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immune system
food sensitivities
Psychospiritual Approaches

metaphors and correlations

• What are you allergic/sensitive to? Denying your own power. (Hay, 1984, p. 151)
• Untoward reactions to the ingestion of foods may be caused by psychogenic or allergic mechanisms, or a combination of the two. Food becomes associated symbolically with diverse emotional meanings very early in life, so that for each individual scarcely a food is emotionally neutral. Psychogenic food reactions may include anxiety, guilt, depression, hostility, passive dependence, euphoria, relaxation. A person with a steady state of allergic reaction resulting from daily ingestion of offending foods may make reasonably good adjustments to his illness and life problems, although his overall efficiency is lowered by the allergic illness. (Locke, 1986, p. 93)
• Allergy is aggression that has precipitated itself out of the psyche and into the body, venting itself on a new level where the patient can defend and attack; thus harmless things are turned into enemies. This is bound up closely with fear, and by looking at the preferred allergens there is an indicator of which areas in life are striking so much fear in the allergy sufferer. (Dethlefsen, p. 111)

Chinese psychophysiology:
Spleen ~ Pi governs digestion; transforms food into Qi and Xue (Blood); and relates to the ability to assimilate, stabilize, and feel balanced and centered.
» Healthy expressions are fairness, openness, deep thinking, and reminiscence.
» Spleen Xu (Deficiency) signs include slightness (deficient "form"); abundant elimination; morning fatigue; cold, wet feet (Seem, p. 28); abdomen taut and distended like a drum; craving for sweets; flatulence; nausea; mild edema; memory failure; heavy feeling in legs; easy bruising; pale lips; loose stools; muscular weakness; and, indirectly, obesity.
» The excessive use of the mind in thinking, studying, concentrating, and memorizing over a long period of time tends to weaken the Spleen. This also includes excessive pensiveness and constant brooding. (Maciocia, p. 241) Likewise, inadequate physical exercise, overexposure to external Dampness, and excess consumption of sweet and/or Cold foods will also deplete the Spleen.

Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); and reflects emotional harmony and movement.
» Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement.
» Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry eyes, skin, and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down. Liver Yin Xu (Deficiency) predisposes to the Shi (Excess) conditions of Liver Wind, Liver Yang Rising, and Liver Fire Blazing.
» Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216)
» Liver Shi (Excess) signs include discontent; anger; pain in lumbar region and genitals (Seem, p. 28); muscular tension; excessive sex drive; insomnia; moodiness; excitability; genital diseases; red, tearing eyes; compulsive energy; and bitter taste in the mouth. Chronically suppressed anger can implode and give rise to Fire in the Liver and Gall Bladder with symptoms of irritability, bitter taste, headaches, etc., and a tendency to "invade" the Stomach, Spleen, and Intestines.

Small Intestine ~ Xiao Chang receives and transforms food by separating the Clear (Pure) from the Turbid (Impure), with the Clear becoming bodily fluids and the Turbid becoming urine - this function also operates on the emotional, mental, and spiritual levels; regulates quality of Xue (Blood); and is responsible for digestion and nutrient absorption.
» Healthy expressions are love, joy, and the ability to discriminate; and, as the Princely Fire, warmth, vitality, and excitement.
» The Small Intestine is affected by sadness which grips a person and destroys the mental clarity and capacity of sound judgment for which this organ is responsible. (Maciocia, p. 273) Weakness, dysfunction, and illness are associated with cruelty, hate, indiscretion, and impatience.
» Small Intestine Deficiency signs include bluish lips with white border, emaciation, profuse sweating (Seem, p. 29); swellings of nodules; hemicrania; tinnitus; pain around the ear; pain depressing the abdomen.


