Sunflower Shoppe, Author at Sunflower Shoppe

Tis the season for allergies

Sunflower Shoppe — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 01:59:28 +0000

Treating allergies during a pandemic is nothing to sneeze at.

If you’ve turned on a T.V. lately, you will get the impression that nobody gets sick from anything other than covid-19 these days. While the covid-19 pandemic is still sweeping across the nation, something else is taking people’s breath away – allergy season. Treating allergies is a top priority for chronic allergy sufferers, especially in Texas, where we have a seemingly perpetual allergy season. However, during the coronavirus pandemic, it is even more important to treat allergies, and it could be one of the key ways to slow the pandemic.

When a foreign substance enters the body, i.e., ragweed pollen, the immune system marks it for elimination by producing the chemical histamine. This causes watery eyes, sneezing, runny noses, and sinus inflammation, which is how our body eliminates foreign substances¹ – unfortunately, it’s also how we most easily spread or get infected by coronavirus². While histamine is a handy tool to remove harmful toxins, an allergic reaction to common pollen and dust is an indication the immune system is out of balance³. Fortunately, research shows us many natural remedies that can improve our immune response to allergens and reduce allergy symptoms⁴.

Here are some of our most useful remedies:

Diet & Lifestyle:

Reducing environmental allergen exposure is the first step in fighting allergies⁵. It’s good practice to shower and wash clothes after being outdoors for an extended time. Don’t forget that shoes and pets are hidden sources of pollen contamination. Also, consider dust-proofing your bedroom by installing a HEPA air purifier, regularly dusting, and changing air conditioning filters. Be sure to check for hidden mold in bathrooms and living areas as well^6,7.
Wash your nose: Nasal sprays and Neti Pots are a great way to wash away allergens from the nasal cavity altogether. Several clinical studies using Neti Pots were shown to reduce nasal congestion, sinus infections, and improve the overall quality of life greater than prescription medications⁸!
Diet is one of the most overlooked areas for allergy relief. A lot of healthy foods like tomatoes, spinach, citrus fruits, and others cause histamine production⁹. Processed foods such as wheat¹⁰, sugar¹¹, and dairy¹² can be inflammatory and keep our immune system on high alert. Reducing dietary histamine load and eliminating inflammatory foods can dramatically reduce seasonal allergies¹³.
Stress reduction is a crucial step in treating allergies¹⁴. During times of stress, our bodies produce cortisol. This stress hormone makes our immune system hypersensitive to allergens¹⁵. If the stress is chronic it can further dysregulate our immune system leading to chemical hypersensitivity syndrome¹⁶. One of the key ways to reduce stress is to activate the body’s relaxation response, a proven physiological mechanism that lowers blood pressure, heart rate, breathing rate, adrenaline levels, and cortisol levels¹⁷. There are many ways to induce the relaxation response, such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, deep breathing, or exercise¹⁸.

Supplements:

Nettles are the number one anti-allergy herb. Nettle leaf has been used for hundreds of years to treat everything from high blood pressure, inflammation, and diabetes to seasonal allergies. Recent research shows that nettles contain a histamine-like compound that binds to our body’s histamine receptors and prevents natural histamine from interacting with them, avoiding inflammatory reactions much like modern medications but without the side effects¹⁹.
Butterbur is a less well-known anti-allergy herb but one of the most powerful. In one study of 580 patients, 90% experienced significant allergy relief in just one week²⁰. In other studies, directly comparing butterbur to Allegra and Zyrtec butterbur was equally effective without side effects^21,22. Butterbur blocks leukotrienes, inflammatory compounds produced along with histamine by overactive immune cells^23,24.
Quercetin, Bromelain, and Vitamin C are a classic trio when it comes to seasonal allergy relief. Quercetin is an antioxidant that stabilizes the immune system and downregulates the production of actual histamine receptors²⁵. Bromelain is an anti-inflammatory enzyme that not only helps quercetin absorption but reduces swelling in the sinuses and lungs²⁶. Vitamin C helps with the detoxification of histamine. In one study, vitamin c alone dropped histamine levels by 40%²⁷!
Adaptogens are a particular class of herbs that help rebalance our immune system and reduce stress. Reishi mushroom is an adaptogen that has strong allergy reducing²⁸ ability as well as stress-reducing properties²⁹. Astragalus is perhaps the most powerful adaptogen of all, showing antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antitumor, and yes, anti-allergy activity^30,31,32.

Lemon balm is another excellent herb for allergies as it helps decrease stress³³, increase focus³⁴, improve mood³⁵, and is a potent antiviral^36,37.

