Naturopathic Approach to Allergies

Holy moly, do I love Spring — not necessarily because of anything special about the season itself, but mostly because it means winter is over. If you live somewhere that has a colder climate like I do, you get it. Don’t get me wrong, the fall will always be my favorite season and I love a good snowfall, but once March rolls around, I’m so over it. The days start getting longer, the weather gets warmer, the trees get greener … but it all comes with one big downfall — allergies

Because seasonal allergies are so common (millions of Americans experience them each year), they often get dismissed and don’t get the attention they deserve. But is there anything more uncomfortable than not being able to breathe out of your nose and feeling like you’d rather scratch your eyeballs out than deal with one more minute of itchy eyes?

If you suffer with allergies, you don’t just have my sympathy— you also have my support. Keep reading for some of my favorite ways to relieve allergies naturally.

Allergies Explained

Let’s talk about your immune system. Your immune system is essentially your body’s own personal secret service. It patrols your body, seeks out foreign invaders (like viruses and bacteria), and surmounts an attack against them so that you can remain in a state of health. But your immune system doesn’t only respond to things like the common cold — it also reacts to allergens.

Allergens are anything in your environment — whether that be pollen, grass, pet dander, mold or dust mites — that evoke an immune response. You breathe in these seemingly harmless particles and your immune system recognizes them as foreign and responds, resulting in a slew of symptoms, including: sneezing, runny nose, shortness of breath, itchy watery eyes, headaches, wheezing and fatigue.

You may be wondering why some people experience allergies and others don’t. The answer comes down to the state of the individual’s immune system. People with allergies tend to have immune systems that are dys-regulated and over-active. They also tend to have more inflammation in their bodies and they may be inefficient at processing histamine.

Histamine! Histamine is something that we need to cover so that everything else we talk about makes sense. When your immune cells are exposed to allergens, a chemical called histamine is released from mast cells. Histamine then triggers an inflammatory cascade that results in allergy symptoms. This is why targeting histamine is one of the key interventions in reducing allergies.

Conventional Treatments

The most common conventional treatments for seasonal allergies include over-the-counter anti-histamines like Cetirizine (Zyrtec) and loratadine (Claritin). While there is nothing inherently wrong with these medications, they can cause side effects, including significant drowsiness. But a lot of people are opting for a more natural approach instead of relying on pharmaceuticals and if that’s you, I’ve got your back.

Naturopathic Approach

Lifestyle Recommendations

Let’s start with the most fundamental approach to reducing allergies and that is reducing your exposure to allergens. You may be thinking this means you need to become a homebody and avoid the outdoors, but I definitely don’t recommend that. In fact, even in the most polluted of cities, indoor air is consistently found to be of poorer quality than outdoor air — so even if you suffer from allergies, I still recommend getting outside.

• Adopt a No Shoe Policy:

  Leave your shoes at the door. This is something that I am an absolute stickler about in my home and nobody is exempt from the rule (although when my dad visits he always tries to sneak past me). The reason I’m so strict is that your shoes literally carry the outdoors inside and if you think allergens like pollen and mold are the worst of it, you’re mistaken. Your shoes also bring in things like animal feces, pesticides, bacteria, viruses, motor oil and heavy metals.

• Let your house breathe:

  This one might seem counterintuitive, since you want to reduce the amount of allergens that make their way into your home, but nevertheless it’s important to air out your home. Open up your windows even just once a week to get the fresh air flowing and improve the air quality in your home.

• Use an Air Filter:

  One of the MOST important things you can do is invest in a high-quality air filter with a HEPA filter. HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air and it effectively traps allergens like pollen, pet dander, dust mites and tobacco smoke and removes them from your air.

• Step Up Your House Hygiene:

  Using a HEPA filter may be one of the best ways to remove allergens from your home, but general home tidying is important, too. This includes things like regular dusting and vacuuming, changing bedding frequently, using allergen friendly covers over your mattress and pillows and if possible, replacing carpets with wood. People will even go as far as to say that you need to keep your pet outdoors to reduce dander, but I’m just not one of those people — it may be a good idea to keep them out of the bedroom though.

