etc, but will also prevent these conditions in the future.

Michael Maes, MD, PhD, is a physician based at the TRIA Integrative Wellness and Medical Institute, Piyavate Hospital.

About the author Writer: Prof Michael Maes Latest stories in this category:

BRIGHTON, England, April 15 (UPI) — Restaurant workers in Britain may indicate confidence in providing a safe meal for food-allergic customers but they are often misinformed, researchers say.

Professor Helen Smith of Brighton & Sussex Medical School in England said food allergies that can cause a variety of symptoms — the most serious, anaphylaxis, can cause death — are common, affecting 2 percent of adults and as much as 8 percent of children in England.

The study, published in the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy, found that one out of three kitchens did not separate common food allergens such as eggs, peanuts, wheat, milk, nuts or fish from other foods.

One in five staff said an allergic customer consuming a small amount of allergen would be safe, and removing the allergen from a finished meal, such as picking nuts off a pre-prepared desert, would make it safe for a customer allergic to nuts.

One-third of restaurant staff said they had received any food allergy training, but 80 percent said they were confident they could provide a safe meal for their food-allergic customers.

“Diners who are food allergic must remain vigilant and not assume restaurants are safe or that all staff are knowledgeable about food allergy,” Smith said in a statement. “Our survey supports the need for more rigorous and accessible training if food-allergic customers are to avoid being put at risk by dining out.”

They started this morning with nagging cough, sore muscles, and a fever of 99 degrees which is now upward toward 100 degrees. What benefit would there be in going to the doctor? I don't want to take tamiflu or anything because I have food allergies and don't like taking stuff that has a lot of ingredients.

Does your nose run and feet smell? Uh, oh you're built upside down Go see a shrink.

Action Points  

• Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
• Explain that immunotherapy for kids’ milk allergy may be far more effective with oral rather than sublingual dosing.
• Note that the children’s reactions to oral dosing required treatment more often with antihistamines or with inhaled beta-agonists, but there was no difference in the rate of reactions requiring epinephrine.
• Note that any form of immunotherapy for food allergies remains investigational and may not reach routine clinical practice for years yet.

SAN FRANCISCO — Immunotherapy for kids’ milk allergy may be far more effective with oral rather than sublingual dosing — although at the cost of more severe adverse events, researchers found in the first head-to-head comparison of therapy.

Oral immunotherapy allowed 60% (nine of 15) of the children with previously severe reactions to dairy to drink a full 8 oz cup of milk without problems during treatment, but only one of the ten on sublingual immunotherapy could pass the same desensitization challenge (P<0.01).

The study by Corinne Keet, MD, of John’s Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore, and colleagues was reported here at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology meeting.

Keets’s group also reported that oral doses of powdered milk given with food didn’t cause more symptoms overall than a liquid extract held under the tongue (25% versus 29% of doses caused symptoms).

But the children’s reactions to oral dosing required treatment more often with antihistamines (11% versus 1%) or with inhaled beta-agonists (1% versus 0.1%).

The most serious reactions requiring epinephrine, though, were equally uncommon at less than 0.1% for both groups.

It came as no surprise that oral immunotherapy carried more adverse effects, noted coauthor a. Wesley Burks, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, at a press conference where the study results were discussed.

The overall evidence suggests that about 15% of children cannot tolerate oral immunotherapy right from the start, largely due to gastrointestinal side effects, Burks pointed out.

But the lack of any options to treat food allergy aside from avoidance and symptom management makes the evidence on efficacy for oral immunotherapy “exciting and encouraging, though very preliminary,” added another study coauthor Robert Wood, MD, of Johns Hopkins, who also spoke at the press conference.

Hugh a. Sampson, MD, of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, who was not involved in the study, agreed that oral immunotherapy looks most promising to treat kids who can’t tolerate eating raw or baked forms of a food.

“It’s nice to finally tell patients that we may be able to do something other than take things away from them,” he said at the press conference. “That’s very exciting.”

All agreed, though, that any form of immunotherapy for food allergies remains investigational and may not reach routine clinical practice for years yet.

One question is whether the desensitization shown in the studies will produce a truly permanent tolerance to the food off treatment, Burks told attendees at a separate session at the conference.

All the immunotherapy studies show that threshold for an allergic reaction rises while on treatment, albeit with large variability among individuals in the degree of improvement, he noted.

