Allergies

With all the rain we have been having more and more people are coming down with allergies.  Most of these are caused from the abundance of molds that have formed due to the wet weather. 

I have been seeing a lot of stuffy noses, chest congestion, coughs, hoarseness, and general "just don't feel good".  If you are not running a fever, these symptoms generally mean allergies.  Allergies affect men, women and children.  You are not immune.  You may go all your life without allergies and then you wake up one morning with a major allergy attack. 

            What do you do?  Well, some people run to their local MD and he or she loads them down with decongestants (which raise blood pressure and make you sleepy) and antihistamines, possibly even antibiotics.

            You do have a lot of options with holistic medicine.  First of all, your main defense should be lots of vitamin C.  I cannot stress how important this vitamin is for your body.  I believe that everyone should be taking, at the very least 1,000 mg a day.  Vitamin C will act as a natural decongestant and help to clear nasal passages.  Whenever you take a regular decongestant you may experience a rebound effect - before you know it you will be caught in a vicious cycle.  Not so with Vitamin C.  Vitamin C will also strengthen your cells, helping you to fight off illnesses as well as allergies.

 

            Another natural decongestant is eucalyptus.  If you are very lucky and plant it just right it will grow in our region.  I have had two plants for about 10 years.  You can crumble the leaves in the shower and turn the water on very hot.  The combination of the steam and eucalyptus will help you to breathe much easier.  This will also help with asthma.  I have used this remedy many times with my son.  You can also boil the leaves and put a towel over your head and the kettle and breathe the steam.  This will work just as well.  Be careful with the towel near the stove, make sure you turn the stove off before you get the towel close - you don't want to be fighting fire!  If you can't get fresh eucalyptus, you can purchase it at any health food store.  You can put a drop under your nose before going to sleep or put it in water and breathe the steam. 

            Diet plays an important role in allergies.  You will want to eat foods high in Vitamin C, such as tomatoes and oranges.  You should add yogurt with live cultures to your diet.  The live cultures will feed on the yeast in your body instead of being available for the mold to feed on.  Molds also love sugar and wheat, so you will want to minimize these in your diet. 

            Keep your immune system in top shape by taking a good multi-vitamin daily.  Studies have showed that vitamins A, C, and D will actually protect us from allergies.  According to the Allergy and Clinical Immunology June 2009 studies show that our children are vitamin D deficient and these children are at risk of developing asthma and other allergies.

            So, use natural decongestants, take your vitamins and eat healthy.  By doing these simple things you can prevent so many health problems.  Stay Strong!!!!! 

Any questions?  Just Ask!