Worried about Allergies? Look to the Microbiome

Courtesy of ION*Biome

Most of us know allergies all too well: runny noses, watery eyes, itchy hives. These are common results of what happens when our immune system senses a foreign substance. But did you know that your microbiome can decipher friend from foe? And luckily, your barrier systems (skin, nasal passages, gut lining) are teeming with microbiota.

Diversity Breeds Health

Your microbiome is exposed to foreign substances early on at these barrier systems. And this intelligent collection of microbes can communicate with your immune system and potential dangers. However, if the microbiome is imbalanced, it may not be able to support your adaptive immune system the way it should.

Learn more about how to support your immune system all year round 

For example, evidence suggests that antibiotic use (and subsequent gut dysbiosis) during childhood is associated with the development of a range of immune-mediated diseases, including allergies1. On the flip side, research indicates that children who have close contact with pets or livestock and those who come from larger families are less likely to develop allergies2.  

Even for adults, alteration of the gut microbial population has been shown to increase the risk for allergies and other conditions3. Further, studies are increasingly exploring the hypothesis that reduced intestinal microbial diversity, rather than the presence of abundance of any particular type of microorganism, increased the risk of allergic manifestations4. This indicates that what is important isn’t necessarily feeding your gut specific probiotics, but instead maintaining a healthy, natural balance.

Don't Just Supplement; Support

Despite this clear correlation, many of us still find ourselves reaching for habit-forming sinus sprays every spring and fall. Although there may be separate microbial communities for the nasal passages, gut, and skin, there is just one adaptive immune system and it learns from each of these communities to recognize allergens. ION*Sinus is all-natural, non-habit forming, and microbiome friendly, helping to keep your crucial nasal barriers in balance while rinsing and hydrating. 

Learn more about how nasal breathing supports overall wellbeing 

To further support your immune system through microbiome-allergen interactions, it’s important to maintain overall gut health. Eating a high-fiber diet with lots of prebiotic foods, consuming native honey to train your microbiome to have a healthy exchange with your local environment, and supporting the barrier environments where the microbes live are all key factors to naturally getting through allergy season. ION*Gut Health is foundational gut support, fostering a strong environment where a healthy exchange between you and the natural world can occur.  

Double down this allergy season with the ION* Gut + Sinus bundle 

Happy Microbiome!
Matthew Bednar, PhD

Bringing science out of the lab and into your life.

References:

  1. Interaction between microbiota and immunity in health and disease., Zheng, D., Liwinski, T. & Elinav, E.. Cell Res 30, 492–506 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41422-020-0332-7.
  2. Hay fever, hygiene, and household size, David P Strachan, MRCP, Br Medj 1989;299:1259-60.
  3. Allergy associations with the adult fecal microbiota: Analysis of the American Gut Project EBioMedicine 3 (2016) 172–179, Xing Hua, James J. Goedert, Angela Pu, Guoqin Yu, Jianxin Shi, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2015.11.038.
  4. John Penders, Kerstin Gerhold, Carel Thijs, Kurt Zimmermann, Ulrich Wahn, Susanne Lau & Eckard Hamelmann (2014) New insights into the hygiene hypothesis in allergic diseases, Gut Microbes, 5:2, 239-244, DOI: 10.4161/gmic.27905.

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