Snow-white peaks jut up into the clear blue sky. It’s 9:30 A.M. and I am standing at the top of a mountain in Colorado. I take a deep breath of the crisp morning air, point my skis downhill, lean forward, and leap into the deep powder. My skis bank within the snow, cutting arcs to the right and then the left as I turn. It is an act of balance, feeling the snow, the air, and the steepness of the slope as I descend rapidly down the mountain. I reach the bottom of the run and feel exhilarated.
Balance is everything. It doesn’t matter how strong you are; if your balance is off, you’re likely to fall. The simple act of walking shows you how balance works in your body: it’s the coordination of opposites. Right and left. You use both legs to walk. When one foot steps forward, the other stays on the ground, supporting your weight. When you’re walking, your arms move in synchrony with your legs. Alternating right arm, left leg. Left arm, right leg.
Your immune system also depends on balance for its proper function—and I have discovered that nutrition plays a key role in balancing immunity. Our modern diet, high in sugar and refined carbs and filled with fast food, has knocked us off balance and thrown us off our skis.
In this chapter I will reveal breakthroughs in the science of allergy-fighting with nutrients from delicious, natural foods and beverages. These breakthroughs in nutrition inspired me to create the Immune Balance Diet, to help support the body against allergies by feeding the lymphocytes called T-reg cells that I talked about in Chapter 3.
Science teaches us that T-regs love vitamins and phytonutrients from fruit, vegetables, and tea, so the Immune Balance Diet is full of these delicious, natural sources of nutrients. I will be explaining the exciting nutrition research from around the world, and I’ll also be introducing some incredible natural foods that you can find right in your local supermarket or farmer’s market.
The full list comes later in this chapter, but here is a quick preview. Red, ripe strawberries, fresh parsley, and mellow green tea and oolong tea are just three of the nutrition rock stars that I want to talk about.
You will also learn why I’m so enthusiastic about the special nutrients in vegetables such as spinach, asparagus, and brussels sprouts, and why I am a big fan of legumes such as lentils, black beans, and garbanzo beans. Sweet potato is at the top of the list as a source of one key nutrient I will explore, and it’s joined by carrots, sweet bell peppers, and mangoes. All of these satisfying foods will help restore balance and get us back on our skis. It is going to be a delicious, exciting ride. Are you ready?
Fighting Allergy Naturally—with Food
Do you believe that there is something fresh and vital in natural foods like fruits and vegetables that you can’t get from a bottle of pills? Of course there is. Mother Nature provides us with the unique gifts of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other important nutrients directly from whole, natural foods, which form the foundation of nutrition.
The goal of the Immune Balance Diet is to help you feed your T-regs and support their function. When T-regs are working well, they help us overcome allergies. The Immune Balance Diet is a healthy way of eating that can provide nutritional support to help fight allergies over time. Following it for 6 to 12 months may lead to a gradual subsiding of allergies.
Dietary factors found to enhance T-regs include folates from food, vitamin A, and various plant-derived nutrients called flavonoids, especially one found in tea.1 Some flavonoids also inhibit the activity of cells that cause inflammation, so they can knock out allergies in two ways.2
Having gone through Power Wash and Re-entry, you have already begun to balance your immunity by enriching your diet with some nutrients that boost T-regs. The Immune Balance Diet is designed to help you further nourish your T-regs and also to combat allergies in four other important ways. The Immune Balance Diet:
Balance Immunity on the Immune Balance Diet
So what foods do you eat to balance immunity? Science provides the answer. To begin with, at least nine servings of brightly colored vegetables and fruits every day, choosing those that are rich in natural folates, vitamin A, and fiber. Folates from food are needed for cell growth and repair, immune function, and brain function. Their deficiency can cause anemia, fatigue, depression, cognitive disturbances, and immune impairment. Brightly colored vegetables and fruits are also rich sources of flavonoids.
On the Immune Balance Diet, the Immune Balance Soup and the Immune Balance Smoothie can still be staples of your menu. The Smoothie is rich in folates, flavonoids, and vitamin A; the Soup is packed with nutrients, and one bowl supplies four servings of vegetables. You can add other ingredients of your choice to the soup, such as whole scallions, beans, chicken or fish, and additional spices like garlic or ginger. Keep the original ingredients and add to them to make this soup your own.
In addition to the Soup and the Smoothie, you can eat any of the foods that tested well during the Re-entry process described in the last chapter: meat, fish, poultry, eggs, nuts, seeds, beans, fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices, even dairy products and whole grains. Re-entry allows you to experience the ways in which different food groups affect you as a unique individual. Know your body and listen to it.
