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Managing allergies - the latest research

Who saw the latest research piece from some Australian researchers in the newspapers recently?

It would appear that some Australian doctors have been investigating whether or not probiotics can be effective in the treatment of food allergies, specifically peanut allergy.  And the results?  Yep, it would appear that certain strains of probiotics ARE effective in treating food allergy symptoms.  But why is this?

Allergies arise when a part of our immune system is overactive, causing a chain reaction that produces responses such as sneezing, swelling, vomiting, hives, and other reactions.  Our digestive system houses 70-80% of our total immune system.  This immune presence helps the body to determine the difference between healthy foods and beneficial bacteria, as well as toxic substances and harmful organisms.  Once a decision is made, (is this stuff coming in friendly, or an intruder?), our body will then send an appropriate immune response.!

But if our digestive system is full of bad bacteria and toxic foods, then our immune system will be confused, and respond by sounding the alarm and producing inflammation.  This can then lead to further problems, like getting an allergy.

So,  if we can get the bacteria balance right, (that is more good than bad), and reduce our toxic food intake (like refined foods), then we can reduce our chances of developing allergies.  And if we develop an allergy to something (like peanuts), then it makes sense that restoring the good bacteria balance into our digestive system, (using probiotics), might reduce our allergy symptoms.  This is what us naturopathic practitioners have been doing with patients for a long time, and now it would seem that modern science is finally catching up with us!  Hip bloody hip hooray!  Personally, I don’t need the research to tell me what I already know, and have been helping people with for ages.  But any news like this is certainly good news!

Source: ABC NEWS