March 2025

Seasonal Allergies

• Sesonal Allergies 101 – Part 1
• Sesonal Allergies 101 – Part 2
• Seasonal Allergies & Gut Health
• Seasonal Allergies & Stress

Seasonal allergy conditions have been on the rise in the last couple of decades, especially in industrialized countries. The reasons why some people react to environmental allergens are not entirely known. What we do know is that there is a genetic element to seasonal allergies, but the environment also plays a role.

Gut bacteria was found to be associated with the risk for seasonal allergies. Understanding how your gut bacteria affects your immune system, leading to allergies, can give you the tools to prevent them.

Gut bacteria affect on seasonal allergies

While your microbiome is spread throughout the body, these critters colonize your colon. In the colon, the microbiome is sandwiched between two layers of mucus. Mucus is an important part of the immune system that physically removes allergens. Right under the mucus are mast cells and IgE antibodies, the match and straw that light the allergic fire.

Studies show that gut microbiome has a profound effect on the development of a well-balanced immune system. A balanced immune system reacts when there is a need but stays put when there is no real need for reaction.

Internal or external environment changes can shift your gut microbiome’s number and strains. Studies suggest that people with seasonal allergies also struggle with dysbiosis, a shift in the microbiome that increases the reactivity of their immune system.

A Rich people’s condition

It is interesting to note that allergic conditions such as hay fever were considered an aristocratic ailment as it was much more common among affluent and educated people. However, with the Industrial Revolution, the rise of the middle class, and the development of hygiene, seasonal allergies lost their affluent status, and became common in people of all walks of life.

This totally makes sense to me after reading the book “The Epidemic Of Absence” by Moises Velasquez-Manoff. In the book, Velasquez-Manoff describes how, until the Industrial Revolution and the improvement of hygiene conditions, people were exposed to bacteria, viruses, and fungi from an early age when they lived in close quarters with farm animals and with sewage dumped in the street. These conditions caused many infectious diseases that were sometimes fatal, but those who stayed alive developed a robust immune system.

Historically, the aristocracy was not exposed to farm animals or gardening. Their lives were relatively sterile, as are our lives today. With the absence of bacteria exposure, more chronic diseases and allergies develop.

In the book, you will find the story of David Pritchard, a parasite immunology professor who, in 1980, went on a trip to Krakar island, 10 miles from Papua New Guinea, to research the relationship between worms and hosts. Pritchard found that while all the people in Karkar island lived a harmonious life with their gut “snakes,” it was those of them who had smaller worms with fewer eggs that developed IgE, the antibody that, when bound to mast cells, released the histamine that causes the allergic reaction.

As Dr Pritchard put it: “Allergy could be regarded as an evolutionary hangover from parasitism.”

The microbiome immune connection.

There are several ways through which exposure to bacteria from an early age can help prevent seasonal allergies later in life:

• Exposure to bacteria trains your immune system to react effectively to pathogens. That also means not responding to false alarms.
• Exposure to bacteria increases the diversity and numbers of your gut microbiome, the ecology of critters living in your gut that actively modulate your immune system. Lower numbers of gut bacteria species were found to be associated with seasonal allergies.
• A healthy gut microbiome “digests” fiber from your food and produces short-chain fatty acids. In turn, short-chain fatty acids increase the integrity of the gut, modulate the immune system, and reduce inflammation.
• Some gut bacteria strains are pro-inflammatory. They initiate an allergic response by stimulating the production of IgE antibodies and histamine.

What to do?

All studies show that exposure to farm animals and soil bacteria reduces your chances of developing seasonal allergies. Grow a garden, get a dog.

While washing your hands with warm water and soap is crucial for avoiding infectious dis-ease, chronic use of hand sanitizer reduces the numbers and diversity of microbiome, increasing your risk of seasonal allergies.

Feed your microbiome. While you can’t break down and absorb fiber, your gut microbiome feast on it. A diverse diet with multiple sources of fiber ensures a diverse, thriving microbiome.

When you use antibiotics, you wipe out not only your pathogenic bacteria but also your gut microbiome. Sometimes, you must use antibiotics, but make sure to use probiotics such as in fermented food following an antibiotics course.

The fascinating studies that associate the gut microbiome with seasonal allergies paint a vivid picture of how gut bacteria regulate the immune system. However, the relationship between gut bacteria and the body is bi-directional. Your lifestyle, including diet, stress, and movement, has a huge influence on your inner ecology.