therapies

imagery:
• anti-allergen (Fanning, p. 270)
related materia medica listings: imagery for immune enhancement

affirmation:
• The world is safe and friendly. I am safe. I am at peace with life. (Hay, 1984, p. 151)

psychotherapy:
• The theory of 'desensitization' by itself will be ineffective if underlying psychological issues are not addressed. Allergic individuals, in order to heal, must must consciously face those areas they have been avoiding and devaluing. One renders them no service by supporting them in their defense strategies. (Dethlefsen, p. 112)
• Allergies are a form of auto-aggression and isolation. Allergy sufferers may find it useful to explore the following questions:
» What are the areas of my life that I am so afraid of as to be avoiding them?
» To what extent am I using my allergy to manipulate those around me?
» What has become of my love and my capacity for letting in what is 'out there'?
» What aggression is trying to work itself out in my body? (Dethlefsen, p. 113)

process paradigm:
• What is the symptom preventing me from doing? What is the symptom making me do? (see process interview: immune system)

related materia medica listings:
the shadow and physical symptoms
converting a symptom to a signal
imagery for immune enhancement
imagery: precautions
imagery: techniques
affirmations: guidelines and precautions
process paradigm


footnotes

Bell IR, Markley EJ, King DS, Asher S, Marby D, Kayne H, Greenwald M, Ogar DA, Margen S. Polysymptomatic syndromes and autonomic reactivity to nonfood stressors in individuals with self-reported adverse food reactions. J Am Coll Nutr. 1993 Jun;12(3):227-38.
Abstract: This study compared symptom reports and cardiovascular reactivity of a group of 24 individuals recruited from the community who reported a cognitive or emotional symptom caused by at least one food (food-sensitivity reporters, FSR) vs those of 15 controls (C) without a history of food, chemical, drug, or inhalant sensitivities. The main findings were: 1) FSR indicated sensitivities not only to foods, but also to environmental chemicals, drugs, and natural inhalants, as well as significantly more symptoms than C in multiple systems; 2) more FSR than C noted recent state depression and anxiety, as well as higher trait anxiety on the Bendig form of the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale; 3) however, on multiple regression analysis, not only depression, but also the number of sensitivities (foods, chemicals, drugs, inhalants), accounted for part of the variance in total number of symptoms (38 and 17%, respectively), whereas none of the affective measures accounted for any of the variance in total number of sensitivities over all subjects; 4) after controlling for depression and anxiety, FSR still showed a trend toward poorer performance on a timed mental arithmetic task (p = 0.16); and 5) FSR and C showed opposite patterns of heart rate change to two different stressful tasks (mental arithmetic and isometric exercise) (group by task interaction, p < 0.05). The data are discussed in terms of a time-dependent sensitization (TDS) process that predicts a cross-sensitizing and cross-reactive role for xenobiotic agents (e.g., foods, chemicals, drugs, and inhalants) and for salient psychological stress in the expression of psychophysiological dysfunctions of FSR. As in other chronically ill populations, negative affect in food-sensitive individuals may explain greater symptom reporting, but not necessarily account for the illness itself. For either a food or a psychological stimulus to begin to elicit sensitized responses, e.g., marked physiological differences from C, FSR may require multiple, intermittent exposures spaced over 5-28 days rather than on only 1 day.

Christensen L, Somers S. Comparison of nutrient intake among depressed and nondepressed individuals. Int J Eat Disord. 1996 Jul;20(1):105-109.
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The study investigated the nutrient intake of depressed and nondepressed subjects. METHOD: Twenty-nine depressed subjects and a matched group of nondepressed subjects completed a 3-day food record. RESULTS: Results revealed that depressed and nondepressed groups consume similar amounts of all nutrients except protein and carbohydrates. Nondepressed subjects consume more protein and depressed subjects consume more carbohydrates. The increase in carbohydrate consumption comes primarily from an increase in sucrose consumption. DISCUSSION: The increased carbohydrate consumption is consistent with the carbohydrate cravings characteristic of the depressed and may relate to the development or maintenance of depression.

Christensen L, Bourgeois A, Cockroft R. Dietary alteration of somatic symptoms and regional brain electrical activity. Biol Psychiatry. 1991 Apr 1;29(7):679-682

King DS. Can allergic exposure provoke psychological symptoms? A double-blind test. Biol Psychiatry. 1981 Jan;16(1):3-19.

King DS. Psychological and behavioral effects of food and chemical exposure in sensitive individuals. Nutr Health. 1984;3(3):137-151. (Review)