Case Study: Overcoming Bloating And Allergies

Maree was a 39 year old lady who came to see me for help with abdominal bloating, frequent colds and sinusitis. Maree was a slim person but she had a big bloated abdomen that bothered her. She knew to avoid soda and pastry because they both intensified the bloating and made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

Maree wasn’t having a bowel motion often enough; she only went every second day. She also mentioned that her stool floats. These are indicators of malabsorption and dysbiosis (too much bad bacteria and not enough good bacteria in the bowel).

The other problem Maree wanted help with was chronic sinus infections, a runny nose, sneezing and itchy throat. The hayfever symptoms came and went and were much worse during Spring. The blocked sinuses were a constant problem, and she caught a cold every few months. She regularly suffered with sinus headaches and her continual blocked nose made it difficult to sleep at night. The poor sleep was starting to wear her down. Maree was a single mom with a full time job and a hectic life. She was starting to become quite frustrated and depressed about continually feeling unwell.

Bowel problems and sinus problems often go hand in hand; it is very common to see those two conditions in patients. The old herbal medicine textbooks recommend bowel and liver cleansing herbs for chronic sinus and respiratory conditions. This is not surprising once you realise that the majority of the immune cells in our body are found in the intestines. If the health of the bowel is poor and there is too much bad bacteria, yeast or parasites growing there, the immune system will suffer. The allergy symptoms Maree experienced caused her body to produce excess mucus. Mucus is a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, thus encouraging repeated sinus infections.

My recommendations

• Maree ate a lot of bread. This is understandable considering how busy she was. Her teenage daughter often spent the evening at a friend’s house; therefore Maree often ate a sandwich for dinner. That’s in addition to eating toast for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. There are a number of problems with this – Maree didn’t eat a lot of vegetables; the yeast in bread aggravates bloating; wheat and gluten are a common cause of food allergy or intolerance. I asked Maree to base her diet on vegetables, salads, protein and healthy fats instead. I told her she could eat gluten free bread occasionally if she was particularly busy.
• Avoiding gluten would help to reduce the abdominal bloating, but in order to help Maree feel better faster, I asked her to take 2 BactoClear capsules twice daily with meals. This would help get rid of the bugs that produced the gases that made Maree bloated. BactoClear capsules contain thyme, oregano and clove essential oils. They have an amazing natural antimicrobial effect in the body. They help to kill bad gut bugs and also the bacteria creating recurrent sinus infections.
• I gave Maree LivaTone capsules to help increase bile flow. Bile is the body’s own natural laxative and it would help to improve Maree’s bowel habits. Having at least one bowel motion each day is important because waste that is allowed to sit around in the intestines provides food for all the wrong bacteria and parasites.
• In order to reduce the sinus discomfort and help to improve Maree’s sleep, I recommended Allergy Relief tablets. This formula contains stinging nettle, quercetin, bromelain and other anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory ingredients to help hayfever symptoms and excess mucus in the sinuses.
• I gave Maree a blood test and discovered her vitamin D level was far too low. This did not surprise me, since she had an office job and lived an entirely indoor life. Low vitamin D can cause fatigue and it weakens the immune system, predisposing a person to allergies or infections. I asked Maree to take one vitamin D capsule with breakfast each day.

6 weeks later

The first thing Maree told me when I saw her again was how much better her abdomen felt. The bloating was entirely gone. She said “The change of diet and supplements felt like a nuisance at first but now I feel so good there’s no way I’m going back to how I used to eat. My tummy feels flat and comfortable after I eat. I think I finally feel normal. This is the way people are supposed to feel after eating”. It was so nice to see how excited she was about feeling better.

Maree’s sinus and hay fever problems were around 80 percent better. I asked her to take a vitamin C supplement and also include fermented foods such as sauerkraut or kimchi in her diet. This is important for re-establishing healthy levels of good microbes in her bowel. Beneficial microbes have an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effect.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.