Allergies.
They suck you dry. Literally. All that mucus. Sneezing, runny nose. Itchy, watery eyes, ears, mouth.
I had the worst allergies growing up. And if I remember correctly, Claritin, was my fix. But depending on how bad it was, it didn’t always work. I can remember being pushed into a field of tall grass when we were at a festival and my face got so swollen I could barely open by eyes. I have many memories that are peppered with blowing my nose, scratching the roof of my mouth.
And then, I went to naturopathic school. And I started learning about food. I can’t remember when exactly, but at some point I figured out that if I just avoided certain foods, my allergies would disappear.
The most common triggers for people are the things most of us like the most. And it’s because they cause inflammation.
What is inflammation?
We all know what it’s like when you twist your ankle and it gets swollen. That is inflammation. In this case, caused by an injury. The immune system has been alerted to damage in the ankle. And the immune system sends its army (the white blood cells) to go and clean up the damage. It increased blood flow to the area so that the army can have space to attack the damage and repair it. And some would say that it is a bit excessive, the swelling, but in fact, the pain and difficulty walking that the swelling causes would also serve to slow the person slow down so that the time for healing can occur. This is when inflammation is good.
When inflammation becomes a problem.
If you imagine your body as an empty cup and anything that causes inflammation is water. So anytime water is added to the cup the level becomes higher and higher. Eventually, when there is too much water, you get overflow. And overflow is your symptoms. And in this case, we’re talking allergy symptoms. This is a very simplified explanation, but hopefully you get the picture.
The nearly invisible speck…
Pollen, which for some people is a non-issue, can be extremely inflammatory for others. When inflammation ensues from high pollen levels in the air, the symptoms can be many:
- itchy, watery eyes
- itchy nose or throat
- sneezing
- nasal congestion
- sinus congestion
- headaches
- cough
- post-nasal drip
- runny nose
- FATIGUE
- foggy brain, lack of clarity
And if you have allergies, you know that pollen is just one of the many things that can cause these symptoms. I have probably explained my “overflowing cup” analogy a thousand times. The second part of that story that I have not explained yet, is how to fix that overflowing cup. You see, I don’t “treat allergies”. I help people identify the root cause of the inflammation and the symptoms go away on their own.
While environmental allergens may be difficult to control causing your cup to overflow, food is easy to change.
The most common food causes of inflammation:
- wheat/gluten
- dairy
- alcohol
- sugar
Try removing these 4 things from your diet for a week and see if you notice a change in your allergy symptoms. For me, this was a game changer. And has been for many of my patients too.
If you need more specific help for your allergies, or want to understand your unique inflammatory triggers and have a dramatic impact on your overall health APPLY for a wellness assessment with me here. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if you don’t feel great, its not because you are getting older or because you have bad genes. There is something out of balance. Everyone deserves to feel great. You just need to know what to do about it.