Natural Allergy Relief
If the doctor says you have an allergy, you’re not alone. About one out of five Americans suffers from an allergy.
An allergy can be caused by many things: food, weather, substances or elements that your body does not agree with. For example, allergy to peanuts is common. When spring comes around, people can get hay fever caused by an allergy to pollen or to certain flowers that bloom in the spring. Some people are also allergic to drugs.
An allergy can also be caused by a pet, such as a cat or a dog, in the home.
What Causes Allergies?
There are many causes of allergies but here are the more common ones:
- Pollen
- Dust Mites
- Insect Stings
- Plants (e.g. poison ivy)
- Animal Dander
- Food and Drugs
Common Allergy Symptoms
Depending on the type of allergy you have, you will experience one or a combination of these symptoms. Symptoms can range from mild and moderate to severe. An example of a severe symptom is difficulty in breathing, or extreme swelling in the limbs and in other parts of the body.
- Sneezing and watery eyes (from hay fever)
- Itching and rashes (from food, pollen, dust, food or animal hair)
- Coughing – See our home remedies for coughing
- Nausea
- Nosebleeds – can be due to dry, cold air or allergies. Check out our post on nosebleed prevention.
- Swelling
Looking for Natural Remedies for your Allergies?
Decongest your air passages with Phytofed, a natural nasal decongestant that goes to work right away, providing immediate relief and draining your sinuses effectively. Phytofed comes with a money-back guarantee and is safe for everyone because it is natural and homeopathic and does not cause drowsiness or dizziness. Many people would rather live with their allergies because medication makes them un-productive or disoriented. With Phytofed’s natural ingredients, this problem is solved.
Many people choose to use TaurImmune Allergy Spray to help alleviate chronic allergies.
Another homeopathic formula is Aller-sine. While it treats runny nose and hay fever symptoms, it also boosts your immune system so that you can protect your body from allergens such as dust mite, pollen or animal dander. Many people find the use of a Neti pot helpful for flushing out the allergens associated with the environment.
If you’re suffering from chronic sinusitis, try another one of our natural products: Vaxa Sinus Formula. It not only treats the symptoms, but also:
- Clears nasal passages and diminishes swelling
- Flushes out mucus secretions
- Relieves pressure on the eyes
- Decreases drowsiness and helps prevent a sense of imbalance
Allergy Development in Infants
Probiotics and Infants
When you’re pregnant or nursing an infant you want to do everything to make sure that your baby can grow up to be healthy. There are a number of things that every mother does, but a growing trend is probiotic supplementation for infants. Probiotics are an excellent way to support the digestive and immune systems, but when given to infants they may actually reduce their likelihood of developing allergies.
Probiotics are microscopic organisms that the body depends on. They help to fight harmful bacteria that gather in the digestive tract, and this is an essential task for the overall function and health of the immune system. They are also used by the body to help digest food, and probiotic supplementation can help to limit digestive ailments and dysfunction. In infants they may actually help with the development of the immune system, because providing an infant with probiotics simulates a more adult diet that consists of more unsterilized and unpasteurized foods.
Probiotics and Allergies in Infants
The health of the immune system plays an important role in the body’s response to allergens, and probiotics can help the immune system to properly deal with allergic reactions. A study that was published in Clinical
and Experimental Allergy took a look at how probiotic supplementation affected the immune response in infants. The researchers studied 61 children who were given lactobacillus reuteri, and drew their blood at birth, six months, and two years old. It was established that the infants given probiotics had a better immune response to allergens.
At the other end of the spectrum, low levels of digestive bacteria are frequently found in children that commonly deal with allergic reactions. One allergy that affects many children is atopic eczema, and this can lead to rashes and irritations on the skin. Supplementation with probiotics has been shown to help with the symptoms of atopic eczema.
It is never too early to provide your infant with probiotics, and research has also shown that exposure to probiotics in utero could be beneficial. A study gave over 1200 women a probiotic or placebo during the eighth month of pregnancy. All the subjects or their partners commonly had allergic reactions, so the infants were predisposed to allergies. After birth the children were looked at for allergies at the ages of three, six, and 24 months. The children that were given probiotics had a lower risk of allergies due to an improved immune response.
If you’re expecting or raising an infant you will want to consider providing them with a probiotic supplement. Probiotics are important to the health of the digestive and immune systems, and in growing children they can help with the development of the immune system. This can have wonderful benefits, and it may also limit their allergies later in life.
