The link between your Gut Microbiome and Allergies

Allergies and gut disorders are both steadily rising, with approximately 30% to 40% of the world’s population now reporting some kind of allergic reaction. The World Health Organization has regarded it as one of the 3 major diseases of the 21st century. In this article we will be uncovering the link between our gut microbiome and allergies, how to improve your gut health and get relief from allergy symptoms.

In the scientific research world it has now been widely accepted that alterations in gut bacterial levels or gut microbiome diversity may be one of the the leading reason for the rise of allergies.

Several studies have shown that gut dysbiosis in early childhood brings a greater risk of food allergies that will continue into adulthood, rather than growing out of them. 

At Health & Wellness Australia, we see clients of all ages presenting with a wide range of symptoms from allergies, sensitivities and intolerances, who respond well to our natural allergy treatment called Positive Association Technique (PAT). We’ve seen the increased incidence of allergies first hand, due to impacts our modern lifestyle has on our gut health.

The Importance of Gut Health

Having a balanced gut microbiome and proper digestive function is vital for efficient nutrient absorption, immune system function, and even impacts our mental health.

Over recent years, medicine has started to recognise what a pivotal role the gut and digestive system plays in our health. In fact, many integrative medicine doctors now consider the gut to be like a second brain.

You might not have thought about your digestive system and everything it actually does to keep us healthy and thriving. For starters it’s the largest surface area in the body, and is essentially a long continuous tube about 9 meters in length that is completely separate from the rest of our body.  

The gut, also known as our gastrointestinal tract, is a complex system responsible for the digestion and absorption of nutrients from the food we consume. It is home to trillions of microorganisms, collectively known as the gut microbiome, and this microbial community influences various aspects of our health, including metabolism, immunity, and mood.

What is the Gut Microbiome?

From the inside of our gut to the surface of our skin, our bodies are host to thriving communities of microbial life, including bacteria, viruses, archaea, and fungi. The most diverse and abundant community of microbes live in our gut, which is referred to as the gut microbiome. 

We live in harmony with our gut microbes; in return for providing them with a food source and an environment in which to live, they protect our body from invasion from pathogenic microorganisms, modulate our immune system, help us to extract energy from our food, and produce a number of beneficial chemical compounds, such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). 

In recognition of their vital role in maintaining our health, some scientists believe the gut microbiome should be reclassified as an additional organ of the body.

A healthy gut microbiome will have a diverse array of beneficial bacteria, fungi, and other microbes. While the type and abundance of microbes that live in the gut generally remains stable over time, external factors such as diet and the use of certain medications can alter its composition. 

When this microbial balance is disrupted, or when toxigenic species become overgrown, it can lead to an imbalance known as dysbiosis. This can cause chronic digestive disorders such as IBS, SIBO, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other diseases that require a continuous immune response as our bodies fight against the imbalances and the problems they cause.

Symptoms of Gut Dysbiosis

The influence of the gut microbiome extends far beyond our digestive tract. In fact, dysbiosis has also been implicated in a number of systemic diseases, as well as;

• Sleep issues
• Constipation, diarrhea, bloating, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and other digestive issues
• Allergies/ food intolerances
• Skin conditions such as eczema and acne
• Halitosis (bad breath)
• Migraines
• Sluggishness
• Fatigue
• Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression
• Weight gain/food cravings

What is SIBO and Leaky Gut?

SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) occurs in the top part of the small intestine. This is where most of the food molecules get broken down, so not a lot of bacteria should be there as they will compete with your body for that nutrition. 

When bacteria or yeast build up in this area problems can occur because the bacteria or yeast can ferment the carbohydrates to produce excessive gas and bloating. They can also break down proteins which produce ‘vasoactive amines’ which cause the constriction and relaxation of blood vessels by acting on the smooth muscle that surrounds these vessels.  

