Allergies are bloomin’ and every sneeze is now not just annoying to the sneezer, but causes wide spread panic to anyone within earshot. Now we want to reduce our allergy symptoms not just for our own comfort, but everyone else’s too. We have enough to panic about these days.
We get allergies when the immmune system loses tolerance to innocuous substances. Why would that happen? Well, the Standard American Diet and Lifestyle get blamed for many things, and this is no exception. It’s nutrient devoid, inflammatory, toxic, and high in sugar. Add stress to the equation and we have the perfect immune storm. The battered immune system becomes like an in injured, cornered animal – weak, yet vicious, and attacking anything that comes near it. I get into detail about this in my recent post. I highly recommend reviewing that and starting to support your immune system better right away, so over time, you won’t need to sneeze for any reason.
But there are a few additional things you can do right away to alleviate allergy symptoms.
- Quercetin is a flavonol found in plant foods that helps to reduce histamine, the substance that causes that maddening red itchiness. You can boost your intake by eating more apples and onions. (You’re wearing a mask anyway right now, so why not?) You can also get quercetin in supplement form. In my experience it works extremely well. As always with supplements, quality matters! Pure Encapsulations is a great choice. You may be able to ditch the allergy pills that make you dehydrated and tired, and have this wonderful substance that offers many other benefits (antioxidant, heals the gut, supports the cardiovascular system, has anticancer effects, etc). This is what I love about natural plant medicines – their side effects are also beneficial!
- Stinging nettle leaf makes histamine receptors less sensitive, so is a great dynamic duo with quercetin. You can drink it as tea! I usually combine with with my matcha green tea. Why not double up?
- Getting probiotics daily is calming to the immune system and has been shown to improve allergic symptoms. You can get them from a probiotic supplement or from fermented foods like Real Pickles, Kombucha, Fire Tonic (also called Fire Cider), Gut Shots, etc. So many options – pick one you like!
- You will also benefit from eliminating dairy 100% as it causes excess mucous. Also, elminate gluten as much as possible because it contributes to systemic inflammation and immune hypervigilance. For more about this, see my post about gluten.
- Some people find that having local raw honey desensitizes them to local pollen. Stir some into your nettles tea!
I hope this helps you to stay allergy free. Let me know how you do!
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