Allergies Colds and Flu

An explanation of allergies or for that matter any ailment and their causes from the Traditional Herbal point of view may sound more like an allegory than an explanation therefore, it requires a more subtle rationalization. This kind of explanation simplifies the problem rendering it understandable. If the explanation is simple and understandable so will the solution be.

With common allergies most of the problems predictably seem to occur around spring time when the plants start their seasonal pollination. Most people, thanks to the media, blame the pollen with extreme prejudice but, a “rational thinking person” realizes that pollen itself cannot be the culprit. Just think for one moment, if it were the pollen then everyone would be similarly affected.

To explain this logic an example may be helpful.

Smoke vs Pollen

If a group of people and animals are placed into an enclosed space and were we to introduce into that space simple smoke from a wood burning fire, what would be the result? Needless to say within a few minutes as the smoke accumulates everyone would uniformly be affected in similar fashion. It can be concluded quite simply that the smoke mixed with the air would irritate. The uniform rejection by the lungs, sinuses, throat, mucus membranes etc, to the smoke would produce a cough and general irritation, while the smoke in the eyes would make them water. To say that the affects produced by the smoke are a result of an inherent allergy to smoke would, of course, be ludicrous. We know and expect to feel these effects from smoke so we say that smoke can be irritating and possibly life threatening in too dense a quantity. In short, you cannot be allergic to common smoke as it irritates everything uniformly in 99.9% of living creatures that breath air. Everyone or, everything will be affected.

If, on the other hand, the same people were subjected to common plant pollens it would not be surprising to observe that significantly fewer people might be affected. Substances that are not otherwise considered to be problematic to most that produce uncomfortable effects in some are sometimes termed “allergens.” In the case of pollens it would seem improbable that they should ever be the actual cause of anything. Whether a Creationist or an Evolutionist it would seem impossible that something that has always existed for millions of years and that is an essential and integral part of Nature for the propagation of life would or, could be so detrimental to so many. If you are a Creationist, it would seem unlikely that the Creator would not have made something so ubiquitous to be so irritating and, if evolution were true we would have adapted to it by now.

In the first “smoke” example, all would be affected. In the second situation only some would likely be affected. (70 years ago none would have been affected) This is significant! The irritating substances itself, being uniform, cannot be the variable. The only real variable is the individual organism working and reacting with the substance. This is what should be looked at more closely – not the smoke or the pollen.

In the smoke situation all are affected relatively equally the organism reacting in generally the same manner. In the pollen example only some are affected, leading to the conclusion that the only variables are the individual bodies and their functions. It is the functions that are at fault not the pollen, because if the pollen were the actual cause then everyone would be equally affected by it just like the smoke.

On this premise what needs to be better understood, observed and examined are the functions within the organism of the body that might be impaired and therefore unable to deal with the supposed allergen.

An Allergy, Is An Allergy, Is An Allergy!

This principle applies to all allergies including foods!

Some are told that they are allergic to certain chemicals – as a point of clarification; it should be pointed out that no one can be allergic to a poison because a poison is by definition something that is in some way harmful to life and/or is in itself deadly. A poison is a toxin by definition and antagonistic to life. It is not an allergen. Allergies generally apply to common substances that are not generally accepted as or otherwise harmful.

In cases of allergies it would appear that the body itself is reacting to a certain substance that produces effects that are uncomfortable or, even deadly. The fact that the body has its own protection mechanisms is not to be ignored. It is these mechanisms that should be looked at more closely and understand why they are not working and instead manifesting the symptom(s). To universally blame it on the “immune system” explains nothing! It is like proclaiming water to be wet! It should be noted that in all formal Traditional Herbal Theory, from all continents and cultures, every symptom is organ specific. In other words upon observing a symptom any competent health care practitioner should be able to tell which internal organ is producing the effect and why.

