March 2025

Seasonal Allergies

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

I hope you got the chance to read last week’s post because I am stacking today’s post on top of it.

Last week, I wrote to you about what happens when pollen, AKA airborne pathogens, meets the frontline of the immune system, the mucus. Today, we will dive deeper into the body and talk about the immune cells that live on the mucus of your inner skin (epithelium). These immune cells, called mast cells, line the epithelium surfaces exposed to the outside environment, which makes them more vulnerable to pathogens. 

Seasonal Allergies 101 – Part 2

or the lungs, where allergan get in carried by the air you breathe.

Although all mast cells are born equal, their development differs due to the “hood” in the body where they live and what they meet throughout their lifespan. For example, we know that the mast cells of children who were exposed to secondary smoking are more sensitive; they tend to open their doors and initiate inflammatory responses much more easily. Children who were exposed to secondary smoking at a young age have more than double the chance of developing allergies.  

Histamine – The storm brewing instigator

Histamine is a natural amine, a molecule that is a building block of protein. In the body, it brews the inflammatory storm, specifically hay fever and hives, in response to pathogens.

Two types of histamines roam the body:

Endogenous histamine is created by the body when the body “steals” one carbon molecule from histidine.

Exogenous histamine enters the body when you eat protein that starts its breakdown outside the body, for example, in aged cheese, deli meat, fermented foods, and alcohol.

Histamine that is released by mast cells can dock to histamine receptors. There are four histamine receptors that are very creatively called H1, H2, H3, and H4. In seasonal allergies, histamine binds to H1 receptors, triggering an inflammatory response. Histamine receptors are spread all over the body. Therefore, you will find symptoms in the skin, respiratory, nervous, and cardiovascular systems.

Some of the symptoms to look for are:

Skin-related symptoms:

• Itching
• Hives
• Swelling

Respiratory symptoms:

• Runny nose
• Nasal congestion
• Increased mucus production

Central Nervous System effects:

• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Brain fog
• Agitation

Cardiovascular effects:

• Heart palpitations
• Elevated heart rate

If you have a constellation of these symptoms every year at about the same time, then you are most likely struggling with a seasonal allergy.

Another factor to consider is that seasonal allergies are not accompanied by fever. If you have respiratory and nervous system symptoms accompanied by a fever, you probably have a viral infection.

Anti-histamine meds and herbs bind to the H1 receptors, blocking them so histamine can’t bind to them and reducing the symptoms.

What to do?

This is the part that you were probably looking forward to if you are one of these people who struggle with allergies every spring.

Reduce your histamine baseline.

Each of us has a different tolerance to histamine; Some can be exposed to high amounts of histamine without developing symptoms, while others are more sensitive and develop symptoms with only a small amount of histamine. If you know you are prone to seasonal allergies, it might be wise to reduce histamine during allergy season. To reduce your body’s histamine, avoid histamine-containing foods such as deli meat, aged cheese, reheated leftovers (that’s a hard one), fermented food, and alcohol.

Stabilize your mast cells.

When I think of a care plan, I always say, “It’s not what you take. It’s what you do.” Lifestyle choices make a huge difference regarding how reactive your immune system is.

While lifestyle can be crucial when preventing seasonal allergy flare, you want to use supplements and herbs to stabilize your mast cells when you are in an active flare.

Vitamin C is a mast cell stabilizer. It stabilizes mast cells by:

• Strengthening the integrity of the mast cell membrane makes it less likely to burst open.
• As a powerful antioxidant, vitamin C reduces the presence of free radicals that might trigger mast cells.
• Vitamin C helps regulate calcium channels in mast cells, preventing calcium flood, a key trigger for mast cells.
• Vitamin C supports the breakdown of histamine in the body.

Quercitin, too, stabilizes mast cells. It does so by:

• Regulating calcium channels in mast cells, preventing calcium flood, a key trigger for mast cells.
• Blocking specific enzymes involved in the mast cell activation cascade.
• Strengthening the integrity of the mast cell membrane makes it less likely to burst open.
• Influences the genes that control mast cell behavior and reduces the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators.

Omega 3 EPA/DHA modulates inflammation in the body, mitigating the inflammatory response initiated by histamine.

Some herbs are known to stabilize mast cells. Dried herbs contain histamine; try them in tea in small amounts and observe your body’s reaction.

Herbs stabilizing mast cells include Tulsi, Hibiscus, Nettle, and Ragweed.

Peach leaves fresh from the tree (they don’t dry well) can help cool and soothe the inflammatory fire.  

Other factors that can help stablize mast cells are stress, sleep and your gut microbiome.