Allergy season is upon us so we wanted to list out some of our favorite tools to making it through without relying on antihistamine medication.
1. D-Hist by Orthomolecular contains quercetin, bromelain, stinging nettles leaf, and N-acetyl cysteine to reduce histamine and respiratory irritation. We keep this product in stock all allergy season for both adults and children. Talk to your naturopathic doctor about using this as a replacement to your over-the-counter allergy medication.
2. Nasal irrigation/wash: Washing your sinuses in the morning and evening can help reduce total allergen load on that tissue. There are many products on the market you can try such as neti pots that you can use to wash your sinuses with a saline solution. Make sure to always use distilled water with some salt added, never use tap water.
3. Vitamin C helps stabilize mast cells to reduce histamine release. We stock vitamin C in a powdered form called Vital Mixed Ascorbates by Pharmax. This product combines buffered vitamin C with dried fruit extracts to add extra antioxidant power.
4. Allergy Relief Tea: With the weather warming up consider making up large batches of herbal iced tea to drink throughout the day. We make our very own allergy tea blend with nettle leaf, orange peel, rose hips and allspice to help keep your allergy symptoms at bay.
5. Air Purifiers: during the height of allergy season you may want to keep your bedroom windows shut and use an air purifier to help reduce particulates while you are sleeping. You can't control the air your breath for most of the day but you can control your air at night.
For next year consider trying the 'honey vaccine.' Pick a local honey, preferably with some pollen added to it and consume in incremental amounts from November to March. If you know which plants really get you down try to pick a honey made specifically from that pollen. Most of the studies I have seen are done with birch pollen allergies. Using honey during allergy season is unlikely to be helpful but will add a nice sweetness to your Allergy Relief tea.