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Airborne Allergies | by Frederick T. Himmelein
Are you ready for your early morning run? Are you psyched for the delights of cool summer air and the dewy beauties of flowers and trees in full bloom? Are your running shoes tied? Is your water bottle full? Have you taken your allergy pills and put on your gas mask?
Gas mask? Allergy pills? Since when did these become necessary components of an early morning run? Unfortunately, the answer is since late March. This year has been particularly hospitable to the sorts of plants which fill the air with allergens, and people who usually brace for suffering in late August have been staggered by their allergic reactions. Until and unless weeds are traded as a commodity, airborne allergens and the reactions they cause are here to stay.
Let’s be clear about at least one thing-airborne allergies are nothing to sneeze at. One in five Americans between the ages of 6 and 74 develop an allergy to something, and those numbers are growing each year. Worldwide, 35 to 40 million people are hay fever victims and in the United States over 12 million people suffer from allergies unrelated to pollen.
Allergies cause so much misery and torment in our daily lives that we spend over $600 million a year for relief. Unfortunately, relief often has a much higher price tag. Most over-the-counter allergy drugs cause drowsiness or have strong, even dangerous side effects. All too often, the cure is worse than the disease.
What most people need is a way to relieve symptoms without adverse side effects and to build the body’s natural defenses to a level which will reduce the recurrence of allergic reactions. If we could avoid injections or pay through the nose to fight our allergies, that would be better still.
Fortunately, it is possible to fight airborne allergies without having to rely on dangerous and expensive over-the-counter medications. Herbal and homeopathic treatments are readily available and are remarkably effective. In choosing a natural treatment for airborne allergies, it is important to keep a number of criteria in mind.
First of all, the treatment should be able to resolve your allergy-related symptoms. To assure yourself of this, make certain that you understand what your symptoms actually are; sneezing may be your only symptom or it may be part of a much larger reaction. Once you have identified your symptom, be sure that the product you’ve selected actually treats that symptom and not a similar (but different) condition.
Beyond this, a really effective treatment should establish more lasting relief. Symptom control is fine, but a strong overall treatment should also strengthen your physical and inherited resistance to allergies. Lasting relief begins with your immune system and a good treatment should go beyond symptom control to strengthen your immunity.
In addition, an effective allergy treatment should offer symptomatic relief without causing the side effects of drowsiness, dizziness and immune system suppression which result from pro-longed use of antihistamines and de-congestants. Obviously, the treatment should have no toxicity. It should also enhance the natural capacities of the self-healing mechanisms of your body. And it should have no medical contra-indications. If you have high blood 0pressure, diabetes or thyroid disease, be sure that the allergy treatment you choose will not encourage these con-ditions.
Finally, pay attention to price. An effective treatment for airborne allergies need not be prohibitively expensive. In fact, most natural treatments are inexpensive in comparison with over-the-counter and prescription drug alternatives. The price is not always right, but it often is.
If finding a natural product which meets these criteria seems laborious and tedious, there’s good news for you. Trained nutrition counselors and advisors can be of immense help to you in this process and they are as close as your nearest health food store. So take a deep breath and find the treatment which is best for you then throw away that gas mask and enjoy your mid-summer run! •
Frederick T. Himmelein is the publisher of the Winding Way Farms Nutritional Newsletter. Fred is also associated with the National Nutritional Foods Association and the Nutrition Science News Foundation. Fred is co-owner of Winding Way Farms Nutrition Center located at 5888 East 82nd street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46250. (317) 849-3362.
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Are you ready for your early morning run? Are you psyched for the delights of cool summer air and the dewy beauties of flowers and trees in full bloom? Are your running shoes tied? Is your water bottle full? Have you taken your allergy pills and put on your gas mask?
Gas mask? Allergy pills? Since when did these become necessary components of an early morning run? Unfortunately, the answer is since late March. This year has been particularly hospitable to the sorts of plants which fill the air with allergens, and people who usually brace for suffering in late August have been staggered by their allergic reactions. Until and unless weeds are traded as a commodity, airborne allergens and the reactions they cause are here to stay.
Let’s be clear about at least one thing-airborne allergies are nothing to sneeze at. One in five Americans between the ages of 6 and 74 develop an allergy to something, and those numbers are growing each year. Worldwide, 35 to 40 million people are hay fever victims and in the United States over 12 million people suffer from allergies unrelated to pollen.
Allergies cause so much misery and torment in our daily lives that we spend over $600 million a year for relief. Unfortunately, relief often has a much higher price tag. Most over-the-counter allergy drugs cause drowsiness or have strong, even dangerous side effects. All too often, the cure is worse than the disease.
What most people need is a way to relieve symptoms without adverse side effects and to build the body’s natural defenses to a level which will reduce the recurrence of allergic reactions. If we could avoid injections or pay through the nose to fight our allergies, that would be better still.
Fortunately, it is possible to fight airborne allergies without having to rely on dangerous and expensive over-the-counter medications. Herbal and homeopathic treatments are readily available and are remarkably effective. In choosing a natural treatment for airborne allergies, it is important to keep a number of criteria in mind.
First of all, the treatment should be able to resolve your allergy-related symptoms. To assure yourself of this, make certain that you understand what your symptoms actually are; sneezing may be your only symptom or it may be part of a much larger reaction. Once you have identified your symptom, be sure that the product you’ve selected actually treats that symptom and not a similar (but different) condition.
Beyond this, a really effective treatment should establish more lasting relief. Symptom control is fine, but a strong overall treatment should also strengthen your physical and inherited resistance to allergies. Lasting relief begins with your immune system and a good treatment should go beyond symptom control to strengthen your immunity.
In addition, an effective allergy treatment should offer symptomatic relief without causing the side effects of drowsiness, dizziness and immune system suppression which result from pro-longed use of antihistamines and de-congestants. Obviously, the treatment should have no toxicity. It should also enhance the natural capacities of the self-healing mechanisms of your body. And it should have no medical contra-indications. If you have high blood 0pressure, diabetes or thyroid disease, be sure that the allergy treatment you choose will not encourage these con-ditions.
Finally, pay attention to price. An effective treatment for airborne allergies need not be prohibitively expensive. In fact, most natural treatments are inexpensive in comparison with over-the-counter and prescription drug alternatives. The price is not always right, but it often is.
If finding a natural product which meets these criteria seems laborious and tedious, there’s good news for you. Trained nutrition counselors and advisors can be of immense help to you in this process and they are as close as your nearest health food store. So take a deep breath and find the treatment which is best for you then throw away that gas mask and enjoy your mid-summer run! •
Frederick T. Himmelein is the publisher of the Winding Way Farms Nutritional Newsletter. Fred is also associated with the National Nutritional Foods Association and the Nutrition Science News Foundation. Fred is co-owner of Winding Way Farms Nutrition Center located at 5888 East 82nd street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46250. (317) 849-3362.
Join the FREE Fitness Club Now for Weight loss, Strength and Fat Burning Workouts!
BACK TO ARTICLES