Thread by @Outdoctrination

I used to have DEBILITATING allergies every year.

Couldn't even go outside without breaking out into tears and itches.

Now I forget that they even exist.

This is what I learned about allergies - the 8 KEY ROOT CAUSES behind them (🧵1/12):

There are a few chemical mediators that induce the symptoms of allergies:

- Histamine
- Serotonin
- Prostaglandins
- Leukotrienes
- Type 2 cytokines (IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-9 IL-13)

These drive excess mucus production, itch, airway thickening / constriction, redness… everything.

The primary cells involved in releasing them are:

- Mast cells
- Eosinophils
- Basophils
- Neutrophils
- T Cells

This system is in place to protect us against things like parasites and foreign toxins. It helps us eliminate them effectively before they cause even more damage.

The question is, what causes the increased production of these chemicals from these cells unnecessarily?

Why do some people’s immune cells release more of these mediators in response to things that are harmless like pollen?

#1 Gut health

Roughly 80% of your immune cells reside in the gut, and they are major players in your susceptibility to allergies.

Poor gut health can wreck your immune system's ability to properly deal with allergens in a few ways:

◈ Bad bacteria shift the balance of T cells away from an anti-inflammatory (regulatory) state to a pro-inflammatory one (Th2/Th17)
◈ Intestinal permeability exposes the immune system to more allergens by allowing "leakage"
◈ Inflammation / bacteria can stimulate innate lymphoid cells (ILC2 via IL-25, IL-33, TSLP), which activates eosinophils, mast cells and B cells to produce IgE
◈ The gut is the biggest source of histamine + serotonin in the entire body by far.

In fact, an animal study showed that you can literally give them allergies simply by giving them the gut bacteria of another animal who has allergies.

The animals with allergies mainly had higher endotoxin containing bacteria, which drive all sorts of inflammation in the gut and beyond.

Allergies start and end in the gut.

Butyrate has shown the ability to reduce allergies in experimental models.

⬩Less anaphylaxis
⬩Lower IgE
⬩More “tolerant” / anti-inflammatory immune cells
⬩Reduced mast cell degranulation - the release of histamine

Butyrate also:

⬩Seals up leaky gut
⬩Promotes T cells to differentiate into the regulatory type

Your gut produces lots of butyrate when it's healthy, and lacks it when it doesn't

In a clinical trial, a bifidobacterium probiotic reduced symptoms of:

⇨ Runny nose
⇨ Itchiness
⇨ Sneezing
⇨ Asthma

by supporting the conversion of T cells away from their allergenic phenotype.

In general, things that support gut health also are anti-allergy.

Optimizing gut health should be at the absolute top of your list when it comes to eliminating allergies.

My masterclass on doing just that is here:

#2 Immune nutrients

Your immune cells are finely tuned. They can either be highly adaptive and calm, or highly reactive and inflammatory.

We have multiple nutrients that govern this balance.

◇ Vitamins A+D - metabolites of each act on the genetic level in immune cells.
◇ Vitamin C - works on epigenetic mechanisms to increase T regulatory cells, which resist inflammation
◇ Zinc - needed for various anti-inflammatory gene expression, inhibits NFκB (master inflammatory signal)
◇ Calcium - prevents intracellular calcium accumulation in mast cells, a primary trigger of their activation
◇ Glycine - works on glycine receptors to depolarize immune cells

Clinical trials have shown that:

50,000 IU weekly of vitamin D reduces:

◇ Itchiness
◇ Runny nose
◇ Sneezing
◇ Postnasal drip
◇ Eye swelling

with trends for reducing other symptoms too.

High dose vitamin C improves allergies by 80-90%.

7.5g as an IV.

➜ 90% of patients improved symptoms
➜ On average symptoms improved by 80%
➜ Massive reductions in itchiness + nasal inflammation

Calcium prevents allergies in clinical studies.

1g of calcium was shown to increase resistance to congestion.

Immune cell / mast cell activation is highly dependent on influx of calcium into cells,

but extracellular (dietary) calcium prevents histamine release and allergic reactions.

#3 Cortisol

Glucocorticoids released from the adrenal glands shift T-cells towards the Th2 type - the type that contributes to allergies.

CRH, released from the hypothalamus in the cortisol production cascade, directly promotes the number and activation of mast cells.

Lowering cortisol / stress is going to be paramount in overcoming allergies.

Pregnenolone inhibits CRH release, which ups the histamine producing mast cells.

Pregnenolone + progesterone also have their own independent anti-inflammatory effects,

which also help shift T cells towards their non allergenic state.

I've also done a master thread on reducing cortisol here:

#4 Parasympathetic tone

Acetylcholine is the primary "rest and digest" / parasympathetic relaxing neurotransmitter.

