Home » » Botanical Medicine » Seasonal Allergy Relief

Seasonal Allergy Relief

© Karyn Siegel-Maier

Seasonal allergies affect more than 22 million Americans, with symptoms occurring anywhere from early spring through late November. If you're one of them, you could really be hit with a one-two punch this cold and flu season. Unfortunately, allergies are also poorly understood and inadequately treated by conventional medicine.

Allergy is the result of your immune system's over-reaction to pollens, grass, airborne fungi and even certain foods and cosmetics. With more than 60,000 chemicals already existing in our environment, and nearly 500 new ones being created annually, we also face biochemical challenges to our immune system. When an allergen is introduced, the body fights back by producing an excess of inflammatory chemicals, such as histamine, from mast cells. This attempt to seek-and-destroy the allergen brings on the familiar symptoms of runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing.

Given their generic name, antihistamines must prevent the production of histamine, right? No, they do not. Antihistamines merely block the action of histamine at receptor sites. In other words, they suppress the appearance of physical symptoms but do nothing to redirect the underlying cause. Antihistamines also often produce undesirable side effects, such as dizziness, drowsiness and even depression. The good news is that there is a better way to treat inflammatory disorders.

One of the mechanisms involved in an allergic response is the release of leukotrienes, an agent which can restrict bronchial tubes up to 1,000 times greater than can histamine. The production of leukotrienes is made possible by the presence of arachidonic acid, a fatty acid found exclusively in animal products. Therefore, during serious bouts with allergies, you may want to assume an all vegan diet, or at least consider reducing your consumption of meat and dairy products.

There's still another good reason to forego the meat in favor of the salad - flavonoids. Flavonoids (sometimes called bioflavonoids) are a group of compounds that give many fruits and vegetables their color. Of these, quercetin is the most widely distributed among the plant kingdom and effectively inhibits leukotriene and histamine release from mast cells. In addition to getting enough raw fruits and vegetables in the diet, you may take quercetin in supplemental form.

Nettle (Urtica dioica): Nettle has enjoyed a long history as a treatment for seasonal allergies. Dr. Andrew Weil, author of Natural Health, Natural Medicine (Houghton Mifflin, 1998) reports success with this herb to treat his own allergies. Be careful not to confuse this herb with another species, U. Urens, which contains high levels of leukotrienes and histamine.

The copyright of the article Seasonal Allergy Relief in Botanical Medicine is owned by . Permission to republish Seasonal Allergy Relief in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.