Lets face it, a lot of people have seasonal allergies. Especially when you live in the Lehigh Valley. Pennsylvania even ranked in the top 10 locations with the most significant allergies! We have to ask ourselves this question though. With allergies being so prominent in our area, why do some people suffer from them and others don’t? The answer comes down to how our immune system reacts to a specific stimulant. Allergies are actually your body’s response to what is seen as an invader or a foreign substance, therefore reacts in various ways to remove it or prevent more from entering. That is why we get congested, sneeze, cough, have runny eyes and a runny nose and can even get a sinus infection. What if there is a way we can naturally reduce our allergies and sensitivity.
Follow some of the simple tips below to help beat allergies this season.
-Cut out drinks with sugar and add more water!
When we drink other drinks (although they taste good) we usually get a large amount of sugar or even worse, artificial sweeteners in our body. The sugar and other chemicals cause some inflammation. While inflammation is good for a short period. Too much will weigh down our body’s immune system. So removing drinks with added sugars will help reduce this inflammation and make our immune system more fit. An added benefit of water is that being well hydrated will help thin the mucus lining of our body so less pollen is trapped.
-Cut out proinflammatory foods!
Eating a bunch of fruits and veggies will help our immune system through the use of antioxidants. It’s also important to raise our intake of Omega 3 and reduce the intake of Omega 6. Omega 3 helps our body reduce inflammation naturally while omega 6 will actually drive our pathway towards inflammation. A simple way to reduce Omega 6 is to cut out any and all vegetables, canola, sunflower, oils and stick to healthy oils like cold-pressed coconut oil and cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil!
-Chamomile tea!
Chamomile tea can actually increase allergies “symptoms” for someone who suffers from ragweed allergies. Although it’s calming and a great way to wind down for the night, skipping this tea during allergy season can help you avoid your allergies.
-Getting adjusted by your chiropractor!
There is a saying that other professions are concerned with changing the environment to suit the weakened body where chiropractic is concerned with strengthening the body to suit the environment. Getting adjusted does just that. Due to the close relationship between the nervous system and immune system being adjusted regularly before and during allergy season will help coordinate the body’s reaction to seasonal allergies while boosting the immune system!
Having curves!
The neck from the side should have an arched curve in it! But, through posture and everyday life, we can lose this curve. When this curve is lost the spinal cord and exiting nerve will have tension placed on it. These nerves control the entire body and in doing so help coordinate the immune system. When the curve is restored through specific chiropractic techniques the body is better able to maintain balance.
-Eating local raw honey
This is well known that having local honey in your diet towards the end of winter through spring can help your allergies. The bees make honey from pollen in their environment. The same pollen that is causing your allergies. By adding this in, we can essentially dose our body with exposure to the allergy-causing pollen helping our immune system get a leg up on allergy season!
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