‘Tis the Season...For Allergies. 5 Ways Optimizing Your Gut Can Help Reduce Symptoms

Oh, allergies, a lot of us live with them, and we most certainly would love to live without them! Allergies can be triggered in different ways, and many (if not most) people experience seasonal allergies every year. While there are some tremendous over-the-counter allergy relief options available, some people overlook the allergy and gut health connection.

Can Healing Your Gut Help With Allergies?

There’s a growing pool of evidence suggesting a correlation between allergy symptoms and your gut microbiome.¹ According to reports, improving gut health can reduce seasonal and food allergies, including asthma-related to such symptoms.

Another study released by the National Institute of Health found people with allergies tend to have a less diverse gut microbiome than those without.² Therefore, learning how to reduce allergy symptoms could be about working to improve your gut health and microbiome diversity.

One way of improving gut health is through a cleanse or detox. You can see significant progress with these approaches, especially when combined with an elimination diet to identify specific food sensitivities.

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Elimination Diets

The best way to discover food intolerances, sensitivities, or allergies is with an elimination diet.³ These diets are standard and often recommended by allergists and registered dietitians to diagnose the cause of uncomfortable dietary symptoms.

An elimination diet only takes between five and six weeks. The primary focus is on the removal of specific foods known to cause problems. After removing the items from your diet, you will slowly reintroduce them one at a time, recording the symptoms that follow.

The diet is an excellent way to identify food allergies, but you will want the help of a doctor or dietician. Their guidance and expertise can help you make decisive judgments about your future diet and its role in allergies and gut health.

Nourish Your Gut

Every one in a while it’s important to show your gut a little extra TLC one in a while. As your gut can play a role in allergies and allergic responses, it is crucial to nourish it for better health. There are at least three ways to do this:

1. Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Foods like sugar, artificial trans fats, refined carbohydrates, vegetable and seed oils, processed meat, and alcohol can all lead to inflammation. The amount and dependence on these foods can increase the severity of the condition.

To combat these issues and develop a healthy and robust gut microbiome, you should focus on anti-inflammatory foods. Some of the most beneficial foods include:⁴

Berries
Avocados
Broccoli
Fatty fish
Peppers
Mushrooms
Grapes
Green Tea
Dark chocolate
Extra virgin olive oil

The beauty of anti-inflammatory foods is how easily they can be added to other meals or combined to make meals on their own. For example, you can make a salad for lunch with dark leafy green, avocados, peppers, and a piece of grilled fish. You can even include green tea as a beverage to complete the anti-inflammatory meal. It truly is that simple (and delicious)!

2. Gut-Healing Foods

The absorption of nutrients, optimal patterns of digestion, and elimination all require a healthy gut microbiome.⁵ Your microbiome is made up of good bacteria and yeast, essentially probiotics. These living bacteria also need nourishment to live, which is where prebiotics come in. They also excrete postbiotics linked to a healthier immune system. Several foods contribute to this critical and sensitive ecosystem:

Garlic
Sauerkraut
Onions
Asparagus
Pineapple
Bone broth
Ginger
Kimchi
Apple cider vinegar
Dandelion greens

Again, these items can be added to any meal or make a meal from them. For example, have a cup of bone broth with a salad, including dandelion greens and garlic.

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3. Begin Taking the Best Nutrients for Your Body

Vitamins contribute to so many bodily functions and also aid in immune defenses. While more research is necessary on a macro and micro-nutrient level, some evidence supports dietary nutrients' role in the gut microbiome and intestinal immune system functions.⁶ Nutrients that might be beneficial to gut health and the body include:

Turmeric
Zinc
Vitamin D
Vitamin C

4. Reset Your Gut

In addition to your vitamin intake, consider the Polisorb five-day digestive tract detox. Polisorb works to remove the irritants and harmful bacteria in your gut. Convenient, relieves you of digestive discomfort, and improves your overall gut health. *chefs kiss*

Take Polisorb as Follows:

For adults, mix 2 tbsp. in a 1/2 cup of water and drink. For kids, mix 1 tbsp. with a 1/4 cup of water. Add a squeeze of lemon if you prefer.

Consume one serving three times a day for five to seven days and you are good to go!

Detox Your Gut Shop The Clinically Proven Digestive Tract Cleanse

Manage Your Stress

Stress affects the mind and body. The gut microbiome is altered by an influx of inflammation, stress hormones, and autonomic alterations, often inhibiting immune response.⁷

The disturbance and reshaping of the microbiome can then affect allergies and allergic response severity. Incorporate some changes in your daily routine that can help combat stress triggers. You can do so by practicing mindfulness, meditation, or talk therapy.

Learning to perform meditative breathing is beneficial for anxiety and stress relief. It does not have to be super structured either.⁸ Simply taking five to 10 minutes per day is often enough.

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Get Adequate Sleep

Another way to reduce stress is with adequate sleep. Many people do not realize how poor sleep contributes to stress and, in turn, poor gut health. If you want to improve your sleep, try exposing yourself to more daylight during the day. Light exposure can help amplify your body's natural sleep cycle. Several studies discuss how blue light can interfere with quality sleep. So, try to stop using your electronic and smart devices about two hours before bedtime (Instagram will still be there in the morning). With adequate sleep, you will have a healthy gut and possibly be in less need of summer allergy remedies.

Make Exercise a Priority

Not only is exercise beneficial for gut and body health, but it can also reduce symptoms of summer and fall allergies.⁹ When you exercise, your blood flow quickens, meaning allergens are rushed through the system with less chance of causing disruptions.

Haven’t exercised in a while? No problem. Take the following steps to help get back in the fitness game:

Start slow.
Go for a walk in the afternoon or evening.
Take up bicycling through the park.
Build your stamina and work up to more involved workouts.
Be kind to yourself! Everyone works at a different pace. Your body will get stronger over time and you should be proud of yourself every step of the way.

While curing allergies is not always possible, you can improve your body's response to some allergens. Using an elimination diet and focusing on gut health are some of the best ways to improve allergies and allow yourself to enjoy the beauty of the different seasons to come!

RESOURCES

1 https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/seasonal-allergies-asthma-and-your-gut-health-300858909.html

2 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25974301/

3 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/ebiom/article/PIIS2352-3964(15)30221-8/fulltext

4 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/elimination-diet#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2

5 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-anti-inflammatory-foods

6 https://www.healthline.com/health/10-gut-foods

7 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7071260/

8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7213601/

9 https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/breath-meditation-a-great-way-to-relieve-stress

10 http://msaac.com/allergy-asthma-blog/exercising-seasonal-allergies/