Spring Allergy Survival Guide

Sneezing? Runny Nose? Sore Throat?
Welcome to Spring Allergy Season!

In this episode, I'm sharing my personal recommendations or calming seasonal allergies.
I'm including access to my Cedar Fever and Spring Allergy Survival Protocol  on Fullscripts.

I mention nasal irrigation, and I recommend shopping for sinus relief here.

If you want reminders about the upcoming Spring Supplement Sale Sign Up for my weekly (no spam) newsletter.

Welcome to the Art of Healing Podcast community.  This podcast is devoted to helping you find what works on your journey to health and wellness.  This podcast is devoted to providing information on many healing modalities.  Learn more about:

• Reiki
• Functional Medicine
• Meditation
• Energy Healing

and more!

Learn more about Dr. Charlyce here. 

Never miss an episode of Art of Healing Podcast...the podcast devoted to helping you heal your mind, body and spirit.

Sign up for my weekly newsletter, and never miss an episode along with other great content:

Art of Healing Podcast

Stay in touch socially here:
Healing Arts Links

Learn more about me and my offerings here:
Healing Arts Health and Wellness

Transcript

0:54

Hello and welcome to the first episode of March. hope you are doing well wherever you are in your part of the world. This is Charlyce and in my part of the world. It's a little sneezy. It's a little snuffly because we're in spring, which is one of my favorite times of the year. Days get longer, you see all the blossoms and the blooms, and you know, everything starts to turn green, which reminds us that there'll be a lot of pollen in the air, and we all get a little sneezy and a little bit congested. So for this episode, I want to spend a little time talking about. Allergies, which is always a worthy topic, but especially because it affects so many of us. And to share some of the hints and tips that I share with my patients as far as how to survive the spring, how not to let it get you down, how to optimize your immune system. And I also share some special info about ways that you could actually save yourself a little money. To understand why allergies and allergic rhinitis make us feel sick, it's helps to understand what's happening with the immune system. When I'm talking to my patients about their immune system, I often think of it as your body's military. So depending on what part of the world you live in you know, unified bodies, countries have some kind of defense system, so most militaries are comprised of multiple components, not just one. It's an effective military that's going to defend the country, or an effective military that's going to defend your body. Your immune system needs to have parts that work, centralized parts that work throughout the body and patrol. It needs to have parts that are ready to act right now. It needs to have parts that have a memory that can store information so that when that threat comes back later, it's ready to react. So there is a particular part of our immune system that is most of the time the source of our symptoms when it comes to having allergic rhinitis or seasonal allergies. So the mast cells, which are, part of your cells. A part of your immune system are mostly at the source of what's going to be causing those allergy symptom. So during the spring pollens, which are the byproduct of, of trees and grasses and flowers in a reproductive stage, will be released into the air, because that's how they will communicate genetic information to reproduce. And then we happen to breathe those in. So, The pollen itself is not actually a threat to us, so we can breathe in the pollen. Our respiratory system is designed to filter air, try to clinging to the things that don't really need to come inside of us, and even to excrete it. to move it out. So the mucus that lines our nose, our sinus passages, our lungs is meant to trap some of that. So it doesn't really get any of us in us, but it's not actually a threat. It won't actually do anything to us. But over the years, if your body's been exposed to enough pollen and then for. Reasons we understand and don't quite understand. Um, for some of us, that pollen will start to activate the immune system by teaching, teaching part of your body called the B cells to label this small particle as a threat. So the B cells will produce a small molecule called an antibody, and in terms of allergies, that's usually an IgE antibody. Once that antibody's produced, that's part of the stored information or your immune system's, sort of filing information of store for later, this is a threat. So the next time that pollen or whatever comes in and it will attach to that IgE. that small antibody, and that will help to stimulate the mass cells to start to produce their chemicals, their weapons, to prevent an attack. So as we're describing this, keep in mind it's a little funny because the thing we're breathing in isn't like a virus or a bacteria. So it's not going to actually invade our tissues. It's not going to actually infect us. But unfortunately it incites the immune. Almost like any other infectious threat would, which is why it doesn't feel so good. So when the mast cells get activated, their weapons of choice are going to be cytokines, which are inflammatory proteins