What Happens In the Body?
We're going to talk about basic body chemistry here in order to understand why your child, or any person, becomes allergic or asthmatic. The more you understand what happens in the body, the better you will be able to understand exactly where nutrition fits in and what you can do about it.
First of all, allergies and, or asthma (and other diseases) are conditions resulting from stress on the body. Here you might need to broaden your understanding of what stress is when we talk about stress on the body: Stress is any condition that damages or taxes the body in any way, meaning breaking down or causing the death or malfunction of cells or systems anywhere in the body. When cells die, the body normally rebuilds them. You observe this more obviously when you see the skin healing itself after a cut; less obvious are the skin cells continuously rebuilding themselves. The same thing happens internally where cells of organs or any other tissue are also continually being rebuilt. This rebuilding, or repair, is a complex process that requires many nutrients. It takes place relatively quickly if the diet is adequate for the amount of stress on the body, but if the diet is inadequate, repair fails to keep pace with destruction. Also, in the same way that it requires more material for the repair of a damaged house than for the upkeep of one in good condition, every nutrient is needed in larger amounts to repair a body that is damaged.
When more cells are destroyed than are replaced, or when a body system malfunctions, disease is the result. The type of disease that is produced depends on which organ or system is most affected by the stress, usually determined more or less from the genes. I say "more or less" because although certain diseases, like allergy, often run in families, there can also be biochemical individuality. At any rate, stress is the first component of developing allergies and asthma (and other diseases).
Examples of stress on the body, known as stressors, are inadequate diet, growth, overwork, over-exercise, not enough exercise, not enough sleep, anxiety, depression, or any negative emotions, bacterial or viral attack, poor appetite, faulty absorption of nutrients, exposure to X-rays, over the counter or prescription drugs, toxins, pollutants, chemicals, refined sugar, etc.
Whatever the source of the stress, the body reacts in the same way. At the onset of stress, the pituitary gland (a small gland at the base of the brain behind the sinuses) immediately starts protective action. Often referred to as the master gland of the body, the pituitary secretes a number of hormones which regulate many bodily processes. In other words, hormones are the messengers of the body.
Among these hormones is adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which is a messenger to the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are small, triangular-shaped glands, one located on the top of each kidney. In response to any type of stress, ACTH is immediately carried by the blood from the pituitary to the adrenals. The ACTH messenger causes the outside border of the adrenal glands, or cortex, to produce cortisone, cortisol, corticosterone and many other messenger hormones. To simplify the explanation, I will refer to these hormones in general as "cortisone." The center of the adrenals manufacture adrenaline, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (which are also produced in other parts of the body).
The hormones of the adrenal cortex quickly prepare the body to met the emergency: proteins, at first drawn from the thymus and lymph glands, are broken down to form sugar necessary for immediate energy; the blood sugar rises and the remaining sugar is stored in the liver in the form of body starch, or glycogen, which can be instantly converted into sugar if needed; the blood pressure increases, minerals are drawn from the bones, fat is mobilized from storage depots, an abnormal amount of salt is retained, and many other changes take place which prepare the body for "fight or flight." These changes also make it possible to repair vital tissues by a process of robbing Peter to pay Paul. This first stage, called the "alarm reaction," varies in intensity with the degree of stress.
If the stress continues, the body sets up a "stage of resistance" in which it repairs itself by rebuilding with all the raw materials at hand. When the diet is adequate, a person may go for years withstanding tremendous stress with little apparent harm.
Should the raw materials be insufficient to meet the needs, however, there comes a "stage of exhaustion." Here, disease develops, if it has not already done so.
More often we experience repeated "alarm reactions" and live through hundreds of "stages of resistance," one piled on top of the other, before pituitary and adrenal exhaustion threatens our health.