The most talked about bodily produced substance present when allergies flare up is histamine. Why would the body produce a secretion like histamine to supposedly irritate itself? Although some might argue the point, Nature herself is not deliberately self-destructive. It has existed sustaining almost limitless species, surviving and nurturing long before human kind came onto it, so why should any product of Nature, inclusive of human beings in general and their physical organism in particular, seek to “naturally” destroy themselves? This concept makes no sense! Where it to be true then no life would be viable, especially with the apex of nature’s creatures; humans. It sometimes might appear that way only to someone who doesn’t understand Nature fundamentally. In the same way as we are usually or conveniently very blind to our own shortcomings, while seeing the fault in others very clearly, blame or judgment is cast unjustifiably onto others (in this case Nature). Those who, in this case, are blaming Nature for being flawed are playing a game with the majority, who do not think for themselves. What are considered “flaws” in Nature by the learned are nothing more than inconveniences to would be human intentions. Nature herself is perfection manifested with all the ‘i’s” perfectly dotted and “t’s” perfectly crossed. Only a high minded fool would go against or dispute what nature has brought about.

Allergies Are Our Fault – Not Nature’s Fault!

Nature, as a physically manifested, self-sustaining realm and its countless species, has existed for millions, if not billions of years. It has existed much longer on its own than with the relatively recent appearance of human beings. This is just one reason why fault in never to be found in Nature but, the answers might be. The concept of allergies is not new but, the near universal prevalence of allergies, especially in North America, is quite new; say the past 40-50 years. The fault is more likely within ourselves and our blind habits and practices, if only we would actively reason and admit it.

Everything we have ingested traditionally for millennia through eating, drinking and breathing are necessary substances of life (assuming of course that we are eating real foods, clean, pure liquids and clean air). These traditional foods, including air and water have never caused allergies before. So why should they now? That is the question!

We digest our foods, drinks and air (inclusive of whatever may be injected into us intravenously.) These are all digested by the stomach. By “digested” it is meant that they are prepared into a form that the other organs will accept in the continuing process of digestion and assimilation to ultimately become blood and then flesh without traceable leftovers. It is these traceable leftovers in circulation that cause all of the diseases, inclusive of allergies.

Generally whatever is not assimilated yet, not eliminated through the normal channels, becomes an irritant and ultimately develops into an ailment and in this case – allergies.

In the case of allergies this principle is ignored and therefore the subject of allergies is always approached from the “wrong end” and therefore an intelligent answer is not possible nor give an understandable or logical reason for why allergies manifest. To say that one or another substances is causing an irritation is not very helpful because so does a sliver of wood lodged in one’s finger. The focus is being placed on the reaction that the allergen produces not what the body is doing and why it is causing this reaction. This sort of mental “sleight of hand” is the modern rationale to many health problems. The focus is deliberately being placed “here,” while the cause is “there.”

Getting back to basics: Anything left over from digestion that is not eliminated will force the body to have to deal with it in a manner that is determined by the nature of the left over substance and which organ is having to deal with it. Either it gets stored until elimination is possible or, the body will provoke itself to produce some form of heat to either eliminate or consume it. This can take the form of a fever that is systemic or localized. In some cases however the heat needed and used for elimination becomes depleted because the body becomes tired from constantly having to “fight” with the intruding substances and their volume continuously.

Example: Everyone would expect that if a sliver of wood gets lodged in our flesh that it would produce a local infection where the sliver is lodged. It represents a foreign substance being attacked by the bodies natural defenses. This principle is universal. The principle of heat is often used to dislodge and dissolve the waste or foreign substances from the body. Fevers, pains, etc. are usually inflammations and are examples of the same principle in action. These normal and natural consequences are often and incorrectly termed auto-immune diseases. The body is being blamed for what we are doing to it. It would be like blaming a car for having a dent in its bodywork for us having driven it into something. We are the drivers of our bodies. We decide what we are feeding it and whatever else we are doing or not doing to it or with it. Is the body to be blamed if we walk it off a cliff, so to speak or, is the fault our own?

The Body Deals With Allergens with Heat and Heat is What Creates the Symptoms. If you can control the heat or what is provoking it, you also control the symptoms.

Clearly in the case of seasonal allergies there is also heat at work. Anyone who has allergies can actually feel this heat at work. Usually, it manifests as red irritated eyes, stuffy or inflamed sinuses, ears, throat, and headaches. All directly caused by and the result of manifesting heat. Another interesting question is; why are the areas and organs being irritated, mainly in the head and neck, while everything else appears to be unaffected? How and why do the irritants appear to specifically be affecting these areas? How and why do they get to these specific areas to cause the irritation? After all we do not actively or consciously inflict this upon ourselves.

