Our physical bodies are an
accumulation of nature they live in. Disconnect a branch from tree outside
your home and plant it in your sofa without water and soil - it will
die in a few days. Our bodies are like that branch - they need to be
continuously integrated with nature to stay healthy and vibrant.
If you are suppressing your immune system to get by spring, fall and/or other high allergen seasons, take a brief pause and notice what you are doing. Instead of
boosting the immune system so it does not get bogged down, we are
suppressing it so it doesn't bother us anymore. If your bank has a lot of
cyber security attacks, what should the bank do - disable all firewalls and
threat detection systems or institutionalize the best of breed
technology so our hard earned money can be protected? We know what we
want our banks to do to protect what we have earned economically. But suppressing our
own immune system seems normal even though when the immune system is
suppressed we are consciously putting our guard down for dozens of other
diseases including making for great breeding grounds for auto-immune
conditions. If you don't take any immune-suppressants today, awesome - you can still use the steps below to boost your immunity. A strong defense system is the best offense. Fortunately, there are very simple strategies we can use to
boost our immunity. A few listed below -
3. Honey - local. Befriend your enemies family and friends
- Get local honey. Again, imported from a country where we do not live has little impact on our immune systems ability to fight local allergens and toxins. This is like befriending your enemies family and friends now ..
6. Detox and Oxygenate
1. Anti-histamines (The short cut)
Let's face it, most of us are looking for a quick fix. when i was growing up there was a super glue product called 'Elfie' . it just worked, it would bond the toughest things together in a few seconds. Many in my generation lost a lot of skin to it as well as we would clamp our fingers together with elfie on them only to realize a few seconds later that the only way to separate fingers was to lose some skin. Now that is a quick fix, sometimes with an expense of course : ) .. Short cut then in case of allergies is to integrate the anti-histamines as a part of our daily diet. Some of the key one's are :
a) Red apple with the skin. Red Apple skin is full of Quercetin , an amazing natural antioxidant. just make sure it is organic otherwise you will probably be consuming the very pesticides which likely cause immune system problems to begin with. Other high Quercetin foods are :
b) yellow, orange bell pepper
c) strawberries, blueberries
d) onions
e) parsley, watercress
f) stinging nettle
g) soaked nuts - almonds , cashews , walnuts ... make sure they are raw, not roasted / smoked or with veg / seed oils - They are high in Magnesium
i) fish - only if you consume it and it is fresh, wild caught like salmon and/or trout. if you don't consume fish then a high potency vegan Omega 3-6-9 supplement works as well .
Wait, there's more ... these subsequent steps are not the short cut but will help you bolster the immune system for next allergy season as it can take a few months for the immune system to learn ...
2. Bee pollen - befriend your enemy
-
Get local bee pollen. Imported from somewhere else in the
world has little impact on our immune systems ability to fight local
pollen based allergens.
Where to buy from? Whole foods fridge section in supplements section has it.
Why?
It's like Flu shots. Introduce a strain of flu in body and body
develops immunity to it. Introduce local pollen directly in body and
body will develop immunity to it. It's like making your enemy your best friend
How to consume? Add it to your morning green smoothie
How much to consume? 1/2 a tsp / day is plenty. volume is less important, body getting used to local pollen is key
- Get local honey. Again, imported from a country where we do not live has little impact on our immune systems ability to fight local allergens and toxins. This is like befriending your enemies family and friends now ..
Where to buy from? farmers market or local brands like King Cobra apiary honey Ali and Alicia harvest here in Chapel Hill
How
to consume? Add to it any hot/warm liquid like Black tea, Black coffee, Herbal tea
or warm water. If you like milk/cream in your tea/coffee attempt to use
coconut milk (or cashew, hemp, almond milk) instead of dairy. Casein, the milk protein
combines with the anti-oxidants in tea/coffee and renders them
practicably nutrition-less
How much to consume? 1 tsp / day unless you are keeping the overall sugar intake low for other medical reasons
4. Organic/Raw Apple cider vingear + lemon + warm water
Why?
ACV - boosts your gut's ability to fight toxins. 80% of our immunity is
in the gut. Lemon - Alkalizes the systems. Warm water - flushes toxins
away.