The first two stages of stress are characterized by constant damage and repair; most illnesses, including asthma and allergies, fall in stage three, which is reached when repair fails. To regain health, the diet must be planned accordingly. While medication may relieve symptoms, it does not repair. In fact, medication itself is a stressor. In order to heal, the body must draw on the nutritional resources that it is fed---food and supplements, not medication.
Chronic stress on the body, if it eventually taxes the adrenals beyond their ability to generate sufficient hormones, leads to adrenal exhaustion. The adrenals are no longer able to supply the body with the hormones it needs. In the case of asthma and allergies, in particular, the adrenals do not supply enough of the cortisone hormones. Any disease which is helped by cortisone, or steroid, medications is the result of decreased cortisone in the body. Decreased cortisone results from unhealthy adrenals. Unhealthy adrenals result from the demands of stress not being met. Stress needs to either be decreased sufficiently, or the body must be given sufficient nutrition to withstand the stress.
One of the adrenal hormones, desoxycortisone, or DOC, needs to be in balance with cortisone. If so little cortisone is produced that DOC is excessive, the body's normal inflammatory response gets out of hand, resulting in excess swelling in the tissues during allergic reactions and asthma attacks. On the other hand, if too little DOC is produced by the adrenals or if cortisone is given as a medication, the body becomes more susceptible to infections and damage from toxic substances.
How well the body copes with the demands of stress placed upon it depends to a considerable degree on its ability to produce pituitary and adrenal hormones. Therefore, low pituitary and adrenal hormones lead to disease. If the diet has been inadequate in protein, vitamin E, or the B vitamins riboflavin (vitamin B-2), pantothenic acid or choline, sufficient pituitary hormones cannot be produced. Vitamin E, which is more concentrated in the pituitary gland than in any other part of the body, is thought to be particularly essential; it prevents both the pituitary and adrenal hormones from being destroyed by oxygen.
The adrenal cortex is even more sensitive to dietary deprivation. Even a slight lack of pantothenic acid causes a marked decrease in the quantity of hormones released. The pituitary, adrenal, and sex hormones are all made from cholesterol, but without pantothenic acid, cholesterol cannot be replaced in the glands after once being used up. If generous amounts of pantothenic acid are given and the deficiency has not been severe, adrenal hormones can be produced normally within 24 hours. When the deprivation has been prolonged, however, a period of repair is necessary and recovery is slow.
A slight deficiency of essential fatty acids or vitamins A, B-2, or E can also limit hormone production and cause a degeneration of the adrenal cortex; hence, each is as essential as pantothenic acid.
Second, allergies and asthma are conditions initiated by foreign particles, referred to as antigens or allergens, gaining entrance to the body. In combination with the stressors explained above, conditions are being set up for a person to become allergic, and eventually asthmatic. The stressors place excess demands on the body, and the body attempts to function, to perform all its duties, fueled only by the fuel we feed it. When we do not feed it what it needs, it robs nutrients from wherever it can get them inside the body, robbing one organ to pay another. While the body is extremely resiliant, this can only go on for a certain length of time without negative effects. Eventually something breaks down.
In the case of allergies, and asthma which is triggered by antigens, a shortage of certain nutrients enters into the breaking down of the mucous membranes. For example part of the mucous membrane barrier, connective tissue, depends on vitamin C and calcium for strength. It also uses essential fatty acids as a component of every cell; these fats, as part of the connective tissue and cell walls, can be destroyed by oxygen in the body, allowing viruses, bacteria, and allergens free access into the tissues, unless adequate vitamin E is supplied. And, of course, vitamin A is needed by both skin and mucous membranes. If the diet is adequate in vitamin A, the mucous membranes continuously secrete a liquid, or mucus, which covers the cells and prevents bacteria from reaching them. Furthermore, bacteria cannot live in mucus. The mucous-producing cells also secrete substances known as antienzymes which counteract the effect of the destructive enzymes produced by bacteria. This is how the mucous membrane protects the body from bacterial invasion. And, vitamin A also needs vitamin E to protect it from oxidation.