It may be contrary to your thought, but some people have more sick days in warmer months. This can make it harder to get outside and recreate. Swimming and water skiing are a couple of the signature summer sports. Having fun with these activities can be affected by seasonal allergies and illness.

Summer is a great time for travel. When we travel we not only expose ourselves to new pathogens, but we can bring those back home. Diseases that orignate in Asia and Africa typically make their way to the rest of the world through their hosts - us.

In the case of allergies people have an immune system that is overreacting to stimulus in the environment. In some cases that is pollen, in others it's certain kinds of dust or chemicals such as exhaust fumes.

These things are not normally harmful, but the body reacts as if it does. Even though a bit of plant pollen may enter an airway or nasal passage, this does not really constitute a threat to our health. Oddly enough this can be relieved by having a balanced immune system.

The immune system can take some time to adapt as we transition from indoor to outdoor activities. We are now not only exposed to more and different allergens, but there are also different possible exposures to viruses and bacteria.

One preventative measure to take in both of these cases is learning how to strengthen the immune system. This makes sense for fighting off viruses and bacteria, but how does this affect allergies? One mechanism for making a stronger immune system is to increase the amount of interferon in the body. When the immune system gets back into balance the reaction to allergens will not be as strong.

You can boost the immune system by taking in the right kind of nutrients. When investigating a supplement, check both the short term effectiveness and long term safety. Check for data on these factors and look over the research material available.