My nephew has terrible allergies. Here are some natural remedies I found online. Some are paraphrased, some I copied and pasted. See source for more details.
The one point I didn't see mentioned in any of this is local honey. From what I've heard over the years, eating honey from your area, your body gets acclimated to triggers so that reactions are reduced or eliminated. Research it! Honey is delish anyway, so I love any excuse to eat it.
From Discovery Fit & Health:
1. Saline rinse (1/2 teaspoon noniodized salt dissolved in a cup of lukewarm water, poured/sprayed/sucked up (carefully) up the nose and out of the mouth and nose, rinsing allergens.
2. Wash - pollen collects in the hair; and wash your sheets (esp. the pillowcase!)
3. Beware the air - this section was a little too much for me, suggesting a mask, goggles, and avoiding the outdoors. Eek! Smoke less is good advice, though, and don't be around it.
4. Peppermint tea
5. Steam your face, then use the warm water to wet a washcloth, lay over the face, and gently press your sinuses. Good one!
6. Wash your pet. No soap, just warm water. Wash your hands after touching pets (using an all natural, organic soap, of course).
7. Bare floors - just say no to carpet. Better value, easier to clean, doesn't trap/produce allergens (carpet turns into DUST - it's gross!).
8. Dehumidify. Don't know that I agree with this. They argue that it begets a dust mite-friendly environment, but personally, I think dry air is more irritating.
9. Wasabi & horseradish. Yum!
10. Avoid the culprit. Again, too tough. Great, when practical, but usually it's not, which is why folks look for remedies in the first place. I think they added this to make it a 10 list, not a 9.
A more explanatory article gives the following info I like.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2006-08-01/Six-Natural-Allergy-Remedies.aspx?page=2
A few summary points:
Allergy symptoms are your body's attempts to EXPEL the allergen from your body. You can fight those reactions and/or prevent them.
Neti Pot - flushes out the allergens from the sinuses
Quercetin: "Citrus fruits, onions, apples, parsley, tea, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce and wine are naturally high in quercetin, but allergy sufferers will most likely need to use supplements to build up enough of this compound to prevent attacks. The recommended dosage is about 1,000 milligrams a day, taken between meals. It’s best to start treatment six weeks before allergy season."
Start early - get a leg up on fighting allergies BEFORE they start, not once they're bad. Good call.
The rest here I copied and pasted - great article:
Allergy-Fighting Foods. A German study, published in the journal Allergy, found that participants who ate foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids were less likely to suffer allergy symptoms than those who didn’t regularly eat these foods. Omega-3s help fight inflammation and can be found in cold-water fish, walnuts and flaxseed oil, as well as grass-fed meat and eggs.
To help keep airways clear when pollen counts are high, add a dash of horseradish, chili peppers or hot mustard to your food — all act as natural, temporary decongestants. It’s also a good idea to avoid foods that you’re slightly allergic to until the air clears. Fighting off allergies can render the body hypersensitive to those foods, causing more severe reactions than usual.
Stinging Nettle. If you decide you need an antihistamine but want a natural option, stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) behaves in much the same way as many of the drugs sold to treat allergies, but without the unwanted side effects of dry mouth and drowsiness. Nettle actually inhibits the body’s ability to produce histamine. It’s a common weed in many parts of the United States, but the most practical medicinal form is a freeze-dried extract of the leaves sold in capsules. Studies have shown that taking about 300 milligrams daily will offer relief for most people, although the effects may last only a few hours. You also can make your own tinctures or teas with stinging nettle. (Contact with the stinging hairs on fresh nettle can cause skin inflammation, so wear protective gloves when handling it.) For more on making your own herbal remedies, see Richo Cech’s Making Plant Medicine (Horizon Herbs, 2000).
Butterbur. Derived from a common weed in Europe, butterbur (Petasites hybridus) is another alternative to antihistamines, though it may be hard to find in the United States. In the days before refrigeration, its broad, floppy leaves were used to wrap butter during warm spells, hence the name butterbur. A Swiss study, published in British Journal of Medicine, found that butterbur was as effective as the drug cetirizine, the active ingredient in Zyrtec. Even though cetirizine is supposed to be a nonsedative antihistamine, researchers reported that it did cause drowsiness, though butterbur did not. Participants in the study took 32 milligrams of butterbur a day, divided into four doses. A word of caution though — butterbur is in the same family as ragweed, so it could worsen allergy symptoms in some cases. Effects of taking butterbur over a long period of time also are unknown.
Sublingual Immunotherapy. Specific immunotherapy, otherwise known as allergy shots, has been used widely to inject patients with diluted doses of certain allergens to help build immunity over time. However, allergy shots can take three to five years to be effective, and a small percentage of people suffer severe reactions to this treatment. Though it remains popular in North America, the practice fell out of favor in the United Kingdom during the late 1980s, when strict limitations were imposed after several adverse reactions occurred. [I knew someone who had some pretty severe reactions using this technique. It's also expensive and time consuming.]
