Natural Help to Survive Seasonal Allergies
Seasonal allergies are versatile. They can show up just about anywhere in your body and create an incredible variety of symptoms. They can affect your nose, eyes, throat, lungs, stomach, skin and nervous system. They can give you a stomachache, a rash and even bring on fatigue and headache.
In spring nearly 8% of Americans experience seasonal allergies.
Allergy symptoms occur when your body’s immune system overreacts to a substance in your environment. But it is not the substance that causes the allergic reactions; it is the body’s reaction to that substance that prompts the reactions. The immune system overreacts and releases a chemical that the body uses to fight microbial invaders. But in allergies, the invaders are not viruses or bacteria. They are harmless substances: pollen, dust, mold spores and other substances including food.
When the immune system uses its weapons to fight off infection, the results are usually good. But if the immune system gets confused and mistakes pollen for bacteria, it can unleash those same weapons unnecessarily, wreaking havoc in the body.
People with allergies have immune systems that can react to just about anything that comes along. A tiny particle of the right substance puts your panicky immune system on the defensive. Your body strikes back by releasing a rush of a chemical that causes the familiar swelling and running in your nose, eyes and sinuses.
These overly sensitive immune cells (called mast cells) release a substance called histamine. Histamine causes small blood vessels to widen allowing fluid to pass from the bloodstream into the surrounding tissues, causing nasal conditions, runny eyes and nose and sometimes hives.
Histamine can make the smooth muscles in the walls of the lungs, blood vessels, stomach, intestines and bladder contract. This contraction can bring on a wide range of symptoms. Histamine in the lungs causes wheezing. Histamine also indirectly stimulates the production of thick, sticky mucus.
How does Histamine create these problems?
Histamine is actually a helpful messenger molecule. Your cells use histamine to communicate, so you need some of it in your system.
Histamine is released by mast cells, which are essential white blood cells that support your immune system. During stress and allergies, these cells release histamine, which can cause reactions like itching, redness, swelling, and extra mucus. Most of your body’s tissues contain mast cells, especially in areas closest to the outside environment, like your skin, lungs, and digestive tract. That’s why itching, redness, swelling, and increased mucus production are common allergic reactions.
Additionally your body also releases histamine when you’re stressed.
During stressful times, your adrenal glands pump out cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones stimulate your nervous system, which then activates mast cells to release even more histamine. Both stress and allergens trigger your mast cells to release histamine.
Histamine can:
- Histamine dilates blood vessels, leading to flushing, rashes, or hives.
- Histamine boosts mucus production, affecting your sinuses, lungs, and throat.
- Histamine constricts the bronchi in your lungs, causing wheezing, coughing, or even asthma.
- Too much histamine can mess up your digestive system, causing cramping and diarrhea.
What to do for seasonal allergies
When your histamine system is working the way it should be and your mast cells release histamine your body produces an enzyme called Diamine Oxidase (DAO). This enzyme detoxifies excess histamine, preventing uncomfortable symptoms.
However, if inflammation is high, your gut health is poor, your mitochondria aren’t functioning well, cortisol levels are out of control, or you’re surrounded by allergen. Your body struggles to produce enough DAO.Without enough of this enzyme, histamine builds up in your system.
And when histamine accumulates, you face chronic issues like asthma, hives, rashes, coughing, sinus congestion, and digestive problems.
One often overlooked cause of histamine release is dehydration.
Research indicates that histamine release is enhanced under extreme conditions like dehydration, hypoglycemia, or stress.”
Many don’t realize that when people are dehydrated, their bodies produce more histamine, which leads to more allergy symptoms. Most people believe dehydration only results from not drinking enough water.
While that’s certainly a factor, dehydration can also occur if one lacks essential electrolytes like salt, potassium, and magnesium.
It turns out you can’t even make DAO without magnesium.
The same research found that dehydration can cause you to make more histamine. it has also been shown that if you are hypoglycemic (low blood sugar), it can trigger an overproduction of histamine. This explains why people on low-carb diets often see a noticeable improvement in their allergy symptoms.By keeping blood sugar stable, they naturally help reduce histamine levels and keep allergy issues in check.
Most conventional treatments are aimed at cooling off this inflammation. Standard treatment for allergies involves taking certain medications. While these drugs can be effective, they all have side effects, such as drowsiness, raised blood pressure, interference with sleep, and some may even suppress your immune system predisposing you to infections.
When your histamine system is working the way it should be and your mast cells release histamine your body produces an enzyme called Diamine Oxidase (DAO). This enzyme detoxifies excess histamine, preventing uncomfortable symptoms.
However, if inflammation is high, your gut health is poor, your mitochondria aren’t functioning well, cortisol levels are out of control, or you’re surrounded by allergen. Your body struggles to produce enough DAO. Without enough of this enzyme, histamine builds up in your system.
And when histamine accumulates, you face chronic issues like asthma, hives, rashes, coughing, sinus congestion, and digestive problems.
Natural help for allergies
Fortunately, there is natural help for allergies including eating certain foods, vitamins, herbs and immune-balancing foods. You can also reduce the number of allergens in your environment.
Reduce the allergen triggers in your environment.
The Mayo Clinic offers the following suggestions for reducing exposure to allergy triggers:
a. Stay indoors on dry, windy days. The best time to go outside is after a good rain, which helps clear pollen from the air.
b. Delegate lawn mowing, weed pulling and other gardening chores that stir up allergens.
c. Remove clothes you’ve worn outside, and shower to rinse pollen from your skin and hair.
d. Don’t hang laundry outside — pollen can stick to sheets and towels.
e. Wear a pollen mask if you do outside chores or work outside.
f. Check your local TV or radio station, your local newspaper, or the Internet for pollen forecasts and current pollen levels.
g. Close doors and windows at night or any other time when pollen counts are high.
h. Avoid outdoor activity in the early morning when pollen counts are highest.
i. Keep indoor air clean using a portable high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter in your bedroom.
j. Clean floors often with a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter.
k. Keep indoor air dry with a dehumidifier.
l. Use the air conditioning in your house and car.
Eat more colorful fruits and vegetables.
Keep your immune system healthy by eating lots of colorful fruits and vegetables. Blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and bell peppers are good choices. These foods are rich in flavonoids, which act like antihistamines. They also contain carotenes, which have anti-inflammatory activity. Eating garlic and onions can help retard the inflammatory reactions of allergies.
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