GI HEALTH – Page 2 – Lifestyle Genomics Research Centre

Reactive Nitrogen Species

Whether you ordered just our DNA test, or the Gene Variant Report only, your original purchase also covered free updates. This includes access to our growing library of educational content and articles. This space is reserved for content developed as part of your free updates. Whenever a new article appears in this area, you will be notified via email.

Nitric Oxide

Glutathione Conjugation

Glutathione Synthesis

Glutathione Wasting

Ammonia build up

Cell membranes

Kidney Health

Cytokine Storm

Allergic Sensitization

Allergic sensitization is when your immune system learns to overreact to something harmless, like pollen or pet dander, setting the stage for allergic reactions later.

Here’s how it works in simple terms: Normally, your immune system fights off harmful things like viruses or bacteria. But sometimes, it mistakenly sees a harmless substance (called an allergen) as a threat. The first time you’re exposed to this allergen—say, pollen—your immune system doesn’t react much, but it quietly starts preparing. It creates special proteins called IgE antibodies that “remember” the allergen.

These antibodies stick around in your body, waiting. The next time you encounter that same allergen, the IgE antibodies trigger your immune system to go into overdrive. It releases chemicals like histamine, which cause symptoms like sneezing, itching, or swelling—your classic allergic reaction.

Think of it like your immune system being a security guard that wrongly flags a friendly visitor as dangerous. After the first meeting, it puts that visitor on a watchlist. Every time that visitor shows up again, the guard panics and causes a scene (allergic symptoms).

Sensitization doesn’t always mean you’ll notice symptoms right away—it’s just the immune system getting ready. Over time, repeated exposures can lead to full-blown allergies, like hay fever or asthma. Things like genetics, environment, or frequent exposure to an allergen can make someone more likely to become sensitized.

Allergic sensitization and histamine overload are closely connected because sensitization primes your immune system to release histamine when you encounter an allergen, and too much histamine causes the symptoms of “overload.”

Here’s the link in simple terms: When you become sensitized to an allergen (like pollen or dust), your immune system creates IgE antibodies specific to that allergen, as I explained earlier. These antibodies sit on immune cells called mast cells and basophils, which are like storage tanks for histamine, a chemical that triggers inflammation.

When you’re exposed to the allergen again, it binds to those IgE antibodies, signaling the mast cells and basophils to dump large amounts of histamine into your body. Histamine acts like an alarm system, causing blood vessels to leak, tissues to swell, and nerves to get irritated, which leads to symptoms like itching, sneezing, hives, or even trouble breathing.

Histamine overload happens when your body releases too much histamine at once, or it can’t break it down fast enough. This can amplify allergic symptoms, making them feel intense or overwhelming—like severe itching, swelling, or even systemic reactions (in extreme cases, anaphylaxis). Overload can also occur if you’re exposed to multiple allergens at once, eat histamine-rich foods (like aged cheese), or have trouble clearing histamine due to genetics or medications.

In short, allergic sensitization sets up your immune system to overreact to allergens by releasing histamine, and when too much histamine floods your system, you get the miserable symptoms of histamine overload.

Allergic sensitization and histamine overload are directly connected to mast cell activation, as mast cells play a key role in both processes.

In simple terms: When you become sensitized to an allergen (like pollen), your immune system makes IgE antibodies that stick to mast cells, which are like immune system storage units packed with histamine and other chemicals. During allergic sensitization, these mast cells get “primed” with IgE, ready to react to that specific allergen.

When you encounter the allergen again, it binds to the IgE on the mast cells, triggering mast cell activation. This causes the mast cells to release histamine and other chemicals into your body, leading to allergic symptoms like itching, swelling, or sneezing. This release is what causes histamine overload when too much histamine floods your system, making symptoms more intense.

In some cases, mast cells can also get activated by non-allergic triggers (like stress, heat, or certain foods) in conditions like mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), which can mimic or worsen allergic reactions and histamine overload. So, mast cell activation is the bridge connecting allergic sensitization to histamine overload—it’s the process that unleashes the histamine causing those symptoms.