By David Blyweiss, Advanced Natural Wellness

With spring fast approaching, allergy sufferers are beginning to gird themselves for yet another season of misery.

If you suffer from allergies, your immune system mistakenly perceives common substances, such as particles of pollen or dust, as dangerous foreign invaders. Your mast cells overreact by releasing histamines and other substances that trigger a flood of inflammatory compounds and mucus. The result is the all-too-familiar sneezing, congestion, postnasal drip and itchy, watery eyes.

Most allergy remedies only offer temporary relief from these symptoms. But now, researchers from Johns Hopkins have found that having sufficient levels of a common B vitamin just might stop allergic reactions before they even start.

The researchers looked through the medical records of more than 8,000 people ages 2 to 85 and tracked the effect folate levels had on both their respiratory function and allergy symptoms. They also tracked the participants’ IgE antibody levels. IgE is an immune system marker that goes up in response to an allergen. What they found was that people with higher blood levels of folate had fewer IgE antibodies. And that meant fewer allergies, less wheezing and a lower likelihood of asthma.
The Johns Hopkins team also discovered that:

• people with the lowest folate levels had a 40 percent higher risk of wheezing than people with the highest folate levels;
• people with the lowest levels also had a 30 percent higher risk of having elevated IgE antibodies;
• those with the lowest folate levels had a 31 percent higher risk of developing allergy symptoms; and
• those with lowest levels had a 16 percent higher risk of developing asthma.

Of course, folate isn’t a cure-all for seasonal allergies. Think of it as a preemptive strike that fortifies your immune system against common allergens.

It’s also not a quick fix. Using folic acid (the type of folate found in supplements) is a long term strategy. That means that now is the perfect time to start boosting your immunity with folic acid supplements and folate-rich foods.

Lentils, edamame (soybeans), beans, broccoli, asparagus, orange juice, dark leafy greens, whole wheat bread and tofu are all good sources of folate. But, it’s also important to take this nutrient in supplemental form. Why do you need both?  Folic acid naturally found in food is much less available to the body compared with the synthetic folic acid found in supplements.

To get the most immune-boosting benefits, it’s smart to take 800 mcg. of folic acid daily. Just don’t top 1,000 mcg. per day since this could  cause nerve damage in people who do not have enough vitamin B12 in their bodies. This includes vegans (people who don’t eat meat, eggs or dairy products) and anyone over the age of 50.

As an added bonus, folic acid is a heart healthy addition to your supplement regime. Studies show that it lowers homocysteine levels when combined with vitamins B6 and B12, since high homocysteine levels increase your risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease, boosting your Bs—especially folic acid—is a simple way to keep heart disease at bay.

With all of this going for it, folic acid is a perfect addition to your anti-allergy arsenal. And that’s certainly nothing to sneeze at!

References:

Folate (Folic Acid). www.womenshealth.gov.

Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (2009, May 2). Folic Acid May Help Treat Allergies, Asthma. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 28, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/04/090430065452.htm

Matsui EC. Higher serum folate levels are associated with a lower risk of atopy and wheeze. Journal of  Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2009;123:1253-9.e2.

Wald DS. Randomized trial of folic acid supplementation and serum homocysteine levels. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2001;161:695-700.