It’s that time of year, and if you have seasonal allergies, you may already be feeling your usual symptoms. The good news is there is help out there for those watery eyes and scratchy throats.
Have you ever wondered exactly what allergies are and what causes them? Typical seasonal allergy symptoms include sneezing and runny nose, congestion, dry throat, and eyes you can’t stop scratching. These symptoms mean your immune system is overreacting to a stimulus, such as dust in the air.
The fall also means drier weather, so our eyes, throats, and noses are more easily irritated, and pollen and dust levels can be high. If we have food sensitivities, our immune systems are already stimulated, and the extra burden of pollen or dust can throw us into a full-blown allergy.
In addition to avoiding foods you’re sensitive to and avoiding pollen whenever possible, here are several things that can help:
Try a neti pot or saline spray.
These sinus lavage pots look like Aladdin’s Lamp and are helpful for nasal congestion and flushing pollen and dust from the sinuses. Add ¼ heaping tsp salt to 1 cup warm water, mix well, and put into your neti pot.
Over a sink, tilt your head to one side and insert the nozzle of the pot into your top nostril. The saline solution will flow out of the pot into your sinuses and out your bottom nostril. To avoid inhaling the solution, be sure to breathe through your mouth. After you finish one side, blow your nose several times, and repeat on the other side.
A simple saline spray will keep your sinus membranes moist and help to keep irritants out of your system. The more regular you are about using it, the better the results.
Avoid foods that strain your system.
Eliminate the following from your diet during allergy season (if not for good): dairy, alcohol, sugar, wheat, red meat, caffeine, and peanuts. Eat as naturally as possible. If you can’t pick, grow, or hunt it, don’t eat it.
Eat local honey.
This amazing remedy works well! Local honey contains small amounts of the local pollen, and when you eat it regularly, your immune system will become desensitized, much as it would with allergy shots. Eat 1 tsp every day just before and during allergy season.
Eat healthy and hot to kill allergies.
You know what you need to eat… colorful veggies and fruits, the bigger the variety, the better. Many herbal supplements are helpful, including goldenseal, nettles, yarrow, turmeric, and eyebright. Grape seed extract and quercetin, used along with vitamin C, are also effective against allergies.
Anything hot and spicy will help also. Cayenne pepper, horseradish, Chinese mustard, habanero and jalapeno peppers, and garlic are all helpful.
Try nettles.
Often called “nature’s allergy relief,” nettles are one of the most powerful herbal allergy remedies. Also known as stinging nettle or simply nettle, this amazing remedy is derived from the root or leaves of the stinging nettle bush. They help allergy symptoms such as itching, sneezing, and congestion and can be used in a tea, tincture, fresh, or cooked.
One of the best supplements you can use for allergies is Gaia Aller-Leaf, available in our Allergy Kit.
If you’re having allergies and can’t find relief, contact us today for a consultation.
