If you enter “dairy and allergies” into Google and a plethora of websites show up stating that reducing or elimination dairy can help with seasonal allergies. I even wrote a post before on how eliminating dairy can help with allergy symptoms.
This is something I have often told my patients with seasonal allergies, but hadn’t ever put into play myself. Either my allergies are much less severe than the average person, or I have a much higher tolerance for discomfort before I resort to any medication. My seasonal allergy symptoms persist for a few weeks, sometimes over a month and consist of watery eyes, runny nose, post nasal drip and stuffy nose. This is especially irritating when I teach yoga and attempt to speak when in a down dog position.
I had never eliminated dairy from my diet for any amount of time because through elimination diets, and even blood testing for IgG food sensitivities, dairy has never been a problem. Then last fall my 1-month old son starting having issues and as soon as I cut dairy from my diet they all resolved, and he has been happy ever since. So at the point of writing this I haven’t had dairy for 8 months, except for one time I was at a relative’s house for lunch and, knowing I didn’t eat meat, they made me a grilled brie sandwich.
Here we are, halfway through May, and I have had ZERO seasonal allergy symptoms. None. It didn’t even occur to me that I should be having them until I started hearing many other people complaining about their allergies acting up. I haven’t had any honey, no bee pollen, no medication or shots. The only change in my life is the lack of dairy.
According to this source(http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/diet-prevent-allergies/p111262/page4) we have pasturization of dairy to blame for the inflammatory response that can trigger seasonal allergies, and if we stuck to raw, unpasteurized milk we wouldn’t be having these issues. This argument makes sense, since raw milk contains the enzymes you need to break down the components of milk, whereas pasteurized milk does not. And when we lack enzymes to break down foods we end up with irritation and inflammation in the gut.
We do know that dairy increases mucous production, and creates thicker mucous. Paired with an allergic reaction to pollen this can exacerbate symptoms by reducing drainage from the nasal passages.
Eliminating dairy from your diet can help reduce, or as in my case even eliminate, seasonal allergy symptoms, which is great news for anyone who feels they suffer through the spring.
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