Allergy is not a pollen deficiency.

They're a sign of an immune system that's out of balance.

Pollin isn't the problem, it's the trigger.

The real question is, why is your immune system reacting as if something harmless is a dangerous invader? Welcome to office hours.

This is our dedicated one-on-one space to go deeper, get clear, and explore what truly

moves the needle for your health.

I'm Dr. Mark Hyman, and each week we're going to pull back the curtain and share the

insights, the research, the lessons that don't always make it into our conversations with guests. Because at the end of the day, you are the CEO of your own health. And for many of you, your family's health, too. And you might not feel it all the time, but you have far more power in agency than you realize. I'm glad you're here. This episode is brought to you by

Function Health, empowering you to live 100 healthy years with over 160 lab tests for just

$365 a year and use the code mark 2026 to get $50 off your membership. If you think seasonal

allergies are just about pollen, think again.

Every spring, millions of people brace themselves. The tissues come out, the antihistamines come

out, the eye drops, the nasal sprays were told, well, it's just allergy season. But what if

that's not the full story? What if your allergies aren't just about what's in the air,

but about what's happening inside

your body? Right? Because not everybody gets allergic. So it's something about your body that's not

working right. Here's the truth. Allergies not a pollen deficiency. They're a sign of an immune

system that's out of balance. Pollin isn't the problem. It's the trigger. The real question is,

why is your immune system reacting as if something harmless is a dangerous invader? In functional medicine, we always ask the question, not just what's happening, but why is it happening? Why is the immune system so pissed off? Why is it reacting? Why is it on high alert? Why is it lost its tolerance for things that shouldn't be a problem like pollen? Now, when someone has seasonal allergies, I don't just think about the outdoors. I think about the gut, right? It's all comes down to the gut. I think about inflammation. I think about nutrient status. I think about the microbiome. Because, you know, 70, 60, 70 percent of your immune system lives in your gut. And if that whole system is disrupted, your body can start firing at things that were

never meant to be threats. So today I'm going to walk you through what's really happening in the

body during seasonal allergies. We'll talk about the root causes that make your immune system

hypersensitive. We'll explore the powerful gut immune connection. And most importantly, I'm going to

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