Ragweed is back. Already? Yep. A new allergy season has begun and may I say it has started with a BANG. My little guy Sam woke me up with both eyes swollen almost shut the other morning. Googled it and man, it's saturating the map right now. I'm here to few tips for survival if you have seasonal allergies like my family does. 

First, if you know you have fall allergies, get ahead of them. An allergy is essentially your body reacting to a foreign intruder by producing inflammation to expel the villainous substance. Inflammation is an immune response but it's a bugger to deal with when it won't quit. The BEST thing you can do to get your allergies under control is to preemptively take an allergy medicine like Claritin or Zyrtec BEF
ORE you start having symptoms AND TAKE IT RELIGIOUSLY. If you do this, you will be so much better off for the season because the inflammation won't have a chance to start the cycle.

If you are like me, and forget that you have allergies (year round) for some reason, you might not have started taking your Zyrtec preemptively and now you are having symptoms. The second best thing you can do is TAKE THE ALLERGY MEDICINE RELIGIOUSLY. Even if it starts to get better. Keep it up. Also, incorporate a nasal allergy spray like Flonase or Nasacort, which works directly on the surfaces of your nasal passages which are usually the most symptomatic with allergies.

Thirdly, AVOID. Avoid the allergens. Seems like a no brainer. But truly, allergies can be so disruptive to your life that it makes sense to make some effort to avoid exposure. This season, ragweed is going to peak in the middle of the day, falling overnight and rising again in the morning. Plan evening activities. 

Fun Fact: Did you know that some foods can be amplifiers for ragweed allergies? I just learned this. Some foods contain the same protein structure as ragweed and your body will react to them if you are having inflammation due to ragweed allergies. This is so crazy, but here is the list:

Banana

Canteloupe

Cucumber

Honey Dew

Watermelon

White Potatoes

Zucchini

Sunflower Seeds

Could the list be any worse for our favorite summer foods? No, it couldn't. I'm not saying don't eat them, but I'm saying you might regret it.

Next, there are some things that you can eat to help ragweed allergies. Logically, these foods are going to be inflammation fighters and immune system supporters. Here is that list: 

Yogurt/Foods with Live Cultures

Turmeric 

Apples

Fish 

Nuts

Local Honey

Oranges/Vitamin C

So, if you are following me here, allergies = inflammation. To help allergies, keep inflammation under control BEFORE it gets bad and then work to keep inflammation down by watching for triggers. Side note: colds/flu can also trigger allergic inflammation response and combine to create a monster of immune response inflammation. Biggest take away, take the allergy meds. 

I hope you all are healthy and well and overcome this allergy season with ease! Take care!