By Christo Lues
Many of us could not wait for the summer to arrive, but with it also comes the change in season. With the wettest winter in many decades almost something of the past, we can be sure that the we will have lots of fynbos and other plants blooming soon, if not already!
Add to this the unfortunate neighbours we have to live with in the Cape, the crop-spraying-farmers, we are in for a pollen and pollution loaded season.
This will bring great discomfort to many that suffer from allergies, asthma and hay fever related symptoms.
For the people that want the easy (risky) way out this means it’s time for your next cortisone shot. For others its stocking up on those wonderful anti-histamines.
For those of you that want a more natural approach, the following will be meaningful.
When we are dehydrated, our body starts making more thick mucus to prevent the mucus membranes from drying out. To make the mucus, the body produces more histamine. The body follows this as a normal self preservation cause of action. If the mucus membranes were left to dehydrate, they will become permanently damaged, leaving our bodies open to disease causing pathogens!
Simply by increasing your water intake, the body will be able to naturally lower its histamine production. You drink lots of water, I heard… Well how much is too much or too little? Everyone seems to have an opinion based on what someone else said or what they think is enough. There seems to be great confusion.
Your body is 70% water. The question is, how long can you leave water before it starts going off or turn murky, generally not longer than 14 days. So a scientific guideline is to take 70% of your ideal body weight and divide that by 14 days. This will give you the best estimate of how much water you should drink per day.
Example: 60Kg x 70% = 42L water in the body / 14 days = 3L water per day. Sounds like a lot? Not really. 3L / 250ml glasses = 12 glasses per 24 hours.
Does tea, coffee and cool drinks contribute to your fluid intake? Yes it does. The questions is, would you do your laundry in this ‘fluid’? NO! Or would you top up your swimming pool fluid level with water from the bath or kitchen sink? NO!
Then why on earth would you want to do that with your body? Water is water and tea, coffee or (colourless water) ‘contaminated’ water is not pure water.
Use clean water if you want the health benefit from it.
Natural Remedies that may help for the worst of symptoms can be taken and won’t put an extra tax on your over taxed body:
Liver Detox
The liver is one of the greatest pieces of engineering ever designed. It filters all the blood that the body contains every 10 minutes. So when you take an anti-histamine or a Coke, or a cup of tea, the residues that end up in the blood gets filtered by the liver, and kidneys of coarse. The liver is the main detoxifying organ in the body. So when you inhale polluted air the liver eventually takes care of it. This is the reason why taking Liver Detox by Sevenpointfive helps greatly to rid the body of toxic build up of any kind.
Assimil 8
When we eat stuff that is altered genetically, sprayed with pesticides or irradiated, our bodies struggle to ‘digest’ these properly. When we do not break down these ‘foods’ correctly, some improperly digested food particles may end up in the blood causing allergic responses by the immune system cells. When Assimil 8 is taken before these foods are consumed, it lessens the effect on the body.
SBO
Even when the foods are digested properly but the gut lining is damaged, we may find food particles crossing the gut lining at the wrong place or wrong time during digestion. These end up in the blood and cause allergic responses by the immune system cells. SBO is a super strong natural probiotic that helps the body repair the gut lining so that only the correct particles end up crossing over from the gut into the blood.
Vitamin C is a great immune modulator and helps reduce the effect of toxins in the system. It is also vital in the repair and maintenance of daily cellular repair, especially in the respiratory tract.
Quercetin is of great value in helping to reduce the bodies over reaction to toxins. The plant chemicals in the quercetin, has a natural antihistamine action in the body. It is also an antioxidant that helps to minimize the effect a toxin can possibly have in the body.
Elderberry
Studies demonstrate that elderberry may have a measurable effect in treating the flu, alleviating allergies, and boosting overall respiratory health. I find it especially helpful to relieve the itchy feeling in the eyes and nose. It’s of great help with a runny nose.
MSM
The natural anti-histamine.
Msm offers fast relief from pollen allergies, commonly known as hay fever, a major allergic reaction. MSM can be as effective as any anti-histamine available on the market.
MSM does not act as an anti-histamine substance, that inhibits histamine production. It's effectiveness is due to it's ability to block the receptivity of histamine in the sensitive tissue of the mucus membranes of nasal passages. This process is believed to prevent the histamine from creating the inflammation, swelling, and fluid build-up that can come with allergies. MSM does not produce any unpleasant side effects, unlike prescription medications and over-the-counter pain killers, and there are no known drug interactions.
MSM does not produce the drowsiness, slowed reaction effects that come with the conventional anti-histamines. Patients that have taken MSM have reported back to their physicians that their pain levels were 50 percent less, or better, after taking the supplement. Most of the patients reported improvement and a drop in pain and allergy symptom levels within a weeks time.
Olive Leaf the Allergy Buster
Allergies are often manifestations of the immune system being overloaded by the constant assault of pollution associated with modern life.
The olive leaf spray (containing oleuropein) by Sevenpointfive, is an immune system booster known to help control and eliminate various allergies. The antioxidants of olive leaf act directly to eliminate free radicals from the body, as well as aiding with digestion. The less energy that your immune system uses acting as a “cleanup crew” for the body, the more of it's resources are available for combating environmental allergens such as Pollen, Dust and Mold. The key to utilizing olive leaf as consistency as possible so that the immune system may permanently shift it's focus to environmental allergens, and away from internal toxins, leaving you happier, healthier and more able to enjoy life.
Luffeel Tablets and Nasal spray
The homeopathic constituents of Luffeel are coordinated in such a way that it offers a comprehensive treatment for allergies. The nasal spray works locally on the respiratory mucosa, whilst the tablets works on allergy everywhere. It includes the treatment of hay fever, allergies of the skin and mucus membranes, chronic inflammation and glandular swelling.
I hope this helps you to have a better season this year. If you feel that your specific allergies are more severe, you are welcome to book a Live Blood Analysis consultation with me or any other Sevenpointfive consultant to delve deeper to find the problem. You may also want to read my article on wheat, dairy and sugar.
Happy spring
