The ROOT CAUSE Of Allergies, Why They GET WORSE & How To GET RID Of Them | Theresa MacPhail

This summer is already proving a tricky one for people with hay fever. Pollen counts are rising and more of us are experiencing symptoms than ever before. But it’s not just pollen. From airborne allergens to the food on our plates, or the chemicals and plants that touch our skin, around 40% of the global population has some form of allergic disease. By 2030, today’s guest reveals, 50% of us will be affected.

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DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

[luciamarzi]

For years on end, I had really bad allergies. Over a decade of sneezing hundreds of times per day, all day, for every reason you can imagine: beds, dust mites, perfumes, pollen, cats, sitting on a couch, walking down the street, entering a home, getting inside a car, etc. Simply living made me sneeze, and all doctors wanted to do was give me a very expensive treatment that involved getting injections for around a year or something like that. I never liked that idea, so for whatever reason I intuitively cut out sugar as much as I could, stopped eating processed foods and dairy products, and began to fast every now and then for a day. That is it. No more allergies 🧐I hope this helps someone.
Edit: Working out and stressing as less as possible also helps, because working out enhances your immune system and stress hormones have a negative impact on it. ♥️

[JSRJS]

Dehydration also causes histamine levels to rise which was my problem. I thought I was getting allergies but in fact I was dehydrated all the time. Started hydrating more and my allergies symptoms went away completely. Just thought I'd throw that in for those that find they don't hydrate enough and get random allergy type events.

[jwcas]

0:20: 🤧 Around 30-40% of the global population currently have some form of allergic disease, but experts predict this will increase to 50% in the next decade.

22:05: 🐝 Allergic reactions to bee stings are rare, with a low chance of death, especially compared to other risks like car crashes or slipping in the bathtub.

33:06: 😷 Allergies are a significant and growing problem with profound effects on people's lives.

38:04: 🤔 The rise in allergies is a societal problem caused by environmental factors and lifestyle choices.

51:30: 🤔 The exposure to man-made chemicals and air pollution can negatively affect our microbiome and contribute to allergies and asthma, which are societal issues.

1:04:38: 🌍 Our immune system was built for a different world with more exposure to venomous things and parasites, leading to the development of allergic and autoimmune responses.

1:17:47: 🔑 The health of the gut microbiome is crucial for preventing allergies and autoimmune diseases, but societal factors like access to quality food and healthcare systems can hinder support for parents and children in their early years.

1:30:15: 🌍 Our microbiome plays a crucial role in our health and interacts with the external world through our barriers in the gut, respiratory tract, and skin.

1:43:27: 🌍 Our modern lifestyle and environment have contributed to the rise in allergies in humans and pets.

1:56:00: 💡 The immune systems of humans and animals are affected by their diets, and the chemicals in our environment can disrupt our microbiomes and immune systems, leading to allergies.

2:13:06: 🤧 Allergy treatments have remained the same for the last 100-150 years, with antihistamines and inhalers being the primary options, but they are not perfect and can have side effects.

2:20:11: 😷 Allergic diseases are on the rise globally, and while there are new therapies being developed, there is still a long way to go in finding a cure or effective treatment.

Recap by Tammy AI

[ul]

I have multiple chronic illnesses, most of them invisible and the way she talks about chronic illness is so empathic and touching. Feels like really being seen which is so rare.

[swingtag]

Most of my allergies disappeared when I stopped eating carbohydrates. My arthritis went away too.

[LTPottenger]

Fasting can help a great deal with allergies, which stem from the gut. Fasting fixes the gut and also gets rid of the problem immune cells and replaces them with ones that function properly! Some benefits of doing occasional extended fasting: High blood pressure is lowered to normal levels very quickly while fasting.
Fibrosis/scarring is reversed over time.
Fasting increases nitric oxide release.
Fasting restores NAD+ to healthy levels.

Vitamin D plasma levels are increased as fasting improves metabolic health, and vitamin D in turn increases autophagy.

Fasting stimulates phagocytosis, the ingestion of bacteria, plaques and viruses by the immune system. It will also remove any 'foreign material' like spikes that are not supposed to be there. Whether natural or unnatural in origin..