If you’re not allergic to them, nuts and seeds are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber, and they make a great snack food. I make my own trail mix, using almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and a few Brazil nuts. Almonds are high in magnesium. Walnuts supply healthy fats. Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of vitamin B6 and folates. Pumpkin seeds are the highest plant source of zinc. Brazil nuts are rich in selenium. But the benefits of eating nuts and seeds can’t be reduced to the individual nutrients they contain. People who eat nuts and seeds regularly may be less likely to suffer from obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, according to research.
Let’s take a closer look at the nutrients that form the backbone of the Immune Balance Diet.
Natural Folates from Food
It is necessary to get natural folates from foods. Dark-green, leafy vegetables and legumes like lentils and beans are among the best sources. In the box, I’ve listed the best food sources of natural folates and the amount you’ll get in a common portion of each. Choose those you like and eat them regularly as part of the Immune Balance Diet. You can add beans, peas, lentils, and asparagus as desired to the Immune Balance Soup. Asparagus can be added fresh, but the legumes need to be precooked, because the soup is boiled for just 20 minutes, which is not enough time to cook the legumes.
I designed the Immune Balance Smoothie to provide ample folates from food. One 12-ounce glass a day can supply abundant natural folates for optimal T-reg function. It’s so fresh, creamy, and delicious that I look forward to drinking mine every day. In addition, the Smoothie can provide ample amounts of vitamin A from vegetarian sources and carefully chosen flavonoids.
Excellent Food Sources of Folates
Nutrient measurements are based on one cup, unless otherwise specified.
Vitamin A from Food Sources
Vitamin A is a critical nutrient for cell repair, vision, healthy skin, and proper immune function. Vitamin A deficiency can cause blindness, slow wound healing, and poor resistance to infection. Whole-food sources of the building blocks of vitamin A are the best way to obtain this important nutrient.
Vitamin A is a general term used to identify families of naturally occurring molecules called retinoids and pro-vitamin A carotenoids. Retinoids come mostly from animals, and carotenoids come mostly from plants. You can make all the retinoids you need from the pro-vitamin A carotenoids found in plants, which means that vegetarians may enjoy a better vitamin A status than omnivores if their diets are rich in vegetables and fruits.3 The names of the pro-vitamin A carotenoids are beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin.
I recommend that you get your vitamin A from foods that are rich sources of these, like carrots, spinach, and sweet potato, because these contain not only natural vitamin A but also many phytonutrients that come only from whole food sources.
Carotene gets its name from carrots, and it’s their high concentration of beta-carotene that makes carrots look orange. Carotenoids and retinoids are both absorbed better if you consume fat along with them. That’s why the recipe for Immune Balance Soup begins by having you sauté carrots in olive oil.
I believe the best way to meet your need for vitamin A is from food, especially carotenoid-rich vegetables that also give you flavonoids, fiber, and phytonutrients at the same time. A list of plant foods high in vitamin A is shown in the box. These foods also give you related carotenoids, like lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Although your body does not convert them into vitamin A, they may yield health benefits through important mechanisms of their own. The Immune Balance Soup and the Immune Balance Smoothie are designed to supply ample vitamin A from plant foods.
Excellent Food Sources of Vitamin A
| Food | Vitamin A |
| Sweet potato, one medium | 1,403 RE (retinol equivalents) |
| Spinach, 1/2 cup | 573 RE |
| Carrots, 1/2 cup | 459 RE |
| Cantaloupe, 1/2 cup | 135 RE |
| Pepper, sweet red, 1/2 cup | 117 RE |
| Mango, raw, 1 whole | 112 RE |
| Black-eyed peas, boiled, 1 cup | 66 RE |
| Broccoli, boiled, 1/2 cup | 60 RE |
Fabulous Flavonoids: The Best-Kept Secret in Nutrition
You won’t see flavonoids listed on any food label. That’s because flavonoid deficiency has not been described in the way that vitamin and mineral deficiencies have been, so flavonoids are not treated as essential nutrients. But flavonoids are every bit as important as vitamins and minerals.
It’s my belief that the chronic inflammatory disorders that result from a Western diet and lifestyle are in part caused by flavonoid deficiencies. High intake of dietary flavonoids has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and asthma in research studies. The modern Western diet contains about 1,000 milligrams of flavonoids per day. A traditional Asian diet contains about four times that amount, much of it from herbs, spices, and teas.
