www.Diabetes.org
Environmental allergies continue to climb as more and more patients are diagnosed each year. Regardless of age, race, or gender, allergies have flourished into an expected part of life. In fact with the rapid climb in diagnosis allergies could quickly become the norm and “symptom free” a thing of the past. But with these growing numbers more people are seeking an effective approach to treatment and prevention. For many that relief is being found with simple changes to their diet.
For some cultures managing allergies with diet is a natural part of life. For example study looked at the natural Mediterranean diet and the prevalence of allergies among islanders that lived by it. The diet consists of high antioxidants, which protect cells from oxidative damage that cause disease as well as boosts the immune system. The study’s focus was on the antioxidants and their role in allergic symptoms. Researchers found that islanders who stuck to the diet in fact had fewer allergies.
This isn’t the only study that looked at food and the body’s allergic reaction. Other studies have evaluated vitamins and minerals, dairy and even natural bacteria in the body and their role in the allergic response. Each study found similar results; participants who consumed the appropriate foods consistently reported fewer symptomatic episodes. Foods natural ability to treat allergies is a direct result of the body’s natural immune response.
How Foods Naturally Combat Allergies
An allergic reaction occurs when the body’s immune system overreacts and fails to eradicate an allergen for the bloodstream. Rather it over produces antibodies that cause cells within the immune system to burst and release histamines. In a perfect chain reaction the histamines spread through the bloodstream leading to inflammation and the classic symptoms of sneezing, itchy throat and watery eyes. Hence consuming foods that naturally support the immune system brings effective relief.
The key nutrients for beating your symptoms include:
- Magnesium – helps with lung function and protects against wheezing
- Vitamins C and E – immune boosters that protect against free radicals that can trigger the allergic response
- Resveratrol – antioxidant that reduces inflammation in the body
- Flavonoids – reduces inflammation that leads to sinus congestion and pain
- Omega 3 fatty acids – reduces formation of inflammatory chemicals
- Appropriate balance of good and bad bacteria – minimizes risk of a hypersensitive immune system
- Water – plenty of water helps the body thoroughly flush allergens and the resulting histamines from your system
Supplementing Your Diet with the Right Foods
Everybody knows what a food pyramid is and the importance of eating a balanced diet including proteins, dairy, fruits, vegetables and starches. For allergy sufferers our selection goes beyond the basic food groups to include the right foods within each category.
When selecting fruits be sure to include daily portions of grapes for resveratrol, apples, oranges and tomatoes for vitamin C, and bananas for flavonoids. Part of your dairy intake should include yogurt to help balance the good and bad bacteria in your system. The vegetable tray should include a variety of artichokes, spinach, and black eyed peas for magnesium. Proteins offer up a larger selection to consume those much needed fatty acids. You can choose from several popular fish entrees including salmon, mackerel, anchovies, herring and sardines.
Your daily intake ideally should include each of these select foods as you incorporate them into your serving portions. When you head out to the store with your shopping list in hand be sure to include these foods on your list to naturally enjoy allergy and sinus relief. Building your defense against allergies will continue in part 3 as we talk about environmental controls that really work.
Twitter: webduck
says:
When we were kids (I was born in 1950) I don’t remember that many other children with allergies. Oh yes, there were colds and such, but I wonder if you think all the modifications to our foods has caused us to be more inclined to have allergies?
webduck recently posted..100 Years Ago In West Plains Missouri
Without a doubt our modern foods has made a huge difference, not only with food allergies but also with increased cases of environmental and seasonal allergies. In all my research, and person trials, I have found that the easy diet we’ve come to enjoy is destroying our body’s natural immune response and leading to hypersensitivity in regards to allergic responses. Beyond allergies I believe if we could get back to they way we ate in the 50′s and even earlier than that we’ll see a huge decline in allergy complaints, digestive issues and even auto immune disorders.
Mikki Hogan recently posted..Natural Allergy Relief with Therapeutic Gemstones Video
I have my experience of skin allergies in my childhood,… I have tried many anti allergies creams medicine but still allergies keep coming back in my skin… and i try some herbal medicines and it gone… All I’ve learned from my allergies, some times we need to use and trust into herbal medicines….
Well said. Often times the medicines we buy over the counter or that are prescribed by our doctors only complicate our allergies, especially when dealing with skin allergies.
Mikki Hogan recently posted..Natural Allergy Relief with Therapeutic Gemstones Video
Thanks for the post. I completely agree with Mikki. Even if I have an intolerance, not an allergy, I have always to pay attention to the medicines the doctors prescribe.
Eleanor recently posted..Market bulletin south
What’s weird about me having an allergy is it seems so seasonal.
At time I get lots of tiny bumps and when I start to scratch them, they tend to become bigger, it is so itchy and even my head, breast and lips are affected. It happens when I eat chicken, i think frozen chicken, and shrimp all these fishy stuff…but then again, sometimes, i don’t get this symptom at all. I didn’t know other foods can combat allergies. I was always taking celesta mine when I could no longer tolerate the itch.
kloe recently posted..101 Things My Husband Hates About Me
It is possible to only react at certain times because of how our allergic response actually occurs. It actually takes a build up of the allergen before histamines are released into the bloodstream. If your diet is rich in some of these other foods that naturally cleanse and strengthen the immune system your tolerance to the allergy could be higher. My mom is like that with eggs. She can eat eggs without any reaction until about the fourth or fifth time she eats them. Then she has to skip a couple days to give her system time to calm down and she can eat eggs again. It’s miraculous how that can happen. The same applies for our inhalant allergies, though they may not always be as easy to “take a break” from.
Mikki Hogan recently posted..Don’t Treat Allergy Symptoms- Eliminate Them with Laser Therapy
Today, I have heard about an aunt of mine who is suffering from an allergy due to flying, that’s weird and I have never really heard of it until now. She says, and the Doctors said that the allergy was caused of flying for 20 years, and is now eating her body…Well, whatever kind of allergy that is, I guess It would be best to find out…as I can not understand how it eats the body gradually. my aunt looks so healthy, a little chubby, so how can that kind of allergy eats her up?; a question I still have to find out.