Building Your Immunities
Allergies are sometimes the straw that breaks the back of your immune system.
By Iva Lloyd, RPP, RHN, ND
Spring marks the return of environmental allergies. These annoying allergies result in symptoms such as red itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing, fatigue, shortness of breath and irritability. One of the keys to battling environmental allergens is to build a strong defence – your immune system.
Your immune system is responsible for protecting your body against harmful invaders and allergy symptoms are the body’s way of identifying that it’s having a hard time. The ability to handle environmental allergens is dependant on the total ‘body burden’: that is, the degree and number of different things the immune system has to deal with. You can’t get rid of pollen, but you can decrease a number of factors affecting your immune system so that it can deal with them more naturally and effectively.
Your immune system is affected by food, exercise, stress, germs, environmental toxins, and overall health. A naturopathic approach to increasing the effectiveness of the immune system, and hence decreasing allergies, includes dietary and lifestyle recommendations:
Dietary Recommendations
• Drink at least 6 – 8 glasses of water a day.
• Increase your consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Increase your consumption of garlic, ginger, onions, cayenne and turmeric.
• Increase the amount of oil in your diet, such as flax oil or fish oil and avoid all trans-fats (hydrogenated oils).
• Consume at least 20 grams of fibre a day.
Lifestyle Recommendations
• Ensure that you get adequate sleep.
• Do at least 20 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week.
• Maintain a good posture. Poor posture, especially in the neck and shoulders, often contributes to blockages in the sinuses.
• Find ways to express and manage your stress.
• Avoid being around smoke or areas of high pollution.
• Use air-filtering vacuum cleaners and natural cleaning products in your home.
There is little you can do to control the environment around you. But there’s a lot you can do to assist your body in handling it naturally.
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