If you are among the millions of American who suffer with sinus problems or allergies then you understand how these chronic problems can interfere with normal daily life. Very often sinus problems are due to various allergies which cause inflammation, swelling, excessive mucus secretion and even infection. The real problem however is not the sinuses themselves. They are just hollow air spaces that make mucus; this keeps them moist and prevents them from becoming too dry. Allergies on the other hand often present as runny nose, itching eyes or ears and sneezing.

We will be discussing sinus issues and allergies together because they often have a common cause; immune system imbalances originating at and perpetuated by

the digestive tract. At this point you are probably wondering what your gut has to with your sinuses or a runny nose!

Before we go any further, let’s take a moment and explain the relationship between your nose, sinuses, eyes, inner ear and digestive tract. It all starts with a specialized branch of the immune system called MALT (Mucosa-Associated-Lymphoid-Tissue).  I know what you are thinking, what does that mean? Well, let’s just take each piece of this and break it down:

• Mucosa: this is simply the thin layer of tissue that lines the inner surfaces of organs like the digestive tract, sinuses, nose, and inner ears. It also covers the outer surfaces of the eyeball.
• Associated: this means “connected” with something else (in this case, all of these different parts of the body are “connected” to each other by the immune system.
• Lymphoid: this is just referring to tissue that produces immune system products like immune cells and antibodies.
• Tissue: is a part of the body made from specialized cells (muscle and bone are two different types of tissue) and in this case, the tissue is lymphoid (immune system) tissue.

Ok, so what does this mean? It means the immune system of our digestive tract “talks to” the immune system of your sinuses, nose, ears and eyes!

The reason we focus on the digestive tract is because we can control the allergens and irritants it is exposed to; specifically our diet. We can’t control how much pollen or mold is in the air or the humidity; so we focus on what we can control, the food we put in our mouth!  The other reason we focus on the digestive system is because that is where the majority of the body’s entire immune system is located.

When you eat foods that trigger an immune system response in the digestive tract (you may not experience any gut symptoms so you won’t be aware that this is happening) immune system cells travel to your nose, sinuses, inner ear and eyes and tell them to initiate an immune system response locally. This causes the inflammation, swelling, runny nose, itchy eyes and ears and scratchy throat.

In the sinuses this immune response causes increased mucus production, swelling and pain. If this persists long enough it can create a congested breeding ground for bacteria and lead to a sinus infection! Then you are off to your doctor for another round of antibiotics and antihistamines!

The immune system responds to what we call thresholds. This means you will not experience symptoms until the immune response reaches a heightened level of (inappropriate) activity. I can speak from personal experience with this threshold! If I eat watermelon in the summer when ragweed and grass pollens are high; I will experience nasal allergies. However if I eat watermelon in the spring or winter then I have no problems at all! So guess what? I don’t eat watermelon in July or August! The point is, adding watermelon (an allergen) to the pollen in the air (an allergen) exceeds my immune threshold and causes nasal allergies, itchy eyes and a scratchy throat.

Another example of crossing this threshold would be eating a food that triggers the immune response on a regular basis. Let’s say in this case the offending food is corn. Today is Wednesday and you have had corn chips twice this week…your immune system is just on the verge of triggering a sinus immune response… and today you also had more sugar than usual, like a candy bar (which will compromise immunity). You also did not get much sleep on Tuesday, so you are a bit more tired than usual (compromises immunity). This combination of immune system stressors is enough to surpass your immune threshold and trigger a response in the gut which travels to your sinuses! You wake up Thursday morning feeling sinus pressure and congestion and by Saturday you have a terrible sinus infection!
Your immune system could have handled the lack of sleep on Tuesday and the candy bar on Wednesday but putting these on top of regular exposure to corn was enough to trigger a big enough immune response to result in a sinus infection.

We have found the best way to prevent chronic sinus issues and allergies is to reduce the strain on the immune system. Remember, most of your immune system is found in the gut; so it makes sense that diet is a great place to start. In our Naperville office, we usually recommend blood tests to identify foods that are causing an inappropriate and exaggerated immune response. For more information on how we test for these foods, go to our website see our Food Allergies page. By applying a functional medicine approach to sinus problems and allergies, our patients are able to unburden their immune system, stay below the immune threshold and significantly reduce or completely eliminate their sinus and allergy problems.

For more information on food allergies, testing or Dr. Sexton go to napervilleintegratedwellness.com

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources.