March 2025

Seasonal Allergies

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

When March arrives, I start looking forward to spring. The beds might still be covered with snow, and my herbs look brown and brittle, but in my mind, I can see the first tender green leaves that will emerge in a few weeks.

I am looking forward to spring, but know that many people dread spring because with spring comes pollen, and right after pollen arrives, the dreaded allergy season.

Seasonal Allergies 101 – Part 1

An immune system can fall out of balance in two ways:

An underactive immune system is an immune system that is depleted. People with an underactive immune system can’t fully heal from illness. A good example is the person who gets a cold, feels better, and goes back to work, only to get a cold again a week later. Cancer, too, is a sign of an underactive immune system.

An overactive immune system is an immune system that is kept on its toes, always ready to storm into battle, even when there is no one to fight. Two examples of an overactive immune system are autoimmune disease and allergies.

What are allergies?

Allergies are an immune reaction to substances (called allergens) that the body mistakenly identifies as harmful. These allergens include pollen, pet dander, certain foods, insect stings, or mold.

Seasonal allergies are allergies to pollen, a fine, powdery substance produced by plants, including trees, grasses, and flowers, as part of their reproductive process. It contains the male gametes (or sperm cells) needed to fertilize the female part of the plant.

People who struggle with seasonal allergies will have the same symptoms in the same season every year. Some trees that spread their pollen during spring are oak, birch, maple, cedar, pine, and alder. Some grasses and weeds (ragweed) let go of their pollen in the spring, too.

The air carries a cloud of powdery pollen into your body and activates your immune system, triggering symptoms mainly in the mucus membrane of the respiratory system and the skin.

The symptoms

The most common symptoms of seasonal allergies are:

• Sneezing
• Wheezing
• Nasal congestion
• Coughing
• Red, itchy, watery eyes
• Runny nose
• Itchy throat
• Itchy skin
• Irritability
• Hive
• Asthma
• Eczema

Fever is not a symptom of seasonal allergy. If you are congested but have a fever, you most likely have a viral infection.

I know you want to get rid of the symptoms because they are a pain in your behind, leading to brain fog and exhaustion. But what if before you rush to the medicine cabinet, you consider what the body is trying to do?

If you look at the symptoms list, you can tell that the body is trying to produce as much mucus as possible and expel this mucus from the body.

Mucus – The Immune System Superpower

Mucus is a sticky, gooey substance found at the forefront of all the body’s surfaces exposed to the outside world. That includes the mouth, nose, and eyes, as well as the digestive tract and the respiratory system.

Mucus is considered to be part of the physical barrier of the body when it physically traps pathogens, including pollen, and eliminates them through your nose, mouth, eyes, and even in your poop.

Mucus is home to immune cells, specifically an antibody called IgA (Immunoglobulin A), the front line of your immune defense. IgA

prevents pathogens from docking on epithelial (inner skin) cells and traps pathogens in the sticky mucus. Among other molecules, IgA is made out of Vitamin A. Your body gets vitamin A when you eat orange fruits and veggies like carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, etc.

How working with the mucus instead of against it can help reduce allergy symptoms:

Most conventional medicine will try to dry your mucus to shut down the symptoms, but what if you go on a path that has been less traveled?

When thinking about fostering health, I want to be proactive, meaning I want to prevent symptoms before they arrive instead of reacting to them after their arrival.

Once you get that mucus isn’t your enemy but your ally in removing pathogens before they initiate a more systemic immune response, you understand that fostering robust mucus production is in your best interest.

For the body to produce mucus, it needs:

• Water
• Electrolyte
• Proteins
• Vitamin A

It is always important to support mucosal health, but be sure to feed your mucus so it can thrive as a preventative step before the onset of allergy season and as part of the care plan if you experience an active flare.

Winter is a dry season partly because the atmosphere is drier and partly because of the furnaces and stoves that warm the house and dry the air. Therefore, keeping hydrated is crucial for mucus production.

Fermented foods can boost mucus production because they contain histamine. The body responds to histamine by increasing mucus production because histamine is the immune messenger that initiates the allergic reaction.

Eating or drinking histamine-rich foods when you are not in an active allergic flare can provide “immunity” by boosting mucus production and fortifying the physical barrier.

Demulcents herbs are herbs that moisten and cool inflamed mucus membranes. If you are staffed and congested but your mucus is too thick to effectively eliminate the gunk, you want to use demulcent herbs to thin your mucus. Some demulcent herbs are plantain, violet, and marshmallow leaves. The root of marshmallow is a demulcent, too, but is so slimy that I find it hard to consume. Demulcent herbs are best used as a cold infusion; just let the leaves infuse in room temperature water overnight and drink.

One more factor to consider is breathing. My teacher, Thomas Easley, always says, “The mouth is for eating; the nose is for breathing.” The nose developed a complex anatomy to screen airborne pathogens. When you are mouth breathing, you don’t get the same protection you get when you breathe through your nose.

When your nose is staffed, breathing through the nose is challenging, but try to pay attention to how you breathe and practice breathing through your nose before you are in an active allergic flare.

Next week, I plan to go down the rabbit hole of the immune system and the allergic reaction, breaking down the roles of mast cells and histamine.

Remember that “Knowledge is Power.” understanding how the allergic response works can help prevent a flare or at least reduce symptoms.