Gut and Food Allergies,

Asthma, Cold, Flu, Sinuses

“If we are creating ourselves all the time, then it is never too late to begin creating the bodies we want instead of the ones we mistakenly assume we are stuck with.” Deepak Chopra

Food allergy, asthma and chronic respiratory problems have become an epidemic in our modern world and the trend is up. Whereas a food allergy was considered an anomaly just a few decades ago, today a recent public survey has shown that almost half the population has an “allergy” to one or more foods. However, the official figures for a “true allergy to food” are around 1 percent of the population in most developed countries. As the major site of dietary absorption and the home to 80 percent of your body’s immune cells, it makes sense that the gut is a key player in the pathology of food allergies which lead to asthma, sinuses and respiratory problems.

Scientists found direct connection between gut health and lung health. Interestingly, the epithelium of the gut is structurally very similar to the lung endothelium, and inflammation tends to happen in both areas in people with allergic airway diseases. Like in the gut, microbial communities likely have a major impact on the integrity of the lung tissue. Unlike the gut, however, reduced diversity seems to be associated with better health. Asthmatics have been shown to have a greater diversity of microbes in their lungs compared to healthy individuals.

Your gut is lined with millions of epithelial cells that are responsible for maintaining a barrier between your gut contents (the intestinal lumen) and your bloodstream. In a healthy gut, small nutrients are absorbed, but large dietary proteins are unable to cross this barrier and enter the bloodstream.