Fight Allergies With Food

STUDIO CITY (CBS) — Allergy season is here in full force, and it is causing misery for millions!

JJ Virgin visited the KCAL 9 studios Tuesday to talk about how foods can help with allergies.

The Good:

- Antioxidants: nuts, grapes, tomatoes, oranges, carrots. Antioxidants reduce inflammation by fighting free radicals

- Zinc: oysters, lean beef, legumes. Zinc has an antibacterial and antiviral effect in the body and fosters immunity. The body may be unable to fight infection without sufficient supplies of zinc.

- Omega-3 Fatty Acid: cold water fish, Wild salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, sardines, and albacore tuna. Great for inflammation.

- Green, white, and black teas. These are full of flavonoids -- plant compounds that reduce inflammation. Tea also boosts immunity by increasing proteins in the body that fight infection. Drinking hot tea with lemon and honey first thing in the morning activates movement of the nasal cilia, which helps prevent early morning sneezing.

- Vitamin C: oranges, lemons, limes, potatoes, green peppers. A natural antihistamine.

- Wellmune WGP: Companies across the U.S and Canada are adding a natural ingredient to their packaged foods, beverages and supplements. Wellmune works by tapping into the most abundant immune cells in your body, and it is a safe and ea sy way to help you reduce the risk of getting sick.

The Bad:

- Processed foods, such as cereals. These typically contain excess amounts of sugar and salt.

- Preservatives

- Margarine

- Foods high in saturated fats and cholesterol

- Cajun Spice. This one could both help and hurt you. Spicy foods can thin mucus and ease allergy congestion, but they can also irritate the throat, resulting in excess mucus and cough.