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Good Eating Habits and Seasonal Allergies

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brookenovak/437103661/It’s spring outside! The trees are green, the air is warm and people have itchy noses and eyes. This is a time of year where we all want to be outside and enjoying the good weather. If you are a person suffering from seasonal allergies something you can do is pay attention to what you’re eating. A healthy lifestyle can improve many aspects of our lives and poor eating habits can make any condition worse. Here are a few tips to improve your diet, and with it stop allergies from keeping you inside all spring.

1. Use good oils and fats- It is so easy to walk into a grocery store and grab the cheapest bottle of oil on the shelf. When we do that we may be robbing ourselves of nutrients. Most oils you find are refined, which tells you that they are already partially rancid. Make sure when you buy oil that it is unrefined and store it in a cool dark area.

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2. Eat seasonal and local foods- As the seasons change so do the foods we can find that have been grown locally. By eating locally we are helping our bodies to make the transition from one season to another more easily. Not to mention that fresh local foods taste far better then older processed food.

3. Take time for food prep- Whole grain food takes more time to cook then food that has been processed.  Rice, for example, should take at least 30 minutes to cook. If you don’t have the extra time, try using a crock pot to cook your meats and grains. For those of us who like to be able to grab food and go, take a day to do all your prep work. Portion out snacks, make individual salads, make one big pot of steel cut oatmeal and refrigerate the leftovers for other days.

4. When possible, go organic- I know that the higher cost of organic food can be a turn off but ask yourself, do you really want to be eating pesticide?

By making these changes you should find that your eyes and nose don’t get so itchy. Eat better and be able to go out and truly enjoy the good weather. Give these things a try and let us know how it goes!