Dear Mark: Seasonal Allergies
By numerous accounts, this spring has been the most brutal in years for seasonal allergy sufferers. (Do I see some nodding heads out there?) As much as everyone looks forward to spring, some folks grit their teeth for several weeks or live on a steady dose of allergy pills. I always get questions this time of year from folks who are looking for ways to get through spring a little happier and maybe less medicated. Here’s one such email from reader Joyce….
Dear Mark,
I’m from the Upper Midwest where spring came early this year. No complaining about that, mind you – we earn our warm season! I’ve always had problems in spring, but this year I’ve been in really bad shape (like everybody what I hear). I’m relatively new to your site, and I’m slowly adopting elements of the Primal Blueprint. So far, it’s been going great! It’s got me thinking though about diet and whether what I eat/don’t eat can make any difference. What’s your take on this? I’d love any recommendations that could get me in the garden earlier!
Although the extent of people’s allergies (as well their sources) span a wide spectrum, anyone who spends whole months blowing through Kleenexes can likely benefit from a few adjustments – especially those new to the PB.
First, what to avoid… One of the best strategies to alleviate those miserable symptoms is to steer clear of alcohol and other histamine containing foods. As far as alcohol goes, wine (both red and white) seem to be the worst instigators. Sulfites are part of the issue with these drinks, but histamines that result during the fermentation process also wreak havoc. If you have allergy issues, consider avoiding other foods subject to aging and fermentation like aged cheese, pickles, and sauerkraut. And as for yeast, it’s one more reason to ditch bread. Grapes and ciders can be culprits as well.
Also, if you know the source of your particular allergy, you can further pinpoint foods that tend to trigger what’s called “oral allergy syndrome,” a reaction to allergen-related foods that affects primarily the lips and mouth. Check out the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia information on cross-reactive foods for those with seasonal allergies.
As for what to eat, think anti-inflammatory. It just so happens that the PB delivers just that. Research supports the particular benefits of fresh produce, fish and nuts for reducing both the symptoms of existing allergies as well as the development of allergies later in life. Research on the pregnancy and childhood diets of Spanish children found that a higher intake of certain vegetables (like tomatoes and eggplant) and fish offered protective benefit from allergies and asthma. Another study with Greek children linked high intake of nuts, fruits and vegetables with a lower risk for respiratory allergy. The EPA and DHA in fish and fish oils has been shown to be among the best preventative options for allergic disorders.
Want more? Tea, particularly green or white, offers a big flavonoid boost that reduces inflammation and supports general immune function. For raw dairy enthusiasts out there, farm milk consumption was shown to provide similar protective advantage against allergy and asthma whether or not the children drinking it lived on the farm or not.
Although antioxidants and flavonoids in general offer therapeutic benefit, certain nutrients like vitamin C and quercetin are potent natural antihistamines. An extra dose of magnesium can help alleviate wheezing symptoms. Some folks report success with spirulina as well. As for herbal remedies, butterbur shows good promise, but isn’t for women who are pregnant or nursing.
Another recommendation? Buy some wild – and local – honey. Because bees pick up the pollen of their environment, the resulting honey can offer something of a therapeutic dose for gradual desensitization – much like an allergy shot. It’s important to start small (1/4 teaspoon daily – max) and work your way up to gradually build tolerance.
Last, my own nearly debilitating seasonal allergies literally disappeared when I got rid of grains (and cut the chronic cardio). It may have been related to the autoimmune connection between anti-nutrients/leaky-gut and hypersensitivity to proteins in grass seeds and pollen (grains are grass seeds). Many MDA readers report a dramatic reduction in hay fever or allergy symptoms when cutting grains.
Good luck to Joyce and everyone else who’s laying low for another couple weeks. Let me know your thoughts, and do share any other anti-allergy strategies that have worked for you! As always, thanks for the great questions and comments, and keep ‘em coming. Have a great Monday everybody!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
I’ve had a lifetime of seasonal allergies and several sinus infections per year. Since becoming gradually more and more committed to eating primally, I have not had any problems this year. Hmmm.
