The allergy epidemic - what NOT to do

To a recent question “Where do you find writing inspiration?” I answered in part “Sadly the fallout from compromised reproduction, which ranges from infertility to children on the MINDD spectrum (MINDD = metabolic, immune, neurological and digestive disorders), I see all around me around me every day, so I’m inspired to write something most days."

And indeed, the front page news in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph over the weekend was a perfect example of what can set me going.

My frustration levels soared as I read the recommendations to start solids at FOUR months, when WHO recommendations are for exclusive breastfeeding for at least SIX months and many babies who are breastfed exclusively don’t indicate their readiness for solids until 8-9 months.

But the so-called “experts’, concerned about the massive increase in allergies over the last 20 years, believe early introduction of solids will reduce the incidence of allergy. Their reasoning completely defies logic. No account is given of the fact that our children's immune systems are now the victims of trans-generational immune compromise, and that compromise is a legacy of a multitude of factors including:

• unhealthy gut microbiota: beginning at birth (C-sections, infant formula) and continuing throughout life (80% of immune response is mediated through the gut)
• nutritional deficits: including zinc, intimately involved in immune formation and function, but now the most widespread deficiency in the Western world
• vaccinations: introducing a massively toxic and potentially allergenic load to an immature immune system
• combination of other lifestyle and environmental toxins which are too numerous to mention

What to do? The only answer lies in strengthening the infant’s immune system prior to his entry into the world and that begins with strengthening the immune system of his parents before his conception. I ask the The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy what part of this equation they don’t understand? Their new recommendations are just another knee-jerk reaction that will do nothing to address the underlying issues, but have the potential to make the allergy epidemic even worse!