In the study Keet presented, “after 18 months of therapy with oral immunotherapy, most subjects are desensitized but not truly tolerant,” she cautioned.

The study included 30 children ages 6 to 16 who could tolerate a median of only 100 mg (less than half a teaspoon) of milk at baseline on food challenge.

The entire study group began on sublingual immunotherapy and then were randomized to either continued daily sublingual dosing, escalated to reach 7 mg (about 1/20th of a teaspoon) of a milk extract liquid held in the mouth for a few minutes before swallowing — or to switch to daily oral immunotherapy with a goal of 1,000 mg or 2,000 mg of a nonfat dry milk powder swallowed immediately.

After 15 months of maintenance therapy, eight of the nine oral immunotherapy-group kids who passed the full desensitization food challenge and stopped daily treatments remained tolerant of milk after one week off therapy, as did the one child in the sublingual group who passed the food challenge at 15 months.

After six weeks off maintenance, only five in the oral therapy group and one in the sublingual group continued to be able to drink a glass of milk without reaction (P=0.23).

This suggested most kids wouldn’t be truly tolerant after 15 months at the doses tested, Keet noted.

However, even those who failed the challenges reacted at a higher dose threshold than before, she told the audience. the lowest level tolerated at six weeks off oral immunotherapy was 2,540 mg — far above what even the most tolerant child in the study could handle at baseline.

Immunoglobulins, skin prick testing, and other mechanistic studies affirmed greater response with oral immunotherapy than with sublingual immunotherapy, although without evidence of intrinsic basophil desensitization.

Keet reemphasized, though, that despite the promising results, more study is needed to translate the results to the clinic.

Keet reported having no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Burks reported consulting for McNeil Nutritionals and Novartis; being on an advisory board or expert panel for Nutricia and Dannon co. Probiotics; being a minority stockholder in Allertein and Mast Cell; and recieving research funding from the NIH, Food Allergy Initiative, Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, Food Allergy Project, and the Wallace Research Fund.

Wood reported advisory board and grant relationships with the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and the NIH.

Sampson reported being a shareholder with Herbal Springs and consultant with Genentech.

Elimination Diet to Diagnose Food Intolerance

Using an rejecting diet is a good approach of being means to diagnose any intensity food intolerance’s we competence have. think we competence be pang from a food allergy, afterwards operate this routine to find usually what competence be causing which allergy.

Do recollect of march which reduction than 5% of people essentially humour from food allergies. If we consider which we have been carrying symptoms such as additional gas, disease as well as bloating, it is some-more expected which it is simply a food intolerance. it goes but observant of course, which we should regularly find veteran healing advice, if a symptoms usually referred to persist, as there have been countless healing conditions which could be causing those symptoms, alternative than a food intolerance.

How we go about starting an rejecting diet will rely upon either or not we already consider a food which could be causing we problems, or inauspicious reactions. If we consider we know a food item, afterwards we should simply mislay it from your diet utterly for a couple of days as well as afterwards re-introduce it again. Keep a diary of when we proposed your rejecting diet, any symptoms etc.

If we have no thought which kind of food it causing your symptoms, afterwards we should begin rejecting usual allergens a single by one. The many usual have been corn, dairy, meat, peanuts, eggs, soy as well as tree nuts. Continue a routine over a diseased or so, gripping a diary of dates when any food object was stopped in a diet as well as any symptoms we have, or symptoms which go divided etc. Then reintroduce a food equipment again solemnly as well as take note of any symptoms if they crop up again.

Using this elementary rejecting diet, we can simply find a food, or food groups which have been causing a issues. Again of course, let me put importance upon a actuality which any symptoms which persist, should be a reason to find veteran healing advice. Food dogmatism or allergies have been not a usually healing conditions which can means identical symptoms.

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I have been suffering from IBS for years and I can't go a week without having at least two migraines. Do you think I have food allergies?

I agree with Tracyole. too much of a cooincidence really.

I get migraine triggered by chocolate
My mother's food trigger was cheese (especially if eaten in the evening).

Why not try eliminating gluten (all flour products; bread; instant sauces) for a week or too and see if you improve? There is now a very reliable blood test for coeliac disease, it might be worth getting it done

Don’t assume you have food allergy

by cornell mcclellan Jan 13, 2011 01:53PM

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If you have ever suffered from fatigue, headaches, stomach ailments, and/or skin concerns, you might have wondered if food allergies are to blame.

