I honestly had no idea how bad allergies could get until I was in college. While many suffer all year long, where I live allergy season kicks in most during fall and spring, usually resulting from grass and tree pollen, air pollution, even mold under fallen leaves.
I’m happy to share some natural remedies that have helped me alleviate the itchy eyes, sneezing, and chronic runny nose that I suffered from for 12 years. I must remind you that this journey won’t result in instant relief but once you get a handle on these methods you too can enjoy being less symptomatic too!
….But first let’s share a little PSA about what causes allergies.
What Can Cause Allergies?
Your gut is the cornerstone of health and when it comes to allergies it has everything to do with the response from your immune system. As foods, environmental factors etc enter your body it creates a reaction. If over stimulated the bodies natural response is to act as if there is an intruder and try to expel it from the body.
How to Treat Seasonal Allergies Naturally
Probiotics
Allergies are usually due to imbalances in the immune system function and there is strong evidence that improving the bacteria in the gut can reduce the incidence of allergies.
How I use this: I love to eat fermented foods such as Kombucha, kimchi, and sauerkraut to boost gut bacteria as well as ingest daily high quality, probiotics with live cultures and a slow release capsule. These truly have made a massive difference for allergy relief.
Neti Pot
So this one weirded me out for a long time because I’m not really trying to see something go up one nostril and out another. However after trying it prior to adding some of these additional options I can say the benefits were evident.
How I use this: Use distilled or previously boiled water (warm water is ideal) and add a pre-made saline solution into the pot. While standing over the open sink pour the solution thru one nostril, letting it drain out the other side, lightly (and I mean lightly) blow your nose and repeat thru the other nostril. Although I no longer have allergies enough to use this method here is the pot I used to use.
Honey
The scientific evidence for raw local honey and allergies is a bit inconsistent, however many swear by it and I myself did see benefits from taking it daily despite not being a lover of lots of sweets. The idea behind this is to ingest a spoonful of local raw honey that is collected from an area close to where you live to help you manage the environmental allergens you are more often exposed to.
How I use this: About 3-4 weeks prior to allergy season is a great time to start this method. If you can find a local farm that supplies raw local honey in your area, take a teaspoon a day.
Dietary Changes
Dietary changes are a huge factor into removing inflammation in the gut and helping relieve allergy symptoms. Look to reduce and remove inflammatory foods such as sugar, dairy, gluten, soy, and corn.
How I use this: Adding in bone broth, more leafy greens and vegetables, and more natural herbs and spices helped me tremendously to reduce inflammation and allergy responses. For more info on bone broth check out my blog here.
Using Non Toxic Home Cleaning Products
This by far was one of the biggest game changers for me and my allergy relief and it way too often overlooked as the focus often remains on outdoor allergens. Let’s be clear-you’re indoor environment is just as or more toxic than the outdoors. Using plugins, aerosol sprays, bleach, greenwashed cleaners, and retail brand disinfecting wipes have known side effects to your respiratory system, hormonal system, and even your skin.
How I use this: After tons of research I ditched all my spray cleaners, candles, bleach based products, and cleaners for one household cleaner that is exclusively plant based and safe for all surfaces as well as a diffuser with high quality essential oils so my home smells fresh while helping my respiratory system. Total game changer! Make sure to start that ditching process so your home remains your sanctuary!
These were just a few of the most effective methods I used to get full allergy relief. For another tips take a sneak peak at my blog on MSM. The benefits were tremendous in helping heal my gut, allergies, and clear up my skin issues!
Growing up as a young black girl my idea of beauty revolved around long haired women with flawless skin! Little did I know that struggle to have that in my own life would be a long journey full of mistakes and trials galore.
Years of high stress, poor diet choices, and excessive medications for chronic allergies and sinus issues lead me to having massive gut problems and being diagnosed with Rosacea.
That was when my true quest for healing began and I learned about the benefits of MSM. This may not be the solution for everyone however the benefits are tremendous and worth a try!
