Pollen Isn’t The Only Bad Actor
Allergies are a hot topic here at Ruth’s, one that gets customers complaining of runny noses, itchy eyes and sometime resultant sinus infections. Thank goodness there are ways to get relief.
Classic remedies are quercetin (inhibits histamine release), nettles (high in quercetin), and neti pots (saline nasal wash). All of these can calm an irritated respiratory system.
But there’s another way to think about seasonal allergies. Dr. Leo Galland, one of the pioneers of integrated medicine, makes a case that it can be more than pollen that gets you sneezing. In his new book, “The Allergy Solution,” Galland explains deficiencies in key nutrients are directly linked to the development of allergies: vitamin D, zinc, selenium, magnesium, vitamin E, vitamin C and essential fats (omega-3 oils).
In fact, just about anything that increases inflammation makes your allergies worse. That means hidden food sensitivities (which may not exhibit any gastrointestinal symptom) could be creating a lot of your post nasal drip and congestion. While Galland recommends his own version of an elimination diet to find food triggers, it might at least be worth doing a trial without the common reactive foods to see if allergies improve. That means eliminating sugar and sweets, gluten (wheat, barley, rye), corn, egg, and dairy for at least 4 weeks. Slowly re-introduce them to your diet one at a time to see if your symptoms return. If they do; avoid that food as much as possible.
Galland notes that having allergies often indicates our T-regulatory cells, which normally help damp down allergic reactions, aren’t functioning well. Studies show that T-regs can be supported by taking any of a number of supplements: probiotics, DHA, EGCG from green tea, curcumin, black cumin seed oil, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), and cinnamon. Learn more.
Besides eating a whole foods diet, Galland also recommends green tea, organic strawberries, parsley and avoiding sugar like the plague!
If you’d like to learn more, we have “The Allergy Solution” on our shelves.