In the last week, I have had two friends bitterly complain about the severity of their sinus allergies this year. One of them even commented that “it seems like they are bad every year now."
According to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences my friend might be right. The study indicates that pollen season has increased by 20 days annually between 1990 and 2018, while pollen concentrations in North America increased 21% over the same time period.
Another study published last month found male trees and shrubs studied as early as 1998 have inundated cities and contributed to the overall allergy index in the U.S. by about 6%, with increases as great as 20% in Casper, Wyoming, and by nearly 15% in Minneapolis. Male trees are more often planted as they tend to be less “messy” in terms of dropping fruit, catechins, and the like.
Only 8% of urban forests in 38 U.S. cities and nine international cities were rated "low" for allergies, while more than 51% and about 40% of cities had medium and high allergy scores, respectively, as of 2018 and per the U.S. Department of Agriculture's urban forestry service.
Some cities like Albuquerque and Berkeley have made pledges or created pollen control ordinances that require a better ratio in male-to-female planting or require only female trees. But it seems that allergy season is likely to continue to get worse in most locales.
What to do?
There are many natural allergy remedies floating out there in cyber space. I've tried quite a few. These three are the ones I go to regularly and have found that work for my family. The first one takes time to work. The second two can help quickly.
1. Nasal Rinse
Rinsing the nasal passage with salty water or saline is one of the best tools to provide relief during allergy season. I’ve shared this with friends whose lives have literally been changed by employing this tool.
Researchers have shown that the nasal rinse can help people with respiratory illnesses with few side effects. Some people like the Neti Pot. I personally use this squeeze bottle.
Whichever method you utilize, make sure the water used is filtered or distilled since municipal water has chlorine and fluoride that can irritate your sinuses. Also make sure to make an isotonic saltwater concentration or else your nasal passage will sting. I like the squeeze bottle because it takes the guessing and measuring out of the process as it provides a line on the bottle where you fill the water up to, and a salt packet to add to the water in order to make the concentration isotonic.
2. Quercetin
Quercetin is one of the most effective natural antihistamines. Research has shown that it has antioxidant and immune-modulating properties and has demonstrated efficacy in supporting a healthy response to seasonal allergens. Research has also shown that the mechanism for quercetin’s allergy relief comes from its ability to inhibit human mast cell activation and prostaglandin release.
Quercetin is also excellent for gut health and has important anti-aging properties.
The only problem is that quercetin is poorly absorbed with only about 5% of what you take making it into your body.
Because quercetin has such amazing benefits but such poor bioavailability, we formulated QuercElite™, which is a highly absorbable form of quercetin that gets into your body quickly and brings relief to allergy sufferers.
We currently have a special offer for QuercElite™, so if you’re interested, give it a try!
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