Topic intro

Tonight I will be talking about Food allergies and intolerance in children, why they are on the increase and how we can treat these conditions using Naturopathy and Nutrition modalities.

Food allergy and intolerance has always been a close passion of mine, in fact it has been there since I was born.

As a child I lived with a variety of unusual symptoms such as irritation, aggression, stomach complaints, skin irritations and fits which border-lined on seizures.

These symptoms were only sporadic and would flare up and calm down without any real reason

As you can imagine this was very troubling to my parents and so I went through every test under the sun to try to find out the cause of these mysterious symptoms, unfortunately to no avail.

Luckily I have a very persistent and determined mother and she was determined to discover what on earth was going on….

Back in the early 80s food allergies and food intolerance were not common, and no one really thought that there could possibly be a link between these unbearable symptoms and the relatively healthy food that I ate.

Due to a lucky stumble across a newspaper article titled ‘milk can make you mad’… my mother, with a lot of  skepticism decided to give it a go, after all what did she have to lose?

After cutting dairy from my diet, these unbearable symptoms dissipated and as my mother has always put it ‘she got her daughter back’

This intolerance has led to a life long journey of both challenge, discovery and study

Where once upon a time food intolerance was met with skepticism and a general lack of knowledge on the topic, nowadays many people, especially those with young children, or care givers and school teachers, are having to learn to become immunologists, nutritionists and first aid experts just to keep up with the huge increase in allergy sufferers.

So my aim tonight is to really simplify this problem and show you the positive side of food allergy and food intolerance… and believe it or not there is one

I believe that this positive side boils right down to nutrition, which is definitely The fun stuff.

Food allergy vs Food Intolerance

When we talk about ‘classic’ food allergies, these are the ones that have the dangerous symptoms associated with them. They are usually sudden reactions including the potential for anaphylactic shock.

On the other hand, a food intolerance is not an allergy, it is a sensitivity to a particular food which leads to insufficient digestion of the food.

They are much harder to detect than allergies with no real accurate tests like allergy testing, it comes down to isolating the culprit food and eliminating it.

Unlike ‘classic’ allergies the symptoms of an intolerance usually develop over a longer period of time and can be a slow build up from a regularly consumed food… this differs greatly from the immediate and severe reaction of a food allergy.

Even though they are usually a slow build the results of food intolerance can still be very detrimental.

A food allergy = an immune reaction to a food
An intolerance = the inability to digest foods effectively

 Case Study example of food intolerance
A 5 year old child presented with symptoms ranging from Irritability, aggression, fatigue, loss of appetite and bed wetting. Following a visit to the child’s GP the child was referred to a child psychologist and was given a prescription for the standard ADHD medication.
The child’s mother was very uncomfortable with the thought of medicating her child and sort nutritional advice as an alternative.
The treatment for the child was an elimination diet, where all common food allergens were strictly removed from the diet over a 2 week period. The child was also supplemented to improve the immune, digestive and nervous system. During this time there was marked improvement in the child’s behavior and energy levels, and it became very evident that foods were playing a role in the child’s behaviour problems.
When the allergenic foods were tested and re-entered into the diet, it was found that the child reacted to both wheat and apples after which symptoms returned.

ADHD and Autism spectrum disorder Studies

There have been many strong links to foods and conditions such as ADHD and Autism, which like childhood allergies are now at epidemic levels.

From these studies we have seen some amazing results when children who suffer from these conditions have implemented dietary modifications, specifically cutting out dairy and gluten from their diet over specific periods of time.

The following studies are a great example and a very interesting read.

Knivsberg AM, Reichelt KL, Hoien T, Nodland M. A randomised, controlled study of dietary intervention in autistic syndromes. Nutr Neurosci. 2002 Sept; 5(4):251-61.

Whiteley P, et al. The ScanBrit randomised, controlled, single-blind study of a gluten- and casein-free dietary intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders. Nutr Neurosci.2010 Apr; 13(2):87-100.

Elder JH, Shankar M, Shuster J, Theriaque D, Burns S, Sherrill L. The gluten-free, casein-free diet in autism: results of a preliminary double blind clinical trial. J Autism Dev Disord. 2008 May;38(5):8

Goday P. Whey watchers and wheat watchers: the case against gluten and casein in autism. Nutr Clin Pract. 2008 Dec-2009 Jan; 23(6):581-2.

The typical culprits of Food intolerance are Milk and dairy products, wheat and gluten, food additives and colors and even some fruits…

sometimes it is very hard to eliminate these perceived healthy foods from someone’s diet without being met with some resistance.

One of the hardest elements of dealing with allergies and intolerance is changing our belief system around food and coming to the realization that with foods….

One man’s friend can be another man’s foe.

Why the rapid increase?

So we are currently at epidemic levels of both food allergies and food intolerance

Current Australian Stats:
Over the past 50 years there has been a dramatic rise in allergic disorders in children
Currently 1 in 11 children suffer from asthma
20% of children develop eczema before 5yrs
Approximately 1 in 20 children suffer from severe food allergies, with 1 in 200 Australian children being allergic to peanuts. This figure has doubled in the past 5 years

Current theories

Another very popular theory behind the rapid increase in these problems with foods, particularly food allergy is called the ‘Hygiene Hypothesis’

The theory behind this hypothesis may seem insane for anyone who spends a lot of time with dirt loving toddlers… but the theory suggests that infants and toddlers are too clean.

They are not exposed to enough bacteria and pathogens early in their immune development and as a result the immune system is not getting the practice runs it needs in order to maintain a balanced and coordinated function it requires to support the individuals health for a life time.

This could be due to excessive use of disinfectants in the home, over use of antibiotics and other medications,

some studies have also shown that children who have an animal, like a dog or a cat in the house, are less likely to develop atopy, or allergic tendencies, than children who come from animal free homes…

Of course there are other factors at play in the development of food allergies and food intolerance

Genetics
Whether there is a familial link to allergies as well as intolerance

Environmental factors
Such as excessive exposure to heavy metals
or other toxic burdens, even down to being exposed to too many chemicals in our beauty products like shampoos or soaps

Digestive health
epithelial barriers like leaky-gut syndrome, which may result from excessive anti-biotic use, or may result from an unresolved Gut infection or parasites, or may be a genetic problem like in conditions such as Crohn’s disease….
Results in large particles of food, generally proteins, crossing our digestive epithelial barrier, entering our blood stream and setting up irritation and inflammation
Treatment Strategies/The positive side of food allergies and food intolerance  

Recall your last trip to the supermarket, I wonder how much of that food for sale is REAL food… and when I say real food, I mean grown from a tree or in the ground, an animal that lived a happy and toxic free life, additive and chemical free and actually recognizable as a food!

There is a reason why children are suffering from epidemics and that adult obesity, diabetes, cancers and cardiovascular disease are on the rise and I believe that our food, or lack of whole, nutritious foods is playing a major role.

So the biggest aim for my clients of kids with allergies and intolerance is to educate them on how to modify their diets

This usually means creating a regular diet removing
Dairy
wheat
peanuts
additives etc

Although this can seem overwhelming initially, instead of focussing on what we can’t eat… it’s much more fun focussing on the many delicious and nutritious alternatives available.

So with a little practice, support, an open mind and taste buds we can create healthy and allergy free meals

Megan Georgoulas

Filed under: children's health, nutrition Tagged: ADHD, Autism, Food allergies, Food intolerance, Presentation transcript