When acetylcholine signals in the vagus nerve, it has an immune cell calming effect systemically.

Key nutrients for acetylcholine:

• Choline
• B1
• B2
• B5
• B9
• B12
• Glycine
• Creatine

Improving parasympathetic (cholinergic) tone:

• Grounding
• Humming
• Breathing practices
• Pregnenolone
• Progesterone

Nicotine also reduces allergies in experimental models.

Administering nicotine:

◇ Reduces mast cell proliferation
◇ Inhibits inflammatory T-Cell responses
◇ Allergic symptoms

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors of the immune system have anti-inflammatory effects.

Baking soda can also rapidly lower allergic type inflammation.

1/2 tsp stops the inflammatory response by activating the vagus nerve,

which connects to the spleen and calms down inflammation of the resident white blood cells.

A few reports have recorded a halt in life threatening allergic responses with baking soda.

#5 Mitochondrial health

Some of the biggest inherited risks of developing allergies are genetic impairments in mitochondrial function.

These energy producers in our cells are at the epicenter of so many cellular events it's hard to keep track of.

Dendritic cells, which can present allergens to other immune cells, are highly tolerant when they have high energy production capacity.

They don't alarm the rest of the immune system unnecessarily if their energy production is satisfied.

If mitochondria aren't working properly, they have multiple ways of contributing to allergies throughout the immune system:

◇ Increase calcium content in cells - which drives inflammatory responses (especially mast cell degranulation)
◇ Drive oxidative stress - which does the same
◇ Creates immunogenic (not tolerant) immune cells

People with allergic asthma have depleted CoQ10, which is an essential component to mitochondrial energy production.

Adding it back clinically has been shown to reduce:

➜ Eosinophils
➜ Lung damage
➜ Type 2 cytokines
➜ Leukotrienes
➜ IgE
➜ Histamine

Nicotinamide Mononucleotide can help prevents allergies, too.

NMN helps to form NAD+ - the primary energy carrier in our mitochondria that allows them to churn out energy.

Raising NAD+ via

⇨ NMN
⇨ Nicotinamide riboside
⇨ Vitamin B3
⇨ Niacinamide

can reduce the allergic immune response.

Thus, optimizing mitochondrial function should also be an absolute top priority for allergy resilience.

I went into greater detail on optimizing mitochondrial function in the thread below.

#6 Oxidative stress

Oxidative stress is an excess of reactive oxygen species (like free radicals) relative to antioxidants.

This:

◇ Turns on NF-κB - the master inflammatory signal in the nucleus
◇ Activates mast cells

contributing to every part of the allergenic process.

Vitamin E is one of our primary antioxidant nutrients, and it reduces allergies in clinical studies.

◇ Sneezing
◇ Stuffy nose
◇ Runny nose
◇ Itchiness
◇ Watery eyes
◇ Swelling eyes

ALL reduced.

Vitamin E is the one of the body's primary antioxidants,

and also inhibits the production of leukotrienes, which are released from mast calls.

Other tools to bolster your antioxidant network:

☆ B1
☆ B2
☆ Selenium
☆ Zinc
☆ NAc
☆ Taurine
☆ Foods rich in flavonoids (fruits, whole juices, coffee, vegetables, chocolate)
☆ Edible mushrooms (ergothioneine)
☆ Plenty of carbohydrates
☆ Avoiding excess iron

Other antioxidants help too.

Raw honey improves allergies in clinical trials.

3-5 tsp day improved sniffles, sneezing, & more.

Has tons of antioxidant compounds that:

‣ Inhibit mast cell histamine release
‣ Blunt inappropriate IgE responses
‣ Lowers production of inflammatory cytokines

And I've even done a master antioxidant thread to ensure you're hitting all angles there:

#7 Omega 6/omega 3 ratio

➥ Leukotrienes
➥ Prostaglandins (prostanoids)

are two of the primary chemicals released by mast cells and eosinophils to produce allergic symptoms.

They are both metabolites of the omega 6 linoleic acid, the fat most abundant in seed oils.

A high omega 6 / omega 3 ratio also predisposes to allergies, since this balance governs whether immune cells can actively resolve inflammation properly.

#8 Estrogen

Estrogen is known to promote mast cell degranulation, while progesterone prevents it.

Other tools to lower / oppose estrogen:

‣ Saturated fat
‣ Aspirin
‣ Vitamin B2
‣ White button mushrooms
‣ Insoluble fiber (raw carrot)
‣ Naringin, naringenin, apigenin (citrus fruits)

And yes, I have a master estrogen thread, too.

As you can see, allergies are simply a manifestation of something lacking in your overall health.

If you want help in optimizing your overall health, I've put together the best system out there to support you.

Book a free call here to join: go.prism.miami/consultation