Tea Flavonoid Helps Reduce Inflammation and Fight Allergies
There are more than 400 flavonoids in the human diet. As a group, flavonoids have potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. I’d like to focus on two flavonoids that are important for T-regs and that play a key role in the Immune Balance Diet.
The first is found in tea; let’s call it tea flavonoid. Although green tea is a well-known source of this flavonoid, the levels in oolong tea are just as high.4
The ability of tea flavonoid to combat inflammation has been studied for more than 25 years. Its effect on T-regs was first studied at the University of California and reported in 2010. Here’s a quick look at the research:
Enjoy Your Own Little Tea Ceremony
You just need a quiet moment all to yourself, away from the pressures of everyday life. I understand. You need a moment to gather your thoughts. Or maybe to let your mind empty and let all your cares and worries flow away. To leave behind the ever present pull of the present and give yourself a little quiet time.
Escape with a tranquil tea ceremony of your own.
Put your cell phone out of reach with the volume turned down. Get ready to settle into your favorite comfy chair or sofa.
But first, about that cup of tea. The kitchen. Your favorite mug. Be aware of the simple and satisfying rhythm of brewing the tea, how you move around the kitchen, the sound of water coming to a boil, the color and texture of the tea itself. As you brew the tea, notice how the tea infuses the water and how the inviting aroma wafts into the air.
With the cup in your hand, settle carefully into your seat. Feel the heat of the cup warming your hands, and watch a faint whisper of steam rise into the air. You are going on an imaginary journey to a faraway place where you can let your mind be still.
Achieving a peaceful mind through meditation or prayer, even for just a short time each day, provides real benefits for your health. While the idea of mind-body medicine was once considered esoteric, a recent study from Harvard University found it moving into the mainstream, with health care providers giving patients “prescriptions” for meditation and yoga.9
I’ll talk more about mind-body well-being in Chapter 10. For now, sip your tea and enjoy knowing that you’re not only getting valuable flavonoids, you’re giving yourself an invaluable moment of peace.
The Super-Antioxidant in Strawberries
One of the best-kept secrets in nutrition is the flavonoid fisetin, and the richest dietary source of fisetin is strawberries. Fisetin is a potent antioxidant that increases the concentration of glutathione in your cells, according to research from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.10 (You read about glutathione in Chapter 1, and we’ll discuss it in more detail in Chapter 13.) Glutathione helps to protect your T-regs from damage; a lack of it makes T-regs susceptible to destruction induced by environmental and food toxins,11 which is one factor contributing to the epidemic of allergy.
Although the first effect of fisetin is to protect T-regs from damage by enhancing glutathione levels, laboratory experiments have demonstrated other important benefits. For instance, administration of fisetin decreases several aspects of the allergic response and protects laboratory animals from allergic asthma.12 And at the Salk Institute for Biological Research, scientists have demonstrated numerous protective effects of fisetin on the aging nervous system.13
I designed the Immune Balance Smoothie to supply you with fisetin, tea flavonoid, folates from food, and vitamin A. Make it fresh every day. One 12-ounce glass supplies four servings of fruits and vegetables, almost half of what you need every day. To enhance the amount of tea flavonoid in the green tea used in the Smoothie, I recommend that you boil the tea leaves for five minutes instead of just steeping the tea bag in hot water.
Strawberries, a Delicious Way to Help Fight Allergies
With a delightfully distinctive aroma, flavor, and color, naturally sweet and luscious strawberries deliver nutrition the way nature intended. One cup of these beautiful berries is only 49 calories and provides you with 98 milligrams of vitamin C as well as the minerals potassium, calcium, and magnesium and 3 grams of fiber.
And that is just the beginning. In research labs around the world, science is unlocking the amazing nutritional power of the simple strawberry. It turns out that strawberries are a delicious source of the anti-allergy nutrient called fisetin, a flavonoid that can fight allergic reactions by supporting the health of T-regs. That is why I made strawberries a star ingredient in my Immune Balance Smoothie.
At the peak of strawberry season, nothing compares to finding beautiful, ripe berries, which are a perfect snack or natural dessert. I always buy organic berries. When fresh berries are out of season, I enjoy using frozen organic berries, which are now easier to find than ever. They give my smoothies the delightful aroma and mild sweetness of strawberries year-round.