The one point I didn't see mentioned in any of this is local honey. From what I've heard over the years, eating honey from your area, your body gets acclimated to triggers so that reactions are reduced or eliminated. Research it! Honey is delish anyway, so I love any excuse to eat it.
From Discovery Fit & Health:
1. Saline rinse (1/2 teaspoon noniodized salt dissolved in a cup of lukewarm water, poured/sprayed/sucked up (carefully) up the nose and out of the mouth and nose, rinsing allergens.
2. Wash - pollen collects in the hair; and wash your sheets (esp. the pillowcase!)
3. Beware the air - this section was a little too much for me, suggesting a mask, goggles, and avoiding the outdoors. Eek! Smoke less is good advice, though, and don't be around it.
4. Peppermint tea
5. Steam your face, then use the warm water to wet a washcloth, lay over the face, and gently press your sinuses. Good one!
6. Wash your pet. No soap, just warm water. Wash your hands after touching pets (using an all natural, organic soap, of course).
7. Bare floors - just say no to carpet. Better value, easier to clean, doesn't trap/produce allergens (carpet turns into DUST - it's gross!).
8. Dehumidify. Don't know that I agree with this. They argue that it begets a dust mite-friendly environment, but personally, I think dry air is more irritating.
9. Wasabi & horseradish. Yum!
10. Avoid the culprit. Again, too tough. Great, when practical, but usually it's not, which is why folks look for remedies in the first place. I think they added this to make it a 10 list, not a 9.
A more explanatory article gives the following info I like.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2006-08-01/Six-Natural-Allergy-Remedies.aspx?page=2
A few summary points:
Allergy symptoms are your body's attempts to EXPEL the allergen from your body. You can fight those reactions and/or prevent them.
Neti Pot - flushes out the allergens from the sinuses
Quercetin: "Citrus fruits, onions, apples, parsley, tea, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce and wine are naturally high in quercetin, but allergy sufferers will most likely need to use supplements to build up enough of this compound to prevent attacks. The recommended dosage is about 1,000 milligrams a day, taken between meals. It’s best to start treatment six weeks before allergy season."
Start early - get a leg up on fighting allergies BEFORE they start, not once they're bad. Good call.
The rest here I copied and pasted - great article:
Allergy-Fighting Foods. A German study, published in the journal Allergy, found that participants who ate foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids were less likely to suffer allergy symptoms than those who didn’t regularly eat these foods. Omega-3s help fight inflammation and can be found in cold-water fish, walnuts and flaxseed oil, as well as grass-fed meat and eggs.
To help keep airways clear when pollen counts are high, add a dash of horseradish, chili peppers or hot mustard to your food — all act as natural, temporary decongestants. It’s also a good idea to avoid foods that you’re slightly allergic to until the air clears. Fighting off allergies can render the body hypersensitive to those foods, causing more severe reactions than usual.
Stinging Nettle. If you decide you need an antihistamine but want a natural option, stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) behaves in much the same way as many of the drugs sold to treat allergies, but without the unwanted side effects of dry mouth and drowsiness. Nettle actually inhibits the body’s ability to produce histamine. It’s a common weed in many parts of the United States, but the most practical medicinal form is a freeze-dried extract of the leaves sold in capsules. Studies have shown that taking about 300 milligrams daily will offer relief for most people, although the effects may last only a few hours. You also can make your own tinctures or teas with stinging nettle. (Contact with the stinging hairs on fresh nettle can cause skin inflammation, so wear protective gloves when handling it.) For more on making your own herbal remedies, see Richo Cech’s Making Plant Medicine (Horizon Herbs, 2000).
Butterbur. Derived from a common weed in Europe, butterbur (Petasites hybridus) is another alternative to antihistamines, though it may be hard to find in the United States. In the days before refrigeration, its broad, floppy leaves were used to wrap butter during warm spells, hence the name butterbur. A Swiss study, published in British Journal of Medicine, found that butterbur was as effective as the drug cetirizine, the active ingredient in Zyrtec. Even though cetirizine is supposed to be a nonsedative antihistamine, researchers reported that it did cause drowsiness, though butterbur did not. Participants in the study took 32 milligrams of butterbur a day, divided into four doses. A word of caution though — butterbur is in the same family as ragweed, so it could worsen allergy symptoms in some cases. Effects of taking butterbur over a long period of time also are unknown.
Sublingual Immunotherapy. Specific immunotherapy, otherwise known as allergy shots, has been used widely to inject patients with diluted doses of certain allergens to help build immunity over time. However, allergy shots can take three to five years to be effective, and a small percentage of people suffer severe reactions to this treatment. Though it remains popular in North America, the practice fell out of favor in the United Kingdom during the late 1980s, when strict limitations were imposed after several adverse reactions occurred. [I knew someone who had some pretty severe reactions using this technique. It's also expensive and time consuming.]
