Seasonal Allergies Got You Down? Fix Your Gut!

Blog Post by Coach Julie

NCI Certified Nutrition Coach L1 & Certified Mindset Coach
Specializing in Women's Health and Gut Health

You’re probably a little confused right now . . . Let me break it down for you.

I have clients that struggle terribly with allergies and asthma.  They’ve tried everything.  Expensive allergy testing shows no allergies.  NONE.  Believe it or not, the problem may not be allergies, it may be issues with the gut.

It may sound crazy that your gut health would affect your sinuses, but the two systems are very intertwined. Both the respiratory tract and the digestive tract are immune barriers, meaning it’s their job to protect the body from outside invaders.

The gut in particular profoundly influences the entire immune system. When gut health suffers so does the rest of your body. This can even result in allergy symptoms that flare up each spring. 

Leaky gut, also known as intestinal permeability, is a condition in which the lining of the digestive tract becomes inflamed and porous, allowing undigested foods, bacteria, yeasts, and other toxins into the bloodstream. The immune system launches an attack on these toxins, which creates inflammation throughout the body. For many people, this happens every time they eat.

This inflammation manifests in different ways for different people.  Gut symptoms don’t have to be present to suffer from inflammation caused by leaky gut.  It can cause joint pain, skin problems, digestive complaints, autoimmune disease, issues with brain function, fatigue, chronic pain, asthma, and…seasonal allergies.

Chronic stress also weakens and inflames the digestive tract, causing leaky gut. Stress doesn’t just have to come from a stressful lifestyle or lack of sleep, although those certainly play a role. Eating a diet high in sugar, fried and processed foods is stressful to the body, as is an unmanaged autoimmune disease, or hormones that are out of whack. These are just a few metabolic factors that can contribute to leaky gut.

If you need help managing chronic conditions or gut health, shoot Coach Kayli or I a DM. We’d be happy to jump on a coaching call with you to discuss your issues and help you get to the root cause.