Allergy Season

Sniff, sniff.

Hack, hack.

Itchy, water eyes.

Scratchy throat.

We’ve been waiting a long time for spring to arrive and it is finally making an appearance here in the NE. But, unfortunately, so is the pollen and all the allergies that go with it. Sigh.

Often allergies are thought of as just something you have to muddle through and deal with. But, I like to think of allergies as a message your body is trying to get through to you.

Each of us has a threshold for stressors on the body. Whether the stressors are internal or external, it really doesn’t matter to your body. Stress is stress. With the addition of pollen in the air, for many it is just the thing that tips the balance out of your favor.

Nutritional therapy is all about removing stressors from the body so that the body can naturally find its equilibrium again. With allergy season here it may mean that certain foods really aren’t friends with you, or maybe it’s time to address the hypoglycemia, or your liver needs a little love so it can handle all that is coming at it.

Last spring I was waking up with a sore throat each morning, and with it a very scratchy voice. It was driving me batty. I couldn’t figure it out, I didn’t feel bad, but I sounded bad. Finally one of my pilates clients (poor them, they had to listen to me!) pointed out that it was post-nasal drip. (Duh!) I was struggling with allergies. But, I don’t have allergies….no, no, no! Dang!

I had to pause and take a moment to check in with what I was doing for me. I realized I had let a few of my core habits in supporting my digestion slip. I thought I was ‘fine’ but with the onset of the allergies, I realized I wasn’t. With compromised digestion, it doesn’t take much more to overload the liver. With the addition of environmental irritants, my body needed help.

I got back on track with my own digestive support and greatly diminished my allergies. Thank goodness! I kinda need my voice.

Here are My Top 4 Ways to Reduce Allergies:

• Remove Inflammatory Foods.

Allergies create inflammation in the body. We may not be able to control the amount of pollen in the air, but we can control the amount of inflammatory foods we put into our body. If we are trying to create less inflammation, it helps to remove the top inflammatory foods for a period and see if it reduces the total inflammatory load on your body. Take out gluten, dairy and sugar for at least 30 days and you might find your allergy symptoms reduce too.

• Support Digestion.

Stress of any kind naturally depletes our ability to break down our food. And who in this world doesn’t have a constant barrage of stress? People often say they take a probiotic and think they are supporting digestion. But truth be told, you have to start at the top. How are you chewing your food? Is your body able to break down what you are eating and absorb it appropriately? Do you feel full frequently? Do you feel like food moves slowly through your digestive system? Digestion requires a large amount of energy and attention by the body and if it isn’t going as smoothly as it should, it is going to add to the overall burden on your body. Taking time to address how you digest can go a long way in supporting how you handle those environmental allergies.

• Balance Blood Sugar.

Are you the kind of person that ALWAYS carries a protein bar, always packs snacks, you know, just in case? You can’t go more than 2-3 hours without getting hangry? This is a big indicator that your blood sugar levels are not ideal. And this in and of itself is a very big stressor on the body. When your body is constantly monitoring a roller coaster of blood sugar levels, it literally can’t address anything else. Blood sugar balance is a top priority in the body and when it’s off, everything else gets dropped off the to-do list. This allows those allergens to come in quickly and easily and create all sorts of havoc. 

• Drink Plenty of Water.

Staying hydrated not only allows you to flush those allergens out more efficiently, but it also ensures your blood is less concentrated with allergens, and it actually helps dilute the histamine reaction. I know, water can seem so painfully simple. But this is a habit that has far-reaching benefits. Remember, half your body weight in ounce each day is your goal.

If you find yourself struggling with allergies this spring, check in with yourself and see if you can spot the imbalance. You might be surprised to find that when you remove some other stressors on your body, those environmental stressors aren’t so bad.