Food allergies are rapidly becoming a popular culprit for many mysterious health ailments, leading people to cut out everything from wheat to seafood to dairy from their diets.

For those that suffer from food allergies, the risk can be great. Food allergies often are merely considered a nuisance, but for many people, allergic reactions can be severe and quite dangerous.

In fact, a recent study from the University of Pittsburgh found that food allergies accounted for more than 1 million emergency room visits. Researchers tracked emergency room data from 2001-2005, and found that food allergy complications led to almost 200,000 ER visits a year.

Symptoms of a food allergy reaction can include: dizziness, tingling in the mouth, swelling in and around the mouth, nausea, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, hives or eczema. a person also can go into anaphylaxis, a dangerous condition in which the airways become blocked. Symptoms of anaphylaxis include difficulty breathing, constricted airways, rapid pulse and shock. (In these situations, immediate medical treatment is required).

Reported cases of food allergies have greatly increased in the last few years, with up to 25 percent of people reporting a food allergy of some sort. however, the truth is that only around 2 percent of adults and 6 percent of children suffer from food allergies. Of those who suffer from food allergies, the most common reactions tend to be the result of one or more of these culprits: dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, seafood and nuts.

If you have experienced unpleasant side effects after ingesting certain foods, be careful before you immediately assume that food allergies are to blame. Numerous conditions (such as irritable bowel syndrome) might mimic the gastrointestinal symptoms of a food allergy.

Additionally, it’s also important to note the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance.

A food allergy often sets in quickly after a person completes her meal, with symptoms taking hold mere minutes after the food has been swallowed. This immediate reaction actually is the work of the immune system, which responds to the allergen by sending out histamines. (The histamine and other chemicals then lead to the food allergy symptoms).

A food intolerance can take hours or days before symptoms arise, and it rarely involves the immune system. Instead, food intolerance occurs when a person’s body simply cannot break down certain foods.

For example, a person who is lactose intolerant lacks the necessary enzyme (lactase) to break down dairy. with a simple pill such as Lactaid, many people who are lactose intolerant still can enjoy small amounts of their favorite dairy products such as ice cream.

However, people with food allergies generally cannot consume even small amounts of food that contain allergen triggers (at least not without risking severe side effects).

If you believe that you or a family member might be suffering from a food allergy, it’s important to see a doctor who specializes in allergy treatment. before your visit, keep a detailed food diary tracking your meals so that he can discover any possible correlation between your diet and your symptoms.

Write down the time you ate, what you ate, how the food was prepared, and how shortly thereafter you experienced any negative side effects. with this information, your doctor will be able to help you create a diet plan that makes you feel and look your best!

Cornell McClellan is the owner of Naturally Fit, 310 S. Racine, a personal training and wellness facility. he is also the fitness trainer for the President of the United States and the first Lady.

Posted on: Thursday, 30 December 2010, 13:27 CST

Trips to the emergency room from food allergies may be more common than previously thought.

Researchers report that Americans made just over a million visits to the ER for allergic reactions to food between 2001 and 2005.

That averages out to about 200,000 ER visits each year, including about 90,000 visits for serious, sometimes life-threatening, allergic reactions known as anaphylaxis.

These findings suggest that the numbers are now significantly higher than previously thought.

"While severe, life-threatening food-related allergic reactions are still relatively uncommon, our study suggests that they are more common than previously thought," lead researcher Sunday Clark, of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, told Reuters Health in an email.

The new findings suggest that ER visits for all levels of allergic reaction to food are more common than past studies have indicated.

Another report recently found that Americans made 125,000 trips to the ER for food allergies in 2003, with about 14,000 of those involving anaphylaxis.

The current study is based on different data sources than previous studies.

Clark told Reuters that the team used figures from an annual government survey of hospitals, along with two recent medical studies, in order to estimate the frequency of ER visits for true food allergies.

According to Clark, it is possible that a growing number of Americans have been going to the ER more often for food reactions in more recent years.

The team found evidence that more children are turning up in ERs with serious food reactions than in years past.

The number of food-induced allergic reactions treated at Children’s Hospital Boston more than doubled over six years.