When this happens in the gut, it can lead to increased gut permeability, aka leaky gut. This causes the digestive system to become aggravated and inflamed causing the intestinal wall to become more porous and dysfunctional. This can mean undigested proteins, fat, wastes, bacteria, fungi and parasites that are normally not absorbed can make their way across the gut wall and into the bloodstream.  

This causes the immune system to go into alert mode and places our systems under extra pressure to fight and detoxify these unwanted materials from our system. This in turn can cause food sensitivities or intolerances to develop with foods that previously you had no problem consuming. Unless the gut wall is repaired there is the potential for more reactions to foods to develop and further systemic damage to occur. 

The Link between the Gut Microbiome and Allergies

Scientists have found that the epithelial cell, the single layer that forms the lining of both the small and large intestines of our gut, looks very different in people with food allergies compared to those without, which can be attributed to the microbiome and how those cells process food proteins. 

They also discovered that the gut microbiomes found in people with allergies is less diverse than people without allergies and if you have good gut health your chances of developing allergies are lower compared with someone with poor gut health. 

We also have microbiomes in other areas of our body, like in our nose and on our skin. Interestingly, studies have shown that people with hay fever often have a different composition of their nasal microbiome, with more of certain bacteria species, which can lead to increased inflammation and higher risk of hay fever symptoms. 

There are several ways our modern lifestyle negatively affects the diversity of our gut microbiome, which helps to explain why allergies rates are on the rise. 

The Hygiene Hypothesis

Our immune system needs to be exposed to the ‘good germs’ early on, to educate and shape our immune system from birth and provide as many beneficial microbes to colonize our gut and help our immune system mature over our early years. 

The environment that children grow up in nowadays is more and more urbanized and sanitized so there is less exposure to germs and soil. Soil contains beneficial microbes that many of our ancestors naturally obtained from eating farm fresh fruit and vegetables and digging in the soil. The ‘horizontal transmission’ of these microbes helped to strengthen their gut and immune system. 

To achieve this nowadays, do an activity that brings you in contact with soil like gardening or make a herb garden. Play with your pets and spend time outdoors. Organic or better still home grown foods will have a more diverse bacterial population than conventionally grown produce. 

Medications

Medications also play a role in decreasing the diversity of our microbiome, studies have shown that children who take antibiotics or acid blockers in the first 6 months of their lives are at a higher risk of experiencing allergic asthma and eczema.

Another study of children who were given antibiotics before the age of two showed that 74% of them were on average nearly twice as likely to have developed asthma by the time they were 8.  The more courses of antibiotics the children had, the more likely they were to develop asthma, eczema and hay fever, even if they didn’t have a genetic risk.

Although it’s not just antibiotics that are the issue, a study published in Nature found that almost a quarter (24%) of non-antibiotic drugs also have a significant effect on the gut microbiome. This included several antihistamine medications (including Claratin).

Birthing Practices

C – section babies are also at risk of a reduced microbiome diversity as they don’t go down the mothers birth canal and so don’t obtain her gut flora. Supplementation with specific strains of probiotics is important to help colonize their gut with good bacteria before unhealthy strains get there first. As of 2021, the percentage of women in Australia giving birth for the first time who had a caesarean section has increased to one third (33%).

Breastfeeding also provides particular types of prebiotics found in breast milk which are known to selectively feed beneficial bacteria and help establish a healthy community within the infant’s gut. Baby formula is unfortunately not able to replicate this and the infant’s gut microbiome composition can be compromised. Globally, the percentage of infants under six months of age exclusively breastfed has reached only 48%.

Processed Foods

It will come as no surprise that processed sugary foods also impact the gut and our microbiome. Sugar alters the microbiome by favoring the growth of unwanted species of bacteria that contribute to chronic inflammation, weight gain. It also irritates the gut wall. 

Eating ultra processed foods even for just 3 days can have a detrimental impact on your gut health. Eating that way for 10 to 14 days can reduce microbiome diversity by 40%!

