Allergy
Allergies are among the most common chronic conditions worldwide. Allergy symptoms range from making you miserable to putting you at risk for lifethreatening reactions. It is estimated that 55 million Americans (that’s 1 in 4 people) suffer from allergies of some kind – seasonal, food, skin, and medication. The American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology states that as many as 30% of adults and 40% of children suffer from allergic rhinitis each year.
Allergy Symptoms
An allergic reaction typically triggers symptoms in the nose, lungs, throat, sinuses, ears, lining of the stomach or on the skin. For some people, allergies can also trigger symptoms of asthma. In the most serious cases, a life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis (an-a-fi-LAK-sis) can occur. A number of different allergens are responsible for allergic reactions. The most common include:
• Pollen
• Dust
• Food
• Insect stings
• Animal dander
• Mold
• Medications
• Latex
For those of you who are living on daily doses of over-the-counter allergy medication, we have got some great news: you CAN cure seasonal allergies naturally and ditch the side effects of those drugs.
Functional medicine approach:
Seasonal allergy symptoms, such as a runny nose, itchy eyes, and congestion, are caused by your immune system responding to something in the environment, such as pollen in the air. The reason your responses to these environmental allergens are heightened is often because your immune system is on high alert due to chronic inflammation. Your overactive, over stimulated immune system becomes hypersensitive to seasonal allergens, and the response manifests in symptoms such as congestion, coughing, itchy eyes, and sneezing.
And, as you probably know by now, your gut plays a huge role in your immune system health. In fact, nearly 80% of your immune system is located in your gut. It’s the place in your body that interacts with the outside world more than any other, taking in nutrients from food and keeping out bacteria, pathogens, and undigested food.
That’s why the key to reducing seasonal allergies is to calm the inflammation in your gut in order to restore your immune system’s balance.