Using our guide, we hope you can finally breathe a sigh of relief, ditch the pharmaceuticals and their side effects for a better and more natural approach this allergy season.

[References]

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The Quarantine 15

Sunflower Shoppe — Sun, 27 Sep 2020 21:20:30 +0000

From flattening the curve to fattening the curve — how the coronavirus pandemic led to weight gain and what to do about it.

It appears that the “quarantine 15” has spread faster than coronavirus itself – and affected more people. Recent reports have suggested that 76% of Americans have gained weight during the global coronavirus pandemic.¹ While we were quarantining to flatten the curve, an unfortunate side effect was that many of us were busy at home fattening the curve. The quarantine 15 wasn’t hard to predict. The coronavirus pandemic changed how we live, work, exercise – and eat. Right after toilet paper and Lysol wipes, nationwide shortages of flour and bakers’ yeast were ominous signs of what was to come.²

Jokes aside, pandemic weight gain is an important health topic to address as obesity is the number one predictor of coronavirus mortality.³ This fact is not lost on Americans struggling with their weight as 63% say that their main focus is weight loss as lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease.¹ Fret not, we are here to help. Using our healthy techniques and supplements, you can take hold of your health again with these Healthy Weight Management Strategies.

Creating a healthy daily sleep-wake routine can help you keep track of progress and keep your mind focused on weight goals. Waking up early makes room for early morning workouts which studies show boost metabolism more than nighttime workouts.⁴ Waking up on time is also an opportunity to get morning sun which lowers depression and increases motivation. Going to bed on time can help us break bad habits like late-night snacking and endless scrolling on social media both things that disrupt our circadian rhythms, raise stress levels, wreck hormones, and slow down our metabolism.⁵
Focus on adequate sleep. One night of poor sleep can increase food intake by as much as 900 calories the following day!⁸ Predictably these calories aren’t from extra carrots and kale but foods highest in fat and sugar.⁸In one study, researchers found that poor sleep had a “remarkable” impact on our endocrine system, increasing our stress hormone cortisol and causing us to become insulin resistant, a precursor to obesity and diabetes.⁹
Getting regular exercise is one of the best methods to reduce all risk factors associated with COVID19, especially obesity.⁶ The good news is that you need not spend hours at the gym every day as new research has found exercising just 7 minutes per day gives the same health benefits as exercising 45 minutes per day in a 6-week trial.⁷ Googling “7-minute workout” will bring up many routines you can do at home without equipment.
Managing stress during the pandemic is vital to reversing the quarantine 15. Stress leads to bad habits that wreak havoc on our metabolism. Indeed, international surveys show that 70% of people attribute their quarantine weight gain to stress eating and drinking.¹⁰Reports indicate that alcohol sales have gone up 55%¹¹so remember that fat and sugar metabolism grinds to a halt until the body can burn off the alcohol.¹² Spending time in nature is one of the best ways to reduce stress. Studies show that the more “green space” one has, the lower their reported stress score. Just 5 minutes outdoors is enough to lower stress hormones.¹³ Meditating or deep breathing enhances the stress-reducing effects of spending time in nature.¹⁴

Targeted Weight Control Supplements

Energy-boosting supplements help keep you energized, motivated, and focused throughout the day. Fatigue is the number one patient complaint in America and is certainly a hindrance to staying active and losing weight.¹⁵Use our energy boosters to improve thyroid and adrenal function for a safer alternative than harsh energy drinks which worsens fatigue by stressing the body.¹⁶ As a bonus, many stimulants naturally reduce appetite.¹⁷
Appetite reducing supplements work in a variety of ways, but you have to choose the right one for the situation for them to be effective. During the pandemic, we need to use suppressants that target stress eating specifically. Multiple studies now confirm 5-htp is the best at reducing carb cravings as well as emotional eating.¹⁸ You can take 5-htp by itself or as part of a formula with other synergistic herbs.
Meal replacement shakes More protein, fewer carbs – adding more protein which contain important amino acids, (such as the aforementioned 5-htp) into your diet can aid in weigh control. Protein has been shown to offset energy dips and the dreaded blood sugar crash. Protein drinks and meal replacement shakes often combine many weight control enhancing ingredients such as greens, fiber, vitamins, minerals, probiotics and enzymes. These make for a convenient and easy way to help you stick to your diet.¹⁹Just replacing one meal a day already takes care of 33% of your diet so you can focus on other things.
Stressbusters One of the best anti-anxiety adaptogens is Ashwagandha, a natural balancer targeting the fight-or-flight response. It’s an effective, anti-anxiety herb, as it decreases adrenaline, mitigates stress and elevates mood all of which can lead to better sleep. Magnesium helps reduce stress and also aids weight control. A recent study showed that magnesium reduced water retention and bloating while also lowering blood sugar and insulin level, helping the body stay in fat-burning mode.²²

We hope you can use our tips and supplements to help you flatten your own curve during the pandemic. These tips will become increasingly important as we come closer to the holiday season.

