Nutrition and Dietary Supplements - Rhinitis

If you have any food allergies, eliminate those items from your diet. Even if you don't have any identified food allergy, reducing the intake of foods that may stimulate inflammation (such as meats, full fat dairy products, sugar, and highly processed foods) may improve your symptoms.

Bromelain

Although not all experts agree, bromelain supplements may help suppress cough, reduce nasal mucus associated with sinusitis, and relieve the swelling and inflammation caused by hay fever. This supplement is often administered with quercetin.

Essential Fatty Acids

Omega-6 fatty acids have a longstanding history of folk use for allergies. They are essential fatty acids (EFAs), meaning that they are needed by the body and must be obtained from the diet. People who are prone to allergies may require more EFAs and often have difficulty converting linoleic acid (an inflammation-provoking type of omega-6 fatty acid) to gamma-linolenic acid (GLA; an anti-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acid). In fact, women and infants who are prone to allergies appear to have lower levels of GLA in breast milk and blood. Studies on the use of EFAs to prevent allergic reactions or reduce their magnitude have had mixed results. Whether taking a GLA supplement improves your symptoms, therefore, may be very individual. Work with your healthcare provider to first determine if it is safe for you to try GLA and then follow your allergy symptoms closely for any signs of change. GLA is found in spirulina and seed oils of evening primrose, black currant, borage, and fungal oils.