Lock down the triggers aiming to make you sick

When your doctor says your illness is “idiopathic,” don’t believe it! The “idiopathic” condition is one that has no known cause. That’s why finding a cure going the mainstream route is rare. For conventional doctors, it’s easiest just to treat you with a pharmaceutical drug or surgery.

Every illness has more than one cause — you just have to discover them. And that discovery could be the key to your renewed health and vitality and the end of annoying, sometimes debilitating chronic symptoms.

For years I’ve believed that allergies are the cause of chronic symptoms. I call it immune hypersensitivity — the major hidden culprit of nearly all chronic diseases. This past month I discovered how powerful — and subtle — allergic causes are when I cured my rosacea by going off bread.

In this and subsequent articles we’ll get to the bottom of allergic causes of chronic illness. With just a little guidance, you’ll be able test for your own allergy triggers and discover how to eliminate them — all for the sake a feeling better and enjoying great health.

Idiopathic illness

In your search to cure your chronic symptom or illness, I’ll bet your doctor has done several tests trying to detect and characterize your illness. Few tests, however, look for real underlying causes so that you can actually cure your illness. Instead, you were likely given a prescription medication to treat your symptoms.

In contrast, consider my personal experience. I have been to dermatologists, estheticians, and even sought online advice seeking an effective treatment for my dandruff and rosacea (face rash) of more than 25 years.

Medicated shampoos did not work for the dandruff. And my face was always pink with very inflamed skin. Sometimes my forehead and cheeks peeled fully on a weekly basis. Emollients and antibiotics did not work for my rosacea. Only steroid creams or prednisone pills (which are not safe for long-term use) could suppress the inflammation I suffered. Nothing came close to curing it, although I did improve greatly when using a probiotic blend two years ago.

What food do I love and eat most? You guessed it…bread! I loved bread—dearly!

I had suspected this could be part of my problem for years, but couldn’t bear the thought of eliminating bread from my diet…until 6 weeks ago.

The first two weeks off bread were the most difficult, but certainly something anyone could do. In four weeks off bread my skin became 95 percent healed. Now my normal brown skin tone from my youth has returned and I love it! My scalp and face skin is no longer flaking off continuously. I can use almost any cleanser or emollient and my face will not react because the cause of the inflammation is gone.

So there you have it! I eliminated wheat flour (bread, pasta, processed cereals, cakes, cookies, etc.) and this is the only change I made. My “idiopathic” condition has now been cured. And you can do the same to get to the real root of yours as well.

What symptoms to look for

An immune hypersensitivity (allergy) that causes a chronic inflammation is much more subtle than the classic allergic rhinitis symptoms of runny/stuffy nose, itchy eyes, or sneezing that you would expect from pollen allergy.

Chronic inflammation involves pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as the interleukins (IL-1, IL-6), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and others. They cause symptoms such as:

• Joint/nerve pain
• Skin rashes
• Asthma
• Headaches
• Dementia
• Hormone imbalances
• Hypertension
• Stomach acid
• Intestinal disorders
• Fatigue
• Depression or anxiety
• Obesity

You may also want to take an honest look at any intestinal symptoms you may have, since food hypersensitivity is related to gut inflammation. Bloating, indigestion, and gas are easy signs of gut dysbiosis (unhealthy intestinal bacteria overgrowth) and also leaky gut syndrome, an extremely common condition in which large unwanted proteins from food seep into your bloodstream through the small intestinal wall, causing immune hypersensitivity.

What could you be allergic to?

Sooner or later you should be asking yourself, “What are the most likely allergic causes for my chronic symptoms or illness?” Consider all that you breathe, put on your skin, or ingest.

What you ingest daily is by far the largest potential cause here. These foods and liquids go directly to your small intestine, and then most of it gets injected directly into your blood stream. Therefore, you must first consider what food sensitivity you could have that may be a hidden cause of disease.

This leads to a few more food related questions. What proportion of your diet is inflammatory food such as processed sugar, trans-fats, processed grains, or chemical additives, dyes, and preservatives? All of these promote chronic inflammation.

And, what proportion are fats from processed seed oils (e.g. safflower, soy, sunflower)? Processed oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids and low in omega-3 fatty acids. A high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is inflammatory. Furthermore, fat that gets highly heated turn into trans-fatty acid, and these trans-fats are now known to greatly increase heart disease.

Contrariwise, what proportion of your food is fatty fish, nuts, seeds, fruits and vegetables? A perfect example of an anti-inflammation diet is the Mediterranean diet, characterized by a high consumption of fresh and cooked vegetables and olive oil, and moderate consumption of [animal and vegetable] protein.

These are just a few ways to help you discover if a food allergy is the hidden cause for chronic symptoms and disease. In my next article I’ll explore more on this subject, including the best tests available to detect food allergies and treatment.

To feeling healthy and happy,

Michael Cutler, M.D.