People who have cured nasal allergies/asthma through diet

heykatieben
heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
edited October 6 in Food and Nutrition
I've read that food allergies can be responsible for nasal allergies and asthma. Last night, I finally met a guy in person who completely eliminated his allergies - he's completely medication-free now - by going gluten, soy, dairy & egg-free. Naturally, I'm curious about what modifying my diet might do for my own allergies/asthma.

Has anyone here had a similar experience?

Does anyone know if greatly reducing gluten, soy, dairy & eggs in your diet will have mostly the same effect? It'd be nice to think that if a food allergy were causing my symptoms, I could still occasionally have a pizza without being miserable later. :)

Replies

  • woou
    woou Posts: 668 Member
    I'm experiencing the same :flowerforyou: and would like to hear from people who no longer experience it after changing their diet as well.
  • mahidac
    mahidac Posts: 126 Member
    Unfortunately I don't think that is something that will work for most people

    The idea behind food alergies spuring environmental allergies is that they both cause whats called a type I hypersensitivity reaction. Basically we have a cell in our body called the eosinophil and its correlated immunoglobulin (igE) that are woefully underused in more developed countries because they target and kill worms (hence why less developed countries tend not to get allergies). When our IgE levels are high they bind to mast cells and illicit degranulation which is why you get the rush of histamine in your system.


    so the idea is that if you have a gluten intolerance - and you start avoiding glutens it will keep the circulating levels of IgE low - which will in turn help your allergies. I have horrible allergies but if you just get a good antihistamine and take it regularly and not just when you have flare ups it should keep your symptoms in check

    I would imagine something like dodging gluten would be a very case by case thing
  • heykatieben
    heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
    Ooh mahidac, very interesting!

    So if avoiding gluten keeps your IgE levels low, why do you suspect that results to allergies would vary so much?
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    I think I would rather take medication than cut out wheat and dairy.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    According to my doc, asthma can "come and go" (ie the symptoms). It is definitely triggered by allergies, too. But it never really goes away and I should ALWAYS have an inhaler. (Do I? no. haha) So even if the symptoms ease off, you can't decide to get rid of all medications. But you may feel better!
  • hperowl
    hperowl Posts: 234 Member
    bump
  • mahidac
    mahidac Posts: 126 Member
    Ooh mahidac, very interesting!

    So if avoiding gluten keeps your IgE levels low, why do you suspect that results to allergies would vary so much?

    haha sometimes i get rambling and forgot the original post :P

    my thot process was that your friend had more of a food allergy issue and the food allergy was precipitating their other allergies - so once they fixed the food allergy it brought their IgE levels down and helped with the other symptoms, but in a person like myself who doesn't have food allergies but is allergic to pollen and ragweed - I don't think it would be very helpful

    plus after using this site and realizing i have to monitor so much in my food already the idea of adding a gluten type restriction to that makes me want to cry haha
  • mahidac
    mahidac Posts: 126 Member
    these are all also the speculations of a third year medstudent who has boards coming up and is mainlining coffee and trying to ignore the studying that i need to be doing :P

    I could definitely be off
  • cherod70
    cherod70 Posts: 24
    I feel that my diet directly affects my asthma. I was on Advair and albuterol for quite some time and these meds are not good for your body long term. I asked my doctor what else I could do to get off the meds. She told me to cut out the junk, more specifically bad fats found in fast food and processed foods. I no longer eat fast food when I can help it and stay away from things with trans fat. I also found that I was sensitive to overprosessed breads and I eat white bread in moderation. After making these changes I am completely off the meds. I only use an inhaler a few times a year when I am around a dog I am allergic to, when I have fast food or drink more than a couple glasses of wine. However, I think this is a very individual thing and if you take care of your self in general you will have good results. I feel my best when I watch what I eat and exercise!! Listen to your body and if you don't feel well after you eat you are probably affecting your asthma and allergies.
  • heykatieben
    heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
    I feel that my diet directly affects my asthma. I was on Advair and albuterol for quite some time and these meds are not good for your body long term. I asked my doctor what else I could do to get off the meds. She told me to cut out the junk, more specifically bad fats found in fast food and processed foods. I no longer eat fast food when I can help it and stay away from things with trans fat. I also found that I was sensitive to overprosessed breads and I eat white bread in moderation. After making these changes I am completely off the meds. I only use an inhaler a few times a year when I am around a dog I am allergic to, when I have fast food or drink more than a couple glasses of wine. However, I think this is a very individual thing and if you take care of your self in general you will have good results. I feel my best when I watch what I eat and exercise!! Listen to your body and if you don't feel well after you eat you are probably affecting your asthma and allergies.

