Monday, June 22, 2009
Allergy Relief - Top 4 ways to fortify your immune system
Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Unknown attacker has breached the perimeter.
Histamines, the foot soldiers of your body's immune system, rush to the front lines, desperate to keep you safe.
They gather in your throat, tightening its muscles in order to block entry.
They gather in your eyes, trying to wash the intruder away in a flood of tears. And they gather in your sinuses, prepared to forcibly expel the attacker with a tremendous sneeze.
Your body doesn't understand that this is a false alarm. Harmless substances such as pet dander, dust, and pollen are viewed as a threat because you have an immune system disorder.
Your body is being maddeningly overprotective.
This overprotective dynamic is created because your immune system is weak and therefore feels vulnerable.
You need to strengthen your immune system to, in essence, build its confidence. Once it's confident, your immune system will be better equipped to take those allergens in stride.
The allergens will become more of an annoyance than a full-blown threat. The histamine foot soldiers will always be at the ready - - but you can take them out of red alert status.
Top 4 tips for natural ways of strengthening your immune system:
* Get plenty of vitamin C. Our bodies can't produce vitamin C on their own, and yet, we rely on this hardworking vitamin to stimulate the production of the white blood cells that are so vital in our fight against disease.
That means we have to get our vitamin C from dietary sources such as citrus fruits, melons, tomatoes, and leafy green vegetables.
* Exercise regularly, doing something you enjoy. You don't have to go out and run a marathon. You don't have to lift weights . Do something fun, and do it often.
* Sleep 7-9 hours per night. In today's rush-rush world, a full night of sleep is a rare and precious commodity for many people.
Allergy sufferers in particular should prioritize sleep for its rejuvenating properties. Think you're on edge if you haven't gotten enough sleep?
Imagine how that histamine foot soldier on the front line feels. Trigger happy, ready to jump at the slightest shadow.
* Drink lots of water. In addition to keeping your body lubricated, water literally flushes impurities out of your system.
That means there's less work for your immune system to do, and a relaxed immune system is a healthy immune system.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Diet and Hay fever
Diet Tips for Hay Fever
Your diet may hold the key
There is evidence that your diet may hold the key to hay fever in considerably easing the symptoms.
Diet can have a huge effect on your body’s ability to combat and deal with hay fever.
Lets take a look at some of them :
Nutrition :
To reduce allergy symptoms, eat a moderately low-fat, high-complex-carbohydrate diet.
Include a lot of the following foods in the diet:
Dark green, leafy vegetables,
Deep yellow and orange vegetables,
Nettles, bamboo shoots, cabbage, beet tops, beets, carrots, yams
Onions, garlic, ginger, cayenne, horseradish,
Carotenoids and Vitamin A Carotenoids
The substances in plants that give them the wonderful red, orange and yellow colors, can be converted in your body to Vitamin A an essential nutrient for the health of the respiratory system.
They are also found in spinach, kale, and collard greens.
* Eat plenty of carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, apricots, mangoes and green leafy vegetables.
* Eat in abundance citrus fruits , first of all lemons.
You can make a lemonade
(squeezed lemon + water + honey) and drink in the morning first.
Or you can make the following lozenge: Chop up the peels and white inner rinds of organic lemons.
Place in a pot and barely cover with water, simmer covered for ten minutes.
Sweeten the mixture to taste with honey and eat one teaspoon 3 times a day.
* Eat plenty of onion, garlic, pineapple, horseradish and local honey. Season with turmeric.
* Drink in abundance lemon, orange and pineapple juice. Increase your fluid intake to maintain the water content of the mucus membranes.
Supplements
Bioflavonoids (e.g., quercetin, catechin, and hesperidin).
Bioflavonoids are natural antihistamines and strongly anti-allergenic. Bromelain and vitamin C can enhance the action of bioflavonoids. Combination products are available.
Other tips
With hay fever, you need to reduce the tendency for the body to form histamine by boosting your diet with foods rich in calcium, magnesium and flavonoids.
Have loads of onions, cabbage, blackberries and apples, including their peel.
Large amounts of Vitamin C are useful - it's a natural anti-histamine, and quercetin [a yellow pigment found in plants] is helpful too.
Quercetin appears to reduce the release of histamine from cells and is also believed to stabilise cell membranes so they are less reactive to allergens such as pollen.
FOODS TO EAT
* Soya products (if you want to replace dairy).
* Fish: high in omega 3 fatty acids which have an anti-inflammatory effect.
* Vegetables
* Fruits
* Garlic and onion.
* Honey, maple syrup,
* brown rice syrup or barley malt as sweeteners if required.
* Beans,
* lentils and tofu.
* Herbal teas.
Your diet may hold the key
There is evidence that your diet may hold the key to hay fever in considerably easing the symptoms.
Diet can have a huge effect on your body’s ability to combat and deal with hay fever.
Lets take a look at some of them :
Nutrition :
To reduce allergy symptoms, eat a moderately low-fat, high-complex-carbohydrate diet.
Include a lot of the following foods in the diet:
Dark green, leafy vegetables,
Deep yellow and orange vegetables,
Nettles, bamboo shoots, cabbage, beet tops, beets, carrots, yams
Onions, garlic, ginger, cayenne, horseradish,
Carotenoids and Vitamin A Carotenoids
The substances in plants that give them the wonderful red, orange and yellow colors, can be converted in your body to Vitamin A an essential nutrient for the health of the respiratory system.
They are also found in spinach, kale, and collard greens.
* Eat plenty of carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, apricots, mangoes and green leafy vegetables.
* Eat in abundance citrus fruits , first of all lemons.
You can make a lemonade
(squeezed lemon + water + honey) and drink in the morning first.
Or you can make the following lozenge: Chop up the peels and white inner rinds of organic lemons.
Place in a pot and barely cover with water, simmer covered for ten minutes.
Sweeten the mixture to taste with honey and eat one teaspoon 3 times a day.
* Eat plenty of onion, garlic, pineapple, horseradish and local honey. Season with turmeric.
* Drink in abundance lemon, orange and pineapple juice. Increase your fluid intake to maintain the water content of the mucus membranes.
Supplements
Bioflavonoids (e.g., quercetin, catechin, and hesperidin).
Bioflavonoids are natural antihistamines and strongly anti-allergenic. Bromelain and vitamin C can enhance the action of bioflavonoids. Combination products are available.
- Flaxseed oil.
Other tips
With hay fever, you need to reduce the tendency for the body to form histamine by boosting your diet with foods rich in calcium, magnesium and flavonoids.
Have loads of onions, cabbage, blackberries and apples, including their peel.
Large amounts of Vitamin C are useful - it's a natural anti-histamine, and quercetin [a yellow pigment found in plants] is helpful too.
Quercetin appears to reduce the release of histamine from cells and is also believed to stabilise cell membranes so they are less reactive to allergens such as pollen.
FOODS TO EAT
* Soya products (if you want to replace dairy).
* Fish: high in omega 3 fatty acids which have an anti-inflammatory effect.
* Vegetables
* Fruits
* Garlic and onion.
* Honey, maple syrup,
* brown rice syrup or barley malt as sweeteners if required.
* Beans,
* lentils and tofu.
* Herbal teas.
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