How to Address Allergies and Asthma Symptoms as “Worst Allergy
Season Ever” Begins
April 18, 2013
Story at-a-glance
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Spring allergies affect an estimated 25 million Americans.
Airborne pollen is the most common cause of seasonal
allergies, also known as hay fever or allergic rhinitis
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An estimated 80 percent of your immune system is located in
your gut, so supporting your digestive health is essential
to also supporting your immune system, which is your primary
defense system against ALL disease, including allergies and
asthma
-
Processed food, GE ingredients and synthetic additives all
decimate the beneficial bacteria in your gut, thereby having
a negative effect on your immune system. Ideally, you’ll
want to avoid processed foods, focusing on organic,
locally-grown foods instead, and include fermented foods in
your diet to optimize your gut flora
-
For short-term relief of allergy symptoms, acupuncture has
been found to be effective. Irrigating your sinuses with a
neti pot is also recommended
-
A number of foods and herbs can help alleviate allergy
symptoms, including hot pepper, quercetin, butterbur,
goldenseal and eucalyptus oil
-
For more long-term relief, consider provocation
neutralization treatment, or sublingual allergy drops, which
work just as well as inhalers. Sublingual immunotherapy has
not been approved by the FDA but is widely used in Europe,
and some American doctors prescribe it off label
By Dr. Mercola
Spring allergies affect an estimated 25 million Americans,
and according to the American Board of Allergy and Immunology,
we’re looking at one of the worst allergy seasons in a long
time, thanks to a number of climactic factors.1
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation's annual list of the worst
cities for those with spring allergies (based on tree pollen
counts) include the following five:2
- Jackson, Mississippi
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- McAllen, Texas
- Louisville, Kentucky
Airborne pollen is the most common cause of seasonal
allergies, also known as hay fever or allergic rhinitis. Early
arrival after a mild winter has spawned high levels of pollen,
and means allergy season will linger weeks longer. Both 2011 and
2012 reported record-breaking pollen numbers, and this season
will likely break those records.
Needless to say, sales of allergy medications of all kinds
are booming. This includes antihistamines, decongestants, nasal
sprays and allergy shots—many of which can cause significant
side effects.
According to the featured article in Forbes, the US
market for allergy drugs is projected to hit or exceed $14.7
billion by 2015:
“The companies named to benefit most include
Schering-Plough, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
(Vicks), Meda Pharmaceuticals, Collegium Pharmaceutical,
McNeil Consumer Healthcare, and others, including companies
that make alternative remedies as well.”
One of the better alternatives is sublingual allergy drops,
which have been shown to work just as well as inhalers.
Sublingual immunotherapy has not been approved by the US Food
and Drug Administration (FDA), but is widely used in Europe, and
some American doctors prescribe it off label.
There are also a number of other alternatives, including
provocation neutralization treatment. The success rate for
this approach to treating allergies is about 80 to 90 percent,
and you can receive the treatment at home.
How and Why Do Allergies Develop?
Allergies are your body's reaction to allergens (particles
your body considers foreign), a sign that your immune system is
working overtime. The first time your body encounters an
allergen, your plasma cells release IgE (immunoglobulin E), an
antibody specific to that allergen. IgE attaches to the surface
of your mast cells.
Mast cells are found in great numbers in your surface tissues
(i.e., those with close proximity to the external environment,
such as in your skin and in the mucous membranes of your nose),
where they help mediate inflammatory responses. Mast cells
release a number of important chemical mediators, one of which
is histamine.
So, the second time your body encounters a particular
allergen, within a few minutes, your mast cells become activated
and release a powerful cocktail of histamine, leukotrienes, and
prostaglandins, which trigger the entire cascade of symptoms you
associate with allergies: sneezing, runny nose, sore throat,
hacking cough, itchy eyes, etc.
Histamine can cause your airways to constrict, like with
asthma, or cause blood vessels to become more permeable, leading
to fluid leakage or hives. Leukotrienes cause hypersecretion of
mucus, which you commonly experience as a runny nose or
increased phlegm.
Pollen is an extremely common mast cell activator, but other
agents can trigger these processes as well. Mold spores, dust,
airborne contaminants, dust mites, pet dander, cockroaches,
environmental chemicals, cleaning products, personal care
products and foods can all cause allergic reactions. Every
person is different in what he or she reacts to. And, just
because you haven't reacted to something in the past doesn't
mean you won't react to it in the future—you can become
sensitized at any point in time.
