The Causes of Allergies and How to Deal With Them

antony — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 10:26:33 +0000

The causes and symptoms of allergies vary. Allergies are best described as a hypersensitive disorder of the immune system. That is a mouthful! Most of us are well aware of allergies. We are familiar with the common symptoms and the common causes.

When we are exposed to an allergen, certain white blood cells become overly activated, resulting in inflammation. Wherever that inflammation takes place is where we will notice our body’s reaction. Common allergic reactions include, but are not limited to, hay fever, hives, eczema, respiratory constrictions, asthma, digestive discomfort, itchy skin, watery eyes, and in extreme cases, anaphylactic reactions, which are life threatening.

Many allergens such as dust or pollen are airborne particles. When they come in contact with our bodies, the symptoms may arise. The common organs affected by airborne allergens are the nose, throat, sinuses, ears, and eyes. Inhaled particles can also affect the airways and lungs, causing shortness of breath, wheezing, and inflammation of the bronchial tubes.

Allergic reactions can also result from foods, insect stings, and medications. Also, there are substances that can come in contact with the skin that can cause allergic reactions. A common allergen is latex. Plants, grasses, and chemical compounds are also common allergens to the skin. Poisonous plants like poison ivy, poison oak, and stinging nettle have been known to cause allergic reactions when they make contact with people’s skin.

When this occurs, it is called contact dermatitis, or eczema. It is characterized by swelling and inflammation of the skin, which might appear as bumps, redness, or hives, and itchy skin.

So how do we become allergic? There are two general categories for allergy risk factors. They are host and environmental factors. Host factors include heredity, gender, race, and age. Environmental factors include exposure to toxins, pollutants, dietary changes, and exposure to infectious diseases during early childhood.

It has been discovered that genetics play an important roll here. Allergic diseases are strongly familial. Parents who have allergies are more likely to pass on those sensitivities to their children. Identical twins are likely to have the same allergic diseases about 70% of the time. It seems that the likelihood of developing allergies is inherited.

Exposure to allergens is more common today. The likely explanation is that there are many toxins to be exposed to. Not only are there plants and organic risk factors that occur naturally on earth, but there are others that are man-made. Chemical pollutants, medications, heavy metals, toxins in our cleaning products, our personal care products, and our home environments, pollutants found in our water, air, and food, all carry with them the risk of causing allergic diseases in our population.

There have been huge improvements in recent times in the treatment of allergies. Not only has the traditional medical treatments improved, but many alternative treatments are readily available now. Some of those treatments include acupuncture, chiropractic, ionic footbath treatments, hypnotherapy, homeopathy and nutrition counseling. Many people find a variety of choices when it comes to improving their allergic diseases. Treating the body as a whole and not just treating the symptoms has proven to be effective in managing and even eliminating allergies.

Oranges

antony — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 21:03:51 +0000

The orange is one of the most common and popular fruit. It is well-liked because of its easy availability all year round, dense nutrition, and it tastes good.

Oranges are round citrus fruits ranging in diameter from about 2 to 3 inches, with finely texturized skins that are orange in color.

Its pulp is also orange in color and very succulent, surrounded by its skin which can vary in thickness depending on its variety.

There are oranges that are sweet, bitter and sour, so you’ll need to know the variety you’re buying. The sweet variety are usually more fragrant. They include Valencia, Navel and Jaffa oranges which are ideal for making juices.

In the orange family, there are also the Mandarin oranges (with loose skin), Clementine (loose skin and seedless), the tangerine (orange-red Mandarin), the Minneola (cross between tangerine and grapefruit), the blood orange that has dark burgundy colored flesh, kumquat, and a few other lesser known ones.

The Mandarin oranges are especially popular with the Chinese as the word “orange” in Chinese sounds like “gold” or “good luck”. Come the Lunar New Year, the Chinese buy oranges by the boxes to be given away to express good wishes for the new year.

Nutritional Benefits

Oranges are an excellent source of vitamin C and flavonoids. One orange (130 grams) supplies nearly 100 percent of the recommended daily dietary intake of vitamin C.

When you eat a whole orange, it provides good dietary fiber. Leave in the pith (the white matter under the peel) as much as possible as the pith contains the highest amount of valuable bioflavonoids and other anti-cancer agents.

In addition, oranges are a good source of vitamin A, the B vitamins, amino acids, beta-carotene, pectin, potassium, folic acid, calcium, iodine, phosphorus, sodium, zinc, manganese, chlorine and iron.

Health Benefits

An orange packs over 170 different phytonutrients and more than 60 flavonoids, many of which have been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and blood clot inhibiting properties, as well as strong anti-oxidant effects.

The combination of the high amount of anti-oxidant (vitamin C) and flavonoids in oranges makes it one of the best fruits in helping to promote optimal health.

Arteriosclerosis: Regularly consuming vitamin C retards the development of hardening of the arteries.

Cancer prevention: A compound in oranges called liminoid, has been found to help fight cancers of the mouth, skin, lung, breast, stomach and colon. The high vitamin C content also acts as a good anti-oxidant that protects cells from damages by free radicals.

Cholesterol: The alkaloid synephrine found under the orange peel can reduce the liver’s production of cholesterol. Whereas the anti-oxidant fights oxidative stress that is the main culprit in oxidizing the LDLs in our blood.

Constipation: Even though the orange “tastes acidic”, it actually has an alkaline effect in the digestive system and helps stimulate the digestive juices, relieving constipation.

Damaged sperms, repair: An orange a day is sufficient for a man to keep his sperms healthy. Vitamin C, an anti-oxidant, protects sperms from genetic damage that may cause a birth defect.

Heart disease: A high intake of flavonoids and vitamin C has been known to halve the risk of heart diseases.

High blood pressure: Studies have shown that a flavonoid called hesperidin in oranges can lower high blood pressure.

Immune system: The strong content of vitamin C stimulates white cells to fight infection, naturally building a good immune system.

Kidney stones, prevent: Drinking orange juice daily can significantly drop the risk of formation of calcium oxalate stones in the kidney.

Skin: The anti-oxidant in orange help protect the skin from free radical damage known to cause signs of aging.

Stomach ulcer: Consuming vitamin C rich foods helps to lower the incidence of peptic ulcers and in turn, reduce the risk of stomach cancer.

Viral infections, protection against: The abundance of polyphenols have been shown to provide protection against viral infections.

Hoalian » Immune

The Causes of Allergies and How to Deal With Them

Oranges