that activate the body for threat, encourage blood flow, encourage other parts of the immune system to wake up and start to fight. and histamine and histamines a chemical, we naturally produce that when it releases in one area or just all over the body, it's encouraging extra blood flow to an area. It's encouraging swelling. It actually causes us to itch, and then of course in the nose it makes us sneeze in our airways and in our lungs, it makes us. So once all of that happens, the end result is that you have seasonal allergies in which the histamine cytokine release in eyes, makes your eyes itch and feel gritty, makes you sneeze and cough. And then because this reaction may have started in your respiratory system, but the release of histamine tends to affect the whole. you just actually don't feel good. You might be achy, you might be very tired. For people that are prone to this, they may actually have even a mild fever and actually feel as if they're getting sick and really they are from something that's infectious. So here are my tips and advice for helping to prevent some of this reaction, helping to calm some of this down. The first one is you can start with the most basic level of that allergy reaction. So cleaning out your respiratory tract. Your respiratory tract actually does clean itself, but you can help it out some. You've probably heard of using a neti pot or nasal irrigation. So there are several ways you can do this. How often you do it depends on your symptoms. You can use a traditional Neti pot, which is a high quality clay pot. There's a number of places that you can buy those from you'll want to use. verry, very clean water. Really distilled or sterilized water. You don't want to use tap water, although tap water is okay for most things because you'll be using the solution inside your body. It's better not come from the tap. Tap water can have bacteria in it. When using a neti pot, it, depending on where you purchase it from, you might have some kind salt-like solution that you'll mix with sterilized or distilled water. It should come some with some instructions on how you'll do this, but you'll mix the solution in the pot. and to perform the, the nasal irrigation. It, it is funny and awkward the first time that you do it, but you stand over a sink. You turn your head one way or the other, and you breathe through your mouth, and then the solution you pour into one side of your nose and then the solution will actually flow through your sinuses and come out of the opposite side. For people that are not used to. Or have not used an Neti pot before. It is a little creepy and weird, but it is actually a very effective way to reduce the burden of the pollen that's getting into your sinus cavities. Your sinuses warm the air that comes into your body. And to do this, there's a bit of recirculation, so whatever's in the air could get trapped in your sinuses, and if it's something you're allergic to, it could just keep re-triggering that allergy. So using a Neti pot can be effective. The Neti Pot is actually an Ayurvedic remedy that stems from Ayurvedic medical science several thousand years. if the Neti pot is too much for you and just you, you just can't imagine, you know, pouring solution all throughout your sinuses. There are several over the counter nasal rin solutions that are pre-made, pre sterilized. You just stand over sink and you spray the solution directly into your nose and as much as you can tolerate into your sinuses, and it'll flow back out. with either way. If you do those, you want to gently blow out your nose. Don't do it with too much force because you have introduced a lot of fluid material into your sinuses, which could create, pressure in your inner ear, and that could be quite uncomfortable. Reducing inflammation all over your body in any way you can is worthwhile to keep from getting sick from anything you might be allergic to. You always wanna make sure to avoid inflammatory foods. We don't realize it, but a lot of times we don't feel well, we'll crave sugar, we'll crave unhealthy foods. Sort of a stress response that comes from our adrenal glands. But where possible you might wanna avoid these dairy's not so great for you if you're having allergies. So if you normally consume a lot of cow's milk dairy in your you're in your season, this might be a time to consider going dairy free for a little bit. Of course, if you know you're allergic to any sort of cow's milk, dairy, sorry, dairy products that come from cow's milk, it's probably a good idea to avoid that most of the time. But you might wanna eliminate, you know, High sugar, high glycemic foods just temporarily or you know, maybe long term, it's not a bad idea. Also, you can consider helping with inflammation all over your body by adding turmeric, so turmeric. You are probably familiar with, which is a spice that's used in lots of cuisine and it's an excellent anti-inflammatory. A lot of us will try to use it for, arthritis or inflammation, and some people like to include it in their regimen to prevent heart disease. You might wanna consider adding turmeric to your everyday supplement regimen. As you are listening to this, if you'll tune into your show notes, I'll include a link to my Fullscripts dispensary, and you can start