What Am I Allergic To?
Sadly more and more people seem to be suffering from allergies, and many people think they might have allergies but are unsure about the trigger.
Common allergens are milk and wheat, but there are no ‘safe’ foods. One of my sons was allergic to carrots, including organic carrots. They made him hyperactive. One asthmatic child I tested (using kinesiology) was allergic to non-biological washing powders, and fine on biological ones; another child with eczema was allergic to cotton but had no problem with synthetic material. These sorts of situations are not common, but they do alert us to be aware that we should not categorise anything as always safe or always harmful.
In general, particular substances are not linked to particular symptoms, so cheese could cause eczema in one person and irritable bowel syndrome or migraines in another. I have treated a mother and daughter who both suffered from migraines, but their allergies were completely different.
Although some products are labelled as hypoallergenic, this does not mean that they cannot produce an allergic reaction in a susceptible person. In practice people can be allergic to anything.
Unfortunately it is impossible to give any real guidance about how soon symptoms appear after contact with an allergen, because the individual variations are so wide. Some people react very quickly – in the extreme and life-threatening form this is anaphylactic shock, but other people find that symptoms don’t appear immediately or are there all the time.
Although foods are often viewed as the main culprits, airborne substances (such as perfumes, smoke, dust, moulds and pollens) and contact substances (such as polyester and nickel) are equally likely to cause problems. A striking example was a young client of mine who wet her bed, but only in the summer – she turned out to have a pollen allergy.
Avoiding substances and seeing what happens doesn’t always work and is impossible often in the case of airborne substances. I particularly recommend finding a kinesiologist with an interest in allergies to help sort out what is causing or aggravating your symptoms. Health kinesiologists, in particular, can often not only tell you what your allergies are but also put them right.