Five Great Ways To Be Allergy-Free

By Richard Shames, M.D.& Karilee Shames, R.N., Ph.D.

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

As allergy season progresses, you may be wishing for more effective relief. People with thyroid and other autoimmune problems generally have greater-than-average difficulty with their allergic symptoms.

There are, however, some very useful natural remedies ideal for your particular needs. These may be utilized in addition to, and often instead of, the harsher and more expensive chemical medicines.

Below is a sampling of successful maneuvers from twenty-five years of our thyroid and general medical practice. Please consider this list a menu rather than a prescription.

REVITALIZE YOUR VITAMINS - Make sure you are taking a hypoallergenic multivitamin with chelated minerals. Good daily doses of superb additional items are 500 mg of the B vitamin pantothenic acid; 2000 mg of ester-type vitamin C; 1200 mg of the bioflavenoid quercetin; and four capsules of mullein. Excellent proprietary items include the herb Perilla Seed from Metagenics. Two pills daily lowers your allergy threshold, while two daily of Butterbur from Life Extension make an effective decongestant.

IMPROVE YOUR INDOOR AIR - Night time breathing is a surprising factor in daytime allergy symptoms. Have your windows closed from mid-night to noon to keep most of the pollen out. Air conditioning is also a great help. Do frequent laundry runs and vacuuming of your sleeping space. Be ruthless with bedroom clutter, so as to eliminate dust catchers, such as throw rugs, extra pillows, books, papers, and junk. Equally important: always sleep near a HEPA air filter.

EAT YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS - Paying attention to your food sensitivities has a way of making the pollen allergies better. You are likely to be overtly sensitive to whatever has disagreed with you in the past. Moreover, you probably have a hidden sensitivity to the food you crave most, be it bread, chocolate, corn chips, or dairy. Eating a “sensitive” food less frequently (perhaps only every other day or every third day) will augment your allergy relief. For added benefit, try eating more natural whole food, and less artificial sweeteners. Synthetic chemicals are like a metabolic monkey wrench for allergy sufferers.

PURSUE POSITIVE THINKING - How could this help? Simple: Our immune system over-reaction to the microenvironment corresponds to our being overly “defensive” in the social environment. That connection has now been confirmed by researchers. Start doing whatever it will take for you to be less fearful or worried or anxious. This can be quite a task, but well worth it in terms of an immune system that has far fewer hair-trigger responses to pollen and dust.

HONOR YOUR HORMONE BALANCE -- This could be your most important remedy of all. Fine tune your thyroid-adrenal-sex gland levels, and you may not need anything else. Well-balanced hormones lead to a better balanced immune system. Why not check these three glands with one inexpensive self-ordered home saliva test? (Tests are available from www.canaryclub.org) Sensitive saliva testing may show a correctable imbalance, despite a good health regimen and/or normal blood tests. You can re-adjust your levels, often with simple over-the-counter remedies, and your allergies will generally be quite improved. (One of many information sources for non-prescription hormone balancers is our book, Feeling Fat, Fuzzy, or Frazzled? Hudson/Penguin, 2005)

Here’s wishing you less sneezing, less dripping, and great lasting relief.

Richard L. Shames MD & Karilee H. Shames PhD, RN are authors of two popular books for thyroid patients, Thyroid Power and Feeling Fat, Fuzzy and Frazzled?. Both experts provide telephone coaching for optimal wellness. More information is available about their coaching sessions at their site.

Researcher develops allergy-free peanuts

by Jennifer Guevin

People with life-threatening allergies to peanuts might be able to rest easy at their friendly neighborhood Thai restaurants soon, if research announced this week proves true.

A release from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University says researcher Mohamed Ahmedna has developed whole, roasted peanuts in which the allergen is completely inactivated and that serum from people with severe peanut allergies did not react to the processed peanuts at all. The university paper does not explain the process at all. However, it claims the technique inactivates peanut allergens without degrading the taste or quality of treated peanuts.

Between 1.5 million and 3 million Americans have a peanut allergy (the number varies widely among different studies), and peanuts account for 80 percent of fatal or near-fatal allergic reactions each year, according to the Mayo Clinic. And the number of people with peanut and tree nut allergies has increased dramatically in recent years. Peanut allergies can be particularly dangerous because food in restaurants and manufacturing plants often comes into contact with equipment contaminated with traces of peanut oil.

The university is looking for a way to commercialize the allergy-free peanuts, which could be very good news for peanut-allergic people, many of whom have to cautiously inspect package labels and inquire about the use of peanut oil in restaurant kitchens.