    Awesome, glad to hear! Thanks for the testimonial :) Advair is so expensive, it makes healthy eating seem a lot cheaper!
  • M_lifts
    M_lifts Posts: 2,218 Member
    these are all also the speculations of a third year medstudent who has boards coming up and is mainlining coffee and trying to ignore the studying that i need to be doing :P

    I could definitely be off

    I would say you are doing very well indeed! you have good understanding of the IgE and how it works! to get brownie points in your exams id say read up about Omalizumab and how its fab for difficult asthma as it binds to freely circulating IgE ( i examine med students as part of my job and this helps to show better understanding ;)
  • M_lifts
    M_lifts Posts: 2,218 Member
    it really does depend on what triggers your asthma to be quite honest. You have to figure out what flares up your symptoms. You cannot eliminate asthma symptoms by altering your diet unless you have sensitivities to food which cause your flare ups. You may have allergies to pets, fungues, house dust mite etc etc. the list is endless. good asthma control is about finding out what triggers your symptoms and trying to avoid them. your treatment can be stepped up and down to you needing a preventer or just relying on a reliever when you are symptomatic.
  • mahidac
    mahidac Posts: 126 Member
    these are all also the speculations of a third year medstudent who has boards coming up and is mainlining coffee and trying to ignore the studying that i need to be doing :P

    I could definitely be off

    I would say you are doing very well indeed! you have good understanding of the IgE and how it works! to get brownie points in your exams id say read up about Omalizumab and how its fab for difficult asthma as it binds to freely circulating IgE ( i examine med students as part of my job and this helps to show better understanding ;)

    oh god - monoclonal antibody drugs, my bane! haha - its funny i memorized that one is for asthma, but i never made the correlation to IgE - well now i definitely wont forget it!!!!
  • M_lifts
    M_lifts Posts: 2,218 Member
    these are all also the speculations of a third year medstudent who has boards coming up and is mainlining coffee and trying to ignore the studying that i need to be doing :P

    I could definitely be off

    I would say you are doing very well indeed! you have good understanding of the IgE and how it works! to get brownie points in your exams id say read up about Omalizumab and how its fab for difficult asthma as it binds to freely circulating IgE ( i examine med students as part of my job and this helps to show better understanding ;)

    oh god - monoclonal antibody drugs, my bane! haha - its funny i memorized that one is for asthma, but i never made the correlation to IgE - well now i definitely wont forget it!!!!

    glad to help ;)
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    I have mild asthma. It is definitely better when I avoid yeast, and it is a lot worse when I eat peanuts. I have found the best cure to be running, though. I have had very few problems since taking up running. I didn't have it when I was rowing every day either. I think fitness is the best cure.
  • Jain
    Jain Posts: 861 Member
    I'm trying to go vegan to see if it helps my asthma (I'm already veggie), I've noticed the symtoms were worse when I've had dairy. So far so good, my breathing does seem to be easier especially at night.
  • SusanneWhittington
    SusanneWhittington Posts: 339 Member
    I changed my food after reading Live Right 4 your Type and since then I am done with my allergies and even my depressions got better. It's not even hard to leave out special kinds of food and it is so worth it.
  • cmeitz0
    cmeitz0 Posts: 4 Member
    It did not cure it, but helped clear it up. I went on an elimination diet of corn, soy, wheat, dairy, eggs, and peanuts. Found that when I eliminated dairy and wheat my asthma cleared up substantially. After a few days with no wheat, my peak flows went up 100 points. I went back on wheat again and after a few days not only did my asthma get worse, but the headaches and stomach issues that I used to have (and forgotten about) came back too.
  • AmyEm3
    AmyEm3 Posts: 784 Member
    I have mild asthma. I have found the best cure to be running, though. I have had very few problems since taking up running. I didn't have it when I was rowing every day either. I think fitness is the best cure.

    When I used to run in college I noticed a definite dramatic improvement in my asthma symptoms. I was able to stop all medication. Then I took 9 years off running and started running again early this summer. I was hoping running would help again but it didn't this time. In fact, it seemed to get worse and I had to start daily medication for a while instead of just a rescue inhaler. I'm trying to start weaning off the daily medication again now.

    I haven't tried any dietary changes. Interesting to think about though. I'll have to read more about this.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    Unfortunately I don't think that is something that will work for most people

    The idea behind food alergies spuring environmental allergies is that they both cause whats called a type I hypersensitivity reaction. Basically we have a cell in our body called the eosinophil and its correlated immunoglobulin (igE) that are woefully underused in more developed countries because they target and kill worms (hence why less developed countries tend not to get allergies). When our IgE levels are high they bind to mast cells and illicit degranulation which is why you get the rush of histamine in your system.


    so the idea is that if you have a gluten intolerance - and you start avoiding glutens it will keep the circulating levels of IgE low - which will in turn help your allergies. I have horrible allergies but if you just get a good antihistamine and take it regularly and not just when you have flare ups it should keep your symptoms in check

    I would imagine something like dodging gluten would be a very case by case thing

    So wait a second, the cure is to get worms? :noway:
  • heykatieben
    heykatieben Posts: 398 Member
    Unfortunately I don't think that is something that will work for most people

    The idea behind food alergies spuring environmental allergies is that they both cause whats called a type I hypersensitivity reaction. Basically we have a cell in our body called the eosinophil and its correlated immunoglobulin (igE) that are woefully underused in more developed countries because they target and kill worms (hence why less developed countries tend not to get allergies). When our IgE levels are high they bind to mast cells and illicit degranulation which is why you get the rush of histamine in your system.


    so the idea is that if you have a gluten intolerance - and you start avoiding glutens it will keep the circulating levels of IgE low - which will in turn help your allergies. I have horrible allergies but if you just get a good antihistamine and take it regularly and not just when you have flare ups it should keep your symptoms in check

    I would imagine something like dodging gluten would be a very case by case thing

    So wait a second, the cure is to get worms? :noway:

    LOL! Good, I wasn't the only person who came to this conclusion! :p
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