Fall is a tough time of year for many people. People everywhere are sneezing and snifling with seasonal allergies which make them feel downright miserable. Allergies occur when your immune system goes haywire. So, let’s talk about ways to get your immune system back on track.
So let’s start with the basics. First, your immune response starts with digestion. Second, your response depends on the specific nutrients available to your body to fight off all the allergies. Thirdly, your immune response is activated by your liver. And finally, the antibodies attack and kill the allergens they encounter.
Most people don’t realize your immune system starts in your gut.
Almost 70% of your immune system is found in your stomach, small intestine and large intestine. So if you’re having digestive problems it usually makes your allergy problems much worse. But the opposite is true. Once you start to fix the digestive problems, your ability to control your allergies gets better also.
Another very important part of controlling your allergic response is having the proper nutrients available in your body. B-Complex vitamins, vitamins C, D, E, and Trace Minerals are all absolutely necessary for your immune response to work correctly. If any or all of these nutrients aren’t present in enough supply, your immune response suffurs dramatically. This is another reason it becomes so important to eat real food and take supplements every day.
It’s almost impossible to eat the way you should every day because of the lifestyle we lead. So giving your body those nutrients by using supplements is more important than ever. Make sure the supplements you are taking are food based supplements. The way you can tell is to look at the label and make sure you can recognize a plant, food, or vegetable name in the ingredients. The higher these substances are in the ingredient list, the better supplement it is.
The next part of the immune response is activation of the antibodies in your liver. Your liver is an amazing organ. It filters all your blood. It produces thousands of hormones and active substances and it activates hundreds of others. If your liver has taken years of abuse from eating processed foods, living in a toxic environment and being dehydrated, it becomes weak and has a hard time activating your immune response.
This is another example of when eating real food, especially green leafy vegetables, and drinking plenty of water can help your allergies dramatically. Green leafy vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, and kale contain all of the vitamin and minerals necessary for proper liver function.
Drinking enough water ensures your mucous membranes stay soft. Water also helps prevent your mucous from becoming thick and sluggish. If your mucous membranes are working properly, so is your immune response. So to keep your allergies in check this time of year eat real food and digest it. Take your vitamin and drink your water. Did I just sound like your Mother?