For many individuals springtime is associated with sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, nasal congestion, sore throat, which are all symptoms of seasonal allergies. More than nine million Canadian adults, that is more than 1 in 6 Canadians, suffer from seasonal allergies typically associated with airborne pollen from trees, grass and weeds. Most people find relief from their symptoms with antihistamines, decongestants, nasal sprays or allergy shots. Unfortunately these solutions are short-term results that only address the symptoms and do not address the underlying cause of the symptoms.
Allergies are a sign that your immune system is overloaded and out of balance. This typically occurs because the lymphatic system is congested and cannot properly clean up and move inflammatory agents out of the body. About 80% of your immune system is housed in your digestive tract therefore you need to heal the digestive tract in order to take control of your allergies.
Here are 5 Tips to Take Control of Your Seasonal Allergies:
- Avoid major inflammatory foods including wheat, cow’s dairy and refined sugar. These foods cause inflammation of the cells that line the digestive tract, which congests the lymphatic system and depletes our immune systems. Avoiding these inflammatory foods will make it so that your body will not be spending all of its energy trying to breakdown the foods you are eating and instead can focus on cleaning up your tissues and removing toxic wastes.
- Take probiotics. Probiotics are the healthy bacteria that live in our digestive tract. My preference is using human microflora strains to build the solid foundation of microflora in the digestive tract, which assists in building a healthy immune system.
- Take Buffered Vitamin C with Bioflavonoids, excellent anti-oxidants, to decrease inflammation in the tissues, therefore helping our body to manage the overload on the immune system.
- Take Vitamin D. Vitamin D levels often get depleted over the winter months with the lack of natural sunlight, especially for those of us who live in the Northern hemisphere. Vitamin D is necessary for a properly functioning immune system, therefore low vitamin D levels will leave us more susceptible to a challenged immune system including seasonal allergies. I suggest taking Vitamin D3, derived from a natural source as it will be easier to absorb. Oral Vitamin D is fat-soluble and needs to be taken with fats in order to be absorbed, hence it is suggested to take vitamin D with meals.
- Use neti pot to physically clear inflamed tissues. Neti pots use saline in one nostril and out the other, to physically clean up the mucous membranes of the nasal cavity and sinuses that are inflamed and help to move that mucous out of the body.
As you heal the digestive tract, get the lymphatic system moving and build a strong immune system, seasonal allergies can become a thing of the past. In the meantime, these are effective, non-toxic ways to address your symptoms and take control of your health.
