Allergies–What Are They?
Allergies have existed for thousands of years, although the term allergy was coined a mere decade ago. Originally, allergy meant altered reactivity, meaning that a person with an allergy reacted and experienced symptoms from a substance that was harmless for most people. In the last fifty years, while allergies have increased exponentially, the definition has narrowed to mean a specific immune response. As a result, skin testing has become the conventional method for pinpointing allergies. Unfortunately, tests may come back negative even if a person experiences allergy symptoms because many allergy sufferers do not have the classic immune response. Other types of allergy testing meant to include more types of immune responses–such as the ELISA blood tests–are not always accurate. In my experience, most people only find them helpful when done in conjunction with a holistic consultation. More importantly, testing does not provide a solution even if the test results show an allergy–eliminating exposure is not always possible and certainly does not heal the problem.
9 Natural Solutions to Free Yourself of Allergies–Naturally
9. Change bed sheets, open windows and remove clutter regularly. If you have nasal congestion or hay fever type symptoms, keeping your home relatively dust free will make a big difference. Dust mites live off our dead skin cells, and we lose about 40,000 skin cells every minute! Beeswax candles can also help clean the air because they create negative ions as they burn. Please…never leave candles unattended!
8. Eat local, raw, unpasteurized honey to prevent pollen allergies. Some studies show that small amounts of the natural pollens in honey can prevent symptoms once allergy season starts, similar to the way a natural vaccine would work. Be sure the honey is made in the season that your allergies appear for the best effects.
7. Reduce your toxic load—avoid toxic cleaners, and eat wholesome, natural foods. In the last 50 years, which is when allergies began their rampant increase, somewhere between 100,000 and 7 million new chemicals have been added to our environment and the number is increasing exponentially. Our bodies are amazing at creating and maintaining balance but these chemicals do have an impact. Over time, toxic load reaches a threshold and the body is no longer able to keep up—that’s when symptoms of allergies appear.
6. Even if you eat healthy foods, read food labels. Many chemicals are sneaking into our foods, even foods labelled organic, healthy and natural.
5. Avoid antibacterial products like the plague. Washing hands regularly is a good idea, but antibacterial products kill all bacteria, good and bad, disrupting the natural balance that exists in our environment and causing resistance to antibiotics. For the body, allowing the immune system to confront small amounts of bacteria actually ensures natural immunity. Most antibacterial products contain the chemical Triclosan, which adds to our toxic load and may affect our hormonal balance. In 2009, the Canadian Medical Association recommended a ban on this chemical, as reported in the Globe and Mail.
4. Take quercetin and vitamin c to stabilize cell walls and reduce seasonal allergy symptoms. While this is a temporary solution that doesn’t heal symptoms, it will help you cope without any side effects.
3. Take plant enzymes for food allergies. Enzymes combined with a gut healing regimen can help heal many types of food sensitivities and allergies over the long term so that over time, symptoms become less rather than more.
2. Choose an acute homeopathic remedy that suits your symptoms during allergy season if you have hay fever. Many people respond well to homeopathic remedies even when nothing else seems to be working. The top three recommendations? Allium cepa, Euphrasia and Sabadilla. Choose the one that suits your symptoms best and take 3 times daily until your symptoms subside. Allium cepa helps best when you have a watery nose that runs like a faucet and burns the surrounding area along with runny, itchy eyes; Euphrasia is most helpful when the eye symptoms—redness, itching, watering—are the biggest problem. Choose Sabadilla instead if your hay fever is characterized by sneezing fits along with an itchy, runny, nose, eyes and throat.
1. Choose a homeopathic practitioner for a homeopathic constitutional remedy. Since there are a great many remedies for allergies, whether food or seasonal, nothing beats a constitutional homeopathic remedy because it works by jump starting the body’s natural and innate ability to heal itself, so that you need less rather than more remedies over time and ultimately, stay vibrantly healthy longer.