I am allergic to fish (just fish I can eat shellfish) in the last 10 years or so, so I have been hesitant to supplement with fish oil. I also have not eliminated dairy, although I do not drink milk or consume dairy regularly. I do havea glass of wine most nights. So, it seems to be the grains! Is it wheat especially? I don’t know and don’t care to experiment with that! LOL..thanks for the timely post that gave me yet another reason to pat myself on the back!
Given the number of things I’m allergic to, diet alone will likely not grant me much relief. However, I hope to see more improvement than I would with immunotherapy alone.
I would put down a lot of problems with allergies to inflammation which obviously avoiding gluten could help with but the main culprit seems to be a omega 6 overload. You can either remedy this by taking fish oil or just steer clear of Omega 6 especially refined sources such as veggie oil. Since reducing my Omega 6 allergies have somewhat disappeared. Fingers crossed it will stay that way as my hay fever was pretty bad a few years back.
Great thread! I stopped eating grains / pulses / potatoes in November 09 (stopped milk and cheese years ago) and also cut back entirely on vegetable oils so I could balance omega 3 / 6 better with fish and fish oils.
Not only have I had NO seasonal allergies this spring; my asthma has virtually gone and I have stopped steroid inhalers for the first time in years. Next thing to cut out will be wine – which I do enjoy!
People are actually commenting on how well I look – and with asthma gone, I’m able to take much more exercise.
Call it paleo or call it primal – it works for me!
If you have allergies, its your triple warmer meridian activating your system defenses against whatever it be, pollen, dust etc. Your triple warmer meridian is the part of your immune system responsible for defending you against anything it sees as ‘the enemy’. Good news is you can learn to control it and de-activate it. Google ‘sedate triple warmer’ and its the first link, a 2 minute exercise, it saved my arse on numerous occasions.
Also, I would recommend looking into EFT for allergies. Google that too!
B
eliminating gluten has done wonders for my wife’s allergies. she can now spend time around cats. if you have a gluten intolerance and continue eating it anyway, your immune system has nothing left in the tank to fight off other allergens.
improving gut flora through probiotics and fermented vegetables isn’t a terrible idea either.
Good point, Greg. Google “intestinal candida” or “candidiasis” and you’ll get a good idea of how bad yeast can wreak havoc on our digestive systems (another reason I ditched grain products). Only one month into the diet change, but I already feel like I’ve received a stomach-lining transplant!
Honey, apple cider vinegar and roobios work well for me. I never have pollen allergic problem until last year. I tried Zyrtec.. it works, but bad side effect (rashes). I stopped taking it and gave honey and apple cider vinegar a try. It works. Allergic reaction disappeared. Woot.
I live in Austin, TX where we have terrible allergens.
Elimination of grains and sugars has totally cured my allergies. I am off all Allergy medications, even while we are having a record bad Allergy season.
I am ridiculously thankful that I’ve never had a problem with allergies. The closest I’ve ever had was staying at my MIL’s for a week, sleeping on an air mattress on the floor. She’s been living in her house for four years, and at the highest point owned three cats, three dogs, and no vacuum. I ended up mildly congested, but the worst part was the sleep I lost because of my husband’s allergies!
However, my mom and my brother are allergic to absolutely everything. I wonder if some of these tips will help.
What all of us allergy sufferers need is a good case of hookworms! No kidding. It’s the “hygiene hypothesis” that explains the prevalence of auto-immune disorders in developed countries. There are businesses that will ship a dose of worm eggs to inoculate yourself with. There is strong evidence that this works to cure allergies and asthma among many other auto-immune disorders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis
One hypothesis is that hookworms and humans co-evolved, and that a moderate colonization by hookworms keeps our own immune systems from becoming so good at attacking that they actually harm us. Immune system self-attack is the problem in dozen of diseases, including MS, Crohn’s, and, of course, common seasonal allergies.