As mentioned above we digest everything separating the usable from the unusable. When the stomach is working properly the usable is kept while the unusable is rejected. Should the unusable substances be retained and accepted by the body this would give rise to the consequential heat, the symptoms of which are allergies. These substances are passed on to other organs for further digestive processing. The nature of the specific organ will choose not to distribute these unwanted substances to the rest of the body in some people. (These substances are like a poison to the body in their current form. In general it is the Liver that retains them).

These organs (the liver in particular) will hold on to the poison to protect the rest of the body. But, these substances irritate the organ and in the case of allergies the organ reacts by using heat (just like with the sliver of wood). When heat is used the irritant is forced to change and starts to ferment producing by-products. This is being done in an attempt to free of the body of the irritant. There are many different types of by-products produced by this type of fermentation. Among the simplest, is vapors.

Vapors formed out of an unclean (toxic) substance will be just as unclean as their predecessor but, because they are being released in a finer, more exalted form out of their original form they will be more able in this finer form to go to places that their courser predecessor could not get into and potentially be even more irritating. Example; Think of an onion and its strong odor. If you cut it and its vapour goes into your eyes, they will become irritated and feel like they are burning. To protect the eyes from the sulfurous vapours of an onion, the eyes produce tears. In the case of allergies, imagine that this is happening from the inside and the vapours are rising to the eyes. The effect will be the same only the source of the vapour is not an onion. It is some other substance finding itself inside the body – in the liver – where the body puts most indigestible toxins until it can deal with them.

Principle: Every orifice of the head is also a channel that expels waste. The ears produce an oily wax, the eyes produce a liquid that leaving accumulated solids hardens over night in the corners of the eyes, the nose and sinuses expel gases and vapours that can be mucousy and clogging depending on what they are carrying from the stomach vapours, the throat and its lymphatics and tonsils expel waste, etc. These excess channels of elimination exist in and on the head to protect the brain and to keep it and its waters clean from course wastes. The head is also draws a lot of heat from the body because it does a lot of work.

Generally, it is the property of vapours to rise, especially if they are in a closed environment and there is heat accompanying them. Having said this, it is in the nature of these vapors to rise to the upper parts of the body, which in this case is the general area of the head and neck. Because they are very fine and caustic in nature they will overheat the tissues they come into contact with (think of cutting an onion). They will be even more irritating than the previously mentioned smoke while being fine enough to penetrate into the finest tissues as they rise. The tissues will initially react against this irritant with heat (inflammation) to dislodge it and then by producing something that will counteract the heat and protect the tissues. It brings moisture to the aid of the area which gives rise to the stuffiness in the sinuses. The reaction varies from place to place depending on the nature of the area. The eyes, the nose and sinuses, the throat, the lungs are all different environments and all react with heat and moisture even if the symptoms appear unrelated and different. They all have one thing in common though. They are all trying to rid themselves of the invading vapour and what it carries.

Science calls this specific moisture histamine. As the moistures accumulate in the tissues, swellings and stuffiness are produced. Science blames the histamines and proceeds to produce anti-histamines to solve the symptom. Histamines are clearly not the cause of these problems. They are a mere effect; a symptom of an ailment.

Unfortunately antihistamines dry out the whole body indiscriminately producing other very complicated problems. And, even though they give some relief at the expense of the rest of the body, they ultimately do nothing to remove the cause of the allergies and so antihistamines are a perpetually in demand. A perfect business model but, not a solution to the problem of allergies.

The problem is not with the organ producing the ultimate heat, which in the case of allergies involves the nose, ears, throat and sometimes lungs. It is not within the capacity of these organs to remove the unwanted substances which the others organs should have prevented from getting there in the first place. Ultimately, it lies with the organ that does the original separating of usable from the non-usable substances for the body. This organ is the stomach. Support the stomach and the organs that support the stomach and you remove allergies or at the very least the symptoms without harming any other part of the body. The complete process sometimes may take a while but, relief can be realized relatively quickly.