Are allergies attacking you this spring? Are you sneezing and wheezing, with a runny nose, itchy eyes, and just plain miserable? If so, you are not alone. Some 35 million Americans face allergies from pollen put into the air by trees, grass, flowers, and plants each year. I would like to share some information that I have learned about how to help cope with these terrible things we call allergies. Many people head to the drug store or doctors office to get medication to help the deal with the symptoms of allergies, but I would like to offer some alternative treatments for relief.
There are natural herbs that you can use to help relieve some of these seasonal symptoms. One of the most popular herbs currently is the butterbur. This herb has had some very impressive clinical trial results according to Mary Hardy, MD, director of integrated medicine at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. One such study showed how one tablet four times daily was as effective as popular antihistamine drugs in controlling hay fever with out the traditional symptoms such as drowsiness that sometimes occur with medication. Other helpful herbs are: freeze-dried nettles and goldenseal. We can not forget plain saline nasal sprays or the use of a neti pot to rinse the pollen out of our nasal passages.
Spicy foods have also shown to help with mild allergies. Experts say that the spicier a dish is, the more likely it is to thin mucous secretions, which in turn can clear nasal passages. The most common spices for this purpose are cayenne pepper, hot ginger, and fenugreek along with traditional onion and garlic.
Some experts have even drawn connections with food intolerances and seasonal allergies. According to Clifford Bassett, MD, a New York University allergist, if you suffer from ragweed or other weed pollen allergies, you should stay away from melons, bananas, cucumber, sunflower seeds, chamomile, and any herbal supplement containing echinacea. These all can make symptoms much worse.
Staying indoors as much as possible, is what some folks tend to do as well, but we all know that our houses are not 100% sealed from the outdoors, so I encourage you to look into a good filtration system. It makes a huge difference in my family especially if it is used regularly and before bad symptoms begin.
Remember, if you plan on trying natural methods of relieve, do not combine them with traditional medication. You don’t want to overdose on antihistamines. If you have any questions, always talk to you family doctor or naturopath for advice. Either way, just know that spring only last for a bit of time and we will all get through it.