When? First thing in AM. Last thing at night after at least an hour or so post dinner
Note - citrus fruits can trigger higher histamine responses in some people. If you you know that is the case, skip the lemon and other citrus fruits during high pollen season, you can always get high dose bio-available Vit-C from broccoli, kiwi, berries and other fruits which do not trigger a histamine storm
5. Feed your 2nd brain that is 80% of the immune system - The Gut
5. Feed your 2nd brain that is 80% of the immune system - The Gut
a) Fermented foods - Introduce as many fermented plant based foods like Sauer-Kraut, Home made dosa/idli, Hummus etc. to your meals. Sauer-Kraut is great to add to practically any meal you are having - mix it with rice, dal, add to sandwiches or on top of salad. We are all walking, living, breathing colonies of trillions of living organisms, it is important to continue to keep sending re-enforcements to the war-front. In case of physical health, war is not only for objects and contaminants outside of the body, it is a perpetual state of existence within the body as well and at a much exponentially larger scale. Again, fermented foods just like Raw ACV bolster our second brain - The gut. Healthy gut will create the right conditions to fight seasonal allergies, infections in more ways known to us. People typically ask - what does your gut tell you? As it relates to creating a rock solid immune system, the real question is 'what do we want our gut to say to seasonal allergens as the pollen content rises?'
b) Fiber - Fiber creates the environment for a healthy microbiome. find ways to consume healthy fibrous foods like asparagus, celery, root vegetables, cruciferous vegetables and more .. . I am lazy, so smoothies are my goto for increasing fiber intake
6. Detox and Oxygenate
Oxygenate
a) if you can and live in an area where Air Quality Index is good, have your windows open for fresh air
Why? there are so many obvious reasons, but here's the top 2b) develop, integrate a breathing practice - there are many ways to do this, find one that appeals to you and you will stick to. Easiest starting points are - Pranayams, Kapaal-Bhaati (This is a very potent detoxifier), wim-hoff breathing .. .
7. Abstain, Avoid or at least temporarily eliminate/drastically reduce these from your intake:
a. Dairy - This is a whole years worth of research, but as it relates to allergies specifically - Dairy causes mucus, it boots the Insulin Growth Factor (called IGF-1) which interferes with ideal Pancreas and hence the entire endocrine system' hormonal balances
b. Other animal based proteins - Eggs, Meats etc. Typical food elimination and/or abstinence is based on allergy tests. This seems logical for most.part. Here's the deal though - a very minuscule population is allergic to alcohol, table sugar and tobacco. Does this mean they can consume these in any quantity and not develop any physical health problems? Back to animal based proteins - Dairy, Eggs, Meats - ethics issues aside - these are very hard for human body to digest and integrate - this is primarily because they have zero fiber content, are extremely high in cholesterol, saturated fats and create acidic environment in the body. When the body is in optimal health, when coupled with a ton of fiber based foods like Vegetables, Fruits, Soaked / Sprouted / Fermented Nuts & Seeds, it is able to handle the overload. But when the immune system is already dealing with foreign substances which it believes it needs to get rid of as quickly as possible via mucus formation etc. - any additional overload creates much un-desired toxic overload. There is a special condition body is fighting, it needs all the time, energy and life force to focus on it's primary job at hand vs. spending endless cycles digesting proteins like casein(dairy), ~ 70% saturated fats (cheese), alkalizing the body because of the extreme acidity, sucking calcium from bones as it's needed to digest animal proteins. What you do long term is completely based on your personal, cultural choices - as it relates to helping your immune system successfully, at least during your high allergy season(s), see if you can reduce your animal based intake to < 5% overall and see how it helps you.
8. Natural anti-inflammation - Grounding / Earthing
Inflammation is a natural part of our physiology. Body inflames to address an issue. Fall on your knee and it will be inflamed for a few days and appear red / swollen. Body is sending it's repair and restoration crews to the site. But when inflammation does not go down it creates a burden on body which becomes a condition to address on it's own. Seasonal inflammation of adenoids, sinuses and airways is similar. Air we breathe not only has pollen but all the pesticides sprayed on grass, thousands of acres of agricultural land. Whether it's the pollen or the pesticides that find way via pollen, the ongoing intake creates a perpetual state of inflammation. An extremely potent anti-inflammatory strategy which humans have been executing for thousands of years is connecting with our mother earth bare foot. (If you haven't seen, checkout the Earthing documentary by Clint Ober. it's a great watch with family, friends for ~ 75 minutes). A short 60 second summary is this - Modern lives have most humans disconnected from it's physiological source - Mother earth. This creates a positive charge in body. An over accumulation of positive charge causes inflammation. Without the ability to discharge, diseases manifest. Walk, sit barefoot on earth and mother earth takes away what is not needed and recharges the body with what it needs. It's that simple. Every 5 minutes of grounding recharges the body for ~ 90 minutes.
You can take a powerful non steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) from local pharmacy. of course it works and it's a multi-billion $ industry, but something tells me that a pill is not the same as barefoot walking on grass while soaking sunlight on our skin. There is a place for medications, but our bodies are not born deficient of medications .. they are now deficient of constant connection with nature though.
