Hay fever symptoms can quite literally break your summer. Healthista spoke to Nutritionist and Bio Kult’s Technical Advisor Hannah Braye on methods to help manage allergy symptoms naturally
Hay fever (also referred to as seasonal allergic rhinitis), is a skewed immune response to inhaled pollen released from local trees, grasses and flowers.
It’s brought on by an over-reactive immune response to often harmless substances, triggering the discharge of IgE antibodies and the inflammatory substance histamine.
The allergic response causes inflammation of the mucosal lining of the nasal passages, throat and eyes leading to symptoms. It will likely be worst between late March and September, especially when it’s warm, humid and windy, as that is when the pollen count is at its highest.
brought on by an over-reactive immune response to often harmless substances
Whilst hay fever is something that many individuals just attempt to live with, as hay fever pertains to immune dysregulation, a wide range of dietary and lifestyle interventions to support the immune system could also be of profit to assist manage symptoms.
Hay Fever Tip #1 Reduce your exposure to pollen
Tracking the pollen count in your area and, where possible, avoiding spending a lot of time outdoors when it’s at its highest is probably going to cut back exposure and irritation.
Keeping windows and doors shut on high pollen days and as a substitute using fans or air conditioning to maintain cool can be advisable. When you may have been outside, showering while you get home and particularly before bed will help remove pollen residue from the skin, hair and nasal passages. This may increasingly help reduce irritation overnight, helping you to get a greater night’s sleep.
try irrigating the nasal passages once a day using a neti-pot and saline solution
As well as, try irrigating the nasal passages once a day using a neti-pot and saline solution, to remove pollen residue and help clear any stuffiness. A 2017 Cochrane Review concluded that nasal saline irrigation can have advantages in each adults and youngsters in relieving the symptoms of hay fever and is unlikely to be related to hostile effects.
Similarly a recent 2019 meta-analysis found that nasal irrigation significantly improved nasal symptom scores and significantly lowered rescue antihistamine use in children with hay fever.
Hay Fever Tip #2 Eat more quercetin and vitamin C wealthy foods
The phytonutrient quercetin is thought for its anti-allergic properties, and is subsequently a useful addition to any anti-allergy weight loss plan.
Quercetin is believed to own antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine properties. The fundamental food sources are vegetables corresponding to onions, garlic and broccoli, fruits corresponding to apples, berries and grapes, some herbs and green and black tea.
quercetin is thought for its anti-allergic properties
Quercetin appears to work synergistically with vitamin C, so topping up on a lot of vitamin C wealthy foods corresponding to broccoli, kiwi, strawberries, peppers and parsley is an excellent idea.
Vitamin C can be an anti-oxidant which protects cells against free-radicals in allergic inflammatory responses and studies have found that children with increased vitamin C consumption had fewer hay-fever symptoms.
Hay Fever Tip #3 Add more fermented foods to your weight loss plan
Recent research points to a crucial role of the gut microbiome in allergic conditions. It’s well established that the microbiome can modulate immune responses and bacterial dysbiosis (an imbalance of the gut microbes) is a risk factor for inflammatory conditions, corresponding to hay fever.
the microbiome can modulate immune responses and bacterial dysbiosis (an imbalance of the gut microbes)
It is believed that fermented foods containing lactic-acid producing bacteria are capable of deviate the immune response away from a pro-allergy response.3 Due to this fact, repeatedly incorporating traditionally fermented foods corresponding to sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, live yoghurt, miso and kombucha, which contain live bacteria within the weight loss plan could also be helpful.
For instance, dietary studies have suggested that long-term consumption of live yogurt can reduce a number of the clinical symptoms of allergy in adults with hay fever or nasal allergies.
Hay Fever Tip #4 Take live bacteria supplements
Research suggests that live bacteria supplements, corresponding to Bio-Kult On a regular basis, £19.98, containing 14 different strains, may profit hay fever victims via interactions with the immune system, which modify the natural course of allergic disease.
A lot of large systematic reviews and meta-analyses (where researchers review all high-quality evidence on a subject) have recently been conducted into using live bacteria supplements in hay fever, with positive effects being fairly consistently found.
For instance, a 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis which reviewed the outcomes of 28 studies showed that live bacteria supplements significantly relieved hay fever symptoms, improved Quality of Life scores and increased levels of certain kinds of T cells, helping to deal with imbalances in immune cells implicated in hay fever.
Although helpful effects of live bacteria supplementation have been shown even when commenced at the peak of allergy symptoms, it’s hypothesised that they might be even more practical when taken for a period prior to hay fever season as a preventative measure, so ensure to fill up early next 12 months.
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