Table of Contents
Introduction
Last year, ragweed season barely registered. This year, you wake up sneezing, your nose is blocked by evening, your eyes itch, and a longer spell outdoors can leave you feeling worse for hours. It is easy to assume that your allergy has simply become more severe. But the change may not be in your sensitivity at all – you may simply be facing a greater overall allergen load.
The intensity of allergy symptoms is shaped by more than one factor. Pollen levels matter, but so do other allergens in the air, air pollution and the condition of the lining of your airways. That is why the same allergy can be little more than a nuisance one year and make everyday life difficult for weeks the next.
What happens during an allergic reaction
In an allergic reaction, the immune system mistakes a harmless substance - such as plant pollen - for a threat. When it encounters that allergen again, it triggers an immune response in which histamine, among other signaling substances, is released.
Histamine can make the mucous membranes swell and increase mucus production, leading to sneezing, itchy eyes and watering. This basic mechanism alone, however, does not explain why the reaction can be much stronger one year than another. To understand that, we also need to look at the total burden the body is dealing with at the time.
If you would like a closer look at the link between allergies, airway inflammation and histamine release, our Riavita article on asthma and flavonoids explores the process in more detail.
When do symptoms start to appear?
It can help to think of an allergic reaction in terms of a threshold. A small amount of an allergen may cause only barely noticeable symptoms, while a higher pollen concentration can trigger a much stronger response. The exact threshold varies from person to person and from one allergen to another.
And the burden rarely comes from a single source. On a September day, ragweed pollen may be high at the same time as other plant pollens and mold spores are present, while air pollution is also irritating the airways. When several of these factors coincide, it becomes easier to cross the point at which symptoms become noticeable. That is why two seemingly similar days can feel completely different.
Pollen season itself also changes from year to year. Temperature, rainfall, wind and other weather conditions all affect how much pollen plants produce and how far it spreads, so exposure to the same species can vary substantially between seasons.
A warm, dry, windy period can create a much heavier pollen load than a wetter spell. Over the longer term, climate change may also lengthen pollen seasons and increase their intensity. So even if late August caused hardly any problems last year, the same time this year may be a very different story.
Pollen is not the only factor behind your symptoms
Urban allergy season is a good example of why it is too simplistic to blame pollen for everything. The surface of the airways is exposed not only to pollen, but also to exhaust fumes, fine particulate matter, ozone and other air pollutants.
Air pollution can irritate the airway lining and may contribute to more severe allergic disease. Some environmental factors can even alter the allergenic properties of pollen itself.
This is why modern allergy research increasingly focuses on the epithelial barrier of the airways. This layer of cells forms the physical and biological boundary between the body's internal environment and the outside world we breathe in. Air pollution and other environmental stressors can affect how well this protective barrier functions.
More allergens, greater overall exposure
Many people describe their allergy in simple terms: ‘I am allergic to ragweed’ or ‘I have a dust mite allergy.’ In reality, things are often more complicated.
Someone may be sensitive to several types of pollen while also being exposed to dust mites at home and mould spores in damp environments. These exposures can overlap, and indoor allergens do not disappear just because pollen season has begun.
If several substances you are sensitive to are present in your environment at the same time, the total allergen load can be higher. That does not necessarily mean that you have developed a new allergy, or that your existing allergy has become more severe. It may simply mean that more has been added to the same side of the scale.
What happens once symptoms begin?
During an allergic reaction, mast cells can respond extremely quickly to an allergen the immune system has encountered before. If ragweed pollen reaches the mucous membranes, for example, these cells may be activated and release histamine and other inflammatory signalling substances within a short time.
Histamine directly contributes to the familiar symptoms: blood vessels dilate, the mucous membranes swell, mucus production increases, and itching and the urge to sneeze appear. This is precisely the pathway targeted by antihistamines.
Histamine is not the only driver of an allergic reaction; several inflammatory signalling substances and immune cells are involved. That is one reason quercetin has attracted research interest. Alongside its antioxidant properties, researchers have also investigated how it may influence mast cell activity and the release of inflammatory mediators.
Why quercetin is attracting attention in allergy research
Quercetin is a flavonoid, a naturally occurring plant compound found in foods such as apples, onions and berries, as well as many other plants. It has been studied for years because of its antioxidant properties. You can read more about flavonoids and their role in cellular protection in our dedicated Riavita article.
In a placebo-controlled study involving 66 participants, 200 mg of quercetin per day for four weeks reduced several allergy symptoms compared with placebo, including sneezing, a runny nose and itchy eyes. Several quality-of-life measures also improved.
Why does the Riavita formula combine quercetin with vitamins C and D?
We formulated Riavita Vitamin C & D with Quercetin so that its vitamins and plant-derived active ingredients complement one another. One daily serving provides 1,000 mg of vitamin C, 4,000 IU of vitamin D3, 200 mg of Japanese pagoda tree extract standardized to 95% quercetin, and 80 mg of grape seed extract.
Vitamins C and D contribute to the normal function of the immune system, while vitamin C also helps protect cells from oxidative stress. Quercetin and grape seed extract add plant flavonoids to the formula, so the product does not rely on a single active ingredient but combines several complementary components.
You can read more about the professional background of each element of the formula on the Science Behind page.
What can you do when allergy season begins?
Reducing allergen exposure is still the first step. If you know what you are sensitive to, keep an eye on current pollen counts and plan longer periods outdoors around high-exposure days where possible. When you get home, removing pollen from your clothes and hair can also help reduce the amount you carry indoors and continue to breathe in for hours afterwards.
Once symptoms have started, reducing exposure remains important, but so does giving the body appropriate support for normal immune function and antioxidant protection. The roles of vitamins C and D in these areas have long been established, while more recent research suggests that quercetin may also have a favourable influence on some of the processes involved in allergic reactions.
This is the thinking behind Riavita Vitamin C & D with Quercetin: it brings vitamin C, vitamin D3, quercetin and grape seed extract together in one formula so their different but complementary properties can work side by side.
