Finally Spring is here!

The weather is gradually getting warmer, birds are returning, and pretty soon the winter jackets can be put away for another year. The downside for some of us, with these seasonal changes comes allergies! Yes, all the fun you can have sneezing, congested, blurry eyed and unable to breath. However, what if you could do things differently and get them under control naturally?

Common Symptoms:
 

• Postnasal drip
• Sniffling
• Dark circles under eyes (allergic shiners)
• Puffiness beneath the eyes
• Restlessness
• Fatigue
• Poor sleep
• Headaches
• Behavioural problems such as irritability, hyperactivity, poor concentration, whining, and pickiness about food
  

Why are they more common?
There is no one theory that currently accounts for the rise in allergies/sensitivities. Some of the proposed causes are as follows:
 
Hygiene Hypothesis: Many children do not get sufficient exposure to a wide variety of microbes, and as result of growing up in an extremely clean environment the body does not learn how to modulate the immune response effectively. There seems to be some credibility for this theory since the significant increase in individuals suffering from allergies has been in the western hemisphere, and we have not seen a corresponding increase in other parts of the globe at the same rate.

Inflammation/Leaky Gut: Chronic inflammation in the body and the gut lining is unable to heal and permits certain food particles to pass through and interact with the immune system. These particles are tagged as ‘non-self’ by the immune system, and it will react to the presence of these particles every time they are re-introduced to the system. Leading to a cycle of continuous inflammation and slow/no healing of the gut lining.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)/packaged foods: We have altered certain foods in our food supply so much that our bodies have difficulty recognizing it and breaking it down as ‘food’.  There is also a corresponding increase in exposure to preservatives and pesticides that are mixed in or put on these foods.

Supplemental recommendations:
The following nutritional supplements can improve allergy problems in several ways: boost immunity, reduce inflammation, and enhance intestinal health.

• Zinc
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin B complex
  

Asian Medicine and Acupuncture
 

• Chinese medicine considers an allergic reaction to be a manifestation of the body's failure to adjust to its environment.
• According to the concept of the organs and their functions, weaknesses of the "Lung” or "Liver” could explain these allergic reactions.
• By stimulating the energy of the "Lung" and by regulating the "Liver" the acupuncture treatment aims to calm the exaggerated response. This can be done both preventatively as well as acutely.
  

Do you feel that in order to have a 'good diet' or 'eat well' that it requires a lot of sacrifice and hard work on your part? Well, I won't lie to you and tell you that it doesn't require any work, but I will tell you some simply changes you can make to increase your nutritious eating without becoming a gourmet chef!

Many of my patients will tell me something along these lines: "I eat pretty well most of the time, except for the weekends" or "I try to eat healthy, but I am so busy I just don't have time to cook". There are plenty of variations on that that I hear on a regular basis, but let's call them what they are, EXCUSES! Now believe me I get it, at different times in my own life I have been the queen of excuses for eating less than healthy. However if you continue to make excuses for yourself, instead of changes to your lifestyle, you won't like the outcome 10-20 years down the road.

Tip #1 Eat A Healthy Breakfast
Remember how many times you've heard it said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well it really is. I have seen in my practice, and again the research supports it, when we eat a healthy breakfast we are more likely to feel full and satisfied, make better food choices throughout the day, and we start our metabolism and blood sugar levels off right. If you're the type of person who really likes to have a bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast or skip breakfast altogether just start by adding some protein or healthy fat into your meal. Some great choices are: eggs, avocado, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts and seeds, nut butter, and lean meats. Smoothies are also a great way to pack in lots of nutrition, which are quick and easy to make as well as portable for the one the go individual! 

Tip # 2 Prepare meals ahead of time
Have a meal or two prepared ahead of when you need it is a great way to avoid making poor food choices and eating take out food too often. There are lots of ways to do this. Utilize your slow cooker (or get one if you don't have one yet), there are so many recipes out there in books and online for making great slow cooked meals. Many you can even prep the night before then just dump in the pot before you leave in the morning for work, then you can come home to nice warm meal already prepared for you. Another strategy is to cook 1-2 meals that make lots of portions on the weekend. My current favourite is frittatas. I will make a batch or two on Saturday or Sunday afternoon and maybe another meal and there's breakfast/snacks for the week done. Often you can also make things and freeze them in anticipation of a day you don't feel like cooking, or don't have time to cook. Trust me, cooking is not my favourite activity to do, but by batch cooking I only need to 'cook' 2-3 times a week and I'm well set for eating well all week.

