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ALLERGY SEASON
It’s allergy season for many
people in Western New York so I thought I would write about some
of the causes of allergies, what allergies do to your body and a
few simple, effective strategies you can try to lessen the
severity of the allergy.
WHAT IS AN ALLERGY?
An allergy is the inappropriate
response by the body’s immune system to a substance that is
not normally harmful. The immune system is a highly complex
defense mechanism that helps us to combat infection and
invaders. These allergic substances - called allergens - that
“invade” the body can enter from air via the lungs or via
the digestive tract from our water and/or food supply. The
allergic reaction starts with the release of histamine that
activates the immune system response. The lungs and upper
respiratory passages are the most common source of acute illness
for airborne allergens. As a first line of contact and defense,
they must deal with a constant assault from pollutants, viruses,
bacteria and the extremes of weather.
Food allergens
and associated toxins can assault the tissues of the digestive
tract and allow greater amounts of allergens to penetrate the
body. Natural supplements can help with respiratory infection,
detoxification, inflammation and allergy response time,
intensity and duration. By increasing levels of antioxidants, B
vitamins, vitamin E, and vitamin C, the immune system can be
supported leading to less severe and a more controlled allergic
response with the possibility that future problems may be
prevented.
ALLEVIATING ALLERGIES
Where is a good place to start? Diet. A diet rich in
antioxidants and high in omega 3 essential fatty will help your
body fight the symptoms of allergies. Hence, if you have an
allergy, it is especially important that you eat five or more
portions of fruit and vegetables a day to keep up your
antioxidant level. To improve your fatty acid balance, cut down
on sunflower and other seed oils and replace them with olive oil
and olive oil products. This reduces your intake of omega 6
fatty acids, which are too high in most modern diets. Next,
increase your intake of omega 3 fatty acids by eating oily fish
and/or taking a fish oil supplement.
HELPFUL SUPPLEMENTATION
Antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E,
selenium, and OPC’s (Oligomeric Proanthocyanadins) have shown
promise in helping many people. OPC’s are particularly
important because they are approximately 30-50 times stronger as
an antioxidant as vitamin C. OPC’s also help alleviate free
radical damage to the cells and help strengthen the immune
system.
Fish oil. Some but not all studies with asthma sufferers have
shown benefit of fish oil supplementation. Although currently
there is no official recommendation on its use for the
condition, an influential Cochrane review concluded that there
is no risk of taking fish oil if a person with allergies or
asthma chooses to do so. Indeed, fish oil taken during pregnancy
may reduce allergy among infants. For example, Australian
research has found that babies of mothers who had taken fish oil
capsules during pregnancy had fewer allergies that those whose
mothers had taken a placebo.
Probiotics. Over the last two or three years, evidence has been
building on the benefits of regularly taking probiotics
(beneficial bacteria), either as yogurt or in capsules.
Probiotics promotes the growth of the healthy bacteria in the
digestive system. This bacteria aids in proper digestion and
also helps keep unhealthy bacteria in check.
CONCLUSION
Allergies are caused by excessive inflammation in response to a
trigger or an allergen. New studies have shown that, even if
exposure to the allergen cannot be eliminated entirely, reducing
the body’s inflammatory response through diet and
supplementation can help to minimize allergic symptoms. In this
respect, the twin nutritional approaches of enhancing intakes of
antioxidants and omega 3 essential fatty acids could be
particularly helpful.
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