Standing on the cure for the allergy epidemic

Have you noticed that you can now order gluten-free foods in restaurants and many of your friends have allergies to things as seemingly harmless as dust? The population has become increasingly more allergic to the environment and more sensitive to all types of food. Have you stopped to think what has changed? What is different in our world today that might be the cause of all this? Before launching too quickly into a debate on climate change or political banter, let’s look at something much more pragmatic.

The human body is an amazing battlefield, emergency room and well-oiled manufacturing plant that runs flawlessly and unmonitored day after day, year after year. The only thing standing in its way is the mind’s decisions that lead to exposures. In other words, what you put in your body, where you live and where you work has an effect on the daily operations of your body.

In recent years there have been numerous studies suggesting that the environment has begun to take its toll on our fragile, human bodies.  What has been called the “allergy epidemic” since the late 20^th century has produced a 2 and 3 fold increase of allergic disease and asthma.  1 in 5 American children have a respiratory allergy like hay fever and 1 in 10 have asthma. Also food and skin allergies cases continue to rise. For instance, 5% of the population is allergic to peanuts and other foods. These data have doubled in the last 15 years.[1] But researchers are suggesting that there may be something we can do about this. Although some allergic conditions are genetic, and some of these allergies are due to environmental exposures, there is plenty of research to suggest that the solution may be in the dirt we dig.

Also there is a strong suggestion that you are susceptible to the exposures of your mother for the entire 9 months you are in the womb. What happens to your mother during this time may affect your vulnerability to many diseases even decades later from heart disease and obesity to schizophrenia! [2] For instance one study showed that an infant’s risk of eczema was inverse to the microbial load in her mother’s mattress.[3] Additionally, children who are born into families that own livestock and handle manure are exposed to many more microbes than those who are not. It is these children who seem to be invulnerable to allergic disease later in life. Especially if their mother’s carried them along during daily farm chores during which time they had the opportunity to be exposed to a plethora of both good and bad bacteria.

We have heard for many years that digging in the dirt has health benefits. And that “mud pie” you made as a child had more in it than just bacteria, fungi and roundworms in it. It has been suggested that it may have been a “primitive self-vaccination” by letting your immune system get accustomed to the bacteria within that particular soil. [4] However the dirt from the garden or even the cornfield is considered sterile unless it has the exposure to the fresh manure and thus fresh bacteria from the cows or other farm animals. [5] So even if you didn’t grow up on a farm or have not been exposed to these environmental elements, it is not too late for you! You can get exposure to these types of environmental exposures and according to research, still prevent new allergic sensitivities from developing.

In a study performed in Denmark, young adults who begin farming (with livestock) were less likely to develop new allergic sensitivities than rural peers who chose other professions. Existing allergies did not disappear; rather the farming environment seemed to prevent new sensitivities. [6]

In closing it is important to note that by playing outside, taking walks with friends and potentially exposing yourself to new environmental microbes can benefit your health and the health of future generations! Even if you don’t have plans to be a farmer, there are other ways to get outside and get back to nature. I hope that our generation takes advantage of this beautiful planet while we still can. As technology takes over our world, you still have the opportunity to choose whether you go outside and join friends for a neighborhood BBQ or sit alone in the sterile environment that is your living room, watching television. I hope for our future generations you choose to go outside and dig in the dirt, get your hands dirty and embrace the bacteria all around you!

-Keri Hlavin