Tip #3 Source your food well
Where our food comes from and how it's prepared makes a big difference for our health. Unfortunately, the ways we changed farming and growing food in the last several decades has left us with food products that are severely depleted of nutrients. Whereas our grandparents and great grandparents were able to eat plenty of nutritious foods and get their daily vitamins and minerals without the help of supplements, and eating organic, we do.  One step we can take is to buy organic when possible. I understand that many of us cannot afford to eat organic all the time, I don't buy 100% organic everything either. However, by using things like the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen List put out by the Environmental Working Group each year we can eat organic when it really matters and significantly decrease our exposure to pesticides.  This year's update of EWG's Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ reports that USDA tests found a total 146 different pesticides on thousands of fruit and vegetable samples examined in 2014. Another great thing to do is source your food from farmer's markets or directly from farmers that you trust. You can often get good deals on buying bulk from the farmers and then you're buying local as well!

Trick or treat! Give me something sugary to eat!
 
Halloween is just around the corner, which means the annual influx of extra treats into the house that are laden with sugar! Now I am not saying we need to do away with sugar altogether. In fact, if we had no sugar at all we would have some serious problems on our hands. However, we aren’t lacking sugar, we are drowning in it.

The rates of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and various other serious health problems are on the rise. Stats Canada has estimated about two thirds of Canadian adults and one third of children are overweight or obese.  A major contributor to these health issues is poor eating habits, especially excess sugar. To further compound the problem, even when people are trying to make healthy choices it isn’t easy to do so. Presently, there are 56 different names for sugar, and manufacturers are not required to group them together on nutrition labels.

This is fine when we have a good balance of fuel coming in, but what happens if there’s too much?  When we have too much sugar in our blood, it needs to be stored away for when it’s needed, so the body converts the sugar into glycogen. However, like any storage unit we can only put so much away.  So what happens with the excess that doesn’t fit? This is where problems can start. An important hormone that helps keep sugar in balance is insulin. Whenever sugar is detected by specialized cells in the pancreas, insulin is released. Think of insulin like a key to a door, in order for sugar to enter into most cells they need the key (insulin) to unlock the front door and let them in. Insulin is vital to making sure that we do not become hyperglycemic (too much sugar) or hypoglycemic (too low sugar).  Conditions like Type II diabetes result from the cells becoming insensitive to insulin. Think of a toddler who keeps asking for the same thing over and over again, eventually you get tired of hearing them so you start to tune them out or stop responding to them altogether. Diabetes is probably the most well known to be affected by blood sugar levels, but it’s not the only one. Other conditions that are affected by blood glucose levels include: PCOS, ADD/ADHD, Autism, certain cancers, and so on. We don’t have time to go into all these conditions today, the point I want to make by mentioning them is that the correct balance of blood sugar is very important to our overall health and influencing various health conditions.

Exercise
Two, is exercise! We’ve all heard time and time again how important exercise is for our health and this is no exception. Even a short 20-30 min moderate pace walk most days of the week can make a big difference. For many other reasons, it’s good to balance out cardio and resistance training accordingly, but I want to just touch on why walking is enough to do a lot of good. There are receptors in our muscles call Glut 4 receptors and they are seriously hungry for sugars. Think of turning on the vacuum, and how that powerful vortex just sucks up all the dirt in site in no time, but if it’s switched off and in the corner it’s doing you no good. When Glut 4 receptors are activated, they suck up sugars much like the vacuum, but only when activated. The quads, these big muscles on the front of your legs, house a lot of Glut 4 receptors. Research shows even just 30 secs of squats will significantly activate Glut 4 receptors in the quads and can drop glucose levels by almost a full point on the glucose monitor.

Stress Less!
Finally, get your stress under control as best as you can. As many of us know, too much stress isn’t good for our health, and stress is very integral to blood sugar levels. If we have heightened stress, then our body is preparing for fight or flight mode. If you decided to run, you’re going to need fuel on the ready to help you run away from that threat. That’s fine if we were still running away from saber-tooth tiger, or a tiger in general, but the problem is most situations that cause us stress these days, we can’t simply run away from. Use meditation, use exercise, use whatever strategies necessary to moderate your stress, because all that free sugar floating around in your bloodstream not being used is going to eventually lead to problems.

September usually means the beginning of Fall and Back to School for most families. However, have you given any thought to boosting your family’s immune systems yet? The change in weather, and return to their germ infested petri dishes, I mean classrooms, means that your kids and/or you could potentially get sick any time now.
 
Why is it important to support our body’s natural ability to fight off infections?

What Can We Do?
There are many things we can do to help prevent illness throughout the cold and flu season.
 