WNYC’s Radio Lab did a great segment on that in their episode “Parasites” from Sept. 2009. The section on the beneficial aspects of hookworms begins during minute 31.
Funny. I’m allergic to nuts – the things that are supposed to help me not not be allergic to other stuff. Damn! lol.
just one *not* was intended, by the way.
strangely, this year, I’m doing pretty good…
I have sneezed, had some itchy eyes and nose, but other than that I have felt good. Other years I get down pretty bad with a sinus infection. So far so good!!
You definitely see my nodding head. It’s been quite bad over here in the UK so I presume you guys over there have had it bad too.
My former wife called an mentioned about the cost of my 14yr old son’s medication for his allergin, 120 bucks. I will look into the children hospital tip as well as honey source, thanks alot.
I used to have terrible allergies. Sinus and migranes were often. I started taking raw honey with my tea, about six years ago. Every year since then the symptoms were less and less. This year, I didn’t even get a stuffy nose.
This spring, I have had the worst allergies in my life. Went primal about 1.5 months ago. I also relocated to an area that has much more pollen in the air. I think I will give the honey idea a try. Apple cider vinegar helped out a little bit. Some people might want to try that. (Not sure if its primal or not)
since going primal i have never had any allergies!
My chronic allergies (I’m talking work-stopping bouts of sneezing and Niagara Falls-like sinus drainage) practically came to a COMPLETE STOP after I cut all grain products (including my beloved rice milk). Yeah, I miss sandwiches with bread, but having a healthy upper respiratory system (probably for the first time in my life) more than makes up for it.
Once I stopped eating GRAINS and PEANUT BUTTER (esp. peanut butter!!!) my seasonal allergies went from being 15 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worst) down to about a 3. Not only is severity improved, but instead of having the allergies from March to October, I now just get them starting in July. So, not perfect, but a heap better.
I don’t qualify as true primal yet, but my husband and I are on our way. We’ve drastically reduced our grain consumption over the last few months.
Everyone around me is complaining about how terrible their allergies are this year, which made me wonder what happened to mine? I wondered if it could be my change in diet, thanks to this post I’m more convinced
I too have recently further cleaned up my diet by all but completely eleminating the grains and sugars and this is by far the best year I’ve had in what is around 30 years since I first developed the allergies.
I am convinced that there is a direct correlation here!!
I live in the Central Valley of California, which is one of the worst places to live if you have allergies. Think farmland/dust all over and lower elevations so every pollutant from the Bay Area and other surrounding areas settles in the Valley. I took Claritin daily for 10 years in addition to a nasal steroid spray. Every time I tried to go off the medication, I would end up with a horrible sinus infection and rounds and rounds of antibiotics to clear it up. So I figured I was stuck using claritin for the rest of my life. And with the side effects!
A few years ago, I began to see an acupuncturist for help with stress of working full-time and going to graduate school. He was concerned with my reliance on daily allergy medication. So he began treating me for allergies. After about a year of seeing him, I was able to stop taking the Claritin daily. Now, I may take a pill or two during the spring or when the corn is being harvested, but not on a daily basis like before. Not even on a semi-regular basis. So for those of you who eating Primally has not cured allergies, I recommend seeking out an acupuncturist. And a neti pot. My mother has terrible symptoms, eats a SAD, and doesn’t see an acupuncturist, but has seen a reduction in her symptoms by 50% from adding the neti pot to her daily regime.
It has been over 2 years that I have been free from my daily allergy medicine. I only started following the Primal Blueprint 2 months ago. So I can’t speak to the effect PB has had on allergies, but if you are still having issues, I highly recommend a good acupuncturist.
