Springtime is something that many people look forward to.
Nearly all of us (especially those in colder climates) get tired of dull, filthy snow and begin to look forward to sunny warm weather, flowers blooming and leaves growing on trees again.
Unfortunately, the better weather unsurprisingly brings pollen and seasonal allergies with it, which causes us sleepless nights, itchy eyes, a runny nose and non-stop sneezing.
The most awful part of the attack from pollen and allergies nevertheless, isn't the list of tangible symptoms.
The worst part is the disconnected, "foggy" feeling that leaves you feeling completely detached from the world around you.
No thank you.
I know these symptoms all too well, because for most of my life I had terrible seasonal allergies, to the point where I would hate going outside because I could almost count on the fact that I would find a thin yellow layer of pollen on the hood of my car, as if to taunt me.
I, like many other people, badly wanted to be "Claritin Clear.
" I'd have to say that it wasn't until this spring, when I felt like everyone seemed to be struggling with their allergies, or bumming Zyrtec off of one another that it actually occurred to me that I was much better off than usual.
It was then that I began remembering that I hadn't struggled much the year before either and was starting to think it may be just good luck...
but two wonderful allergy free years back to back seemed to be too much of a coincidence to write off (not that I'm complaining!).
My previously debilitating symptoms are no longer an issue and I typically only deal with occasional sneezing and maybe a little tickle in my throat in the morning.
No more watery eyes, feeling "foggy" or having to switch sides every ten minutes at night so I could breathe! As happy as I was to no longer be suffering, I couldn't figure out what had prompted this change.
We had moved, but we were only a few minutes from our previous address, so we were in the same town and honestly had more trees and flowers than we had in our home before, so that couldn't be it.
I wasn't taking a different allergy prescription, heck I hadn't really taken any medications since we...
And then it hit me all of a sudden.
I'd never been a big fan of unnecessary medication, and springtime was one of the few times I was willing to concede and pop a pill for relief, but even that became a seldom occurrence in the last couple of years when Lynne and I switched to eating mostly organic foods.
Over the last couple of years or so, we have done most of our grocery shopping at Whole Foods and local farmer's markets and the vast majority of the food we eat is organic.
The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
There really is (to put it as simply as possible) a lot less crap in organic foods, and not having to process the extra preservatives and chemical additives in all the food I ate made spring a lot simpler on my entire body.
Think about it this way: if your body is consistently inundated with artificial colors, flavors, additives, pesticides and other harmful ingredients, your entire body is going to feel drained and out of balance.
An allergy is defined as "an abnormal reaction of the body to a previously encountered allergen introduced by inhalation, ingestion, injection, or skin contact...
" which basically means your body encounters something it recognizes as dangerous (even if it isn't) and responds appropriately.
This leads me to two conclusions.
First of all, what would cause your body to react abnormally to things like pollen? It stands to reason (especially after my recent experiences) that the introduction of a range of substances that don't belong in your body (artificial ingredients in food for example) could interrupt the sense of balance of your immune system, causing it to wrongly perceive allergens as a threat.
Now, does this mean everyone who doesn't eat a natural, healthy diet is going to have terrible allergies? No, but for those of use who are susceptible to hay fever, it probably doesn't help! The other thing to take into account is that when our bodies are damaged due to infection, our immune system is noticeably somewhat depleted, making us more susceptible to infection from alternate sources.
Wearing your body down with foods chock-full of a variety of toxins is going to have an impact on your overall susceptibility to various issues, including allergens.
If your system is previously damaged by frequent exposure to the preservatives and additives in your food, it's likely to be that much more vulnerable to a probable allergen such as pollen, where if you are limiting your exposure to detrimental substances you will probably be less susceptible.
Now, not all allergies are the consequence of food, and eating more wholesome, organic foods isn't certain to eliminate them all together, but it certainly hasn't made mine any worse.
Just some food for thought.
:)