The researchers were unable to determine why figures rose, but they did say that the increase was in line with the national increase in the number of children being diagnosed with food allergies.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that three million school-aged children in the U.S. had a food allergy during 2007, which jumped 18 percent compared to 10 years earlier.

The most common triggers of food allergies include milk, soy, eggs, wheat, shellfish, peanuts and treat nuts.

Clark told Reuters the current findings highlight the importance of recognizing the signs of food-induced allergic reactions.

Food allergy symptoms range from the relatively mild to the more severe signs of anaphylaxis.

The study was published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

On the Net:

• University of Pittsburgh
• Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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A few weeks ago my 17-year-old daughter brought home the second half of a Thai wrap she’d bought for lunch on a school field trip. Before stashing it in the fridge, she plucked a peanut from the filling and put it in her mouth.

Next thing she knew, her throat started to itch. then the sensation migrated to her inner ear. by the time she came to tell me about it, her face had turned red, and soon she had a headache and stomachache. Her pediatrician suggested keeping an eye on her and giving her a Benadryl, which relieved some symptoms. she also prescribed keeping on hand an EpiPen, an adrenaline injector that can stall an allergic reaction long enough to get the patient to the emergency room.

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But my daughter’s skin test for a peanut allergy came up negative, as did a subsequent blood test. in January her allergist will perform a controlled peanut challenge in his office, in which he will feed her peanuts and see how she responds.

Welcome, Huget family, to the maddening world of food allergies.

We once coasted through life without paying the slightest attention to potential allergens in our food. Now we read labels and harbor suspicions like never before.

We regret the loss (for now, anyway) of peanuts in my daughter’s life, but at least that seemed manageable. that is, until Thanksgiving dinner at my mom’s house, where my daughter had another reaction. This time our best amateur guess was that lima beans were the culprits; limas, like peanuts, are legumes.

It’s not unheard of for grown people to suddenly develop a food allergy. with the holidays nigh, I wondered how people of any age with food allergies navigate the season’s food-centered festivities. I talked with three experts to get some guidance. they are Stanley Fineman, the Atlanta-based president-elect of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; Jeffrey Factor, a Hartford, Conn., area allergist (who, as it happens, is in the same practice group as my daughter’s allergist); and Dee Sandquist, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

One thing they all agreed on was that getting a solid diagnosis from an allergist is key to managing your condition. Once you or a loved one receives a diagnosis, consider these steps to stay safe while dining away from home:

• call ahead. Let your host, or the restaurant you’ll be eating at, know in advance about your allergy so they can make accommodations.

• Share safe food. Offer to bring a dish or two to a gathering. that way you’ll be sure there’s something you can eat.

• ask questions. Don’t be shy about asking your host detailed questions about the ingredients in the foods they’re serving. Milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat and tree nuts are among the most common food allergens (soy, fish and shellfish are others), and they can lurk in all kinds of foods. (For instance, Sandquist notes, sausages and luncheon meats can contain milk products.)

If you can, ask to read labels of packaged foods included in the offerings. and find out whether cooking tools and serving vessels might have been used to handle foods containing your allergen. (If you’re hosting an event, Fineman suggests putting labels next to serving dishes listing the potential allergens they contain.)

• ask more questions, especially about potential cross-contamination. “It’s just something that a lot of people don’t think about,” Factor says, noting that a cook might bake two batches of cookies, one with nuts and the other without, but use the same spatula or cookie sheet for both. “It doesn’t cross their mind because they don’t have a child or relative who has a food allergy.”

• Quiz the chef. in a restaurant, ask to speak directly with the chef about your allergy, and don’t be satisfied unless you’re confident that he or she is knowledgeable and understands your concerns, Factor advises. If you can, call ahead to speak with the chef during a time when he or she is not likely to be too busy cooking. Sandquist suggests printing cards listing your food allergies; your server can take the card back to the chef, and you don’t have to worry about information getting lost in translation.

• Bring your own. If you’re not sure a restaurant can meet your needs, don’t be shy about packing your own lunch or dinner. “that may be the safest way to avoid the risk of a reaction,” Factor says. call ahead to ensure the restaurant will allow this.

• Be prepared. always keep your epinephrine injector (such as an EpiPen) handy, just in case. “The onus is really on the person who has the allergy,” says Fineman.