Allergy-Proof Your Life. Michelle Schoffro Cook

And finally, in chapter 9, you’ll enjoy delicious and nutritious healing recipes that can help you integrate allergy-soothing foods into your day-to-day life. From juices and teas to main dishes and even desserts, eating for healing never tasted so good. It includes recipes like Antihistamine Juice, GI Soothing Tea, Roasted Vegetable and Rosemary Soup, Mixed Berry Pie, and Almond-Oat Thumbprint Cookies. You’ll also discover recipes for making your own All-Natural All-Purpose Cleaner, Natural Glass Cleaner, Natural Laundry Soap, and other household cleaning products to avoid chemical ones that are probably aggravating your allergies.

      Allergy-Proof Your Life offers you a wide variety of both cutting-edge and tried-and-true natural therapies without the harmful side effects of common antihistamine, decongestant, and corticosteroid drugs. It offers you all the tools you’ll need to enjoy allergy-free living and an improved quality of life.

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       A Medical and Holistic View of Allergies

      IF YOU SUFFER FROM the wide array of seasonal allergy symptoms such as fatigue; sinus congestion; itchy eyes, nose, or throat; or watery eyes, don’t let a high pollen count, mold-laden leaf debris, or another allergen get you down. There are many all-natural solutions that have helped others improve and even eliminate their allergy symptoms altogether.

      No one knows exactly why an everyday substance is harmless to one person and why another person’s immune system wages war on the substance when he or she comes in contact with it, but there are many natural approaches that work wonders at restoring a balanced immune response. Whether tree pollens, animal dander, dust mites, or other environmental allergens, once they are inhaled or ingested, the body signals the immune system to destroy the offenders. In doing so, your cells release histamine and other chemicals, causing the classic itchy eyes, scratchy throat, runny nose, sinus congestion, or headache, among other symptoms.

      Although the medical approach is to take antihistamines, most have side effects like drowsiness or can aggravate heart arrhythmias, not to mention that they are only treating the symptoms, not getting to the cause of the allergies. Let’s explore some of the main medical approaches to treating allergies, along with the side effects they cause.

      WHAT EXACTLY ARE ALLERGIES?

      Spring allergies affect an estimated 25 million Americans.1 Caused by an immune system overreaction to airborne pollens or other substances, spring allergies are commonly called seasonal allergies, hay fever, or allergic rhinitis.

      Your immune system is your body’s defense against foreign invaders; it works hard to protect you against bacteria, fungi, yeasts, viruses, toxins, and other substances that may compromise your health. We simply could not live without a strong immune system, but sometimes this impressive internal system can go a bit haywire, reacting to common, everyday substances.

      Allergies are caused by your body’s reaction to certain substances known as allergens that your body considers foreign invaders rather than the harmless substances they really are. When your body comes into contact with a specific allergen for the first time, it secretes a substance known as immunoglobulin E (IgE), an antibody specific to that allergen. IgE then attaches to the surface of specific cells in your body known as mast cells. These mast cells are found in large numbers in mucous membranes of your nose and in your skin, among others. They work to regulate inflammation by releasing various chemical compounds, including histamine.

      After the first encounter with an allergen, future encounters cause a cascade of chemicals known as histamines, leukotrienes, and prostaglandins, which further triggers a range of allergic symptoms, including coughing, itchy eyes, nasal congestion, runny nose, sneezing, and sore throat.

      The specific compound called histamine can even cause our airways to constrict, as in the case of allergy-induced asthma attacks, or cause blood vessels to become excessively permeable, causing fluid leakage or hives. Leukotrienes cause excessive secretion of mucus and the resulting signature symptoms of allergies: runny nose and increased mucus. Other substances known as prostaglandins can stimulate the release of histamine in the body, resulting in airway or tissue inflammation and a wide range of allergic symptoms.

      The most common allergens include pollens, mold spores, dust, airborne contaminates, dust mites, pet dander, cockroaches, and environmental toxins, particularly those found in vehicle exhaust, cleaning products, personal-care products, and food additives. Every person is unique and, as a result, can have unique reactions to environmental substances. You can also develop a new allergy to something that was previously harmless. Alternatively, you can lose allergies just as quickly as they arrived, although that is uncommon unless you take certain measures to strengthen and balance your body’s delicate immune and hormonal systems.

      SYMPTOMS OF ALLERGIES

      There are many allergy symptoms, but some of the most common include runny nose, nasal congestion, postnasal drip, itchy nose, itchy eyes, watering, tearing of the eyes, asthma, stuffy nose, cough, fatigue, weakness, sneezing, and sore throat. Allergies can also exacerbate other conditions, like asthma and sinus infections.

      ASTHMA

      Asthma is a serious respiratory condition that interferes with a person’s ability to breathe. Typically asthmatics have some combination of bronchial muscle spasms, excess mucus production, and mucus lining swelling as a result of allergies, environmental irritants, infection, cold air, hormonal imbalances, exertion, and stress. The result is an asthma attack that can literally cause someone to suffocate if he or she doesn’t get emergency medical intervention.

      The incidence of asthma is on the rise. By some accounts, it has increased by more than 33 percent in just one decade, potentially the result of pollution, food additives, and excess inflammatory-causing meat, sugar, and fat consumption.

      Some of the symptoms of asthma include wheezing, difficulty breathing, coughing, chest tightness, increased heart rate, sleep loss due to coughing and difficulty breathing, increased mucus flow, inflammation of the mucus linings of the lungs, and airway constriction in the bronchial muscles.

      DIAGNOSING ALLERGIES

      There are various types of tests for allergies. The most common medical ones include:

       Blood testing for IgE antibodies. These blood tests show the specific substances to which your body had a full-blown allergic response involving IgE.

       Allergy skin tests. Sometimes called prick tests, they involve a quick prick of the skin with a minute amount of a specific allergen to determine whether the skin will become inflamed and irritated. If it does, it means you have an allergy to this substance.

      DO ALLERGY DRUGS SCARE YOU? THEY SHOULD!

      There are several types of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications used for treating allergy symptoms. These medications are classified as antihistamines, decongestants, a combination of antihistamine and decongestants, corticosteroids, and allergy shots.

      Antihistamine Drugs

      Antihistamine drugs block histamine receptors in the body, thereby reducing the symptoms of allergies. Released by part of the body’s immune system known as mast cells, histamine is a naturally occurring substance in the body that causes blood vessels to dilate. In an allergic reaction, the immune system becomes hyperactive and overreacts to common, everyday substances such as pollens, molds, dust, animal dander, and so forth. When histamine is excessively released, it results in a runny nose, watery eyes, tissue swelling, and a constriction of the passageways of the lungs. Antihistamine drugs block receptors in the body so the histamine has less of an effect. Taken as eye drops, liquids, pills,