Did you know in order to find the root cause of your allergies you need to look at your gut function? This is because 70% of the immune system is housed in the gut. An allergy is a problem with your immune system, so when you have an immune system problem there is a good bet the dysfunction lies in the gut. Gut dysbiosis (imbalance between good and bad bacteria), infection, and inflammation can all disrupt immune function in the gut.
Here are the functional medicine tests to consider:
- GI 360 Profile: stool test to check for the above-mentioned potential issues as well as look at the gut’s immune function.
- Food & Inhalant Combo Panel: to identify food and airborne allergies.
The key is then to eliminate and/or reduce exposure to identified allergies. The next step is to fix whatever is wrong in the gut. This will bring balance and harmony back to the immune system. Finally, we prescribe natural anti-histamines and homeopathic antigens to combat the specific allergies. Homeopathic antigens are diluted amounts of whatever you are allergic to; given in small but frequent doses it can pump or prime the immune system to the specific allergen. Then, when the immune system is exposed to it in nature it is ready and will not overreact as much.
There is a lot more to treating allergies than taking allergy medication and drug anti-histamines for the rest of your life. That is symptomatic treatment. Functional medicine focuses on finding and treating the root cause, not just the symptoms.