Membership is FREE! Save 15% on every order with FREE shipping over $20.

How to Naturally Relieve Seasonal Allergies

 

It is officially Spring and along with warmer weather and longer days comes the beginning of allergy season for many. Seasonal allergies affect millions of people around the world and can leave you feeling congested, itchy, and uncomfortable; ultimately ruining the beautiful weather and natural scenery the new season has to offer.

What are Seasonal Allergies?

Seasonal allergies are an overreaction of your immune system to natural substances in the air such as plant pollen, mold spores, and animal dander and fur. Your immune system is constantly working to keep you healthy by identifying and removing potentially harmful foreign objects from the body such as bacteria and viruses. However, sometimes, due to the environment or genetics, your immune system mistakes harmless substances, such as pollen, as dangerous and triggers an inflammatory response. The chemical messages sent by your immune system during this immune response cause cold-like symptoms to occur such as a runny nose and sneezing. This is what we experience as seasonal allergies. Chronic, severe allergies can be a sign of liver and detoxification issues and uncontrolled systemic inflammation.

How can Seasonal Allergies be Prevented or Relieved?

The only way to prevent seasonal allergies is to completely avoid exposure to allergens, such as pollen. Since this is usually impossible, the next best option is to take steps to calm your immune system and redirect it towards actual threats. A diet full of whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, healthy fats, and protein, all help to keep your immune system in top condition and can help prevent out of control inflammation. Equally important is avoiding inflammation causing foods such as processed and fried foods, sugar, alcohol, and artificial ingredients. Additionally, to help with seasonal pollen allergies, eating raw, local honey and bee pollen has been shown to assist in training your immune system to recognize these substances as harmless and reduce the immune response [1].

What Supplements can Help with Seasonal Allergies?

Since seasonal allergies are an inflammatory overreaction of the immune system, any supplement that acts as an anti-inflammatory in the body will help reduce the severity of the allergy symptoms. Specific allergy research has shown that Vitamin C may help reduce the severity of allergy symptoms and lower blood histamine levels [2,3]. Additionally, a polyphenol called Quercetin has demonstrated powerful immune modulating activity, stabilization of mast cells and promotion of healthy metabolism of histamine [4,5]. Vitamin D, Probiotics, and NAC are three other supplements that are critical for proper immune function and may reduce the severity of allergy symptoms according to the latest research [6]. Many of these supplements can conveniently be found togther in Pure Encapsulation's Hist Reset and PureDefense w/ NAC. Finally, regular use of a Nasal Spray can help wash pollen and other allergens out of the nasal passages and sooth the delicate sinus tissues. All allergy related supplements can be found here.

If you suffer from Seasonal Allergies or have another health concern Schedule a FREE Wellness Consultation today!

_________________________________________________________________________

References:

  1. Asha’ari, Z. A., Ahmad, M. Z., Din, W. S. J. W., Hussin, C. M. C., & Leman, I. (2013). Ingestion of honey improves the symptoms of allergic rhinitis: evidence from a randomized placebo-controlled trial in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Annals of Saudi medicine, 33(5), 469-475.https://doi.org/10.5144/0256-4947.2013.469

  2. Johnston, C. S., Solomon, R. E., & Corte, C. (1996). Vitamin C depletion is associated with alterations in blood histamine and plasma free carnitine in adults. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 15(6), 586–591. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.1996.10718634

  3. Vollbracht, C., Raithel, M., Krick, B., Kraft, K., & Hagel, A. F. (2018). Intravenous vitamin C in the treatment of allergies: an interim subgroup analysis of a long-term observational study. The Journal of international medical research, 46(9), 3640–3655. https://doi.org/10.1177/0300060518777044

  4. Weng, Z., Zhang, B., Asadi, S., Sismanopoulos, N., Butcher, A., Fu, X., Katsarou-Katsari, A., Antoniou, C., & Theoharides, T. C. (2012). Quercetin is more effective than cromolyn in blocking human mast cell cytokine release and inhibits contact dermatitis and photosensitivity in humans. PloS one, 7(3), e33805. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0033805

  5. Jafarinia, M., Sadat Hosseini, M., Kasiri, N., Fazel, N., Fathi, F., Ganjalikhani Hakemi, M., & Eskandari, N. (2020). Quercetin with the potential effect on allergic diseases. Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 16, 36. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13223-020-00434-0

  6. Lopez-Santamarina, A., Gonzalez, E. G., Lamas, A., Mondragon, A. D. C., Regal, P., & Miranda, J. M. (2021). Probiotics as a Possible Strategy for the Prevention and Treatment of Allergies. A Narrative Review. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 10(4), 701. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10040701