A study from Washington State University discovered that organically grown strawberries had higher levels of vitamin C and total antioxidants than conventionally grown strawberries. What is more, the study found that in consumer comparison testing, organic berries were judged to be sweeter and have better flavor and appearance than conventional berries. The study also tested the quality of the soil where the berries were grown and found that the soil on organic strawberry farms was healthier and supported more life than the soil on conventional farms.
So is it worth it to go organic? When it comes to strawberries, the science has spoken. More nutrition, fewer pesticides, better taste, and farming practices that are better for the environment—all this makes buying organic something we can really feel good about.14
Enjoying the Wonderful Freshness of Parsley
Bright green, aromatic parsley brings an unmistakable freshness to an amazing variety of dishes. I have added parsley to soups, tossed it onto salads, sprinkled it over pasta, and stir-fried it into rice and vegetables. I love placing a big bunch of fresh parsley on the kitchen counter to make the Immune Balance Soup. The leaves are lovely, but don’t forget the stems, which provide a satisfying crunch. I have found that once you get started using parsley, it becomes an easy-to-use favorite that adds great flavor to your cooking.
But the culinary delights of parsley are just the beginning. In addition to enhancing eating pleasure, parsley is an excellent source of nutrients. It is high in carotenoids; it has even more of this nutrient than carrots. Parsley is also a great source of the flavonoid apigenin. Like many other flavonoids, apigenin has anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects, but it also activates a switch in the immune response.
Exciting research on apigenin from the Nanjing Medical University in China found that the apigenin switch decreases the activity of allergy-inducing lymphocytes and reduces IgE levels.15 This is another reason to continue eating the Immune Balance Soup, which is packed with parsley.
So what do you look for when shopping for this herb? Fresh parsley can be found at the supermarket, the farmer’s market, and the natural food store. Freshness is key. The parsley should look like a beautiful bunch of fresh-cut flowers.
Just like flowers, parsley likes water, so when you are ready to use it, toss the parsley into a bowl of water to soak off any dirt. Give it a good rinse and then pat it dry with a paper towel. Now it is ready to use in your kitchen creations!
What Not to Eat
To begin with, you should avoid eating any food or group of foods that you were intolerant of during Re-entry and Zeroing In. Avoid them carefully for at least six months. By the end of six months, you may be able to eat some of those foods again, if you’ve followed all aspects of the Allergy Solution program and you find that those foods do not cause you any symptoms.
You probably noticed that Re-entry did not include candies, pastries, processed foods, artificial colors and flavors, high-fructose corn syrup, most vegetable oils, or any of the foods commonly thought of as junk food. Once you have gone through the Power Wash, you have cleansed yourself of these foods. There is no Re-entry for donuts, cakes, pies, muffins, or fries. These foods are all part of the problem and cannot be part of the solution. These things are roadblocks to healing. Brian’s story is a good example.
Brian was a 35-year-old software designer who had had eczema since childhood. At its worst it covered his arms, face, and legs, with a special predilection for his eyelids and the folds inside his elbows and behind his knees. It was a scaly, itchy rash that would usually clear in summer. The rest of the year he’d control it by applying cortisone cream. Stress always made it worse. One summer the rash wouldn’t clear and his skin burned every time he took a bath or shower. That’s when he came to my office.
Brian had already started eating what I call a pseudo-healthy diet. He ate lots of salad; he had gone gluten-free, cut out red meat, and started using alternative grains like amaranth and quinoa; and he was mixing hemp seeds into his fat-free Greek yogurt. But then he’d pour two tablespoons of agave nectar into the yogurt, add two teaspoons of honey to his organic green tea, and stay up till two in the morning surfing the Internet while munching gluten-free cookies and eating all-natural chocolate.
Break Free from Sugar Cravings
If you have sugar cravings, you know how compelling, how insistent, how gripping, and how real they can be. It’s like having Darth Vader enticing you to come over to the dark side, forcing you against your own will to devour that chocolate cake or pint of ice cream. The dark side of sugar cravings makes you eat things that you don’t want to eat.
So how do you escape the forceful grasp of these cravings? You know that, like the bad guy in a movie, cravings don’t just disappear on their own. Keep indulging in sugar and the cravings stick with you, not going anywhere, because each time you have sugar you are actually feeding and encouraging your desire for more. No, it is going to take a heroic leap on your part.
The magic happens when you take that brave step and walk away from sugar, leaving it cold. Something quite extraordinary occurs: the cravings go away. In as little as two or three days, they vanish. That constant pull of sugar, the need to munch on a cookie or candy bar, is gone. You can literally sense the weight coming off of your shoulders. You are free.
