Applied Nutrition Canada

 

With the Fall rearing its colourful head around the corner and signifying the end of warm, sunshine-filled days and the beginning of new routines and the inevitable back-to-school schedule ... it is also the time when the effects of ragweed get people literally right between the eyes!!!  Itchy nose and eyes, clogged sinuses, scratchy throat and drippy nasal passages are but some of the most common symptoms that can hit most like a ton of bricks.

 

Approximately 75% of hay fever, or otherwise known as seasonal allergic rhinitis, in our part of the world comes from ragweed pollen.  Other significant culprits can be tree pollens and various types of grass pollens.  Hay fever that develops in the Spring usually results from tree pollens while Summer or Fall hay fever can usually give blame to grass and weed pollens.  Hay fever symptoms that hang around all year long are typically caused by perennial allergic rhinitis and may or may not be the result of pollens.

 

Although there are many forms of symptom-reducing products readily available for allergy sufferers that can offer temporary relief from seemingly never-ending discomfort, it is important to consider how the process of hay fever can be prevented and potentially eliminated instead of simply looking at marginally controlling it.

 

This seasonal allergic reaction of the nasal passages and airways to wind-borne pollens shares many common fetures with asthma and the first step in minimizing the effects of hay fever is to reduce a person's allergic threshold.  The allergic process can be prevented most effectively by decreasing exposure to any offending allergen, especially the primary source.  Admittedly that is not very easily accomplished with hay fever unless one lives in a bubble!  Nonetheless, taking measures to reduce exposure as much as possible to airborne allergens such as pollens, dander and dust mites is a great first step.

 

Where any kind of allergic response is occurring in the body, digestion is often implicated in some way, either as the root cause or by contributing to the overall process.

 

* Adverse reactions to foods can be immediate or delayed and are often associated with   

   common foods such as eggs, milk, cheese, wheat, sugar, chocolate, citrus as well as

   food dyes, colours and preservatives.

 

* Hypochlorhydria, a condition where gastric acid secretions are below normal levels, can

   be a predisposition to allergic food responses.  Over time, this can eventually lead to

   something called leaky gut syndrome, which results in increased gut permeability where

   the intestinal barrier becomes too permeable and allows very large molecules (which are

   not normally absorbed) into the bloodstream, thus, increasing the antigen load on the

   immune system.  When this happens, the immune system becomes overwhelmed and

   additional allergies such as hay fever can develop.

 

* An overgrowth of the common yeast in the gut called Candida albicans has also been

   implicated as a causative in allergic conditions.

 

There are many approaches that can be considered in effectively addressing hay fever and allergies in general.  Programs involving diet, nutritional supplementation, botanicals and homeopathic remedies as well as looking at environmental factors can all be applied specifically to each individual, allowing every person to be supported for their unique situation in reaching optimal health.