A wet, snowy winter brings Spring flowers and blooming trees, and with that comes high pollen counts blowing through the air like clouds of dust.
Your allergy response is a complex interaction between histamine production and inflammation, and these natural remedies aim to combat both.
TRY A SALINE OR NETI POT
A neti pot may be a little intimidating at first, but once you’re comfortable using one, it’s a tried and true method for irrigating your sinuses and nasal cavities. The neti pot will be able to rinse, dilute and clear pollen and therefore decreases allergy symptoms.
BREATHE IN ESSENTIAL OILS
Peppermint oil, lavender oil, and lemon oil: The combination of these three essential oils helps maintain normal histamine levels and a normal inflammatory response allergens often effect.
Simply mix the three oils and diffuse at work, home, or in your car. You can even place a few drops under your nose or on your temples to minimize the allergy response.
EAT PLENTY OF PROBIOTICS
Almost 75% of your immune system is in your gut. If your digestive health isn’t optimal, you’ll have a high histamine load tied to your digestive health. Eating more probiotics via food or supplements helps balance your digestive health and will lower your histamine response, making you less vulnerable to allergies and allergy symptoms. I like this probiotic for maximum support for your immune system with 50+ billion CFUs and over 12 species of beneficial probiotics.
USE ALLIUM CEPA
It’s a homeopathic remedy (derived from onions) effective for acute, symptomatic relief of hay fever or allergies. While onions can typically causes a runny nose and watery eyes, when taken in microdoses, allium acts as an antihistamine.
GIVE LIVER NUTRIENTS A TRY
Did you know that the liver plays a substantial role in reducing the effect a potential allergen will have on the body? Our liver purifies and filters about two quarts of blood per minute, extracting most viruses, bacteria, environmental toxins, before recirculating healthy blood through the rest of the body. Seasonal allergies happen as a result of an overloaded toxic state within the liver.
The liver has multiple functions for the body and is responsible for processing everything we come in contact with. If the quantity of a substance entering the bloodstream is too much for the liver to process, the immune system becomes overstimulated and recognizes it as being an allergen. The liver then produces and stores allergy-specific antibodies called immunoglobulins. These antibodies set off a reaction, and the release of too many inflammatory chemicals or hormones called histamines causes an allergic reaction, with a host of physical symptoms.
I love DIM-X for supporting healthy liver detoxification.
APPLE CIDER VINEGAR FOR LONG-TERM
This age old remedy is also good for allergies when used on a consistent basis. Mix 1 tablespoon ACV with 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice and ½ tablespoon raw bees honey and drink 3 times/day. Buy unpasteurized, unfiltered, unrefined ACV, and check for brownish color, tiny cobweb “mother” floating in it as confirmation of the important living enzymes in ACV.
It may take several weeks to see positive results, but be patient as this mixture begins to balance your GI tract and boost your body’s natural defenses for fighting off allergies.
EXPERIMENT WITH LOCAL, RAW HONEY
Locally-produced honey contains local pollens, sensitizing you to these pollens so you have fewer allergy symptoms. The thought is similar to the concept of homeopathy, where a little exposure stimulates the immune system to produce a protective response.
TRY BEE POLLEN
Not to be confused with natural honey, bee pollen comes from pollen that collects on the body of a bee. Histamines are chemicals your immune system makes to fight seasonal allergies, and bee pollen supports normal histamine levels. No bees are harmed in the process of collecting bee pollen from the hives.
EAT COLORFUL, FRESH FOOD
Eating nutrient-dense foods gives your immune system the ability to repair itself, bringing it back into balance so it can fight off common allergies in your environment. Here's a look at several science-backed approaches to support healthy, normal inflammation naturally.
A SEASONAL ALLERGY RELIEF PRODUCT I LIKE
HEALTHY GOODS ENVIRO-ADAPT
This product is stacked with immune supporting ingredients, including quercetin and turmeric (natural inflammatory support), and bromelain (natural histamine support). When allergies cause your immune system to go out of whack, this supplement is designed to balance the immune system response.
Get through the warmer months more comfortably with any of these allergy remedies.
Kelly Harrington, MS, RDN
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist for Healthy Goods
