While spring cleaning can be viewed as a major chore in some households, the importance of it can easily be underestimated, and it shouldn’t be just allocated to spring, it should be kept on top of every couple of months. While we’re all keen on having a superficially clean home, it can be bad for us if we don’t dig deep with our dustpan and brush! This is doubly important if you’ve got children as allergens can be a contributing factor to illnesses like asthma, which can potentially affect them for the rest of their lives. So where do you begin?

Tackling Allergies? It All Starts At Home!

Firstly, making sure that your house is free of chemicals. The amount of chemicals that are in our cleaning products and everyday items can contribute to a lifetime of allergies, and there are a couple of ways you can do this, such as investing in an air filter. A HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter will remove all impurities and therefore improve the quality of the air you're breathing. As a way of establishing a base level of chemical-free air in the home, this is a great start. You can even hire professionals to do a house clean, and although a lot of experienced cleaners rely on chemicals, some don’t use chemicals at all. If you are trying to establish the cause of an allergy, removing the chemicals is a start. We don’t know what's in our everyday household products, so if you can buy “organic” versions of household cleaners, and make the most of the professionals who don’t indulge in them at all, it’ll benefit everyone in the house.

Sometimes, the reason we’re allergic to something in the home isn’t actually what's in the air, it’s our immune systems. And it’s important to remember this when we've got young children. With so many allergens in our food, and the processing of staples like wheat means we are more likely to develop gluten intolerances now than ever before.  So, if you’re looking to give your or your kids’ immune systems a boost, try a few of the following.

Local honey is known to be a great way to combat hay fever in your local area. Start by consuming it a month before the allergy season begins.

Reducing the amount of wheat in your diet is another way to check if you have an issue. There are so many wheat substitutes that it is potentially very easy to live without it for a few weeks. Try and go a month and then start to reintroduce it slowly back into your diet to see if it has any of the effects you were feeling before.

Using probiotics is a great way to help improve the amount of gut bacteria you have. This will help you fight infections easier. Either take a supplement or eat highly fermented foods.

Allergies are so annoying but remember it all begins in the home. So check to see if it’s a simple fix before going to the doctor.