Allergies: What They Are & Their Causes
An allergic reaction occurs when the immune system attacks a [usually] harmless substance called an allergen that gains access to the body. Therefore, the immune system calls on a protective substance called immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies to fight these invading allergic substances. Even though everyone has some IgE, a person suffering from allergies has an unusually large army of these IgE defenders — too much of a good thing.
As a result, the body's mast cells are often injured during the fight between igE antibodies and the pollen or allergic substance. When a mast cell becomes injured, it releases chemicals into the tissues and blood, one of these chemicals being a histamine. These chemicals cause the body to react because they are irritating and can cause itching, swelling, and leakage of fluid from the cells. Through different mechanisms, these allergic chemicals can also cause muscle spasms and can lead to lung and throat tightening, such as asthma and laryngitis.
Any substance can cause an allergy if exposed to a person in the right way. But for all practical purposes and with few exceptions, hay fever is caused by proteins. Many trees, grasses, and weeds produce extremely small, light, and dry protein particles called pollen, which is spread by the wind and inhaled. Because of this, a susceptible person frequently comes into contact with protein from plants. These pollen particles are usually the male sex cells of the plant and are smaller than the head of a pin! This can stress your body’s systems, but it doesn’t have to! A healthy body can adapt to and recover from stress — even repeated “attacks” by pollen and flowering trees.
Health Begins with Resilience
Hay fever and allergies are not the problem; they are simply a normal physiological response to a body that is under stress and away from homeostasis for too long. If hay fever or allergies are viewed as abnormal, we will treat disease as the issue and will only ever be able to cope with it - and coping is not what we want! To overcome anything, including allergies, we must identify the real culprit, which is a body that is stuck in a stress response. Resilience is the secret to health & has 2 components:
→ The body's ability to deal with and adapt to stress, which is the toughness component.
→ The body's ability to recover from stress - this is called the elasticity component.
Your Allergy Essentials
Immune Defense contains powerful ingredients like Elderberry, Quercetin, Zinc, Magnesium, Vitamin C and Vitamin D, all of which help combat allergies as well as boost overall immune health by supporting a healthy inflammatory response. Dr. Pete recommends taking this product daily to boost your immunity, regardless of how you are feeling!
Turmeric is thought to help with allergies because of its active ingredient, curcumin, which has anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties. Additionally, turmeric can help maintain the balance between Th1 and Th2 immune responses, which may help with allergic disorders like asthma, atopic dermatitis, and food allergies.
Elderberry Gummies are formulated with Zinc, Vitamin C, Elderberry and MORE to combat seasonal allergies. Elderberry helps counteract that overreaction of the immune system caused by allergies, calming the immune system down and reducing swelling in the nasal and sinus cavities.
Health Continues in the Gut
Your gut is the only thing standing between us and pollen! The gut is lined with epithelial cells that serve as a filter to keep toxins out of the bloodstream, but stress on the body in the form of environmental toxins, harmful chemicals in our food & water supply, too much sugar, negative thoughts & emotions, food additives and preservatives, hormone disrupting chemicals in our personal care products destroy those epithelial cells. When that happens, toxins enter the bloodstream and travel to all parts of the body - therefore, the immune system is activated and starts "attacking" these foreign invaders. Inflammation is step one when destroying toxins, and this inflammation can create allergic reactions to things such as pollen and dander.
To read MUCH more about allergies, check out our founder Dr. Pete's free eBook!