Telomeres are lengthened and fasting also increases anti-aging Yamanaka factors.

Blood clotting is reduced and blood clots and arterial plaque are reabsorbed into the body.

Fasts from 36-96 h increase metabolic rate due to norepinephrine release!

After 72 hours or more fasted, your body recycles up to 1/3 of all immune bodies, rejuvenating your entire immune system.

Fasting can help with MS, Depression, BPD, Autism and seizures.

Thymus is regenerated, which suppresses aging and renews the immune system. The thymus also plays a vital role in fighting cancer.

Blood sugar and insulin are lowered when fasting, allowing white blood cells to move more freely throughout the body and do their job. Some viruses activate glycolosis (the release of sugar in the body) and clinically it has been shown that decreasing glucose metabolism in the body weakens the influenza virus.

Weight loss from daily caloric restriction has 1/4 to 1/3 of the weight lost as lean tissue while many studies show fat loss from 36 h fasts without losing any lean tissue! The hunger hormone ghrelin also lowers with extended fasting and rises from dieting.

When you move out of MTOR your body shuts down the building blocks of the cell required for viruses to replicate.

What breaks a fast? Anything with protein or carbohydrates in it will break a fast. Most teas and herbs are OK. Most supplements and meds will either break ketosis directly or contain a filler that will. Many meds are dangerous to take while fasting.

Does fasting lower testosterone? No, it raises it when the fast is broken by increasing lutenizing hormone. Fasting also increases insulin sensitivity, which helps with muscle building.

Fasts of 36-96 will not affect short term female fertility or affect menstrual cycle. They also may increase long term fertility, especially in women with PCOS.

Fasting reduces pain and anxiety by stimulating the endocannabinoid system in a similar way to CBD oil.

Fasting very quickly reduces leptin resistance, which impairs immune function. One day of fasting can cut your leptin levels in half and gets your immune system working properly again!

Stomach acid is reduced over time while fasting and can allow for the healing of treatment resistant ulcers. Some patients may need continued acid reduction medication while fasting.

Does the body preferentially prefer glucose as a fuel? No. Except for brief periods of very intense exercise, your body mainly burns fats in the form of free fatty acids. Your brain also prefers to burn ketones at a rate of around 2.5 to 1 when they are available in equal quantity to glucose.

Fasting stimulates the AMPK complex and activates autophagy. Autophagy (literally self eating) will cause cells to recycle foreign matter such as viruses and kill cancerous and senescent cells

Lowering insulin via fasting virtually eliminates chronic inflammation in the body.

It increases mitochondrial function and repairs mitichondrial DNA, leading to improved ATP production and oxygen efficiency.

Fasting releases BDNF and NGF in the blood which stimulates new nerve and brain cell growth. This can help a great deal with diseases like MS, peripheral neuropathy and Alzheimers.

When not in ketosis, the brain can only burn carbohydrate, which produces a great deal of damaging ROS the brain has to deal with.

Fasting also increases telomere length, negating some of the effects of aging at a cellular level.

When you fast, this stimulates apoptosis in senescent or genetically damaged cells, destroying them. Senescent cells are responsible for many of the effects of aging and are a root cause of the development of cancer.

A fasting mimicking diet for 3-5 days in a row also provides many of the same benefits as water fasting. FMD usually has 200-800 calories, under 18 g of protein and extremely low carbs.

Exogenous ketones can aid with fasting, making it easier in healthy people and allowing some people with specific issues to fast in spite of them without worrying as much about hypoglycemia.

Children, pregnant or nursing women should not fast for periods longer than 16 hours. People with pancreatic tumors or certain forms of hypoglycemia generally cannot fast at all. Type 1 diabetics can also fast but it is more complicated and should be approached with caution as it could lead to ketoacidosis. If you experience extreme symptoms of some kind, especially dizziness or tremors, then simply break the fast and seek advice.

Resources:

This list compiled over years of research by the user known as Pottenger's Human on youtube but feel free to copy and paste this anywhere you like, no accreditation needed!

