Anyone suffering from allergies knows just how debilitating they can be and over time, they learn what to avoid and what is safe, especially when it comes to food allergies. However, there are times that no matter what you do and how careful you are, you still suffer from the same symptoms. Do you know that there is a direct relationship between gut health and seasonal allergies?
If you are experiencing symptoms such as itchy, watering eyes along with sneezing and itchy throats, it might not be seasonal allergies at all! You might want to consider that those symptoms are caused by something else. In fact, are you sure you even have allergies? With symptoms like those during the height of allergy season, most people assume they do, but that might not be the case at all. So, what could be causing those symptoms? Let’s look at gut health to find a possible connection.
Why You Assume You Have Allergies
Don’t misunderstand the intent here. A phenomenal number of people really do suffer from seasonal allergies. (We’ll get to foodborne allergies in a moment.) According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, there are more than 50 million people with allergies in the United States alone and unfortunately, children suffer more from allergies than adults. Approximately 30% of the population is allergic to one or more substance, but in children that statistic jumps by more than 10%.
As of the latest data, more than 40% of children suffer from the symptoms of allergies and if one parent has allergies, offspring have a 30% to 50% chance of being allergic. If both parents have allergies, then those odds rise significantly. Those children are 60% to 80% likely to be sufferers as well. This relationship is the same with foodborne allergies. Even so, the symptoms you are experiencing may have nothing whatsoever to do with allergies! The problem could be your gut, plain and simple.
Allergies and Histamine
Everyone has heard of antihistamines which are taken to ease the symptoms of an allergic reaction. These are compounds that work against histamines that are naturally produced by the body in response to allergens or injuries. Unfortunately, when the body produces too many histamines, the body experiences a histamine overload and the response is similar to an allergic reaction to something. There is a reason for this, so let’s continue a bit.
It all stems from the proteins that comprise many of those pollen-associated allergies and the proteins in the histamines your body is producing to fight allergens. Here’s where it gets a bit odd! When the body produces too many histamines, it begins to produce even more because it ‘sees’ those histamines as allergens. Remember, it produces histamines to fight allergens but if the body can’t differentiate histamines from allergens, well, you can see how that could be problematic.
Gut Health Could Be the Solution You Seek
Stepping back a moment, you’ve heard that foods like yogurt – which are high in probiotics – can contribute greatly to gut health. Probiotics are a wonderful ‘cure’ for a huge number of ailments in the intestines. Unfortunately, many of those probiotics you ingest from yogurt or supplements contain the very same proteins mentioned above. These can trigger the production of histamines which in turn, confuse the body even further.
The good news is that not all probiotics are created equal. You can find low histamine probiotics for gut health in supplements especially to counteract this phenomenon in the gut. The bottom line is that if you aren’t quite sure you have allergies, then it bears looking into both diet and gut health. Not only can the wrong choice of probiotics be ineffective, but they could also be the ultimate cause of those symptoms. Don’t assume you have allergies just because you are experiencing symptoms. Remember, the over-production of histamines could be at the root of your problem and you just might want to do a bit of tummy tuning.
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