[References]

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“Not” Back to School

Sunflower Shoppe — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 15:41:55 +0000

Getting kids ready for school in the new era of distance learning.

Grab those backpacks and get ready to start those morning routines; it’s that time of year again – or is it? Like pretty much everything else in life, going “back” to school looks a lot different during a global pandemic. The Coronavirus second wave does not show any evidence of cresting, and if recent reports reign true, it is gaining momentum as younger populations are getting infected1. The continued pandemic has put serious doubt on whether schools will reopen on time or at all this coming fall. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom2, and as a result, education has changed dramatically with the rise of remote e-learning platforms3.

While remote learning solves some problems, it presents many new challenges for our students, teachers, and parents. Some of these challenges are already becoming apparent with the advent of “virtual dropouts; 20% of Boston high schoolers didn’t log in during May, and 50% of elementary children didn’t make daily contact4. While attendance is a significant issue, it is just one of the many new challenges we face, which range from digital “burnout” to obesity to nutrient deficiencies5. It is important to remain diligent in our approach to education, especially while home, to ensure these pandemic years do not create an education gap in our children6.

Here at the Shoppe, we’ve identified vital supplement and lifestyle tips to meet and beat these new challenges.

Supplements & Diet

Digital eye protection supplements are becoming one of, if not the most essential supplements kids can take with kids now spending up to 8 hours per day in front of a screen. The high energy blue wavelengths of light these devices emit can damage eye tissue15, create autistic-like patterns in children16, ruin sleep17, unbalance hormones18, and trigger depression19. Sunflower Shoppe now carries many highly effective digital eye protection supplements to help combat these issues20.

Immune boosters are certainly the health topic of the year21. Kids will need to keep their immune system in excellent shape for when classrooms are open again. Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Zinc are turning out to be the most important during the coronavirus pandemic22. We recommend children specific dosages of each of these for the duration of the school year.
Boost mental performance with a class of “smart herbs” known as nootropics, a class of supplements that enhance the brain’s ability to learn23. Bacopa is a nootropic herb that studies have shown is a potent stress reducer that also boosts certain neurotransmitters, which help with anxiety and depression24, a key risk during isolation. In a 12-week study, children who took just 50 mg twice daily showed significant improvements in mental control, logical memory, and learning ability25.
The Big 3: Multivitamins, Magnesium, and Fish Oil. A multivitamin provides vitamins and minerals, which are the building blocks of your child’s immune system, growth, healthy energy levels, and brain development. Magnesium is best known for its relaxing and anti-stress properties; however, it also supports healthy bone growth, muscles, and nerve function. Studies suggest magnesium also enhances memory and learning abilities in children26. Fish oil is critical for eye, nerve, and brain health as it contains the essential omega-3s EPA and DHA27. Recent analyses have shown that those with ADHD have lowered levels of omega 3s and that supplementing with fish oil significantly improved symptoms28,29.

Proper “Classroom” Etiquette

- Setting and maintaining a routine is the absolute backbone of a successful classroom: Children learn and perform better when they have clear expectations. Setting routines helps define healthy learning and study habits that will carry over to when kids are in classrooms again and later in life7.
- Screen the screen time: Cellphones, laptops, tablets are necessary tools of eLearning. However, the unchecked and unlimited use of such technologies has been linked to lower test scores8 and a myriad of potential psychological and physical harm9. Because digital screens emit powerful wavelengths of blue light that stress the brain and wear out our eyes, it is vital to take regular “screen-free” breaks throughout the day as well as to limit their use at night10.

Take regular breaks for outdoor activity: Evidence suggests that mathematics and reading are the academic topics that are most influenced by physical activity. These topics depend on efficient and effective executive function, which has been linked to physical activity and physical fitness11.

Ensuring children still socialize is one of the key reasons the CDC is recommending kids go back to classrooms as soon as possible12. The importance of face-to-face interaction with their peers is so essential it outweighs the risks of coronavirus. Many learning and empathy-related centers of the brain rely on this vital input13. Without proper socialization, children have stunted learning, poor emotional and social intelligence, and less self-esteem14.

While students may be learning differently than in previous years, we hope the tools outlined above can ensure they are still learning effectively. If we work together, students can come away this year with an excellent education and healthy habits that can help them in the classroom and beyond.

[References]

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