Basic Strategies:
1)Eat fresh whole foods: Eating a variety of fresh whole foods including plenty of colourful fruits and vegetables is essential to proper immune function
2)Avoid refined sugars, trans fats and salt: These foods are known to weaken the immune system.
3)Increase your consumption of vitamin C containing foods: Vitamin C is known to boost immune function and help prevent cold and flus. Increase vitamin C containing foods such as: oranges, lemons, grapefruit, strawberries, raspberries, black currants, peppers, spring greens, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
4)Eat more garlic and onions: Garlic and onions both have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, helping the body to fight off any germs it may come into contact with. (Raw consumption provides a greater benefit than cooked)
5)Drink up: Ensuring you are adequately hydrated will help enhance your immune system. Aim for half your weight in fluid ounces. (ex. If you weigh 150lbs, you should consume 75oz. of water a day)

6)Sleep, Sleep, Sleep: Ensure you are getting around 8 hrs of sleep per night and you are sleeping soundly. Too little non-restorative sleep is known to weaken the immune system.
7)Exercise: Engage in at least 20 minutes of physical activity per day. Exercise helps to increase circulation and lympathic flow, both of which help boost the immune system.
8)Breathe: Practice deep breathing exercises to help manage stress. High stress, fear, and worry can weaken the immune system, making you more susceptible to infections.
9)Wash hands: Wash your hands frequently using warm water and a natural anti-bacterial soap to prevent the spread of infection.
10)Cover your Cough: Cough or sneeze into your sleeve to prevent spreading infection and avoid touching your nose, mouth, eyes until hands are washed.

5 Herbs for Prevention
Astragalus (Astragalus Membranaceous)

• A deep immune activator, it’s known for its antibacterial and antiviral properties. From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective astragalus helps warm the Wei Qi, which is our defensive Qi or immune system. Can be used in combination with other herbs or by itself. If you do become ill you want to switch from this herb to another that has more active illness fighting properties.
• Dose: Decoction: 2-4 tsp/cup 3x/d

 
Siberian Ginseng (Eleuthrococcus senticosus)

• Immune system modulator, helps the body adapt to stress and strengthens the immune system.  Also helpful for decreasing inflammation in the body. Often included in immune formulas. If taking long term, it is generally recommended to take periodic breaks from use (eg. 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off).
• Dose: Decoction: 2-15 g 1x/d

 
Cinnamon (Cinamomum cassia)

• A nice addition to a tea or hot cereal, this herb not only has antimicrobial properties, it also helps settle the stomach and prevent diabetes. Should not be used in pregnancy as the essential oils may cause uterine stimulation.
• Dose: powder: 5-20 grains 3x/d, or to your taste

 
Dang Shen (Codonopsis pilosula)

• Another good adaptogen, helps the body adapt to stress and strengthens the immune system. Used for weak lungs from a Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective. Considered a milder substitute for Panax ginseng.
• Dose: Decoction of root: 9-30 g per day

 
Schisandra (Schisandra chinensis)

• Often combined with other similar adaptogens, it also has effects on the lungs, helping to expel mucous and decrease cough.
• Dose: decoction: 6-9 g each day
  

5 Herbs for Treatment
Echinacea (Echinacea angustifolium/purpurea/pallida)
- Stimulates the immune system to increase phagocytosis by macrophages (cells that kill and eat microbes). Antimicrobial/bacterial/viral properties. Best given at the first sign of infection. Dose: Decoction: 1-2 tsp/cup 3x/d
 
Ginger (Zingiber Officinale)

• Primarily known for its effects on the stomach. Helps to relieve nausea and vomiting, as well as gas and cramping. The warming properties of ginger gently increase the temperature of the body helping to eliminate heat sensitive microbes.
• Dose: Infusion 1 tsp/cup as needed

 
Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra)

• A sweeter herb that is good for a cough. Helps to soothe a sore throat and get mucus out of the lungs. Has antimicrobial and antiviral properties. Not recommended if you have hypertension or are pregnant/nursing.
• Dose: Decoction (root): ½-1 tsp 3x/d

 
Elder Flower/Berry (Sambucus canadensis)

• Used for cough and nasal obstruction (eg. sinusitis), especially good for kids because they generally like the taste. Have anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties. Also helps to induce perspiration with fever so more microbes are killed and flushed out of the system.
• Dose: Infusion of flower: 2-4 g /250 mL water

 
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)

• Primarily used for cough, particularly the dry hoarse cough that causes a lot of irritation to the lungs. Helps to soothe, and decrease the cough while still getting the mucous out. Another one that could be used with kids since it has a milder taste.
• Dose: 1-2 tsp/cup
  

The Liver is really the unsung hero when it comes to our overall health. This organ is so hearty, that you can actually live a very healthy life with only half of a liver. It’s also one of the few organs we have with a robust regenerative capacity, meaning that it can replace cells very quickly and is somewhat resistant to damage. Think of the person who’s been drinking heavily for 20+ years, but they are only starting to have issues with their liver now! Mind you that is not an invitation to abuse your liver.