The word allergy is from the Greek and means altered reaction. In Natural Bioenergetics (NB) our definition reflects more the original meaning of allergy as altered bioenergy reaction and differs from the medical more tissue-oriented definition.

The medical definition of an allergy is an IgE response. It is a histamine response. It is an immune system response. Typically you would see a medical doctor and they would do a skin prick test also known as the scratch test. They would be looking for an allergic reaction. Many who are tested with this method, including myself personally, have got false negatives. When nothing showed up on my test, I was told that my headaches were not food allergy related. I didn’t know at the time that these tests were not 100% accurate. Although this test can be very helpful for many, it can be prone to false negatives as well as false positives.

Whereas in NB our definition of allergy is based on bio-energy reactions in the energy system of the body, not necessarily physiological changes. We are looking for an energy reaction, which can be observed through muscle testing (see NB FAQ) .

The medical definition of a food sensitivity is a IgG response. Once again you would visit a medical doctor or naturopath and they would do a blood test. The results would indicate which foods you are sensitive to and the severity to each of the foods. If you happened to eat the food before the IgG test it might show that you are positive to those foods. If you have not eaten the food for a long period of time the test may show a false negative. So again false positives and negatives can occur with both tests. Both tests can be extremely helpful in their own right but they are not infallible.

Allergy vs Sensitivity

The difference between an allergy and sensitivity is not always easy to recognize. When we have a reaction to an allergy the reaction is typically within minutes to hours after exposure. Most people can correlate the symptom or symptoms to the allergen. In contrast, food sensitivities often have a delayed reaction. It is not uncommon to react hours, days, or even a week later. This makes it very difficult to figure out what someone is reacting to when so much time has passed.

Intolerance

Intolerances are exactly what they sound like. You can only have a specific amount of food or exposure to an environmental factor before you cannot tolerate it anymore, triggering a reaction. Someone who has a milk intolerance may have milk and cereal for breakfast on Monday. They have now reached 40% of their tolerance level. Tuesday they again have milk and cereal for breakfast. They are now at 80% of their tolerance, assuming no other dairy is consumed. Then on Wednesday again the same breakfast is eaten and they have reached their threshold and by 10 o’clock in the morning, they start to react to the milk with some type of symptom not realizing the culprit. Most people would say to themselves, well I know it can’t be the milk and cereal because I was okay on Monday and Tuesday not realizing it is an accumulation.

Compounding the situation, many people are dealing with more than one allergy, sensitivity, or intolerance at a time. Once again making it very difficult to decipher and identify what exactly is triggering them. Furthermore, intolerance levels change minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day depending on your stress level.

In Natural Bioenergetics allergies, sensitivities and intolerances are reflected in the energy system via the meridians (see NB FAQ) within the body.