I’ve been “crying” for 12 days now, since going back from dorm to home. Althought here they “lure” me with bad food on every step, wasting my vacation would be worse than not eating sandvich. Hope fasts and diet help soon
Now that you mention it, my allergies have been pretty mild lately. Even though it’s been just a week since I’ve gone primal, my diet was rich in vegetables, fruits and nuts already. I just ditched the bread. Still, it’s been very mild and considering I was rushing for Kleenexes this time last year, I think it might have something to do with it. I still have the occasional sneeze or running nose but it’s still a major improvement.
I suffered from ragweed allergy every fall in Texas for several years. I tried all the natural stuff like quecitin and other supplemnts to get relief, but no help. Then a friend told me that if you have seasonal allergies from pollen then you have parasites. I did a 90-day parasite cleanse with green black walnut hull, clove and wormwood and haven’t had an allergy since. I do short parasite cleanses in the spring and again in the fall to keep myself parsite free and allergy free. The reason you have to do a 90-day parasite cleanse in the beginning is so you can not only kill the parasites you have but also their larvae and eggs.
I have seen a HUGE improvement in hayfever since eating primally. I used to get symptoms from january to june, with february/march/april being especially severe (daily antihistamines and steroid nasal spray, and still thick head, itchy eyes and disturbed sleep).
However, I do still have some symptoms, even though they’re much less severe and more intermittent compared to what I used to have, and I’m currently experimenting and trying to figure out the reason for that. I think omega 6′s are definitely part of it; I had a big flare up after a weekend trip during which I was forced to eat a lot of nuts (for lack of better primal alternatives). I suspect carbs could be playing a part too – last spring I was eating lower carb than presently, about 70g/day as opposed to 100-120g, and had fewer symptoms than this spring. Or it could simply be that 80-90% improvement is as good as it’s going to get, which is still pretty damn good!
For those still suffering and interested in drug free remedies, I have found that intranasal phototherapy works at least as well for me as antihistamines. It’s a battery powered device with probes that you stick up your nose, that emits light at a frequency that supposedly calms the mast cell reaction in the nasal membranes. Quite cheaply and readily available from pharmacies in Europe, though I’m not sure about US availablity.
Lucy,
That is interesting that you say that about intranasal phototherapy. I’ve been doing some reading up on that recently and it seems promising.
Also, the idea of consuming honey is very common advice but has no evidence of actually working. In reality, it sounds good, but for most people the plants bees are pollinating (flowers) are not the same as the plants whose pollen they are allergic to (grass, weeds, trees)
I’ve spent most of my life in the Midwest. The two periods I dreaded the most were winter and allergy season. I recently moved to the South to escape the cold. But I seem to have traded brutal winters for an extra allergy season. I was reluctant to see an allergist, but felt I had no choice. He told me I was allergic to just about every tree, grass, and weed in the area. Along with prescribing some medication, he recommended immunotherapy. Rather than go down that road, I looked at my diet to see what I could change. I was already following the PB lifetsyle, but not 100%. Occasionally, I would have some bread. I also had a major sweet tooth. Not a day would go by where I didn’t have something chocolate.
After reading this and similar articles, I’m now convinced that I have to completely eliminate grains, alcohol, and sugar. During allergy season, I know almost immediately why I shouldn’t eat these foods. With sugar, it takes only 30 minutes for me to start sneezing uncontrollably. Grains seem to take longer, usually a few hours. Alcohol varies. It depends how much I have. But it’s remarkably consistent how all of these foods trigger allergy symptoms. So now I’m committing to eating Primal 100%. As hard as it’s going to be, I can’t cheat. My body just won’t let me.
This article is excellent, IMO – as a perennial allergy sufferer. The one thing that I would add is that controlling for dust mites and molds (most common allergies) as well as other household/indoor allergens is helpful across the board. Any time we can reduce one source of allergens, it helps with reducing other allergies as well. Just as eliminating food allergens helps reduce inhalant/airborne allergies, reducing these household sources helps as well.