to shop through the brands of turmeric that I recommend. It's always important to get enough vitamin C in the form of your nutrition. Vitamin C comes from leafy greens, citrus fruits, plenty of vegetables. Even if you're eating inadequate amount. It's actually a little bit surprising that you can get low, fairly easily. I had learned in my functional medicine training that. Recommended amounts of vitamin C may not be enough, and that for many of us during times of stress and illness, you may deplete that amount totally. in some of my patients that are having a lot of trouble recovering from illness, from infection, having chronic skin issues, joint issues, I'd started checking vitamin C levels and I've been surprised at how often individuals tend to be low. So getting in enough vitamin C. you want to do that with your nutrition. It's not a terrible idea to consider supplementing vitamin C and in my Fullscripts dispensary, which I will include in these show notes, if you'd like a link to have a look. I. I will include the brand and type of vitamin C I recommend. It is better to take in a vitamin C that's gonna be longer acting and that assures that your body can absorb it better. So if you'll check your show notes, you can find out the vitamin C that I recommend. Most of us can tolerate vitamin C. It's a safe supplement to take, and this is above and beyond any multivitamin that you'd be taking. And you can consider splitting the dose up, taking the another form of vitamin C at different time from your multivitamin. A lot of times we don't realize the connection that our mood can have to how we're feeling, as we've discussed already. Allergies, seasonal allergies. Are an extension of inflammation and we can have inflammatory response to a lot of things. An injury, an infection. When I'm working with my patients, I often like to remind them. That your mood can trigger and worsen inflammation. So as we're coming upon the spring and you're having seasonal allergies, it's never a bad idea to check in with how you're feeling as far as your, your mood. And a lot of my patients do notice that if their stress level goes up, their allergies get worse. So one of the recommendations I frequently recommend, and it sounds a little funny, but I often recommend something to help calm the nerves, possibly some magnesium, and there's several forms of magnesium to take in. If you would like to have a look at my distinct protocol on Fullscripts, I give some recommendations for the magnesiums that I recommend. But taking a magnesium at night is good for many conditions, especially if you're prone to headaches, possibly migraines. A lot of people notice their migraines aretriggered in the spring at the same time that their allergies are being triggered. And for those people, I'll say, just take a little bit of magnesium at bedtime. Um, if you're prone to muscle aches, muscle spasms, that's likely because you've gotten low on your magnesium. So adding some magnesium not only can help keep you calm, keep you centered, but keep you from triggering your allergies from a stress response. I have been recommending Fullscripts for the last few years working with my patients, and I am a loyal customer of Fullscripts. Fullscripts is an online dispensary that provides the highest quality of supplements and lets you save money, especially through shipping, and then especially because a company regular offers fantastic. So coming up, there's going to be a great sale coming in March 14th of 15th. That will allow you to save a significant amount on supplements you may already be buying, and if you sign up through my dispensary link, which will be in your show notes, you will get additional savings during the spring sale. So I wanted to make sure to point your attention this way because this is a great time to save money and you have to be careful where you buy your supplements. Depending on where it's coming from, you may not be getting exactly what you think if you're not sure who the company is. With Fullscripts, it's full disclosure. They share with you who's making it, how it's made, and they actually have supervision of scientists and medical experts, so, As you're listening to the show, if you're wanting to take advantage of this upcoming sale, I would encourage you to, as a customized myself, I'm going to take advantage of it. But definitely sign up below. You can also sign up to join my email list, because I will be sending a lot of reminders before this cell comes up. So in addition to helping with your spring allergies, getting your magnesium, Well getting into vitamin C that you need, for any other other supplement needs and they've even explained it, their line to even some beauty products. You'll, you want to check them out. So thank you so much for joining me for today's episode. It, that sells coming up pretty fast, so I would tell you to sign up, for my email list cause I can let you know when the sale's coming. I won't let you miss it or sign up for the dispensary link below. I'll be back in a few weeks at which time we'll have some pretty amazing guests. So I don't think you'll wanna make the next few episodes before we go on spring break for the Art of Healing Podcast. Thank you so much for joining me. Have a wonderful week. Bye-bye.