My channel will always contain an updated version of this list of fasting benefits on the community tab. I also have playlists on fasting and health topics.

[omargarcia]

I have suffer from allergies since I was a kid. I stop eating seed oils and used grass feed pork fat instead. I stop eating refined bread and tortillas. Just ate beef and fish a few veggies ( onions, mushrooms, brocc, avocado 🥑 etc.) and fruit also raw milk and I only ate when I was really really hungry. All allergies are gone, my gallbladder problem is gone. My sciatica is gone. I finally feel alive after 43 years. Junk food or just a bad diet is nothing but pure evil and hell. You won’t ever go back to eating like that after you feel the effects of a good diet. And if you do well you go to hell not me. Also I thought I was gonna spend a lot of money on a organic grass fed food. Bug turns out I’m spending less money in groceries. I think it’s because now when I eat right; I don’t feel full or bloated; I just feel satiated. As opposed to the bad diet when I keep eating and eating. I was always feeling hungry and bloated at the same time, always felt like I wanted to burp, fart and take a dump but I couldn’t do none. Keep in mind I’m not obese at all. Actually I have always been in my weight. Maybe 4 or 5 lbs above my appropriate weight. I think one of our greatest mistakes is that we take food as a pleasure. We have to start seeing food as our medicine for the body and soul. One more thing before this diet I used to have lustful thoughts, even that changed. My mind started to be at peace. See no evil, eat no evil and you’ll be fine my brothers and sisters. Everything seems to fold into place.

[solotraveller]

15 years ago I taught English in a small town in south Korea. I was surprised that so few of the 100s and 1000s of kids that came through the school didn't have allergies and yet so many children have allergies in Australia. They used to have these wonderful free school lunches made fresh with so many different veggies and meats & kimchi. Westernisation of the diet has moved in with pizza 🍕 white bread and cake but this daily healthy lunch seemed to make the children very healthy and resilient in spite of this.

[umadhanushkodi]

I want to share my experience with long fasting and my allergies.

This podcast has been so enlightening. I've had hayfever / dust allergy since I was 10 (I'm now 45), and managed it for a long time with breath control (pranayama). It helped immensely but I still had a problem dealing with dust / dust mites around the house, even small amounts of mold in any scenario, etc. I left off the pranayama practice for a while around 2018 and around the time COVID started my allergies started to re-emerge in a big way.

That's some background. But what I am excited to share is this - three weeks ago I did a five-day water fast, my first time with a long fast. I went into it hoping to help heal a tendon injury in my foot. I left off taking any anti-histamines (which I was specifically taking because I'd been travelling and my house had been shut up for a couple of months, so I knew I would be sneezing my lungs out if I didnt)

I spent the whole of the first and second days of the fast sneezing. The second and third days were tough, not only because of the fast itself but because I had this searing intense "pain" under my cheekbones. But what happened after that was interesting. As that pain subsided, I realized I wasn't sneezing as much anymore, and then it completely stopped. COMPLETELY. It's been two weeks now, I'm back to my regular diet, and apart from the occasional sneeze at some point in the day, I find that my allergy has disappeared. The real litmus test for me was going to my mother's house, and it's super-dusty because she's old and can't be bothered. I'm usually sneezing or feeling my nose reacting within half an hour of arriving there - or I take an antihistamine as soon as I get there because there's no other way I can manage. But this time, I stayed for two full days and I was perfectly fine, no sneezing, no anti-histamine. This is almost absurd to me, because, like you've discussed, it's so much a part of who I am and how I manage my world. And it was not somehting that I expected the fast to do. I'm hoping it stays gone, but that remains to be seen.

I'm not sure it would work for everyone, of course, but wanted to share this aspect of my experience with fasting. Slightly long-winded, but that's just me excited! Love this conversation, and all the information you bring to the world!

[nellywolf]

this whole conversation comes down to the well known fact of avoiding grains, chemicals, and sugar.

