Fall Allergies

My younger daughter has a doozy of a time with fall allergies. I guess it's the mold in the leaves. The only way that she can get through it that we have discovered so far is Benadryl at night and Claritin in the morning... I'll be glad when we have a real cold spell; then she'll be fine and we can lay off the medicine!!

I got a great email from TriVita specifically about fall allergies, so thought I'd share :)...

This can be a difficult time of year for many people. It is the time when autumn plants bloom outdoors and mold spores bloom indoors. Both of these trigger allergic responses in people prone to allergies.

What are allergies? Why do some people get them? And how can you find relief if you have allergies?

What are allergies?
Allergies occur when a plant or animal protein or a synthetic substance contacts your mucous membrane and your immune system reacts to reject the irritant. These irritants can include:

• Mold
• Pollen
• Dust
• Animal Dander

When your immune system senses one of these irritants it creates an antibody. The antibody protein is rushed to the site of the irritation and “pops” a mast cell. This releases histamines, which create inflammation in the area surrounding the site. This in turn attracts white blood cells and plasma fluid from the lymphatic system, causing heat and swelling. At the same time, blood vessels in the area dilate, causing redness. This irritation may also cause pain.

Although trigger proteins often come from pollen or mold spores, they can really come from anything. For instance, the most common food allergy in North America is milk. Here, the allergic reactions happen within the intestines, where the milk antibody protein (casein) pops the mast cells in the intestines similar to the way a needle pops a balloon.

Something interesting about the nature of mast cells is that they seem to be connected in groups. The H-1 (histamine-1) receptors line the sinuses, intestines, skin, joints and lungs. So, when ragweed pollen triggers mast cells in the nose or a milk protein triggers mast cells in the intestines, all the body’s H-1 mast cells react. That’s why milk allergy is related to asthma, ragweed-induced asthma is related to eczema, and mold-induced eczema is related to arthritis.

Why do I have allergies?
A more important question than “What are allergies” may be “Why do I have allergies when others do not?” A little story might help us understand where we are in the course of health in North America and around the world.

Many years ago, coal miners took a canary with them into the mines to check whether the air was safe for them to breathe. As long as the canary was alive, the miners knew that the air was safe. However, if the canary began having breathing problems, the miners knew that the air was toxic and that they had to immediately leave the mine. Today coal miners use sophisticated air-quality sensors to test for toxic air.

People with allergies are like canaries in the coal mine: They suffer sooner than others. But make no mistake – toxic air affects everyone sooner or later! Those watching world health trends are seeing incredible increases in rates of hay fever, asthma, arthritis and many other allergy-related disorders.

Therefore, we can easily say that there are only two kinds of people:

1. Those who have allergies today
2. Those who will develop allergies tomorrow

Health research from around the world confirms this startling trend.

What you can do
Allergy protection is possible when you approach the problem from two perspectives: isolation and insulation.

Isolation
This means keeping your environment as allergen-free as possible. You avoid foods that may be allergy triggers as well as keep your indoor air as clean as possible. It may also mean you stay indoors when allergen counts are high.

Insulation
This means keeping your mast cells as tough as possible so they don’t “pop” too easily. All mast cells are made of good fats, such as those in OmegaPrime. In fact, OmegaPrime has specific “anti-allergy” fat called perilla seed oil. Using these fats in a high concentration (two per meal) over time will toughen up mast cells and help prevent histamine release.

Vitamin B-12 also helps protect you from allergies by reducing the total amount of histamines your body makes. According to an ongoing study of B-12 and allergies, it takes about three milligrams of B-12 to break through the allergy process and reduce symptoms. Additionally, there appears to be a long-term effect. People in the B-12 study experienced more allergy relief in their second year than they did during the first.

A few other nutrients play important roles in allergy reduction:

• Maximum levels of Vitamin C (learn about the Vitamin C Flush) act directly to help block histamines
• Calcium assists B-12 in blocking histamine formation
• Probiotics with enzymes (such as those in Digestive Complex) help reduce mast cell triggers found in foods.

What we all can do
The incidence of allergies increases as carbon dioxide increases in our air and toxins increase in our water and foods. Everything we do to reduce these toxins and support organic agriculture decreases the toxic burden that all of us, including our children and grandchildren, are forced to bear. We are the canaries in the coal mine. Each of us must decide for ourselves how to best insulate our bodies, while at the same time, doing our part to help reduce our planet’s toxic load.