Bless You!! How Are Those Allergies Going?
Spring Has Sprung
One of my all time favourite short poems - but if you have seasonal hay-fever, you possibly love the thought of never seeing another bit of pollen ever again!
But it doesn’t actually have to be this way as hay-fever is just you immune system over-reacting - having said that, pollen is one of the most reactive substances in this world. So if your immune system is a little arced up anyway, and you have certain genetics, chances are you are going to suffer.
And as regular readers of my blogs and listeners of my podcasts know, it’s all about the gut! 80% of our immune system lies behind the gut, in the form of the gut associated lymphatic tissue (or GALT for short).
If all is not well in this “GALT” world, depending on what genes that you were dealt with at birth, will result in how your immune system reacts. Some people may develop an overactive immune system such as an autoimmune disease , some may actually just always seem to be battling one illness after another and others may sneeze if someone just looks at them. Or you may have all 3, depending on the health of your gut, the reactivity of your mast cells and of course which genes that you have .
Good question!
Other than immediate relief - which I will discuss shortly, long term resolution will rely on sorting out that GALT.
Have you heard of mast cells? These guys are the bigwigs in the the immune world. Think of your GALT as one of the customs departments of your body - it is responsible for monitoring and assessing whether substances that enter our bodies are friend or foe. In that customs space , there are various “customs officers” just like at the airport. Some are the cleaners, and some are the bigwig “ Federal Police” complete with big guns and ammunition. Well those guys are the mast cells. They also reside pretty much everywhere our bodies have exposure to the outside world, so definitely our gut, but also our noses, our genitourinary tracts and our respiratory tracts which includes ear, nose, throat and lungs. Also, mast cells always seem to interact directly with bacteria. And with 1 000 000 000 000 000. of these little beasties in our gastrointestinal tract, no wonder we have so many down there!
We have little gate keepers in our gut, called toll-like receptors and they are essentially responsible for maintaining the integrity of the gut lining if you like - they make sure all our little cells are snapped tightly together, making sure only substances get through, that should get through!
In an ideal world, when the toll-like receptors in our gut work well and keep our tight gap junctions ( that’s the “gates”) tight, we tend to only allow fully digested particles (peptides and short chain fatty acids -SCFAs - to get through to “the other side” as in our side!) Remember, the gut is just a complicated hole in the doughnut - which is us! A bit like the holes in a sieve if you like. That GALT sits directly behind that line of cells that have those tight gap junctions. So the GALT is happy! a bit like a customs officer on a slow day - they don’t have too much work to do with the occasional surveillance ( in the form of dendritic cells)
BUT in a not-so-ideal world, those toll like receptors get confused, which results in “floppy” tight gap junctions (true terminology, I reckon scientists all have a great sense of humour!) and now all sort of extra challenges may get through to the GALT. In the form of incompletely digested food particles, poly-peptides (essentially larger molecules) and also larger microbial fragments. This is called increased intestinal permeability or as we naturopaths like to call it “leaky gut”. Now depending on your genetics, how long and to what extent your gut’s permeability is, will depend on how your GALT cells - including these mast cells, react. Mast cells, when they become activated - de-granulate ( they essentially explode), releasing over 100 different chemicals - they essentially turn themselves into suicide bombers to try and counteract that potential attack that has now slipped past the barrier. On of those many chemicals released is histamine - sound familiar? Yes the very same one that will cause itchy eyes, streaming noses and the sneezes!
But histamine is responsible for so many more symptoms than that and depending on how activated these mast cells are, will depend on how many symptoms that you may have. In its severest case, you can suffer from MCAS ( Mast Cell Activation Syndrome ) - but for the sake of this blog, we will stick to plain old not-so-simple hay fever .
So as you can see, sorting out your GALT, will help sort out you allergies.
But What About Immediate Relief?
Quercetin ~
The shining star to mediate histamine release is this flavonoid. It also protects the gut mucosa against damage and is an anti-inflammatory. What a hero!
Now whilst naturopaths can prescribe this for you in a therapeutic dose, you can get this flavonoid naturally from your food of course.
Foods high in quercetin include :
Garlic
Onions
Apples
Grapes
Berries
Broccoli
Citrus fruits
Cherries
Green tea
Coffee
Kale and all green leafy veggies
Cherry tomatoes.
