Sore, Puffy, itchy watery eyes, to continual sneezing and a runny or congested nose…are you nodding you head in agreement? Well read on and find out how you can be helped. Did you know hay fever did not actually exist before the industrial revolution? Since then we have done a great job of polluting our atmosphere and thus our bodies. Hay-fever is actually most common amongst city dwellers as opposed to people who live in the country.
Research now indicates that an accumulation of pollutants such as pesticides, paints, body care products, household cleaning agents are the chemicals that actually became the sensitisers! Which means they are really the initial trigger. The membranes within the nose and throat begin by becoming inflamed. Then the next thing that comes along, such as grass pollens, the body treats as a threatening foreign invader which increases any inflammation and induces allergic type symptoms. It is important to realise it is the chemicals and stress that sensitise the body in the first place. Hay fever can sometimes be confused with a condition called allergic rhinitis, which occurs all year round and is triggered by the above pollutants as well as dust. The other most common trigger is food. When the body produces a reaction the result is inflammation. The bodies’ way of controlling that is through producing histamine. When the body cannot break down the histamine the level remains high in the body producing VERY IRRITATING symptoms continuously. The good news is I work with many clients in helping them to breakdown the levels of histamine present in the body, in the majority of cases all symptoms vanish. Having a good strong immune system is very important. If it is weak it cannot breakdown the excess histamine. People who eat or drink excess sugary foods are usually those worse affected as the immune system is really affected by sugar, stimulants, alcohol and of course stress!
What many people fail to know is that for many hayfever sufferers, the problem is made worse by the foods they eat which are naturally high in histamine and therefore best avoided in allergy prone sufferers. These include any fermented foods such as wine, strawberries, kiwis, bananas, pears, plums, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, regular black tea, smoked meats and fish including ham, salami, herring, tuna, hard aged cheeses! By cutting these out of your diet for 4-6 weeks you will be amazed by the difference. Greatly reduce your exposure to any foods with additives and preservatives, and sulphite rich foods such as wind, champagne, frozen chips and lots others, produce sprayed with pesticides /herbicides. Eating organic is best. See you next week for part two…
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