How to support your Gut Microbiome and Allergies

It all starts with what we eat. A diet rich in fiber, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and fermented foods promotes a diverse and healthy gut microbiome. There are a number of key aspects to this:

• Eating a wide variety of plants instead of the same ones over and over will help increase the diversity of the bacteria and fungi.  
• Eating healthy fats, avocado, fish, nuts, and olive oil.  These healthy fats produce short chain fatty acids which help protect the gut lining from inflammation
• Include the Brassicacea family – broccoli, cabbage,kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, collards  – which contain an organic chemical compound that helps maintain gut flora.
• Eat pre and probiotic foods as they contain special forms of starch, fructo-oligosaccharides and inulin that beneficial bacteria thrive on.
  • Prebiotic foods include artichokes, garlic, leeks, onion, asparagus, banana, beetroot, green peas, grapefruit and legumes. 
  • Probiotic foods include kefir, kombucha, kimchi, and other fermented foods
• Eating collagen rich foods can help strengthen the gut wall. For example, drinking bone broth will help build the wall of the gut due to its amino acid structure and high gelatine content which makes it soothing and healing to the gut and reduces inflammation. This is especially true for glutamate, which is one of the amino acids in bone broth as it aids in digestion and protects the lining of the gastro-intestinal tract.
• For vegetarian and vegans seaweed is a great option to include in your veggie broth as it also contains glutamate which is a great source of collagen proteins which have been found to be very similar to the human collagen molecular structure so it’s easy for our body to incorporate and use.   
• Being well hydrated and drinking enough water is another key to supporting proper digestion and it also helps maintain regular bowel movements. Aim for at least 8 cups of water per day, but  adjust this for individual needs and activity levels.
• Chronic stress can disrupt the gut-brain axis, impacting digestive function. Many of us are living in an almost permanent state of fight or flight, so engaging in stress-reducing activities like meditation, exercise, and deep breathing exercises can positively impact gut health.  

If you experience issues with Food Chemical Intolerance, please be mindful that some of these nutritious foods contain naturally occurring food chemicals like salicylates, amines, histamines and glutamates.

Although, following a strict elimination diet to manage your food sensitivities in the long-term has been found to actually have a negative impact on microbiome diversity, which can further exacerbate these issues.

We work with many clients who seek out Positive Association Technique (PAT) to help re-introduce foods back into their diet, to allow them to have a varied and nutritious diet and support their gut microbiome and allergies.

Natural Allergy Treatment

At Health & Wellness Australia & Auckland (HWA), we use a technique called muscle testing (or kinesiology) to help identify reactions to food and environmental substances that may be triggering or exacerbating your allergy symptoms.

Following testing, you can work with your qualified Naturopath to address reactions to your food and airborne triggers using a natural allergy treatment called Positive Association Technique (PAT), to help relieve your reactions and symptoms.

To learn more and see if PAT is right for you, get in touch

• Call us on 1300 853 023 / 09 479 5997 (NZ) to chat to our friendly staff
• Send us your question HERE
• Request a Free PAT Information E-PACK HERE

Probiotics to support your Gut Microbiome and Allergies

There is a lot of interest in this area of supplementation as clinically researched probiotic products can improve our gut health. Probiotics are defined as ‘live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host’.

The most well known benefits of probiotics relate to their ability to support the health of our digestive tract and immune system, benefiting otherwise generally healthy people. However, certain strains of probiotic bacteria can target more specific aspects of our health and wellbeing, including our mood, bone health, and nutrient absorption, skin conditions, and even help reduce the symptoms of complex conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). 

The health benefits of probiotics are strain-specific. Different probiotic bacterial strains, even within the same species, can have very different properties and activities in the human gastrointestinal tract. This is why it’s so important to know exactly which strains are present in a probiotic product before you take them, or to follow recommendations from your Naturopath or health care professional.

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Please note that this blog post contains general information only. Always consult your health care professional before changing your diet, starting new supplements or regarding any medical condition.