How to Beat Seasonal Allergies with Food

Does what we eat have an impact on our seasonal allergies?  Spring is here, and for some it’s a blessing to stop and smell the roses, and for others it’s a curse laced with the ball and chain of an Allegra and Afrin dependency.

So do you really have to lock yourself indoors all season shooting drugs up your nose like a cocaine addict?  Or can you break free from the sinus-stuffed-sneezy prison simply by making small changes to your diet?

The answer is yes (to the second question).  And it no longer has to be a choice between which drugs to take, but rather which foods to eat.

You see, this isn’t just nutritional theory.  I’m a living example of going from allergy shots to allergy free.

Because I Was That Kid

Yes, I was that kid.  Maybe you remember him.  Maybe you were that kid too.

I was that kid who was always sick, whose mom had to pick him up from school once a week during lunch to get an allergy shot, who had to leave school early because of migraines so bad he was throwing up all over his friends.  It wasn’t pretty.

As I got older, through college and into my early career, I was going to the doctor like clockwork.  4-5 times a year I would go when my sinuses would get so stuffed up I couldn’t breathe or see straight. I would tell him, “Give me some more antibiotics, I have another sinus infection.”  And my doctor would say, “Of course.”

It became a comforting and predictable cycle.  I knew what was wrong with me.  Nature was wrong with me.  Blooming flowers were my enemy, especially those evil ligustrums.  Oh how I would day dream about taking a chain saw to all of them in my neighborhood with a blood curling war cry… “Ayiyiyiyiyiyee!”

Stopping the Sinus Infection Cycle

I never did try to “cure” my chronic allergies or sinus infections.  I thought I had no choice in the matter.  But it happened anyway.  It happened when I started eating for my Metabolic Type®.

Oh, here we go… a shameless self-promotion for how Metabolic Typing® cures seasonal allergies.” – Anonymous **

No way.  That’s what I love about Metabolic Typing®.  It’s not about chasing and curing symptoms, illnesses, or diseases.  It’s simply about giving your body the ideal foods it needs to bring it back into a state of balance.  And boy was I out of balance!  Seasonal allergies was just one way that my body showed it.

Seasonal Allergies, Alkaline pH Shifts, and Your Metabolic Type®

One of the things you learn when you discover your Metabolic Type® is whether your body naturally tends to be more Alkaline or Acidic.

I am a Parasympathetic Dominant Metabolic Type®.  This means that my body is naturally more on the Alkaline side of the spectrum.  Seasonal allergies can be one of many signs of being too Alkaline like this.  You can imagine my relief when I discovered this about myself:

Wow!  Finally here is an explanation for why my allergies are so bad all the time, but my friend who is more on the Acidic side of the spectrum (as a Sympathetic Dominant Metabolic Type®) never experiences allergies at all.” – me

Since I am more Alkaline, I need to eat foods (like red meat) that create a more Acidic shift in my body, which pushes me more into a state of balance.  As my body becomes less Alkaline from my last meal, my seasonal allergies disappear.

For me, this specifically means that I need to reduce my overall fruit intake and limit myself to certain fruits only (no oranges!).  This also means that I need to increase my saturated fats, oils, and high purine meats as indicated on my recommended food list.

So does this mean that everyone who has seasonal allergies should eat more red meat and less fruits?  Heck no!

“One Man’s Food Is Another Man’s Poison” – Lucretius

Yeah that’s right.  Some Roman dude had it right over 2,000 years ago.  Moreover, it completely embraces the Metabolic Typing® philosophy:

What works for one person, can have little to no effect on another, and often, can make a third person even worse.”  – William L. Wolcott

What this really means is:  this works for me, Brent Martin, because I’m a Parasympathetic Type, but it may not work for you.  This is just part of my own playbook for health that I follow because I understand how my body works since I know my Metabolic Type®.  Your body could have the exact opposite result and reaction.

For example, if you are a Fast Oxidizer Metabolic Type®, then instead of red meat pushing you more Acidic, it will make you more Alkaline… the EXACT OPPOSITE of how it affects me!

But that’s a longer explanation that can be shared another time, or you can learn more here:

In the meantime, I’m going to go outside, breathe in the fresh spring air, roll around in a great big bed of pollen, plant some new sweet-smelling ligustrums, and feel awesome and free.

** Anonymous has a 55% chance of suffering from allergies this season and will blame little flowers instead of their food choices.

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Posted by Brent Martin on April 30, 2013  |   1 Comment