6 foods that fight fall allergies

HOUSTON – Produce could help serve the purpose of relieving allergy symptoms.

Dr. Anand Shah from the American Sinus Institute said allergy relief this year is especially important.

“Ragweed is a fall problem and it's going to be pretty severe this year here in Texas because of a lot of things that have happened with all the rainfall in the water so definitely eat your vegetables,” Shah said.

With anti-inflammatory elements and vitamin C, Shah recommends veggies like broccoli and celery.

“The thought process is vitamin C, which is found in many foods, plant-based foods, broccoli for example. They'll have an antihistamine effect which is beneficial, and then vitamin A found in carrots for example, can directly enhance the immune system,” Shah said.

In addition to carrots, onions and garlic can help in a similar way.

“Onions and garlic are also thought to enhance the immune system,” Shah said. “All the vegetables that our mothers told us to eat are, there was a reason for that.”

They have another immune fighting property, quercetin, which Shah said also helps with inflammation

Vitamin A foods are thought to improve allergies, since some studies show people with low vitamin A are more likely to have asthma and allergies.

This season, you can eat pumpkin to get lots of vitamin A. 

There are some foods associated with ragweed that you may want to avoid if you have allergies:
Bananas
Melons 
Cucumber
Zucchini
Chamomile & hibiscus tea

Anti-allergy soup from the book The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods: Proven Natural Remedies to Treat and Prevent More Than 80 Common Health Concerns:

How to make anti-allergy soup
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup evening primrose plant
1 cup nettle leaves
1 cup diced celery stalks

Boil an onion (with skin) and a clove of garlic. Add ½ cup chopped leaves and diced taproots of evening primrose. After boiling for about 5 minutes, add a cup of nettle leaves and a cup of diced celery stalks, and boil gently for another 3 to 10 minutes. Before eating, remove the onion skins and eat the soup while it's still warm. Season with wine vinegar, black pepper, hot pepper, turmeric, curry powder or celery seed.