Allergies May Also Be Due to Leaky Gut Syndrome
Leaky gut is a condition that occurs due to the development
of gaps between the cells (enterocytes) that make up the
membrane lining your intestinal wall. These tiny gaps
allow substances such as undigested food, bacteria and metabolic
wastes that should be confined to your digestive tract to escape
into your bloodstream -- hence the term leaky gut syndrome. Once
the integrity of your intestinal lining is compromised, and
there is a flow of toxic substances "leaking out" into your
bloodstream, your body experiences significant increases in
inflammation.
Besides being associated with inflammatory bowel diseases
like Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, or celiac disease, leaky
gut can also be a contributing factor to allergies.
According to a growing number of experts, including
Dr. Loren Cordain, a professor at Colorado State University
and an expert on Paleolithic lifestyles, humans are NOT designed
to eat grains, and doing so may actually be damaging to your
gut. The problem isn't only that there are superior sources of
nutrients; grains actually contain anti-nutrients that
may damage your gut. Cracks in your intestinal wall can then
allow undigested proteins to enter your blood stream. These
large complex substances are antigenic and allergenic, meaning
they stimulate your immune system to produce antibodies against
them. This is what sets the stage for the occurrence of
allergies and other autoimmune disorders.
“Healing
and sealing” your gut has been shown to help alleviate
allergy symptoms.The key lies in altering your diet to eliminate
the offending foods, such as grains and processed foods, and
introduce healthier ones that will support a proper balance of
bacteria in your gut. To restore gut health, and prevent leaky
gut from occurring, eating traditionally
fermented foods is essential.
Alternative Allergy Treatments that Can Work
A recent ABC News report took 10 common “myths and old wives'
tales” to allergists to get feedback on what works and what
doesn’t. Included in their list were the following. For the
remaining, please see the original article.3
In the following sections, I’ll address a number of other
drug-free alternatives:
- Eating locally-produced honey:
According to ABC News, the feedback was mostly negative on
this strategy. But they do acknowledge the positive results
gleaned in a
2011 study, which found that patients diagnosed with
birch pollen allergy found significant relief when they
consumed birch pollen honey daily from November to March.
During birch pollen season, compared to the control group,
the patients using honey experienced a 60 percent reduction
in symptoms; twice as many asymptomatic days; 70 percent
fewer days with severe symptoms, and 50 percent decrease in
usage of antihistamines.
While I believe there's truth to the anecdotal claims
that local honey can help reduce symptoms of asthma, it's
important to be aware that honey itself can also trigger in
some cases severe allergic reactions,
including anaphylactic shock. So clearly you should not
attempt to use honey if you've ever experienced an adverse
reaction to honey in the past. Also be careful and use it
sparingly in the beginning until you've confirmed that you
can tolerate it. Another important point to remember is that
honey is high in
fructose, which, in excessive amounts, can exacerbate
pre-existing insulin resistance and wreak havoc on your
body.
- Flushing your nasal cavity with a neti pot:
This strategy is widely recommended, even by the American
Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Irrigating your
sinuses will help flush out pollen and other irritants,
helping you breathe a little easier
- Acupuncture: Perhaps surprisingly to a
lot of people, acupuncture has been shown to offer effective
relief from allergy symptoms. A study published earlier this
year found that those who went for weekly acupuncture
treatments had significantly fewer breathing problems
compared to those who did not receive acupuncture. However,
the effect only lasted as long as they maintained their
treatments. Still, this could be a viable option for
seasonal allergy sufferers willing to get needled once a
week while pollen counts are at their worst
- Eating “right”: Here, the allergists
claimed the findings were inconclusive, but I think there’s
a lot of wiggle-room when you ask conventionally trained
doctors and researchers to define what the “right” diet is.
Most are simply clueless about using nutrition for optimal
health. For example,
genetically engineered (GE) foods, which are pervasive
in the American diet, have been shown to cause food
allergies. Ditto for various food additives. Recent research
has also found that
junk food increases a child’s risk of asthma and
allergies, so certainly, avoiding such foods can, at the
very least, reduce your risk.
To me, addressing your diet if you have allergies is a
no-brainer.
An estimated 80 percent of your immune system is located
in your gut, so supporting your digestive health is
essential to also supporting your immune system, which is
your primary defense system against ALL disease. Processed
food, GE ingredients and synthetic additives all decimate
the beneficial bacteria in your gut, thereby having a
negative effect on your immune system. Ideally, you’ll want
to avoid processed foods, focusing on organic, locally-grown
foods instead (both to optimize your nutrition and avoid
pesticides), and include fermented foods in your diet to
optimize your gut flora, or use a high-quality probiotics
supplement.
