Are you starting to stock up on antihistamines as pollen season gets into full swing? If you are a hayfever sufferer, the long days of summer can really affect your quality of life at this time of year.
Hayfever, also known as ‘seasonal allergic rhinitis’ is estimated to affect 26% of the population. Symptoms can range from a little sniffle and a sneeze to more severe symptoms including itching, congestion, inflammation and eye irritation.
Hayfever is an allergic rection to pollen, and depending on what type of pollen your immune system reacts to, you may have the worst of your symptoms behind you, or your symptoms could be starting to kick off just now.
Alongside over the counter antihistamines, many people use nutrition and supplements to help manage and prevent symptoms. Here are some ideas that might help to ease you through pollen season.
A low histamine diet
Histamine is an important part of your immune system’s defence system. It is produced by white blood cells called mast cells that work as ‘bouncers’, helping to defend your body against invaders that your immune system sees as being harmful.
I would suggest cutting back on pickled, cured, processed foods and alcohol as a first step. Eat foods as fresh as possible, and try to avoid leftovers, as they will tend to have higher levels of histamine
Unfortunately, in the case of hayfever, your immune system has set up an immune response to pollen, so that every time you are exposed to pollen, your mast cells fire out histamine. This encourages an inflammatory response and triggers symptoms like a runny nose, congestion, watery eyes, itching and swelling or redness.
A low histamine diet is used by many allergy sufferers to help manage symptoms. It is a way of taking the load off and reducing your overall histamine response. Lots of food either contain histamine, or encourage its production. It is impossible to avoid histamine producing foods, but you can certainly reduce your intake.
Histamine is formed when a food is fermented, cooked and cooled, cured or preserved. Foods that contain histamine include:
- Fermented foods: kombucha, sauerkraut, aged cheese, yoghurt, kefir, sour cream (probiotic foods)
- Cured meats: sausages, salami, smoked ham, bacon, smoked fish
- Canned fish: salmon, mackerel, tuna
- Vinegar
- Pre-packaged ready meals
- Legumes: chickpeas, soybeans, lentils
- Spinach
Some other foods can initiate a histamine response in the body, and these include:
- Citrus fruit
- Avocado
- Additives
- Preservatives
- Alcohol
- Tomatoes
Of course, some of these foods are really healthy, and cutting any food group out of your diet can increase risk of nutritional deficiency.
I would suggest cutting back on pickled, cured, processed foods and alcohol as a first step. Eat foods as fresh as possible, and try to avoid leftovers, as they will tend to have higher levels of histamine.
For many people this will make enough of a difference without taking anything else out of your diet.
Adding in some antihistamine foods at the same time would be a super idea.
- Most fruit and vegetables are a good idea, with a few exceptions (see list above), because vitamin C is an important natural antihistamine. Rather than reach for an orange, choose berries, cherries, blackcurrants or peppers to get your fill of vitamin C.
- Garlic, onions and apples all contain an important antihistamine nutrient called quercetin. Pack more of them into your diet.
- Ginger and turmeric have anti-inflammatory properties, so get into curries or add to smoothies as much as you can. Also look out for herbal teas with these two spices in them.
- Nettles have antihistamine effects. Nettle soup can be made using young, fresh nettles in springtime – make sure you use gloves when picking, but an easier way to get this herb into your diet is in tincture form, or as a tea.
Take a trip to your local, independent health food shop and pick up some quercetin with vitamin C and bromelain. This has been shown to help reduce severity of allergy symptoms, support a healthy immune response, balance inflammation and support the respiratory tract.
