Allergy and asthma relief

I never suffered from allergies when I was young, but the last few years they've been horrible. My early spring allergies are now triggering asthma and respiratory conditions that have been scary. I'm getting better now. A super healthy diet along with a couple special supplements is really helping.

Enter quercitin and bromelain. An inexpensive supplement that works wonders. Quercitin is a natural anti-inflammatory. Coupled with bromelain, it's an immune system tonic. Add vitamin C, and you've really got a super tonic. These supps just cost me around $20.00 per month.

(I hope I'm not violating any T&C by recommending a product)
Read some of these reviews on Amazon. They're astounding! Quercitin with bromelain

Anti-inflammatory quercitin

I use bromelain quite a bit and also use a lot of onions which are rich in Quercitin. I have not tried the combo pill yet, and am satisfied with the bromelain action. It does mess up my lipase if I use it regularly, it is a proteinase so it does kind of take apart that enzyme. Regular use can cause some problems, but using it occasionally to destroy histamine in the blood does keep the mucus down quite a bit and the sulfur chemistry keeps the bond of the mucus weaker so it isn't so sticky and clogging.

This time of the year I always got problems, right after the snow goes away or while it is going away exposes some molds and stuff, snow mold seems to trigger it. en.wikipedia.org...

After a few days of long lasting rain the allergy seems to go away, when the leaves loosen from the ground it seems to be clear. I learned not to go out and mow the leaves finally, mulching them up, without a mask on. That fungus dust is all over in the air, it makes my eyes itch too.

Both of my daughters and my granddaughter who is now married use the bromelain for mucus. I should try the combo you mentioned, it is cheaper than buying onions. Both bromelain and quercetin also keep the platelets from sticking together by lessening the bond, just like they keep the snot from sticking together. The thing is too much of a good thing is no good either, constant use can lessen the mucosal layer in the gut too, that can cause some issues.

Avoiding foods that are high histamine or cause histaminase to break down can help too. Tomatoes and avacados have a chemical that destroys DAO so the histaminase is compromised, histamine levels go high and trigger mucus. Terpines are the culprits that brake down DAO, even coffee has a chemical that breaks down DAO, but it sticks to paper filters in drip coffee makers so it does not cause us a problem, but some use the keurig type coffee makers or french press and that forces the terpine into the mix. That terpinoid is good for diabetes, but bad for plaque buildup. A screen in the coffee pot instead of the filter is better for diabetics, but worse for people with heart problems. That turpene also can clear the receptors of the cells but also has negative effects.

Taurine supplements can also reduce mucus a bit, so can silimaron or holy thistle. Taurine is the bodies natural antioxidant, but L-taurine is a little different than our own, but it works in humans.

High histamine foods should be avoided during allergy times, also avoid pickles or baking powder with Alum in them, don't put the alum from your spice rack into the recipes you have, I tossed ours out after discovering that alum makes my breathing much worse during times of allergies. Alum and other aluminum chemistries are neuro-excitants, so they cause an increase in severity of the reaction. Some people use Homeopathy including alum to deplete their histamine levels, but that is really dangerous. I do not like aluminum in anything. It is almost as bad as mercury. Most people can detox a little that is found naturally in foods, but not a real lot of it. Some plants naturally uptake aluminum readily, but I didn't eat those so never made memories of what they are.

I also have problems with ragweed, do not eat chicory if you are allergic to ragweed, also avoiding green and bell peppers that contain similar chemistry to ragweed is a good idea. I can eat some kinds of green pepper, something to do with three or four lobe, but I always mess up and forget which is ok and which is not so now I just avoid the peppers. I do not have a problem with nightshades too much, except the tomato. But I do have a different problem with consuming too much hot peppers, it messes my methyl cycle up. A little is good, too much makes me break out.

Oranges also block histaminase, citrus is a problem sometime because of the benzoic acid it contains. I am in the middle of studying the balsam of peru allergy and how it effects metabolics and it is tied to genetics, something in relation to Q10 synthesis. Now, terpines are used as expectorants to help to cough up things, They give a person the power to cough up things too. I am not sure how histamines can cause mucus, but can power you up to fight disease and cough up the mucus yet, I still have much more to learn about that. I know too hard of a cough is no good, I dislocated two ribs at the back from coughing to hard, now I try to moderate things better, sometimes you need to reduce power of the cough.

