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Read moreBreathe life: control allergies
"Vdrunk in full consciousness, slow down and taste every second and every breath… ”- Thich Nhat Hanh -
March represents the transition from winter to spring. We begin to savor the first warmer days, the images of trees starting to wake up, their flowers, their scents. Looking at nature is always good, it follows its cycle, regardless of everything that is happening around.
Spring is a bit of a reboot symbol, the life awakening from the long sleep of winter ... and, with it either, it brings back the dreaded allergy season. Yes, Covid or not, respiratory allergies show up at their appointment, like every year.
This month I would like to guide you and give you some ideas on how to live better from a physical point of view this time of year ... because breathing better has a huge impact on our quality of life!
What is an allergy? This is an inappropriate or excessive response of our immune system to an antigen (dust, pollen, hair from our four-legged friends, food, etc.)
Basically, how does it translate?
Our body comes into contact with an allergen and this is what happens: stuffy, runny nose, hay fever, rhinitis, asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, headaches, itchy nose, eczema, hives and, worst of all, case, anaphylactic shock.
They greatly influence our quality of life: difficulty in breathing, in enjoying a deep and recovering sleep, in concentrating, the lack of oxygen also makes us less efficient, more tired, more irritable, more likely to get sick. other types of infections too… and this often prompts us to resort to taking medications, often necessary, such as corticosteroids and antihistamines.
Allergies have become extremely frequent, their incidence being 30%, especially in supposedly developed societies and the causes are multiple: pollution, lifestyle, inflammatory diet, degradation of our intestinal microbiota, mode of birth, breastfeeding or not, heredity…
But don't lose hope: most of the factors I just mentioned can be changed!
Here is the good news: allergies are often classified among chronic pathologies, but today I am revealing to you a secret. Chronicle is not a condemnation, we always have the power to work our ground, to modify it is to improve our conditions of life!
As I often tell you in my articles, the power is in us and we had to become more and more aware of it: it is a responsibility towards our body and our life.
Allergies are a failure of our immune system: this imbalanced immune system reacts disproportionately to something that, in reality, is not a danger in itself. The imbalance occurs between the effector immune system (the one that responds to dangers) and the tolerant immune system (the one that inhibits the response when it is no longer needed). In the allergic subject, the latter is lower when the former is very stressed.
What if I tell you that this condition can be very much related to the conditions of our gut?
Yes, the intestine does not only play a digestive role, it is also the main organ of immune defense in humans: an unbalanced, hyper-permeable intestine, or, in other words, in dysiosis, opens the doors to several pathologies, including allergies that have been treated today.
From here, the interest of taking care, above all, of his gut and the bacterial flora that lives in symbiosis with us and that helps us to stay healthy. Several studies now link allergic diseases and the state of our gut microbiota ... and not only!
What can we do to pamper our intestines and our friends with the good bacteria?
Here is some advice:
- Reduce or eliminate the consumption of refined sugars and alcohol, enemies of the good flora
- Vegetate your diet to provide fiber, our microbiota's favorite food
- Limit the consumption of dairy products to a maximum of one serving per day by favoring quality products such as goat or sheep milk
- Avoid the consumption of gluten which solicits the immune response and prefer cereals that do not contain it such as buckwheat, sorghum, millet, rice, corn
- Choose organic foods to limit exposure to toxic products
- Consume bone broth (veal or poultry), an essential grandmother's remedy to heal and waterproof the intestine with a high concentration of collagen, glycine and glutamine
- Take a glutamine supplement, which heals the mucosa
- Consume antioxidant foods (fruits, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, green tea ...)
- Possibly take vitamin B complexes, vitamin D and zinc
- Think of quercetin, a powerful antioxidant and natural antihistamine
- Increase the consumption of omega 3, powerful anti-inflammatory drugs and immune modulators
- Rosmarinic acid (sage, rosemary, lemon balm) helps rebalance the immune system and decreases inflammation
- Consider consuming lacto-fermented foods, which strengthen our intestinal flora by providing a great variety of good bacteria
- Take probiotics as a dietary supplement, but get advice from specialists for this. Everyone has their own microbiota, and the supplement must be targeted with the right quality and the right dosage. And, with allergy, it's a good idea to choose strains that modulate the immune system instead of boosting it.
And finally, I'm repeating myself but it's super important to get this message across, think about managing your stress with the advice I gave you in the previous articles.
I hope I have given you some useful leads, do not hesitate to contact me to explore further and start your journey towards relieving your symptoms and regaining the good quality of life you deserve!
“The strength within each of us is our greatest physician.” - Hippocrates -
This article was first published in lecentrecoaching.ch
Daniela VIGANÒ
NUTRITION, HEALTH PREVENTION
I offer personalized support in nutrition, according to your objectives, your needs, your different contexts, your constitutions, your state of health, your habits, your desires… since you are unique …… ..learn more
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