Hay fever and Antihistamines

What is hay fever?

When it comes to hay fever, we understand the struggle. Hay fever is an allergic reaction, where your body perceives pollen as an invader, triggering your immune system to respond as if it’s an infection. As a response, your body produces histamine to combat foreign substances, such as pollen. For some, this immune response can be overwhelming and it can overproduce histamine. The most common tool to manage these reactions are antihistamines.

What are antihistamines?

Antihistamines act as a shield against excessive amounts of internally produced histamine, and help to minimise reactions. It’s important to note that they don't actually reduce the amount of histamine in the body, they simply block it. This is why it's often necessary to take antihistamines daily to maintain these blocking benefits when you're experiencing hay fever. There are also natural food supplements that can help manage and even reduce internally produced histamine levels in the body, such as quercetin, vitamin B6, C and copper.

What else can I do?

Diamine oxidase (DAO) enzymes can be used in the body's management of ingested histamine, found in food and drink. Those who experience hay fever are already overloaded with histamine due to the hyperactive internal production from it's mast cells. With a normal amount of DAO running through the digestive system, you can ensure that the enzymes are 'catching' any externally consumed histamine before it's absorbed through the gut lining and 'overflows' to meet the internally produced histamine in the bloodstream.

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Summary

Antihistamines absolutely have a place, to support our bodies when they experience hay fever. They can be taken along with other food supplements like DAO to catch any overflowing external histamine consumed. Find our Aperitif DAO in the Tolerance shop.