It’s that time of the year. Some people call it allergies, while others call it hay fever. Both names refer to the same condition. Sufferers experience constant sneezing, red or watery eyes, scratchy throat and a runny nose. The condition can range anywhere from mildly annoying to completely debilitating.

What Causes Allergies?

Allergies are caused by an over-reaction of your body’s immune system. When a foreign substance enters your body, your immune system quickly assesses whether or not that substance is a threat. With allergies, your body incorrectly identifies a harmless compound as harmful.

Common “triggers” include air pollutants like pollen, mushroom spores, dust or mold. The term “hay fever” usually refers to plant based allergens, while the term “allergies” refers to allergens of all sorts.

Once your body detects the so-called intruder, it then releases histamines into the bloodstream. These histamines will combat and expel the intruder, while causing cold-like allergy symptoms. It’s an overreaction by the body, because your body would be perfectly fine if your immune system wouldn’t release this big amount of histamines.

It’s Not the Cold

Note that hay fever and allergic reactions are completely different than getting a cold or a flu. These are generally caused by a virus. Some forms of colds of flus can be caused by bacteria as well. These illnesses are caused by genuine outside intruders. With allergies, all your symptoms are caused by your body’s own defense mechanisms.

Allergy Treatments: Medications and Natural Remedies

Allergy medications fall into a few different categories:

• Antihistamines. These suppress the body’s immune response, which prevents allergy symptoms from arising or getting worse.
• Corticosteroids. These are designed to relieve the severe allergy symptoms.
• Decongestants. These are drugs designed to help clear up the sinuses and reduce throat soreness.
• Allergy shots. These shots are designed to acclimate your body to specific types of allergens. For example, you can get allergy shots that get your body “used to” pollen so it doesn’t react so aggressively in future exposures.

Though there are many over the counter allergy treatments, many of them cause side effects. For example, some of the most popular allergy medications can cause extreme drowsiness. In many cases these medications can interfere with other important immune system functions.

For example, while antihistamines can help suppress your body’s histamine response, it also weakens you against real attacks. If your body genuinely needs to generate a histamine response, taking antihistamines can make the problem worse.

Decongestants on the other hand don’t address the underlying cause at all. It just addresses the symptoms. Your body can quickly build up a tolerance to decongestants. Furthermore, many people who take them find that they aren’t all that effective for them.

That’s why so many people choose not to pursue over the counter drugs or even traditional medicines. Fortunately, there’s a 100% natural cure. It’s called allicin. Surprisingly, it’s found primarily in garlic. It’s the active ingredient that gives garlic its unique characteristic taste.

How Can Allicin Help?

Dozens of clinical studies have been conducted on allicin. One of the most memorable was conducted by the University of Maryland. In this study, researchers confirmed many of allicin’s health properties.

It’s a natural antioxidant which can help slow down aging. It can prevent cardiovascular diseases, help combat cancer and help treat a number of different diseases. It’s naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. Most importantly, it nourishes the body’s immune system, improves immune system response time and accuracy.

In other words, taking allicin can help your body respond to real pathogens much faster. In a study allicin containing supplements have shown to reduce allergic symptoms such as coughing and sneezing. All it takes is a little bit of allicin extract.

References:
1. http://www.livestrong.com/article/370164-how-to-cure-allergies-with-garlic/
2. http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/garlic-benefit.shtml
3. http://achievetruehealth.com/you-already-know-garlic-now-meet-allicin/
4. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160665.php