9. Re-create Homeostasis . While there are many factors that create physical conditions which make things worse during high pollen seasons, one typically overlooked fact is that when people move from a place of their birth to a different geography; their immune system has to go through a ton of adjustment. Our bodies always want to stay in balance no matter what the external conditions. This state as coined by Cannon and discovered by Claude more than a century ago is called Homeostasis. Human immune system is extremely adaptable and is very quick to adjust when we move physical places of residence. That said, there are natural elements in our surroundings which were a part of our physical creation based on where we were born. This is also means that there are portions of natural surroundings which are not a part of our physical body when we move to a new place. Because, body still wants to be in Homeostasis no matter what the external conditions, it creates mucus to get rid of elements it is not able to easily integrate and metabolize via digestion and elimination. This mucus can clog our sinuses and more similar conditions can manifest. The simple steps above create the right conditions for our physical bodies to get assimilated in the natural environment around us --- we cannot re-create birth like conditions when the immune system was being formed for the first time but can definitely create the right environment for body to stay in balance in the surroundings we live in today.
10. Lets bust a few myths as well while we are at it
a) Probiotics help the gut, so dairy yogurt is a must....
You bet it is, but it depends on what the yogurt is made of. You can get it from Cow milk, Goat / Sheep milk or Plant based. Goat is way better than cow and plant based (coconut, almond, cashew) can be even better than that. Remember there is a reason that our mother's milk had 9 gm protein / liter and cows milk has ~ 4 times that at about 34 gm / liter. Nature's reason is that we are born at 7-10 pounds and grow to 100 - 200 pounds. Calves are born ~ 70 pounds and adult cows can be between 1000 - 2500 pounds, Let's just say we have slightly different needs
b) Cheeses, especially aged cheese are great
Cheese has no fiber, is extremely high in animal protein that helps the 70 pound calf become a 1000 pound cow in 9 months and is extremely high in saturated fats. Not sure what part of that helps with cellular health and metabolic flexibility, but if you must eat it, see if you can keep it under the umbrella of all animal proteins being < 5% of overall caloric intake. As it relates to our focus on allergies here, point is to reduce Dairy intake as dairy promotes over mucus creation
d) Citrus fruits are awesome for immunity
Yes they are but remember they can trigger massive histamine responses and actually worsen allergic reactions. It is not true for everyone, but if it is true for you then stick to non-citrus high Vit-C sources like Broccoli, bell peppers ..
e) Sourdough breads are practically zero Gluten so they are ok.
It is true that Gluten content in a sourdough bread is reduced from hundreds of thousands parts / million to a minuscule %, but remember when you are trying to find culprits, no stone must go unturned. Gluten is usually a trigger in most conditions related to sinus, thyroid, gut and general inflammations. See if you can avoid it at least for 3-6 months and observe the results on your own.
f) My immune system has turned against me.
That maybe true, but what if
- immune system is actually trying to get rid of the pesticides which the pollen is merely the carrier of? Wouldn't we want that?
- the inflammation in adenoids, tonsels, sinuses, gut and other parts of body is bodies valiant self preservation effort. we fall and knee swells up, that redness is good, body is creating inflammation to heal. Wouldn't we want to eliminate the reason why we are falling vs. taking something that does not prevent the injury but eliminates or numbs the sensation of pain at fall?
There is a distinct chance that immune system is doing exactly what it is programmed to do. which is to send a message when a foreign body enters the system - make it hard for the contaminant to stay in the system. There is a distinct possibility that instead of suppressing the immune system we actually need to strengthen it even more, train it even more but help it along the way by creating a congenial internal environment ...
By no means are these steps an exhaustive list of things, but it's a start in the direction of integrating us with what our physical bodies are a part of - nature. Keep in mind, it takes years if not decades for certain conditions to develop in physical body, if you introduce any of the above practices today and do not see any positive results tomorrow, do not be surprised. If you were looking for instant impact - over the counter medicines, steroids, surgeries usually are a band-aid solution, though with a whole laundry list of documented and un-documented long term negative impact. Ideally, whatever you start, give it a minimum of 7 days to see impact and adjust. Then increase it to 11 days, then to 21, then to 40 days and beyond until there is no effort and it becomes second nature. 21 days traditionally is the number of days it usually takes to either create or break a habit.
Remember perfection is not a destination, it is rather a never ending expression of who are to begin with. In the expression as many elements we can bring closer to our natural cosmic, planetary, biological rhythms, the healthier our body-minds will be. 100% alignment ~ 100% Health index. 10% alignment ~ 10% Health index. This post elaborates on many aspects for the sake of holistic completeness. You don't have to implement everything at once. Like Lao Tzu said - the journey of 10000 steps begins with one. What step will you take towards 1% better health is the question?
Have a great spring, summer, fall, summer and winter. We are here to live and love the best of all seasons, let's do it