Active allergies
Loud and obvious. Hives, rashes, swelling, wheezing, streaming eyes and nose. You know exactly when you are having one, and usually what caused it.
Lecture Series · Allergies
Free yourself from allergies.
Adapted from Dr. Patricia Sheppard's public lecture on allergy elimination — what an allergy actually is, why the ones that never make you sneeze may be doing the most damage, and how the gut, the nervous system and the immune system conspire to produce them.
What an allergy actually is
An allergy is a biological hypersensitivity: a reaction to a substance that, in the same amount and the same circumstances, does nothing at all to the person standing next to you. An allergen is whatever sets it off — and it can be almost anything.
Hippocrates noticed this two and a half thousand years ago: one person's food is another person's poison. The word itself is newer. The Austrian paediatrician Clemens von Pirquet coined "allergy" in 1906 while studying the immune systems of children with tuberculosis — from the Greek allos (altered) and ergon (reactivity). Altered reactivity. That is still the most useful definition there is, because it puts the emphasis where it belongs: not on the substance, but on the body that is over-reacting to it.
The Distinction That Matters
Active allergies and hidden allergies
Hidden allergies
Almost invisible. Few classic allergic signs — instead, fatigue, anxiety, mental fogginess, back pain, aching joints, a general malaise. Patients describe a body and a mind that simply do not work well, and have no idea why.
Most allergy sufferers have both types. The active ones get all the attention. The hidden ones are often what is actually wearing you down.
Why allergies develop
The tendency to develop allergies is inherited. The specific allergies are not — which is why "neither of my parents has allergies" is such a common and such a reasonable objection.
Childhood onset
- A parental illness or condition that altered the child's genetic expression
- Maternal exposure to radiation, chemicals or drugs during pregnancy
- Proteins crossing the placenta from the maternal bloodstream, so sensitivities begin before birth
Adult onset
- Environmental toxins and chemicals — mercury in fish, food additives and preservatives, air and water pollution
- Parasites, picked up from restaurants, water, undercooked meat or poorly washed vegetables
- A major illness, a severe drug reaction, or radiation exposure
Each of these is an insult to the body, and the body answers on two fronts at once: the immune system becomes reactive, and so does the nervous system.
The gut connection
This is the part of the lecture people remember, because it explains why an allergy problem is so rarely just an allergy problem. An under-functioning nervous system sets off a chain:
- Poor salivary production
Digestion is supposed to begin in the mouth. When it doesn't, everything downstream inherits the problem.
- Low stomach acid
Insufficient HCl means proteins are not broken down properly before they move on.
- pH imbalance in the small intestine
The chemistry that should greet that food is wrong.
- Fermentation
Which creates, in effect, a petri dish — ideal conditions for yeast, parasites and other pathogens.
- Increased gut permeability
Large, undigested proteins pass through a membrane that should have stopped them.
- Altered reactivity
The immune system meets those undigested proteins in the bloodstream and treats them as invaders. You now have a food allergy — and, because absorption has failed, a nutrient problem as well.
What poor absorption costs you
Once nutrients stop arriving, cellular repair and regeneration degrade — and the bill arrives in places nobody associates with allergies: joint degeneration, weakened ligaments, weak endocrine and immune function, a liver overburdened by impaired detoxification, and a nervous system under steadily more stress.
That is the argument for treating allergies as a structural and biochemical problem rather than a seasonal nuisance. Left alone, they do not stay in their lane.
Patterns From the Lecture
Foods commonly implicated, by symptom
These are the associations Dr. Sheppard presented — starting points for investigation, not a diagnosis. Yours have to be tested, not assumed.
Digestive distress
Wheat and other gluten grains, oats, barley, rye, raw meats, pineapple and citrus juices, milk, and alcohol — beer, gin, whiskey.
Migraine headaches
MSG, commercial iodised salt, aged yellow cheese, chocolate, wheat, cola, ham, milk products, caffeine, refined sugar, and most alcohol.
Eczema
Dairy products and soy products.
Hives and itching
Chocolate, strawberries, oranges, tomatoes.
Sinus and nasal congestion
Dairy products, meats, chocolate, sauerkraut, wine, beer.
Swelling
Honey, egg whites, shellfish — and bee stings.
The Approach
Four parts, working together
Dr. Sheppard calls this chiropractic non-invasive desensitisation. No needles, no drugs — four components that each address a different part of why the reactivity exists.
NAET
Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques, developed in 1983: a blend of energy balancing, testing and treatment drawn from acupressure, chiropractic, nutritional and kinesiological practice. One allergen is treated at a time — the basic essential nutrients over the first several visits, then chemicals and environmental allergens. How long it takes depends on the state of your immune and nervous systems.
Applied kinesiology
Muscle testing used to get feedback on neurological function — concerned with how neuromuscular response reflects the structural, chemical and mental systems that regulate the body. It originated within the chiropractic profession. More on applied kinesiology.
Applied neurology
Sensory nerve fibres dulled by chemical, metal or parasitic insult stop functioning at capacity and drift into hyper- or hypo-sensitivity. Applied neurology works to reactivate those fibres toward normal integration.
Nutritional support and detoxification
Enzymes to improve digestion and rebalance pH; herbs and nutrients to support Phase I and Phase II liver pathways; omega-3 fatty acids to protect cell membranes during detoxification; and low-level laser to assist lymphatic drainage. More on clinical nutrition.
"An allergy is not really about the substance. It is about a body that has learned to over-react — and a body that learned it can be taught otherwise."— from Dr. Sheppard's allergy lecture
Questions
Allergies, answered
What is a hidden allergy?
A reaction that never produces the obvious signs — no hives, no wheezing, no runny eyes. Instead it shows up as fatigue, brain fog, aching joints, low mood or digestive trouble, and because nothing itches, almost nobody connects it to what they ate. Most allergy sufferers have both kinds at once.
Can you develop allergies as an adult?
Yes, and it is common. The tendency to react is inherited, but the specific reactions are not — they are acquired. Environmental chemical exposure, heavy metals, a bout of parasites, a serious illness or a severe drug reaction can all shift what your immune and nervous systems treat as a threat.
What is NAET?
Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Techniques, developed by Dr. Devi Nambudripad in 1983. It is a non-invasive, drug-free method that blends muscle testing with acupressure and chiropractic technique, treating one allergen at a time — the basic nutrients first, then chemicals and environmental substances.
How is this different from allergy shots?
Immunotherapy introduces small amounts of an allergen over months or years to blunt the immune response. This approach works on the nervous system's part of the reaction as well as the immune system's, and adds digestive and detoxification support so the underlying reactivity has a reason to settle. It involves no needles and no drugs.
Do you offer allergy treatment in Santa Fe?
Yes — at the Santa Fe office, 1330 Cerro Gordo Road Unit A2. Call (415) 332-0621 or send a request.
The original lecture slides
This article is adapted from Dr. Sheppard's presentation. The slide deck she delivered it from is still available to download.
This article is adapted from a public lecture given by Dr. Sheppard and is offered for education only. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for care from your physician. Nothing here is a claim to prevent, treat or cure any disease.
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