Although people are more familiar with and aware of allergies these days, it might still sur-prise you to learn that allergies and intolerances can cause a whole host of symptoms rang-ing from skin rashes, itchiness, bloating, irritable bowel, mental health problems, unex-plained weight gain or loss, hormone imbalances, or the more serious conditions such as coeliac disease or life threatening anaphylactic reactions.
With over 20 years experience as a qualified dowser for health, specialising in testing nutri-tional sensitivities and food allergies, and vitamin and mineral analysis, I’d like to explain a little more about the link between mental and physical well-being and allergies, and how this healing therapy works.
Many orthodox Doctors and Consultants treat symptoms rather than looking into the cause of a concern, or when they do look at what may be causing a problem, they often don’t make a connection between potential allergies and intolerances and general well-being. The research into this is growing and strong links between the most common allergies and con-ditions such as depression, anxiety, ADHD and autism are now being recognised. When we understand the relationship between these issues i.e. the cause of the problem , the condi-tions can be treated more effectively.
Allergies and Mental Health
In recent years, there has been extensive global research showing different types of sensi-tivities such as skin allergies (eczema); respiratory allergies (including asthma and hay fe-ver); and food allergies or intolerances being linked to many emotional, behavioural and de-velopmental issues, including:
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Bi-polar disorder
• ADHD
• Autism
• Hyperactivity
• Conduct disorders
Allergies and Autism
To investigate the possible autism-allergy connection, the health-data of more than 200,000 children was analysed, and the researchers found children with autism were significantly more likely to have food, skin and respiratory allergies than children without autism. There has been an increase in autism in recent decades and at the same time, several types of allergic reactions, including food intolerances, have been on the rise. Autism and diet are linked, and this study not only confirmed that connection, but also shows us that allergies may also be another trigger in the development of autism in children.
So why can allergies affect our behaviour and emotional well-being?
An allergen present in the body can act like a poison and often causes a response from the body’s immune system creating inflammation in the body.
Some studies have found that the body’s allergic inflammatory immune response can be a major cause to some psychiatric disorders, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as the more common conditions, such as depression and anxiety.
To support your own well being and those of the children and families in your care…….
• Maintain a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet, ideally using whole, unprocessed foods, and limiting sugars, dyes and chemicals to help avoid increased inflammation.
• Get the right ratio of omega-3s and omega-6s in your diet. For children, healthy brain development and function depend on a plentiful supply of omega fatty acids. (Adults need these fatty acids, too!) The ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is essential. Too often, a typical British diet is high in omega-6 and low in omega-3 fatty acids. This imbalance may trigger unhealthful inflammation.
• Make sure to get plenty of omega-3 rich foods into your diet. Excellent sources in-clude eggs, cold-water seafood such as salmon, and walnuts. And consider an ome-ga-3 supplement. Avoiding processed foods can help you avoid over-consuming omega-6 fatty acids.
• Include probiotics. We know gut health and mental health are deeply connected, via the constant communication between the gut and the brain. Probiotics for children can help maintain a healthy balance and diversity of microbial life in their gastrointes-tinal systems. In turn, that can benefit their emotional and behavioural lives.
• Drink water and lots of it to help your body remain hydrated, to maintain your bodily fluids and to flush away any toxins.
• Consume colourful food to ensure you are giving your body chance to have plenty of vitamins and minerals.
• Pay attention to your body’s reaction to your diet and environment. Changes to the skin, breathing, and elimination, as well as reactions to specific foods, are possible signs of allergy. Allergies often look like a cold or flu, with runny noses, watery eyes, and coughing or sneezing.
Allergy and intolerance testing
If you think you have an allergy, you can see your GP who will often be able to offer you advice or treatment for the symptoms you are experiencing. However not all allergies are easy to determine and the NHS can offer variety of tests including the skin prick test, blood test, patch test, the long term elimination diet etc. All of these can be affective as long as you or your GP are confident in what the problem could be. Testing through dowsing, opens up the opportunity to explore literally 100’s of possible causes in a non-evasive, quick and easy way with remarkable results.
What is Dowsing?
To dowse is ‘to search for that which is hidden from view.’ Many of you may have heard of dowsing with ‘divining rods’ to search for underground water sources. Dowsing for health, with a pendulum, is based on the same principle; it is a therapy used to locate the underly-ing cause of the body’s physical or emotional imbalance that leads to physical reactions and ailments such as allergies or disease.
Dowsing for health in this way, is extremely simple and can establish precisely what the cause of the imbalance is and what to use instead. I have worked with many people of dif-ferent ages, who have been under a consultant for a long period of time, and have come to me out of desperation, leaving with great results and often free of their symptoms.
Dowsing for Food and Environmental Intolerances
Being able to diagnose, through dowsing, the root of intolerances is most effective when it is understood what causes unfavourable responses in the body. Often, intolerance stems from stress at some point in a person’s life. A stressful event or period in a person’s life, contributes to a breakdown of the body’s ability to reject toxins and function properly. Inci-dents in life can affect how you behave and react to current and future events; your reac-tions can, in turn, affect your well being. Dowsing looks for the root cause of stress, to-gether with an analysis of diet, leading to a removal of the problem.
The pendulum is used to dowse over food or environmental factors: the type of food (or-ganic, tinned, dried, fresh etc), food types (starch, wheat, dairy etc), household products such as cleaning or washing liquids, and metals and pollens etc. The combination of the different categories is strongly linked and means that the root cause, the stress, and the food to which the stress has created an intolerance, can be identified. This may lead in some cases to a specific item that you can use, for example an intolerance to laundry liquid does not necessarily mean every detergent and so I can test for every brand available. Likewise, an intolerance to onions might mean you can have them cooked but not raw. It’s the attention to detail that really helps!
Strange – but it works!
To some, dowsing may seem an ‘off the wall’ approach to dealing with allergies and intoler-ance. Before I ever went to see a dowser, I’d never have believed it could benefit me and would have thought the whole process distinctly unconventional. But, whilst there remains little scientific understanding of dowsing, it is a natural process requiring no medication – and it has been proved to work.
Dowsing is not a miracle cure and sometimes it takes time to be really effective. Other times the effect of a treatment can be almost immediate. However, it should never be a re-placement for conventional medical advice. It should be used as a complementary therapy that allows people with food-related or environmental ailments to gain a deeper understanding of the root cause of their problems, and to change their diet accordingly.
Katie Landreth managed and owned Outstanding Children’s Nurseries for nearly 30 years. Her nurseries focussed on a healthy, natural approach leading to a number of prestigious awards. Katie has dowsed for health and intolerances for the last 15 years.
If you would like further information on allergy testing or mineral and vitamin analysis for your own well-being, or to support a colleague, child in your care or if you know of anyone else who may benefit from my work, please do not hesitate to get in touch via email to katielandreth@icloud.com.
