Spring has come, and with it nice weather, lifted spirits, aaanndd… Allergies. Nothing like constant sneezing, a runny nose and itchy eyes to ruin this lovely season for you. Luckily there are some natural remedies so that you don’t have to suffer or use over-the-counter or prescription pills or shots.
The Digestive System, Inflammation and Allergies
Most people wouldn’t think to address the digestive system in order to fix a runny nose, but the truth is it’s the first thing you want to do. If you haven’t checked out my post on digestive health, do so now.
Why focus on the digestive system? Allergies are the immune system responding to irritants via inflammation, and your digestive tract is home to about 80% of your immune system. The digestive tract is also the site of the majority of inflammation Americans experience, due to gut irritants such as gluten, artificial colors and sweeteners, and foods such as soy and dairy.
The fix? Increasing fiber, dark leafy green veggies and doing a few fasts. The fiber helps to sweep out most of the undigested foodstuffs in the digestive tract that hang around and cause inflammation. Dark leafy greens are high in magnesium, which helps to relax the bowels, improving elimination. Fasting is the most powerful healing modality I know of, and is the quickest way to improve the digestive tract, especially when fresh vegetable juices are utilized. A fast helps to expel waste and gives the digestive tract a much need rest, as most people haven’t taken a break from eating since the day they were born. Read my post on digestive health for info on how to easily complete your first few fasts.
Consider supplementing with Omega 3s as well, as they’re highly anti-inflammatory and help to balance out our inordinate consumption of Omega 6 fatty acids, which increase inflammation.
Raw, Local Honey for Allergies
Raw local honey is another great option for allergies, especially after you’ve improved your digestive health. Raw local honey has small amounts of local pollen – these little bits of pollen get digested and interact with the immune system within the gut. The immune system then is given the chance to produce the necessary antibodies for the pollen, and when the pollen is encountered in the mucous membranes in the nose, antibodies will be released to manage the pollen.
You can also go straight to the source and buy local bee pollen as well – the bees go from flower to flower and pick up pollen from each one. This pollen is then collected into little pellets that can be consumed – not only do they improve your allergies, but they are one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet, being extremely high in easy-to-absorb protein, almost all of the B-Vitamins, and are chock full of enzymes and minerals. Bee pollen is a favorite amongst athletes for the energy boost it provides, and is also nature’s richest source of rutin, which has the unique ability of softening blood vessels, helping to protect against atherosclerosis.
Just go to your local co-op, farmers market or apiary and buy yourself some local, raw honey or bee pollen, and consume a few teaspoons per day. Give your body about a month to see the full effects of this remedy.
Reishi Mushroom
Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma Lucidum) is an ancient and revered medicinal fungus that grows wild in many parts of the world. It is the number one healing substance in all of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where it is affectionately known as the “Mushroom of Immortality”.
Reishi Mushroom
Reishi has numerous benefits – it’s anticancer, has powerful antioxidants, is liver-, heart-, lung-, brain- and kidney-protective, has immunoregulatory effects, is a powerful anti-inflammatory and even helps diabetes.
One study found that reishi exhibited powerful neutralizing effects on the allergies of guinea pigs – “These results suggest that GL [Ganoderma Lucidum] may be a useful therapeutic drug for treating patients with allergic rhinitis.” Allergic rhinitis is the technical term for common allergies.
Another found that the triterpenes in reishi mushroom are powerful natural anti-histamines, comparable to Claritin or Benadryl, common over the counter antihistamines.
When buying a reishi mushroom extract to combat allergies, it’s important to get one that has been extracted with alcohol, or that contains reishi spores – the triterpenes that are responsible for reishi’s antihistamine effects are only able to be extracted from the fibrous mushroom using alcohol, or can be obtained from reishi spores that have had their cell walls cracked to increase bioavailability.
Dragon Herbs has many nice reishi products – this is an excellent tincture made from wild reishi, which is naturally higher in healing phytochemicals than reishi grown in hothouses, where the majority of reishi supplements come from. This Jing Herbs product includes reishi spores and would make an excellent choice as well. While I personally buy almost exclusively from these two companies, I have no financial investment in them – I just recommend them most because frankly, they’re up to my high standards for quality.
Give these natural remedies a try! It’s a lot easier to just buy some local honey and a nice reishi extract than to always be reaching for more Claritin.