Happy May and hello allergies!

This newsletter is all about allergies since, yup, it's that time of year!

In this newsletter:

Please help me win "Best Naturopathic Practitioner in Kelowna!"
3 surprising ways to reduce allergy symptoms naturally
Reminder about my FREE digestive health online support group

First:

please vote for me!

Thanks to your nominations, I made it to the final voting round in the category of Best Naturopathic Practitioner in Kelowna! But I need your help! Please vote for me (and your other local favourites) using the button below!

Voting is open until May 10!

Vote now!

It's allergy season!

Many people have experienced more allergy symptoms in the last few years. With this spring's slightly late but sudden arrival, many allergy sufferers are currently getting hit with a slew of allergy symptoms! Sound like you? Read on!

If you regularly experience allergy symptoms, you may already use some combination of antihistamine medications, natural therapies, nasal rinsing, air filtration systems, and more! These can all be excellent strategies to manage symptoms caused by high histamine. But what if you want to prevent or eliminate allergies altogether? What can you do then?

If you're an existing patient, you've likely heard my "bucket" analogy. If not, here it goes:

Dr. Erica's Bucket Analogy

You are like a bucket. You start out empty and then gradually fill up with various "stressors" through life.

Once your bucket is full of stressors, you overflow with symptoms. Reducing any of the stressors in the bucket can therefore have a positive impact and reduce symptoms.

This is why we sometimes treat one problem by addressing another. Often, reducing or addressing the biggest stressors will have a significant impact on a variety of seemingly non-related symptoms!

It is for this reason that people will often have more symptoms (of any type) when under stress or when they are drinking more alcohol than usual. With this analogy in mind, my approach when treating anything is often to address the biggest identifiable stressors filling up the bucket!

3 surprising ways to reduce allergies

Optimize gut health

Allergy symptoms can be related to poor gut health. You make an enzyme called diamine oxidase in the gut. When there are infections or inflammation in the gut, the production of diamine oxidase can be disrupted. This important enzyme is used to break down histamine - the main compound responsible for allergy symptoms. Therefore, high histamine can be a sign of low diamine oxidase and potential gut issues that may need work.

It is always a good idea for allergy sufferers to optimize their digestive system. This can be an essential step in reducing or even preventing allergy symptoms. If you need help with your gut, please schedule an appointment!

2. Optimize adrenal glands

Our adrenal glands play a key role in regulating stress and inflammation in the body. It is often the case that suboptimal adrenal gland function is a major stressor in our "bucket" that can reduce our resilience to other stressors, including the environmental stressors that often trigger allergy symptoms.

The health of the adrenal glands can be assessed through saliva or urine testing and cost is typically around $250 CAD for this assessment. Testing helps to identify the stage/type of adrenal dysfunction so we implement the right treatment. There are many different adrenal support products available commercially and through professional companies and these are often used for treatment. If you're worried about the state of your adrenals, please don't hesitate to schedule an appointment.

3. Normalize estrogen levels

Estrogen and histamine go hand-in-hand! High levels of estrogen can increase histamine, and high histamine can increase estrogen. In some cases hormonal migraines, menstrual pain, and heavy bleeding that are often attributed to issues of estrogen are actually due to high histamine! Estrogen also decreases the amount of diamine oxidase available (the important histamine-lowering enzyme mentioned above), making it even harder to get rid of extra histamine!

Regulating estrogen imbalances (and the root cause of this issue) can help get histamine under control and reduce allergy symptoms.

If you are struggling with allergies this spring and want some help, please schedule an appointment soon! In addition to addressing the 3 important "bucket" items above, we will do a full review of your overall health and address any other problematic stressors that show up.

If you prefer to manage your allergy symptoms naturally, there are many natural supplements that can help reduce histamine levels. To learn more about this strategy, please schedule an appointment so we can develop a plan that is right for you.

You're Invited to Join Gut Lovers Society

Join my FREE Facebook support group for those dealing with digestive issues. Feel free to invite your friends and family too!

Learn More Here

Please Review Me!

As a reminder, I could really use your help! Please take a minute to leave me an online review. Reviews help improve my online visibility so I can help even more people! It’s quick and easy to leave a 5-star review on Google and Rate MD. For those who choose to leave me a review, and to those who already have, I am so grateful for your support!

You can now follow me on TikTok and enjoy my educational videos!

That's all for this month! Wishing you a healthy and allergy-free May!

Until next month!

Dr. Erica Volk

Your Friendly Naturopathic Doctor