The Threshold Theory of Good Health

    When it comes to health, our immune systems can be compared to a rain barrel.  All the stressors in our lives such as inadequate sleep, poor dietary choices, nutrient deficiencies, toxins absorbed into the body, financial worries, family or relationship challenges, airborne allergies, food allergies, and so on are like rain drops filling up our rain barrel.  When stress or water levels get too high in your rain barrel, water spills over the rim and this is when you can display allergic symptoms or develop health problems.

    If you are working to regain or maintain health, this is a very useful analogy to keep in mind.  By lowering the water level in your barrel and increasing the size of your barrel the water is less likely to spill.  In other words, by decreasing as many stressors in your life as possible and balancing your immune system, you can control your health to a huge degree.

    Let me give you a couple of examples of this analogy from a clinical setting.  One spring a gentleman came to the office complaining of severe hay fever.  He had to take antihistamines on a regular basis to manage his symptoms or he could not function.  It was his frustration and concern over his total reliance on antihistamines that led him to try naturopathic medicine.

    After taking a thorough case history, an assessment of his health and a test for his food sensitivities was done.  We lowered the stressors or water level in his body by having him avoid his allergic foods and increased the size of his barrel by taking care of the weak areas in his body and using nutrients to balance the immune system.  After following the protocol, his need for antihistamines was reduced to only being needed periodically instead of daily.  An added bonus was an increase in energy and decrease in sick time.

    The second case is a woman with severe respiratory challenges.  She had asthma that was controlled with a corticosteroid inhaler and a Ventolin inhaler.  IN the past she would get sick every winter and infections would develop in her lungs.  In fact, one lobe of the lung was so infected that she had to take antibiotics every weekend to keep the infection under control.  This patient came to see me and asked for help because if she had another bad infection her doctor told her a portion of her lung would have to be removed.

    Again back to the rain barrel analogy.  We lowered the water level by getting her off her sensitive foods (in this case dairy was the big one).  By taking care of some nutrient deficiencies and then strengthening and balancing her immune system, we increased the size of her barrel.  This program improved her condition dramatically.

    In January of the following year we had a visit.  This woman reported that she was feeling better than she had felt in years.  Even with looking after young children and her husband bringing home a bad cold, she had not gotten sick.  Furthermore, she was able to decrease her use of the inhalers to only using the Ventolin on a very infrequent basis.  She was also able to go swimming with no problem and her energy level was much higher.

    If you are currently on the path to getting well, look at your rain barrel.  How can you lower the water level and increase the size of your rain barrel?  Maybe it means getting more sleep, exercise, or improving your diet.  Perhaps it means decreasing the stress of airborne allergies by putting in hardwood floors and using an air purifier.  Finally, work with a naturopathic physician to determine your allergies, take of nutrient deficiencies and strengthen the body and immune system.

Some Examples of Stress

"Each Stressor is adding rain drops to your rain barrel.  When the barrel is full it overflows causing allergic symptoms or other chronic conditions.  Lower the level of water in your rain barrel by removing stressors and increase the size of your rain barrel by building the immune system and you can look forward to better health." Kitchen Chick