Cross Reactivity – Change Your Diet in Pollen Season?

Most of the allergy-related articles you read in the springtime cover avoiding exposure to those pesky pollens. I have written several posts myself about how to minimize your exposure and reduce your allergic reactions if you have a seasonal allergy.

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is the phenomenon of cross-reactivity or oral allergy syndrome.

This occurs when a person has been sensitized to proteins found in certain tree pollens that are very similar in structure to those found in foods.

For example, the birch tree (a big pollen producer and the enemy of many a hay fever sufferer) produces a pollen called Bet v1, similar to plants in the apple, plum, and parsley family. Because the chemical structure of the protein in the pollen is so close to the structure found in the food, your body gets confused and thinks that a juicy apple is a nose full of birch pollen.

For the botanically challenged, that means apples, pears, plums and prunes, peaches, apricots, cherries, almonds, carrots, celery, fennel, parsley, and parsnip may be seen by your immune system as birch trees.  The reaction results from cross-reactivity, not a true allergic reaction to the food.

During the birch pollen season, you might want to reduce or eliminate your consumption of these in their raw state. In the case of oral allergy syndrome, you will want to destroy them year-round.  The good news is that, like all proteins, these cross-reacting pan proteins can be denatured (or broken down).

Now, that doesn’t mean that you can spray your food with ADMS Spray to denature it the way you would with a dust mite allergy. It means that you can apply heat to break that protein down. So, while a raw apple might cause symptoms, apple sauce, apple juice, or apple pie might not. That is because the cooking process (whether stovetop, oven, or microwave) will raise the temperature of the food high enough to neutralize the pesky protein.

None of this is “new” news.  A study done back in 1998 and published in The Journal of Immunology determined that alder pollen was just as bad as birch pollen. It doesn’t seem to get much attention, so I thought I would bring it up.

Do any of you have any problems with oral allergy syndrome or do your pollen allergies make it harder to eat certain foods?  I’d love to hear your stories and how you cope with it..

Til Next Time
Cheryl

Pollen Allergy and Cats

Had an interesting conversation with a customer a few days ago about pollen allergy and cats.

This woman had several cats.  She is not allergic to cats.  However, she started having a problem that seemed to be caused by the cats.

They had no problems with regular cuddle time or sleeping with her.  She had no allergy symptoms after these activities. However, when she let the kitties out in the morning and then brought them back in later, she noticed that she couldn’t pet them without sneezing and getting watery eyes.  She started trying to connect her pollen allergy and her cats.

She wondered if the cats could bring in mold spores (she is highly allergic to mold) or pollen (she is allergic to pollen) on their fur.  Of course!  Pet coats are perfect for collecting mold spores and pollen.

That is why we always recommend keeping pets inside on windy or high pollen count days. We know the connection between mold and pollen allergy and cats.  Did you?

She inquired if there wa a cat allergy spray she could use to take care of the “not-cat” allergens that were collecting on the cats.  Of course!

Allerpet is not a spray, but it is perfect for taking care of these and any other allergens on the cat.  It is also a great coat conditioner.  Not only will you have an allergy-free cat, but you will have a shiny cat as well.

The same goes for dogs.  If your dog goes outside, it will bring those outdoor allergens inside.  Rover can spread pollen and mold all over the house.  Allerpet works for dogs as well.

So don’t blame cat allergy if the cat makes you sneeze.  It might just be something the cat is wearing.

Til next time!

Everybody Has a Concrete Floor

The first time I ever heard about someone staining the floors in their home was about 15 years ago. We had a friend that didn’t like the carpeting but could not afford to replace it with tile or wood.

Susie’s solution was to rip out the carpet and stain her floors. Up until then, the only stained concrete floors I had seen were in warehouses and garages.

Fast forward to today and it is everywhere. I now see it in homes, restaurants, and stores. It’s easier to take care of and in most cases cheaper than tile or wood floors.

We have been telling our customers that carpeting is not a good thing to have it when you have allergies. No matter how clean it looks it still holds all sorts of allergens including pollen, dust, grass, and dust mites. I believe staining is a nice alternative that should be considered.

Anyway here are a couple of videos I ran across on Youtube while looking for more information. The first one just confirms what we already know. The second one is step-by-step instructions.

Video – Controlling Allergens With Concrete Floors

Video – DIY Concrete Staining: How to Stain Concrete Floors

Wishing you the best of health

Mike Krause
AllergyStore.Com
800 771-2246