Winter Maladies: Natural Approaches
June Russell's Health Facts
Alcohol - Allergies
Allergies affect 40-50 million Americans.
(“Allergies: Nothing to sneeze at,” Reader’s Digest, April, 1999) 50 million says the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, March 2000).
Nearly 2 million Americans are allergic to the ingredients in certain alcoholic beverages. Alcohol can lower a person’s threshold so an allergy can become more serious.
(Book: Luks and Barbato, “You are What you Drink,” 1989)
Eliminating junk food, such as alcohol, can expand a person’s allergic threshold.
(Steven C. Halbert, M.D., “Tis the Season,” Energy Times magazine, April 1997)
Eliminate alcohol for the first 90 days of the Optimum Health Program and reduce use to only occasionally afterward. Limit alcohol if you have allergies. Foods that are consumed at the same time you have an alcoholic drink appear to be much more likely than usual to pass into the blood stream in an only partially digested state. Such macromolecules, too large to be recognized as nutrients, are treated by the bloodstream’s immune system as foreign invaders or allergens, and provoke an antibody response as the immune system desperately tries to fight and clear these “undesirables” from the circulation. People who drink alcohol are more likely to have food allergies.
(James Braly, "Food, Allergy and Nutrition Revolution")
Avoid alcohol during allergy season. The worst drink you could possibly have? Red wine, because it actually stimulates histamine. While people with seasonal allergies are not allergic to alcohol itself, it can escalate symptoms. Alcohol dilates blood vessels, including those in your nose, causing the nasal passages to swell.
(Seasonal Allergy Update, by Hoechst Marion Roussel advertisement,
makers of Allegra. 1996)
Avoiding ‘triggers’ can eliminate 50% to 70% of allergic reactions. Over the past 20 years, there has been an increase in allergies in the U.S., from the most prevalent disorder to food allergies and allergy-related ailments such as asthma and sinusitis. Allergies seem to increase with the Western lifestyle with possible correlates: smaller families, use of antibiotics early in life, diesel-exhaust particles and changes in diet toward more processed foods.
(“Living With Your Allergies,” Reader’s Digest, April, 2000)
Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease. Those who have asthma should avoid foods and drinks that have high concentrations of sulfites, such as beer or wine.
( The Alternative Advisor: The Complete Guide to Natural Therapies and Alternative Treatments - Time-Life Books 1997. The 1997 - 1998 Special Edition of the New Age Journal)
A glass of wine could bring on an asthma attack, two new studies suggest. Those who are asthmatics should consider cutting back, says lead study author Seif Shaheen, M.D., Ph.D., researcher and senior lecturer at Guy’s, King’s and St. Thomas’ School of Medicine, King’s College, London.
(Prevention, September, 2000)
Sulfite allergies are a problem for some individuals and can lead to serious headaches. Winemakers have been adding sulfites to wine for millennia, and without the added sulfites the wine will not survive as long. The ATF, the governing body for wineries, allows wineries to call wine 'sulfite free' when the levels of sulfites are under 10 parts per million (ppm).
( "Sulfites and Wine," Cape Cod Winery on wine.about.com - October 2001) Author's comments: For those who are allergic to sulfites, even this small amount allowed in wine could be dangerous.
Federal regulations mandate that any wine that has between 10 ppm and 100 ppm of sulfites be labeled "contains sulfites." If a wine doesn't carry this warning, however, it doesn't mean sulfites are not present, as all wines produce sulfites in the aging process. If you are sensitive to sulfites you may want to avoid wine altogether.
("Grape Crush," Taste for Life magazine, Dec. 2001)
A new study finds that drinking alcohol may trigger stronger-than-normal reactions to everyday allergens like dust mites. About 30 percent of the population has a genetic tendency to be allergic to something. Alcohol can increase our natural sensitivities to allergens, says Arturo Gonzalez-Quintela, associate professor of internal medicine at the Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago in Spain. His study is in this month's 'Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.'
The focus was on the possible influence of smaller amounts of alcohol and normal amounts. "Alcohol seems to interfere with the immune system - and even moderate amounts have a subtle effect on immunity," he tells WebMD.
("Booze Could Be Tied To Allergy Blues," webMD.com, Jan. 2002)
In the U.S. alone, 50 million individuals suffer from allergies. (James Kemp, M.D., President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, March 2000)
Headaches and breathing problems can result from drinking red wine, and the culprits seem to be sulfites, histamine and possibly tannins. For some people it may simply be the alcohol, which is a well-known precipitant of migraine. ("Red Wine Headaches," Harvard Health Letter, June 2002)
Alcoholic beverages may spell trouble for asthmatics. Australian researchers suggest that wine appears to be a particular culprit in triggering asthma attacks. Wines, both white and red, were most commonly cited as a cause, and reactions were usually seen within an hour of taking the drink. The authors note that although most asthma attacks triggered by alcohol are mild, the study findings suggest that severe attacks may also occur. ("Alcohol may prompt asthma attacks," Reuters Health, source: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2000 - on organtx.org)
Alcohol makes the lung liable to injury and infection by producing a decrease in alveolar epithelial levels of glutathione, an antioxidant, as well as inhibiting the response to bacterial infection. In a recent study by Australian researchers of asthmatics, 42% have reactions to alcoholic drinks - wine being the most frequent cause. Asthmatic reactions generally appeared quickly and were moderate in intensity. Drinking alcohol dramatically boosts the risk of common gene mutation in smokers developing lung cancer. (Alcohol Research Center, alcoholresearch.Isumc.edu - August 2002)
Sinuses
Drinking alcohol causes the nasal-sinus membranes to swell. When this swelling involves mucous membranes of the sinuses, air and mucus are trapped behind the narrowed openings of the sinuses. If the sinus openings become too narrow to permit drainage of the mucus, then bacteria begin to multiply. Vasomotor
rhinitis, caused by alcohol use, can be complicated by sinus infections.
("Causes of Sinusitis, seniorhealth.about.com - Dec. 24, 2001)