• Use Nasal Irrigation:

  This is one of my favorite therapeutic tools for allergy sufferers and it’s definitely an underrated one. Nasal irrigation (AKA a Neti Pot) is one of the most effective ways to clear out your sinuses and combat congestion. It works by physically flushing out your nasal passages with water, removing any allergens or irritants that may be residing there. It’s been shown to improve sinusitis, the common cold and seasonal allergies. Just make sure that you’re using distilled water since tap water can be irritating.

Dietary Recommendations

• Eat Local Raw Honey:

  If your goal is for your honey to improve allergies and not just provide sweetness, then the honey that you use MUST be local. This is because eating local honey exposes you to small amounts of pollen from the plants specific to your region. This exposure helps to boost your tolerance to pollen, significantly reducing allergic symptoms. All it takes is about one tablespoon per day.

• Eat Quercetin Rich Foods:

  Quercetin is a polyphenol with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s found in plant foods and is one of the compounds that gives fruits and vegetables their color. Quercetin is highest in foods like apples, onions, grapes, broccoli, tea and coffee.

  Quercetin naturally controls allergy symptoms by stabilizing the release of histamines and reducing inflammation. In fact, it’s so promising for the treatment of allergies that one study actually showed that it has an ability to suppress peanut-related anaphylactic reactions. I should note that this study was done in mice and not people, but hey — it’s still pretty cool.

• Eat Vitamin-C Rich Foods:

  Vitamin C is known to regulate the immune system, decrease histamine production and combat inflammation. It has been shown to reduce the upper respiratory symptoms most associated with seasonal allergies like runny nose, sneezing, congestion and itchy watery eyes.

  Vitamin C rich foods include citrus, bell peppers, broccoli, strawberries and Brussels sprouts.

Supplement Recommendations

• Stinging Nettle

  Nettles is an herb commonly used to combat allergies. Not only is it a nutrient powerhouse, but it’s also a natural anti-histamine. Remember, allergy symptoms are caused by the release of histamine from mast cells and so nettles is an effective remedy for reducing those symptoms.

  My favorite way to use Nettles is to drink it daily as an overnight infusion.

  • Add 1 ounce dry herb (I purchase all my herbs here) to a sterilized quart sized glass mason jar.

  • Fill the jar to the brim with boiled, filtered water.

  • Cover with a lid and gently twirl the jar to mix.

  • Let sit overnight.

  • In the morning, strain and enjoy.

• Quercetin

  Although you can increase your consumption of quercetin by eating quercetin rich foods, I find that supplementing is more effective and taking 200-500 mg per day has been shown to relieve allergy symptoms such as itchy eyes, sneezing and runny nose.

• Bromelain

  Bromelain is an enzyme found in pineapple. It’s a proteolytic enzyme to be precise, meaning that it helps to breakdown protein, but it’s benefits stem far beyond digestion. In fact, it has been shown to reduce immune cells like eosinophils, T-cells and cytokines, all of which trigger inflammation, mucus production and nasal swelling.

• N-Acetyl-Cysteine

  N-acetyl-cysteine, or NAC, is a form of the amino acid cysteine and it has an impressive collection of benefits — seriously, I don’t think there’s one thing that NAC doesn’t help with — but when it comes to allergies, it’s usefulness stems from the fact that it has mucolytic properties, which simply means that it helps to thin mucus. When mucus is thick, it can be really hard to clear, but NAC helps to loosen it.

  Best of luck with getting your allergies in check so that you can enjoy the seasonal changes and sunshine (woohoo!). If you’d like to purchase high quality supplements, you can find them in my dispensary here and if you need more support in your healing journey, I would be honored to work with you, just schedule an appointment here.