So, figuring the right way to treat your problems is a personal adventure, we are all different, what works for one may not work for another.

I hope I got that all right, sometimes I get the wrong chemical class messed up in my posts, the names in the language of metabolics and biochemistry is a very complicated, and trying to compare things from one scientific research subject to that of another type of science is also not that easy. Many enzyme processes are present in all beings, including plants and microbes.

a reply to: rickymouse

Thanks for your reply. I've read many of your posts in the health & wellness forum and always learn something. Your knowledge of nutrition is impressive. My research has taught me that many, if not most supplements are meant to be cycled or "shotgunned" as opposed to used daily. (As you've pointed out.)

I'm also looking at serrapeptase and nattokinase, to be used in 6-8 day cycles. Any thoughts on the matter?

I found two surprising things which did wonders for my asthma:

1. Cognac - My wife and I were invited to a party where a fellow was sharing some high-dollar cognac. I was having bad asthma at the time, but decided to drink some. I poured two fingers of it in a glass and had a sip. The taste wasn't really to my liking...BUT my asthma was gone. GONE - in seconds! It's like it cuts through the mucus. I now keep a bit of it on hand at all times.

2. Peppers - About a year ago, as usual I was having asthma. Someone had a meal with us and left some salsa with chipotle peppers in it. The next day, my wife and I had a meal of left-over tamales, dipping them into the salsa. Again: my asthma was gone. I now regularly use a hot sauce containing chipotle, but it also has three other peppers in it (guajillo, arbol and piquin), so I'm not absolutely certain it is only the chipotle.

As ever, YMMV.

I haven't had any allergies since I started using local honey in my coffee and pollen from local bees sprinkled on my PB & J sandwiches.

a reply to: olaru12

I've tried the local raw honey 'cure' but unfortunately it didn't work for me. There are people who have benefitted greatly from it. I'm speculating that my issues were from serious inflammation, and the quercitin with bromelain greatly eased it.

originally posted by: ColeYounger
a reply to: rickymouse

Thanks for your reply. I've read many of your posts in the health & wellness forum and always learn something. Your knowledge of nutrition is impressive. My research has taught me that many, if not most supplements are meant to be cycled or "shotgunned" as opposed to used daily. (As you've pointed out.)

I'm also looking at serrapeptase and nattokinase, to be used in 6-8 day cycles. Any thoughts on the matter?

My daughter is trying those right now, even though she should be avoiding soy she is trying those. She does not have the MAOB snps that make it so she can't break down monoamines well, so the fermented chemistry should not be too bad for her. I get the tyramine headaches from fermented stuff, I also have the COMT 4680 snp that makes me not break down tyramines so I rely on the DAO working properly to keep the headaches and brain fog at bay. I cannot break down tyramines well, so I get overloaded if I eat aged foods. I also have many other snps in the Methylation cycle that make aged or rotted food bad for me. I can eat fake cheeses but not real cheeses too much. So, I can have my blood pressure spike if I eat aged anything, including alcohol. But Histamines, a type of tyramine, cause my blood pressure to go too low, ham reduced my blood pressure too low if I overeat it and gives me a low BP headache. Also, the coffee headache you get if you do not drink it, is from low blood pressure, just eating some pepperoni can bring it up, or a little apple cider vinegar in water with sugar works too. I get those from eating popcorn the night before, but coffee does not touch them, the apple cider vinegar works though, coffee makes it different, but the vinegar also does something else, possibly in the cox2 system or something.

Yeah, I know quite a bit of junk and I test how things work on myself quite a bit. I will ask my daughter how that natto stuff works for her, I informed her that she might get headaches from it but she does not get a headache from the stinky cheeses, so I guess she should be all right. The natto stuff will work good if you make a lot of the enzyme that breaks down monoamines like my wife does, my daughter is right between the two of us. My wife has to eat what I can't eat, and she gets all weird if she eats like me, needing to take anti-anxiety meds if she stops eating that aged stuff or if she doesn't eat the cheeses or tomato products. She has the warrior genes, I have the worrier genes. To be in the same mindset and avoid meds, we have to eat different. She has to eat bread, I can't eat much. Her sense of what is good tasting tastes overpowering to me.

You never suffered from allergies when you were young? But your name is ColeYounger....As you got younger your allergies started?

