What might migraines, anxiety, depression, backache, stomach or abdominal pain, food cravings and chronic fatigue have in common?  All of these symptoms may be at least in part allergic reactions – often to commonly eaten foods.

Infants and children more commonly have immediate reactions if they inhale, come into skin contact with, or eat a food they’re sensitive to.  As we grow older, delayed reactions become more common.  An adult can have an allergic reaction of pain anywhere in the body starting even 3 or 4 days after eating an offending food.  If the person is reacting to a food eaten every day, such as wheat or milk, they may live with chronic pain or fatigue without having a clue what the cause is.

NAET is short for Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique.  Dr. Devi Namudripad, D.C., L.Ac., PhD. tells about how she developed this amazing technique while dealing with her own severe environmental illness in her book, Say Goodbye to Illness. She had been able to eat mainly only rice and broccoli for 3 ½ years, when one day she nibbled on some carrot:  “In a few minutes, I felt tired and lethargic, and I soon felt like I was going to pass out.”  She tested herself with kinesiology for the carrots, and found she was highly allergic to them.  She called her husband in the adjoining room, who gave her an acupuncture treatment to revive her.  After the needles were inserted, she slept for 45 minutes: “When I woke up, I felt strangely different.  I was not sick or tired anymore.  I felt a pleasant, renewed energy …”  She found pieces of carrot still wrapped in her hand.  She retested herself for carrot allergy, and was O.K. now.  She then ate a carrot stick with no adverse reaction.  This episode was the beginning of the development of NAET.

During a treatment, the patient holds the allergenic substance (or homeopathically made vial of that substance) while specific acupuncture points are treated – with acupressure, an activator device, infra-red laser or needles.  (I use acupressure.)  The patient is then asked to avoid the treated substance for at least 24 hours.  The patient then returns to see if they cleared the sensitivity effectively, and another allergen or allergen group can be treated for.

More information on NAET can be found on the website:  www.NAET.com.

Also, Dr. Ellen Cutler has written two books on her use of NAET:  Winning the War against Asthma and Allergies (1997) and Winning the War against Immune Disorders and Allergies (1998).