Can Allergies Cause Bloating? | What You Need to Know
The foundational premise of Holistic medicine is that the human body consists of a set of interdependent systems that affect each other physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. In other words, it is grounded in the belief that a reaction in one part of your body will affect other body parts too.
When someone says they feel bloated, what do they mean? It could mean they have gas, constipation, nausea, heartburn, or diarrhea. Perhaps it is a woman’s hormonal reaction to her menstrual cycle. Often it is due to a food sensitivity or intolerance or allergy. In this article, we will focus on bloating due to allergies and sensitivities. Even seasonal allergies stress your immune system and can exacerbate any discomfort you may feel.
2 Systems at Work in Your Stomach: Immune and Microbiome
To greatly simplify human biology, there are two important systems at work in your stomach: your immune system and your microbiome. Your microbiome is home to trillions of organisms that protect the lining of your stomach and intestines. These mucosal linings serve as the barricade for, and the mechanism that, determines what goes into your bloodstream and what does not. Simply put, when that barricade is weakened and toxins enter the bloodstream, your immune system is triggered, causing inflammation in your gut.
Immune System Reacting to Harmful Allergens
Allergies and sensitivities, gut health, and inflammation are all connected. To underline this relationship, look at the connection between food sensitivities and your immune system. When you eat a food that you are sensitive to, your immune system detects that food as an offending allergen, thus causing inflammation. This is the same mechanism that occurs with seasonal allergies.
Medical science has shown that once your body develops sensitivities to any substance, whether it is food or pollen or chemicals in fragrance, your immune system will start to react to other harmless substances as if they are harmful allergens.
Microbiome: Balancing Our Bodies
What does this have to do with your microbiome? Since the simplest definition of a microbiome is the combination of bacteria and tiny microbes that both protects us from bad germs and bacteria as well as help us metabolize our food and break it down into the sugars, vitamins, minerals, proteins, and amino acids we need to stay alive. In other words, our microbiome operates a delicate balancing act.
Look at it this way. Your microbiome affects your immune system and vice versa. Digestive issues can surface from stress, medication, or environmental factors that are independent of any actual food you are eating. Bloating doesn’t have just one cause.
When your microbiome is unbalanced, you develop an unhealthy digestive system, which in turn makes your entire body more inclined to inflammation. Gut issues can even worsen seasonal allergy symptoms.
Untreated Gut Issues and Food Sensitivities Causes Bloating
Gut issues and food sensitivities left untreated raises the risk of developing a weakened stomach wall known as “leaky gut syndrome”. Leaky gut causes food particles to go through your gut wall, at such a high rate that you are only partially digesting your food, thus contributing to inflammation and further bloating.
Leaky gut, just like other types of stomach inflammation, also causes and exacerbates immune system issues. Which then weakens your ability to fight off pathogens such as flu viruses and other bacteria allowing them to infect your body. This creates a cascade effect which triggers non-toxic substances, such as pollen and other harmless allergens, to be identified within your immune system as harmful invaders, thus causing inflammation and bloating.
The good news is that there is help available. Holistic allergy clinics, such as, St. Louis Allergy Relief Center, provide non-invasive, natural treatments for allergies and sensitivities without the use of medications or supplements. Their treatment is painless—no shots, no pills, no avoidance. It is safe, effective, and gentle enough for infants and seniors.
St. Louis Allergy Relief Center treats allergies holistically without the use of pain or pills. We are an allergy wellness center specializing in natural treatments using Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT). After completing a comprehensive assessment, we provide you with a detailed evaluation and treatment plan to help with the seasonal, food, environmental, and chemical stressors that may be triggering allergies or allergy-like symptoms. Visit our website stlouisallergyrelief.com to learn more or call us at 314-384-9304.
Works Cited:
https://us15.campaign-archive.com/?u=f2368756f77563b02503a2342&id=febb4f1ea0
https://www.bebalancedhealing.com/stress/seasonal-allergies-digestive-problems/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322200
https://www.sucroseintolerance.com/2020/07/10/the-science-behind-bloating/
https://badgut.org/information-centre/health-nutrition/food-allergy-vs-intolerance/