So it’s that time of year again - your nose is running, your eyes are streaming and you are pill popping like it’s going out of fashion - no not the dreaded swine flu - it’s hay fever season!
Hay fever is an allergy caused by your body overreacting to the increased amounts of pollen in the summer air. That clever immune system of ours goes into overdrive thinking pollen is just a run of the mill nasty infection, so it starts to produce copious amounts of histamine to try and fight it. This in turn creates inflammation of the eyes nose and throat - lovely! So keep up your pharmacist trips, and if things get dire get along to your GP. But is there a dietary alternative to all this pill popping?
Well the short answer is, not really. No studies or trials have produced significant enough evidence to indicate diet improving symptoms. There are however a few things that have been suggested as helpful, so take a look and start experimenting.
First off, there is quercetin - this is a flavanoid with many distinctive nutritional credentials which is found naturally in some fruit and vegetables including apples, apricots and blackcurrants. Some medical herbalists recommend taking quercetin supplements o 500mg twice daily. The chat surrounding this ingredient is that it actually prevents the release of histamines, rather than stopping the effects of the already released stuff.
On average people already eat around 19mg of quercetin each day, so as you can imagine the 500mg supplements are pretty big. Side effects are not common, however to do things the natural way, apples contain around 50mg, four cups of tea approximately 20mg, four apricots have 2.5mg while 100g of blackcurrants contain about 4mg.
Another popular recommendation from the medical herbalists is a nettle leaf supplement (do ensure it has a minimum of 1 per cent plant silica) at 250mg, three times each day. Some believe that along with quercetin, it can help to fight sneezing, itching and swelling.
Something a bit more recognisable would be our old friend vitamin C, which reportedly takes a lead role in the antioxidants in our noses and throats and is well apt at boosting the immune system in desperate times. However, watch your intake - the recommended 500mg dosage twice a day can play havoc with some people’s digestive system.
However, it’s not just oranges and supplements that provide vitamin C - top up on guava, blackcurrants, peppers, broccoli, strawberries, papaya, kiwi fruits, oranges and other citrus fruits as well as dark green vegetables like cabbage, which provide between 230mg per 100g to around 50mg in descending order. Omega-3 oils found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies and herrings have also been found to have a mild anti-inflammatory effect.
Lastly, don’t forget those herbal teas - try ginger or peppermint to decongest or anise to get you in a zen state which will relax your airways and help with the sneezing.
March 11th, 2010 at 7:58 am
Really proficient post. Theoretically I could write something like this too, but taking the time and effort to make a good article is a lot of effort…but what can I say….I’m a procrastinater. Good read though.