Natural Allergy Relief

Allergy:  Your immune system defends the body against infections, injuries, cancer and damaging substances. Sometime however, it can overreact attacking a foreign substance that is normally harmless. When the body comes into contact with an allergen it releases histamine in an attempt to fight off the allergen. This release due to the allergy will cause symptoms common to allergies like inflammation, sneezing, runny nose, and itchy eyes. This response is an allergy. An allergy response can vary from mild conditions to life-threatening disorders.

One out of every five Americans suffers from an allergy. Some of the most common causes of allergy symptoms can be:

*Food Allergy - most commonly nuts, seafood, eggs, and milk.

*Seasonal Allergy - most commonly tree pollen, grass and various molds.

*Pet Allergy - most commonly from animal fur or skin flakes (dander).

Conventional Allergy Relief: The most common over the counter allergy relief medications are antihistamines and decongestants.

 *Antihistamine causes allergy relief by blocking the release of histamine, histamine when released is what causes the common allergy symptoms such as redness, swelling, and inching. Most common side effect for antihistamines is drowsiness.

*Decongestants will help with allergy relief be shrinking swollen nasal tissue and blood vessels helping with nasal swelling, congestion, mucus secretion and redness relief. Most common side effects for decongestants are insomnia, irritability, restricted urinary flow, and high blood pressure. People with high blood pressure are not recommended to take decongestants.

Some of the most common prescription medications for allergy relief include steroids, bronchodilators, mast cell stabilizers and leukotriene modifiers.

*Steroids will help with allergy relief by reducing the inflammation associated with allergies. Steroids need to be taken daily in order to get the full benefit. Common side effects of steroids are weight gain, fluid retention, and high blood pressure. Long term effects can be things such as diabetes, growth suppression, bone thinning, and muscle weakness.

*Bronchodilators help with allergy relief by controlling asthma symptoms. There is short-acting which provides quick relief, and long-acting which can provide relief for up to 12 hours. Common side effect can be high blood pressure and fast heartbeat.

*Mast cell stabilizers relieve allergy symptoms by reducing the inflammation in the bronchial tubes and can also be used to relieve asthma symptoms during exercise. Common side effects of mast cell stabilizers are throat irritation, coughing, skin rashes, and decreased taste.

*Leukotriene modifiers can relief allergy symptoms, treating asthma and nasal allergy symptoms by blocking leukotrienes, chemicals produced in the body in response to an allergy. Most common side effects are stomach pain or upset stomach, heartburn, fever, stuffy nose, cough, rash, and headaches.

Natural Allergy Relief: OPCs (Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins) have shown to help with allergy relief in three natural ways with no side effects.

1. Professor Sharma from the department of pharmacology of the University of Dublin has shown that OPCs inhibit the natural secretion of histamine by specialized white blood cells called mast cells. This is action mediated through the natural free-radical scavenging properties of OPCs.
2. OPCs appear to help with natural allergy relief by increasing the uptake and re-uptake of histamine into histamine’s own storage granules, where it’s out of the way and can’t cause allergy misery.
3. Dr. David White of the University of Nottingham in England reports from his studies that OPC will help control natural allergy relief by blocking the action of an enzyme called histamine decarboxylase, which forms histamine from the amino acid histidine.

OPCs can be effective for natural allergy relief without producing the common side effects of conventional allergy relief medications such as drowsiness and dry mucous membranes.

Best Source of OPCs: A natural supplement Isotonix OPC-3 (Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins) is an isotonic-capable food supplement that is made from a combination of bilberry, grape seed, red wine, pine bark extracts and citrus extract bioflavonoids, all found to be potent antioxidants. Isotonix OPC-3 contains the only isotonic form of Pycnogenol in the world.