For those millions of people who suffer from food allergies life can become very difficult and dangerous at a moment’s notice. If a person with allergies eats a food that contains an ingredient that they are allergic to it can bring on an allergic reaction that ranges from mild hives to anaphylactic shock in a matter of minutes. Recent history has shown that it can be controlled with medications and visits to the emergency room. However recent studies have been done to see if there are more natural ways to treat allergic reactions that do not involve the use of these medications.

Many people with allergies are turning to holistic doctors to help them learn to cope with their allergies and are instead finding that there are ways to eliminate most of their allergic reactions to foods. The first recommendation of almost all doctors is to simply eliminate the food that you are allergic to from your diet. While this seems obvious it is not as easy as it sounds given the number of foods that do not have to list small amounts of the common food allergens.

Nutritional supplements such as probiotics have been found to help heal the digestive tract and make it more receptive to absorbing the food allergens. It is thought that this is a result of changing the immune systems response to these foods.  Tests conducted with infants that have food allergies have had some measure of success in eliminating their food allergies. Proteolytic enzymes have been tested and shown to help break down undigested proteins into particles too small to cause an allergic reaction. Other nutritional supplements such as vitamin C and flavonoids such as quercitin have natural antihistamine effects and have been very successful in laboratory animal tests.

Many people are starting to look towards traditional herbal medicines as a way to treat the signs and symptoms associated with food allergies with some measure of success. At the Mount Sinai Center for Chinese Herbal Therapy for Allergy and Asthma, Dr Xiu-Min Li has had some success in developing a traditional Chinese herbal mixture that has offered patients long term protection from food allergy reactions that have lasted up to 9 months after the treatments were stopped.

While for some people avoidance or medication may seem like the only answer for food allergies there is much research being done to find natural remedies and treatments to help people deal with their food allergies.