[paulndorosh]

I live in Japan and developed a pretty severe pollen allergy (probably cedar) in the Spring a couple years after I moved here. The usual medicines did not work very well and were very uncomfortable for me to take, I would feel jittery and sleepy at the same time. A few years ago I tried doing a ketogenic diet during allergy season and it seemed to reduce my symptoms by about 95%. So, every year I do a ketogenic diet for a few months during that season and don't need to take any medication. Anyway, that worked for me.

[kellio]

During lunch, I made a plate of 7 small portions of healthy foods. My son asked me why I had so many foods on my plate. I very casually said "I'm feeding the good bugs". Then I burst out laughing thinking, what if I said that to people that have no idea what good bugs are. They would think I'm crazy lol. Then I thought, what if I also told them they had trillions of bugs in their gut. So I laughed even more. About 2 years ago, I had chronic stress for 1 year from my prior high stress job. I developed digestive issues, breathing issues, horrible leg cramps, depression and nerve problems. I even got bell's palsey where the right side of my face was paralyzed for about a month. After lots of research, I decided to eliminate stress by quitting my job then do an anti-inflammatory diet and focus on nutrition. After a month or so, all of my symptoms were gone. So, stress and over eating bad foods is what lead to my health problems.

[Elless]

I’m 60+ & developed hay fever age 9. Grass pollen & cats are my main triggers. I used to suffer quite badly throughout June till about mid July but thankfully it’s much less of an issue as I got older. I was brought up in a very clean home (though far less chemicals in products back then) & recall having several doses of antibiotics for ear/throat infections as a child. Back in 2011 as I was going through the menopause, plus a big house move, then the sudden death of someone very close to me - so quite a stressful time - I developed eczema. Luckily for me it’s been very mild & only seems to affect a small area on my back & neck. I agree people who don’t have experience of allergies can often think we overplay it but it’s a very real issue & can have knock on effects mentally & emotionally. Thanks to you both for this very informative talk.

[jaaustin]

I’ve had bad allergies most of my life. They got worse as soon as I got my period and got better as I finished menopause. I don’t know why, but my hormones definitely had something to do with it.

[Kristin_MommyBreakdown]

I’m in tears listening to this. 42:56 My daughter has almost died multiple times from food allergies. Thank you for spreading this message ❤

[sarahofer]

Clean your home with lemons, baking soda, salt, or vinegar.

[mssdn]

I have horrible hay fever every spring/summer. I live on the edge of a city. When I go and stay nearer the coast in Norfolk, where there is little traffic and pollution I don’t have hay fever, even though I’m surrounded by fields and trees. I’m convinced that pollution causes my allergy

[alisonbamford]

Histamine reactions are often due to deep cellular dehydration.

Many have found relief by dumping refined & processed ‘Carbage’ which really dehydrates the body. Even some drinks - anything sugar-laden & or chemical additive-laden, tea, coffee, alcohol, etc, which force the body to use way more water to process the substances in them than the drink supplies, can be very dehydrating.

But hydration isn’t just about drinking water. It’s also about getting enough minerals - electrolytes - so the body can use the water properly. Drinking water on its own can deplete the minerals. The best way to get the minerals is unrefined grey, moist sea salt.

I’ve proved this myself. A pinch of sea salt & good glass of water has nipped ‘allergic’ reactions in the bud many a time. Since focusing on rehydration I’ve had no histamine reactions at all. And my insulin resistance is improving.

Darko Velcek (on here) speaks a lot about the benefits of proper rehydration.

[conversationswithkat]

As a person with mast cell activation issues, and several rare genetic diseases, this is a topic that really needs more attention. I appreciate the conversation, and hope that doctors keep researching for answers.

[feivq]

This interview hit home so hard. A few years ago I was prescribed anti-biotics to treat H.pylori. The treatment was successful. But boy oh boy, several months when spring kicked in, I was having the worst sneezing, itching watery eyes symptom. The doctor call it Allergic Rhinitis (aka Hay Fever). It comes back and haunt me every spring since. Now I believe the anti-biotics may have mess up the balance of my gut micro-biome. I am cutting added sugar, process food and dairy this winter and fingercross* hopefully my symptoms will be lessen in the coming spring, if not completely gone. The allergy affect the me 24/7 even in my sleep. I wish I can simply hibernate in spring.