When setting out to eliminate sugar from their routine, many people are surprised to find it hiding in their favorite products. Sugar has a talent for showing up in places it shouldn’t. You expect sugar to star in decadent desserts like red velvet cake or frosted cupcakes. But sugar has a way of sneaking into savory items such as soup, spaghetti sauce, and crackers, just to name a few. Sugar blends in almost everywhere and can go unseen until you read the label. Make it a habit to look closely at the ingredient list on food labels—where sugar may be listed as cane sugar, cane juice, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, beet sugar, and malt—and you will be able to eliminate a lot of it.
It’s difficult enough to stay vigilant against hidden sugar in your own kitchen, where you’re in control. When you’re on the go, it’s even tougher. So you don’t get stuck trying to improvise or ad-lib this effort, I’m going to provide you with a plan. You don’t want to be at the mercy of what you can grab from a vending machine when you are out—and sugary snacks are everywhere, while healthy choices take a little bit of planning. Remember you are doing something heroic, and give yourself plenty of credit.
Plan Your Escape from Sugar
Listen to Your Body
Brian’s road to healing was like a roller-coaster ride. He stayed on the Power Wash for five days and remained in Stage One of Re-entry for a week. Even though it was the middle of winter, his skin became clearer than it had been in years.
Then he stopped using cortisone cream and his skin began to itch again. I explained to Brian that his skin had become dependent on cortisone and he was experiencing a withdrawal reaction. I gave him a two-week schedule for tapering off the cream, which diminished the rebound effect of steroid withdrawal, and the healing of his skin continued. That’s when things got more interesting.
First, he began losing weight. When I first saw him he was about 30 pounds overweight and had not been able to lose weight even when he cut back on sweets. I explained to him that steroids interfere with weight loss, so as long as he relied on steroid creams to control his eczema, he’d have a hard time with weight control no matter how few calories he ate or how much he exercised. Off the steroids and following the Immune Balance Diet, weight loss would come naturally.
Then came the holidays and celebrations: Memorial Day, his nephew’s high school graduation, his cousin’s wedding, Independence Day. Each of these was an occasion to chow down on cake or candy, sometimes with a beer or two, and each time Brian’s eczema would flare up, typically a day or two later. Each time it took a week to heal.
With each flare-up he’d gain a few pounds, his hands would feel puffy, and his face would swell just enough for his girlfriend to notice the difference. These changes were not due to food allergies; we’d established that through the Re-entry process. Brian’s body was very sensitive to the inflammatory effects of sugar, which I discuss in more detail in my weight-loss book, The Fat Resistance Diet. For Brian, itching of his skin was like a barometer of his sugar intake.
Each time Brian’s eczema flared, he’d call me up and say, “Doc, I can’t believe I’m so sensitive to sugar. Could that really be true?”
And each time, I’d say, “You know the answer, Brian. Listen to your body.”
Optimal immune function depends on optimal nutrition. The food you eat nourishes the cells that prevent allergy, help fight infection, and work to control inflammation. The best diet is not the same for everybody. Optimal nutrition is individualized nutrition. It must take into account your own specific food allergies and sensitivities, your tastes, and your culture. I’ve designed the Allergy Solution program to help you find the nutritious foods that fit your needs and then enhance that diet with foods that ensure optimal T-reg function.
Conclusion
This chapter highlighted exciting research from around the world on nutrition and allergy, with a focus on dietary factors that can help balance the immune system and reduce allergies. Breakthroughs in nutrition science have revealed that we can support the function of the special T-reg cells that are the conductors of the immune system. With T-regs functioning well, allergic reactions can be prevented.
I created the Immune Balance Diet as a natural source of vitamins and phytonutrients, based on nutrition research from around the world. We explored natural food sources of vitamin A and folates. We learned about the special nutrients in strawberries, parsley, and tea that may help fight allergies.
The case of Brian, the software designer, demonstrated how a taste for sugar and sweets could contribute to eczema: his roller-coaster ride of cleaning up his diet, seeing an improvement in his skin, then succumbing to sugar cravings leading to skin flareups convinced him just how sensitive his body is to the inflammatory impact of sugar. Luckily, sugar cravings can be overcome, as I explained in the section “Break Free from Sugar Cravings.”
I am confident that when you share this chapter with your doctor and discuss what you have learned, she or he will be able to decide on your nutrition program and guide your journey of healing.