Allergy Alert: Complementary and Alternate Medicine for Allergy Sufferers
Many of us are searching for a more natural way to get healthy and treat allergies. One of the approaches is to work with an “integrative medical specialist” to complement traditional allergy care for ourselves and family members if you have allergies. First, let’s get the proper testing to make sure you have allergies that require care. Second, how to “boost” our immune system to assist in conquering allergy symptoms with healthful foods? Great question, now I have some answers after talking with my colleague, Aran Degenhardt, MD, MPH who is a specialist of Integrative Medicine and on the Faculty of NYU Langone Medical Center in NYC.
Dr. Degenhardt also recommends fruits and vegetables for anti-oxidants (Vitamin C, selenium) and quercetins (gives fruits/veggies their color). In short, eat lots of fresh and colorful fruits and veggies. He feels they are even better choices if uncooked. Here are 5 more integrative tips for the allergy season:
1) Increase your intake of dietary omega-3 fatty acids, as found in fish (i.e. salmon), nuts and flax seed
2) Sinus irrigation with aerosolized water (hot shower, wet sauna, steam) using fresh ginger, lemongrass and eucalyptus
3) Drink plenty of water and keep well hydrated
4) Consider fresh ginger (frequently used in Chinese medicine)
5) Herbal remedies and supplements include butterbur and stinging nettle may provide relief
Of course it is essential with work with your health care provider and/or an integrative medicine specialist to develop a safe and individualized approach that is sound and right for you!
Dr. Clifford W. Bassett is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Long Island College Hospital and on the faculty of NYU School of Medicine. He is the current vice chair for public education committee of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. No information in this blog is intended as medical advice to any reader or intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition.
Tags: allergies, alternative medicine, complementary medicine, natural treatments
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Thanks for the advise. Nutritional supplementation is a much better solution to these common ailments than drug therapy. I really enjoy your blog and visit it frequently.
How can anyone trust herbals? Where is the research? Who controls the strength of each capsule? How much does one take? Are there any side effects some should watch for or should everyone just give it a whirl and hope for the best? Should we trust the high school student working in the health food store with our health? Are MD’s now telling us we can go to the health food store and get herbals prescribed by some unknown methodology in place of good old fashioned science based medicine? Exactly what is your medical advice based upon Dr. Bassett?
On what do you base the recommendation that fruits and vegetables should be uncooked?
Of course herbs need to be used judiciously just as anything else. Some do have side effects which it is important to know about. There are resources to get info on them. I’ve checked webmd for general medical info. I think they had some as well as links to other sources.
And I think it was the NIH that had a website related to alternative and complementary medicine which had lists of herbs and what the science was related to them, including risks and whether it had been shown to be effective.
Many herbs have been used and studied for hundreds of years–way more than many “science based medicine.” And of course some of those medicines get recalled or extra warnings, even after being on the market for a number of years as they find additional side effects from them.
I have been suffering from Allergic rhinitis for almost 2 years now and one of the supplements that I take is ascorbic acid. Now my question is, is it okay for me to take a higher dosage to be more effective, let us say three tablets a day.
I have seen many herbal supplement products on the market these days and they say that herbal medicines offer an inexpensive and safe alternative to pharmaceuticals. Are they effective and are there any side effects? Because as far as I know, they are safe, but can they really be trusted.