Additionally, as it pertains to your diet: about
one-third of seasonal allergy sufferers have something
called "oral allergy syndrome,"4
in which your immune system is triggered by proteins in some
foods that are molecularly similar to pollen. Your immune
system looks at the protein molecule and says, "Close
enough!" and attacks it. If you are allergic to ragweed, for
example, you may have cross-sensitivity to melons, bananas,
tomatoes, zucchini, sunflower seeds, dandelions, chamomile,
and Echinacea. If you have a grass allergy, you may also
react to peaches, celery, tomatoes, melons and oranges. If
this applies to you, you’ll want to avoid such foods.
The MOST Important Allergy 'Treatment' You Need to Pay Attention
to
While I believe you certainly need to address your diet and
could try any of the alternative strategies listed above, if you
have asthma, optimizing your vitamin D levels is absolutely
crucial. In fact, research suggests that vitamin D deficiency
may be a primary underlying cause of
asthma. This means that many are needlessly suffering with a
potentially life threatening ailment, since vitamin D deficiency
is easily remedied.
Ideally, you'll want to get your vitamin D from safe sun
exposure. Beware that using sunscreen when outdoors effectively
shields your skin from making any vitamin D. Another alternative
is using
a safe tanning bed, or if neither of those options are
available, an oral vitamin D3 supplement. If you opt for a
vitamin D supplement you also need to boost your
vitamin K2. For more information on this, please see this
previous
article.
Whichever way you go, make sure to check your vitamin D
levels to make sure you’re within the therapeutic levels of
50-70 ng/ml. If you get your levels to about 60 ng/ml there's a
strong likelihood -- especially if you combine it with exercise
and balancing out your omega-3 and omega-6 fats as described
below -- that you will not experience asthma anymore.
Provocation Neutralization Allergy Treatment
Addressing allergies takes a multi-faceted approach that
involves
optimizing your diet, intestinal health, vitamin D levels,
and avoiding potential triggers. Typically, allergy sufferers
tend to arm themselves with a variety of antihistamine pills,
nose sprays and eye drops in anticipation of allergy season. But
these drug treatments come with their own set of side effects,
and relief is short lived. And it's been my experience that
conventional allergy testing, whether done through the blood or
skin, works for only 20 to 30 percent of patients. It is also
quite inconvenient, as you need to go to the doctor's office
every week for months or perhaps years, and it can take several
years to be effective.
Provocation neutralization (PN) allergy testing and treatment
offers many allergy sufferers permanent relief without adverse
side effects. The success rate for this approach is about 80 to
90 percent, and you can receive the treatment at home. I offered
this effective treatment for many years in my office.
The provocation refers to "provoking a change" and
neutralization refers to "neutralizing the reaction caused by
provocation." During provocation-neutralization, a small amount
of allergen is injected under your skin to produce a small bump
called a "wheal" on the top layers of your skin, and then it is
monitored for a reaction. If you have a positive reaction, such
as fatigue, headache, or a growth in the size of the wheal, then
the allergen is neutralized with diluted injections or with
drops that go in your mouth of the same allergen. If you are
interested in pursuing PN, the American Academy of Environmental
Medicine5
(AAEM) has a list of physicians and offices that are trained in
this highly effective and recommended technique.
Sublingual Immunotherapy for Asthma & Allergies
“Desensitizing a person to allergies usually involves
a series of injections of small amounts of allergens, but a
large review of studies has found that putting allergens
under the tongue in a water solution might work just as
well,” the New York Times6
recently reported.
A meta-analysis of 63 randomized controlled trials, involving
more than 5,130 patients between the ages of four and 74, found
strong evidence that sublingual immunotherapy improved asthma
symptoms caused by grass, tree pollen, dust mites, ragweed and
other substances. The treatment produced a greater than 40
percent improvement in symptoms compared to a placebo, and led
to a significant reduction in the use of asthma medicines.
Interestingly, Provocation Neutralization technique, described
above, has also utilized sublingual allergy treatments for many
decades.
The review, published in The Journal of the American
Medical Association,7
also found moderate evidence that the oral treatment reduced
runny nose and eye inflammation. Local reactions were common,
but no life-threatening side effects, such as anaphylaxis, were
reported. According to Dr. Daniel Moore,8
the allergy drops used for sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) are
administered daily, or several times per week, over a period of
years.
“The immune system of the gastrointestinal tract
tends to 'tolerate' foreign substances, meaning that it does
not respond in an over-active way to swallowed material,”
he explains. “...When SLIT is administered into the
gastrointestinal tract [via your mouth], the immune system
tolerates the allergen, instead of the over-reactivity of
the immune system, as with allergic disease. This results in
less allergy symptoms when the body is exposed to the
allergy source, such as airborne pollen or pet dander...
SLIT appears to be effective in the treatment of allergic
rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and, to a lesser degree,
allergic asthma.”