Yeah...three HEPA filters in the apartment running constantly. Xyzal, Singular, Albuterol, and Symbicort. It sucks, is not fun in any way and I've been dealing with it my entire life. Luckily no food allergies, just every tree and grass you could imagine, and all household pets (except fish). Would love to get on allergy shots, but the first 6 months you have to go twice weekly, my work schedule does not have me in town that often to get on a regular regimen.

I will agree with the spicy food helping some though, it doesn't stop anything, but it thins the mucous out enough that it's not as unpleasant just trying to sit and breathe.

originally posted by: Hypntick
Yeah...three HEPA filters in the apartment running constantly. Xyzal, Singular, Albuterol, and Symbicort. It sucks, is not fun in any way and I've been dealing with it my entire life. Luckily no food allergies, just every tree and grass you could imagine, and all household pets (except fish). Would love to get on allergy shots, but the first 6 months you have to go twice weekly, my work schedule does not have me in town that often to get on a regular regimen.

I will agree with the spicy food helping some though, it doesn't stop anything, but it thins the mucous out enough that it's not as unpleasant just trying to sit and breathe.

HEPA filters are good, but mine are all put away. I use an Air Knight, expensive but worth it. I don't know if there is a portable version - mine is installed in the furnace flue. It even deals with mold spores. Have you tried negative ion generators?

a reply to: ColeYounger

Chew on a teaspoon of Anise seeds. This works better than inhalers.

They sell Chlorpheniramine at Amazon, they are an antihistamine. ten bucks for a thousand 4 mg tablets, some of the meds in the drug store have this in them, they aren't cheap. I need to buy a bottle for one of our cats, it needs a quarter of a tablet every day because it has way too much mucus. that is four thousand days, over ten years of meds for ten bucks.

Has anyone used these pills for allergies?

Ahhh. They are anticholinerogenic meds. They block ability to reason and comprehend. I can't give them to a blind cat, he will be walking into everything if he can't remember where things are or can't comprehend how to get around. I'll just keep feeding him bacon, lipids act as antihistamines and he really likes bacon....He gets pretty mouthy if we run out, he eats more than the wife and I combined.

originally posted by: olaru12
I haven't had any allergies since I started using local honey in my coffee and pollen from local bees sprinkled on my PB & J sandwiches.

Ever done the old Texas trick where you fry the PB&J in butter like a grilled cheese?

originally posted by: CriticalStinker

originally posted by: olaru12
I haven't had any allergies since I started using local honey in my coffee and pollen from local bees sprinkled on my PB & J sandwiches.

Ever done the old Texas trick where you fry the PB&J in butter like a grilled cheese?

Sure...

Real Texans deep fry PB&J. In fact they deep fry everything. When I lived in Lubbock, at the county fair they had deep fried icecream, Donuts, Snicker bars, twinkies, Oreos, bananas, and every kind of meat available.

a reply to: olaru12

I've had battered and deep fried, I like the butter route (Salted of course) because it adds a little umami.

Born in Lubbock btw (I was)

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
a reply to: olaru12



Born in Lubbock btw (I was)

Same here...

I still own the home place out by the airport. Leased. I only go back to Texas for business or fishing in the Laguna Madre.

I played Bass for "the Catfish" once at SXSW...haven't been back.

a reply to: olaru12

I haven't been back to Lubbock since I was a baby. I lived in central Texas for quite some time though, I miss the food and the people a lot, but I love my mountains now.

Playing at SXSW must have been incredible. Austin is one of my favorite places I've ever been, though I don't think I could live there.

Back on topic though, there are many spots in Texas where allergies are a moot subject, no supplements needed

a reply to: CriticalStinker

but I love my mountains now.

Copy that!! I left Texas at 15 for the "Land of Enchantment" It's paradise! Except when the Juniper pollen turns the sky brown.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

It's the ingredient that burns. Capseicin ... it's a natural anti-inflammatory.

a reply to: Lazarus Short

Haven't done the ion generators yet, was looking at that Air Knight as I am building a house. I'd have one in every dang room if I could. Still trying to determine if I can do the allergy shots, where they provide the shot and I can take it to a clinic in whatever town I'm working out of, and let them administer and monitor me. I know they have the drops now that supposedly you can do, but insurance won't cover them, and I would rather not have to epi-pen myself without a doctor present.