You might not realize it, as we still seem to be in the depths of winter, but now is the time to start preparing for allergy season. If you find yourself sneezing your head off in March, April and May, a couple of simple things you do now can ease the severity of your symptoms later.
Quercetin, for example, is a flavonoid found in citrus, onions and buckwheat and can be purchased in capsule form. It inhibits the production and release of histamine, which is what makes us all so miserable. It acts similarly to antihistamines, but is milder. At the same time, it’s cheaper and has very few side effects, if any. Quercetin possesses anti-inflammatory properties as well, which also help mitigate allergies and asthma — and as a side bennie, can perhaps give a little boost to helping heal that sports injury you may have unfortunately sustained in your laudable efforts to stay fit. One more benefit: The compounds in quercetin may help lower cholesterol.
Quercetin works best, however, if you start taking it before allergy season actually begins. So, if you start taking it two to four weeks before you usually experience symptoms, you could find that your symptoms are much less troublesome in March, April and May.
Other supplements you can take are pine bark extract (commercially marketed as Pycnogenol) and curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric (turmeric in capsules can be found at health food stores and some grocery stores). Both have potent anti-inflammatory properties, and inflammation is the main culprit behind the unpleasant effects of having too much histamine in our systems.
The other strategy you can employ, though a controversial one in this country, is to take homeopathic remedies. Homeopathic remedies are widely used and prescribed in Great Britain and Europe, even by medical doctors, but they have not found favor with the medical establishment in the U.S. Part of the problem is that no definitive explanation has been established for the way in which homeopathic substances might work.
I myself looked askance at homeopathy for quite some time, as I had a master’s degree with an emphasis in molecular biology, and I couldn’t figure out how it could possibly work, given my understanding of biochemistry. But when I finally tried a high-quality homeopathic remedy for my hay fever symptoms, I found that it worked really well, despite my skepticism, without the side effects that my antihistamines gave me. Being an empiricist, I figured it didn’t matter whether I could figure out how they worked if they worked.
Like everything, however, these remedies won’t work for everyone. (This is true of many human health conditions; many people, for example, have to try a number of different blood pressure medications before they find the ones that work for them.)
As an interesting aside, one promising theory involves the unique crystal structures that water forms in response to different dissolved substances. To see a beautiful rendition of the shape of a pure H20 crystal, check out the water sculpture in Turtle Bay’s Mediterranean gardens. You’ll find a colossal one carved in stone.
With respect to treating allergies, it’s possible that they may work similarly to allergy shots, where exposure to minute
amounts of allergens desensitizes our immune systems to them. For those who want to try this approach, there are several high quality homeopathic remedies available. Some good brands are Unda, BHI and Bioenergetics.
All of these remedies can be continued throughout allergy season for palliative effects. As always, check with your doctor before taking new supplements; for example, quercetin may interact with a certain class of antibiotics or other drugs.
And when allergy season descends with a vengeance, there are additional home remedies that you can add to your medicine cabinet for itchy eyes, stuffy sinuses, wheezing and other miseries. Redding’s allergy season is long and intense, and there’s no reason to suffer more than necessary!
Celeste White is a writer and artist who lives in Redding. She is the author of the books, “Natural Asthma and Allergy Management” and “The Natural Remedies for Common Ailments Handbook.”