Additional Safe and Effective Strategies to Treat Allergies and
Asthma
As already mentioned, addressing your diet and optimizing
both your gut health and vitamin D levels should be at the top
of your list if you’re suffering from allergies and/or asthma.
Here are a few other basic strategies that can help treat the
root of the problem as well.
- Increase your intake of animal-based omega-3
fats – I can't emphasize enough the importance of
getting sufficient amounts of high-quality animal-based
omega-3 fats in your diet. The fats DHA and EPA found in
fish oil and krill oil are potent anti-inflammatories.
According to Mother Earth News,9
a German study published in the journal Allergy
found people who have diets rich in of omega-3 fatty acids
suffer from fewer allergy symptoms. A second study10
in Sweden found that children who regularly ate fish prior
to age one had much lower allergies by age four. My favorite
sources of omega-3 fatty acids are grass fed meat and eggs,
and krill oil. (Fish has become too contaminated to rely on
as a staple.)
- Reduce your intake of omega-6 fats – In
addition to adding omega-3 fats to your diet, you also want
to reduce the amount of omega-6 fats you consume
because the ratio between these two fats is very important.
If you eat processed foods daily, the balance between
omega-3 and omega-6 fats will become distorted, which can
cause the type of inflammation that leads to asthma.
- Fermented vegetables and/or probiotics:
In a 2008 study, researchers discovered that people who took
probiotics throughout allergy season had lower levels of an
antibody that triggered allergy symptoms. They also had
higher levels of a different antibody (IgG), thought to play
a protective role against allergic reactions.
Other researchers found evidence that giving probiotics
to newborns and mothers-to-be may help prevent childhood
allergies.
- Avoid pasteurized milk products, which
are notorious for increasing phlegm and making asthma worse.
- Get regular exercise – Exercise
(especially out in fresh air if you're an
asthmatic) is actually crucial, as it helps to moderate
insulin levels.
Below are several other foods and herbs you might want to
try:
- Hot peppers: Hot chili peppers,
horseradish, and hot mustards work as
natural decongestants. In fact, a nasal spray containing
capsaicin (derived from hot peppers) significantly reduced
nasal allergy symptoms in a 2009 study.
- Quercetin: Quercetin is an antioxidant
that belongs to a class of water-soluble plant substances
called flavonoids. Although research is sketchy, many
believe quercetin-rich foods (such as apples, berries, red
grapes, red onions, capers and black tea) prevent histamine
release—so they are “natural antihistamines.” Quercetin is
also available in supplement form—a typical dose for hay
fever is between 200 and 400 mg per day.
- Butterbur (Petasites hybridus):
Another natural antihistamine, this herb has been used since
ancient times to treat a variety of conditions. As far back
as the 17th century, butterbur was used to treat coughs,
asthma, and skin wounds. Researchers have since identified
the compounds in butterbur that help reduce symptoms in
asthma by inhibiting leukotrienes and histamines, which are
responsible for symptom aggravation in asthma.11
In a German study,12
40 percent of patients taking butterbur root extract were
able to reduce their intake of traditional asthma
medications. A British study found butterbur as effective as
the drug Zyrtec.
A word of caution is needed,
however. Butterbur is a member of the ragweed family, so if
you are allergic to ragweed, marigold, daisy, or
chrysanthemum, you should not use butterbur. Also, the RAW
herb should not be used because it contains substances
called pyrrolizidine alkaloids that can be toxic to the
liver and kidneys and may cause cancer. Commercial butterbur
products have had a lot of these alkaloids removed.
- Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis):
Goldenseal may be helpful for seasonal allergies. Laboratory
studies suggest that berberine, the active ingredient in
goldenseal, has antibacterial and immune-enhancing
properties.
- Eucalyptus oil: This pure essential oil
can be healing to mucus membranes. You can apply a drop on a
cotton ball and sniff it several times a day, add a few
drops to water (or to a nebulizer, if you own one) for a
steam treatment, or use a few drops in your bath water.
There is Hope if You Suffer From Allergies
If you’re one of the tens of millions of allergy sufferers in
the US, know there is plenty you can do besides lining the
pockets of the pharmaceutical industry. Eating a wholesome diet
based on unprocessed, ideally organic and/or locally grown
foods, including fermented foods, along with optimizing your
vitamin D levels and correcting your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio,
will form the foundation upon which your immune system can
function in an optimal manner.
For short-term relief of symptoms, you could give acupuncture
a try, and irrigate your sinuses with a neti pot. There are also
a number of foods and herbs you can try to alleviate symptoms,
which are listed above. For more long-term relief, you may want
to consider provocation neutralization treatment, or sublingual
allergy drops, which work just as well as inhalers.
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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