It’s high allergy season and almost every person who walks through my door seems to have an allergy related complaint. Here’s the fun part… almost all of those patients also suffer from chronic stress.
In studies it has been shown that within 4 days, or less of a stressful event an allergic flare has been recorded. Interesting isn’t it?
I’m not saying stress CAUSES allergies, but it may be a contributing factor due to the negative effects on the body, including causing more symptoms in allergy sufferers. Stress affects our immune system and well know that has a role to play in allergies.
How can we fight it? According to the Mayo clinic, stress plays a role in how the mind and body both function. While many people may be aware of the harmful effects of stress on the body, many have not bothered to take adequate steps to manage it. Therefore flare ups are not uncommon.
You can easily manage stress by getting adequate sleep, staying hydrated especially in summer, incorporating meditation and stress releasing activities, getting out into nature and getting “grounded”. While grounding in nature might seem counter intuitive, trust me, it’s not. Pretty simple isn’t it?
Lastly make sure to incorporate stress relieving foods (they contain anti-stress minerals), such as dark leafy vegetables, quinoa, almonds (be careful they can be highly inflammatory) and bananas.
I love incorporating a low histamine/ anti-histamine protocol during this time of year as well. Be sure to check out my article on olive oil and why DAO is an important enzyme in allergy relief you may be so desperately craving.