N Acetyl Cysteine (Or NAC )
What isn’t NAC good for? It is an amino acid that is one of the 3 main backbones of one of our most important anti-oxidants, called glutathione and has promising use in the management of hormonal conditions such as PCOS and T2DM - we know that natural substances aren’t one-trick ponies after all!
But NAC also has the amazing ability to destroy biofilms and inhibit gram negative bacteria overgrowth ( these are the “bad boys” of our gut that have a tendency to overgrow) . Biofilms are the protective barrier that many microbial colonies surround themselves with to prevent the uptake of medications such as antibiotics. It’s like these micro-organisms build a wall fortress around their colonies - so clever and resourceful. There has even been evidence of these colonies actually pumping nutrients IN and pumping toxins and medication OUT.
If you have a pet, and have ever been a little tardy in cleaning out their water bowl - that slimy feeling? Thats the biofilm that the algae surrounds itself with - you may have also experienced those slimy rocks in a creek - same thing.
So often with allergies, there is a lovely fungal ball residing in your sinus as well - they love those warm moist, dark places. Add a nose full of pollen, dust, cold weather or even whatever food that your gut has reacted to and whammo - full-on hay fever reaction. A perfect storm.
Step in humble NAC - it is literally the trebuchet of the body - it smashes through those microbial biofilms ( without disturbing the ones that should be in the gut too much), allowing the other treatments to work well.
This is best given as a supplement and only taken for the amount of time that the symptoms bother you
Medicinal Mushrooms
Of course medicinal mushrooms such as reishi and shiitaki have a plethora of research surrounding them for the management of allergies - this is essentially because they modulate our immune system and hep with the inflammation. You can have them in your food, or take as a supplement. A good quality supplement daily may be the way to go if you are really suffering . These little fungi also have sarong anti-inflammatory properties. They are great as a supplement, tea or even as a delicious mushroom soup.
Turmeric
Another great herb that may help mediate that allergies response by decreasing inflammation - but be aware, not everyone responds favourably to turmeric. The best way to consume turmeric is with some fat and a hot spice such as chilli or pepper - yes curries do come to mind don’t they? Or you may just want to brew yourself a delicious turmeric latte. ( Commercial varieties don’t count unfortunately as they are usually laden with sugar and the wrong type of fat ). Comforting, warm and anti-inflammatory!
Probiotics
Yes - you guessed it! Certain antibiotic species and strains have been proven against allergies - and of course, this has all got to do with our humble hero the gut. If you protect those tight gap junctions, you decrease the reactivity of the GALT . To assist with this you can eat foods that feed these guys - yes that all important rainbow, but also fermented foods such as gherkins, sauerkraut, and kefir or kombucha ( the bought variety is usually just a very tasty expensive soft drink)
The problem with this is - if you have a very reactive gut, these foods could make things quite a bit worse and thus maybe seek the assistance of an expert if this happens to you.
But taking a good quality probiotic that is specifically geared towards allergies will help - this of course does NOT happen over night and may take even a complete season or two before you see any resolution. You need to be persistent here. And if you do know of any foods ( such as dairy, lectin coating foods such as corn and sugar) that may make your hay-fever worse - consider abstaining from them for a while.
Honey
A teaspoon of pure honey can bring you surprising fast relief as well. ( Remember not to give it to little ones under 12 months of age). Adding it your your turmeric latte just makes the world a little brighter!
Life Style Changes
Reduce the reactivity in your life:
Omit foods that you know may cause you problems - and its the usual offenders such as processed dairy, corn, processed foods, vegetable oils, sugar and processed grains.
Wash those pollens away - shower at night , wash your sheets in hot water and you may need to use a dryer in the high pollen times - do NOT use dryer sheets as they have many chemicals that may just make the problems worse.
Keep your surfaces wipes clean using pure water and maybe some vinegar or bicarb of soda - our mast cells aren’t for of too many chemicals - the same goes for your hair shampoo, laundry powder and other personal care items .
If you are having major problems and have tried everything, really consider the Metabolic Balance Nutritional Program - as much as many sort the program to help shed fat, because it is an eating plan based on your pathology and symptom picture, it can really pinpoint which foods are making you more reactive. It can be a life changing decision for the better
So good luck and here’s to many sneeze-less days.
~ Alexandra ~
