It's that time of year again in Toronto when patients start complaining of seasonal allergy symptoms. Depending on your luck, you might have a short allergy season or it might last until late fall.
Symptoms may include fatigue, headaches, itchy eyes, runny nose, scratchy throat, sneezing, hives & rashes, etc. An allergy occurs when you touch or breathe in a substance and your immune system overreacts. When this happens, your body releases histamine and you develop symptoms.
Interestingly (to a Naturopathic Doctor at least!), there are also a whole bunch of foods that either contain histamine or release histamine upon consumption. It would make sense to me to try to reduce your bodys overall histamine levels if you're in your allergic season by avoiding these foods where possible.
High-Histamine Foods: hard and semi-hard cheeses, oily fish, shellfish, cured meat products, pickled vegetables, fermented soy products, wine and beer, chicken eggs, chocolate, and mushrooms.
Histamine-Releasing Foods: spinach, tomatoes, citrus fruits, strawberries, eggplant, avocado, papaya, bananas, kiwi, pineapples, and plums.
Once allergy season is upon you, there are also several supplements that can help reduce the release of histamine from mast cells in your body. For example, Vitamin C has been studied to stop the mast cells from releasing histamine as well as increasing the breakdown of histamine once released.
If you've got any questions or want to tackle your allergies naturally, please reach out!
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