Even with her former doctor’s rotation of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, Brenda’s seasonal allergies returned every spring with a vengeance. She wanted natural relief without that drowsy, dopey feeling and other side effects medications often created. Numerous environmental suspects, like dust, dust mites, and pet dander, create or exacerbate allergies. Certain foods can trigger or make you more prone to developing allergic symptoms as well. As Brenda knew all too well, environmental factors including pollen were her nemesis. But many health care professionals overlook a common culprit for seasonal allergies: your foundation of health—the gut. It’s as if the gut controls a dimmer switch on immune reactivity, even to the outside world. So if your gut is sounding the alarm, the rest of your immune system goes on full alert, wreaking havoc on your enjoyment of the beauty of spring flowers. Pollen release happens in waves, so this can go on for several weeks at its worst. Underlying these and other problems is your gut microbiome, a diverse ecosystem living inside you comprising trillions of symbiotic bacteria that help maintain a healthy digestive system. When your microbiome becomes unbalanced, all sorts of havoc ensues, including seasonal allergies. When I tell patients that everything starts in your gut, I’m not kidding. The driver of your symptoms of seasonal allergies—including sneezing, feeling stuffy, and a runny nose—begins with chronic inflammation in the gut, which puts your immune system into overdrive. For Brenda, a leaky gut ramped up her immune system, amplifying the effects of her environmental seasonal allergies. To eliminate her allergies and all their miserable symptoms, we had to start with her gut. Leakiness or “hyperpermeability” of the gut essentially means partially digested protein molecules from food slip through your gut wall and create chaos. The immune system does not recognize these, so it attacks, which results in food sensitivities. You might not even be aware of these sensitivities because they can manifest without gut symptoms, instead showing up as seasonal allergies, postnasal drip, chronic airway congestion, and recurrent sinusitis, to name a few conditions. Food allergies differ from food sensitivities. Food allergies create an immediate response that can begin within seconds to minutes after contact with the protein substance. A skin rash, itching, shortness of breath, and closing of the windpipe are among the symptoms of food allergies. Food sensitivities, on the other hand, involve a prolonged or delayed reaction to food. A delayed onset (from several hours up to 36 hours after you eat the offending food) shows up with unwanted skin rashes (eczema, for example), fatigue, mental fog, and migraines. Research2 shows what I’ve found in my own practice: Intestinal permeability creates a vicious cycle of inflammation and allergic reactions. A nasty forward-feeding cycle develops as food sensitivities keep your immune system revved up. I had Brenda keep track of her symptoms, and we quickly saw a major culprit: She was eating a lot of “healthy” whole wheat pasta and low-carb whole-grain wraps with cheese. I explained that each time you eat gluten, the immune response it triggers can last up to six months. Add in dairy, and it triggers the overproduction of mucus inside your nose and sinuses, which will trap more pollen, keeping you feeling miserable for longer. We spent several consultations focusing on the right nutrients and other strategies to heal Brenda’s leaky gut (much of which I condensed into my free Quick Start Guide to a Happy Gut), which subsequently helped tame her seasonal allergies. Here’s how I approached that healing process. You could also try sipping on this tea, which really helps with itchy eyes and throats!