What the heck is MSM?
Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) is a naturally occurring compound which provides a natural source of sulfur. Sulfur plays a key role in daily cellular functions and is known to help reduce inflammation, help with gut lining, improve allergy relief, and help with joint pain, skin, and nail growth.
How does MSM work for Hair, Skin, Nails, and Allergies?
Hair and nails are made up of mostly keratin. According to this article “MSM may donate sulfur to keratin, which could help strengthen the bonds between keratin molecules in the hair and nails”.
For allergies MSM helps detox and eliminate free radicals as well as improve the cell permeability of the gut lining. MSM can also stabilize pH balance, preventing overproduction of stomach acids.
Skin and anti aging concerns are tremendous for many women and MSM enhances antioxidant usage by reducing free radicals which can accelerate the aging process. MSM also slows down the breakdown of collagen beneath the skin. Sounds like a win win right?
How did MSM change my life?
Honestly when I first started taking a recommended MSM and Wolfberry based capsule I didn’t see any changes (but I also wasn’t using it as directed). However after 4 months of consistently taking the capsules as designed, altering my eating habits, and taking a high quality probiotic not only did my nails grow like wildfire but my hair grew thicker and longer and my Rosacea fully cleared up!
Is MSM right for you?
MSM based supplementation can be phenomenal to add into your daily wellness routine and help with your hair, skin, nails, GI system, allergies and even joint health! It’s a great must have tool in your arsenal of holistic wellness tools that can provide you and your family amazing benefits including increased energy.
I love eating bone broth and soups during the winter months to help nourish my body but it’s not just a wintertime immune supporting option-it’s a great year round food choice for overall wellness support!
Used as a healing elixir, in soups, and even as a key component to gut healing in diets such as the GAPS diet the nutritional benefits from organic chicken or beef bones (and its gelatin and minerals dense properties) has been a staple in my home for a few years now.
What exactly is Bone Broth?
Bone broth is the liquid from slow simmered and brewed bones which in turn release nutrients from the bone marrow into the water. The nutrient dense broth creates a dish high in anti inflammatory and immune boosting properties.
Benefits of Bone Broth
2. Protects your joints: The collagen from bones slow simmered breaks down into a protein called gelatin, an amino acid that helps support joints. Bone broth is also an amazing source of chondroitin and glucosamine which have been shown to reduce joint pain.
3. Fights inflammation: Glycine and arginine which are amino acids found in bone broth have been shown to have high anti inflammatory effects². Chronic inflammation can lead to a number of diseases so consuming a diet high in anti-inflammatory foods is important to overall health and wellness.
Where to Get Bones
If you aren’t purchasing organic whole chicken, then ask your local grocer or butcher for grass fed bone in meat and you may just get some for free!
How Much to Drink
There are a variety of thoughts on this one however I have found having a cup of bone broth daily or a couple of times a week is quite beneficial.
The Bottom Line
Bone broth contains many nutrients which have great health benefits. Adding it to your families diet can be quite beneficial on many levels.
Have you tried it? Share your thoughts below.
I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times I’ve come home completely exhausted and ready to pass out. You too? Great, glad I’m not alone but I do wish someone had told me before that everyday items in the modern home can be contributing to our overall fatigue and energy drainage.
So this spring I decided to do a lil’ snooping around at the items most often turned ‘on’ in my home and discovered just how draining some very common household items can be to the body. Let’s take a sneak peak into these items and how you can get recharged and refreshed in the comfort of your home!
SMART METER
A couple of years back my condo building switched all residents to ‘smart meters’. Back then I had no idea really how they worked but once I started to experience billing issues due to ‘faulty meter readings’ I began to question all the things.
How they work: Smart Meters use a national wireless communication network to send information from the meter at your home (your home area network or HAN) to your energy supplier.
The Potential Danger: Smart Meters give off low energy radio-frequency (RF) Radiation and this type of radiation is a possible carcinogen. While the data is unclear about the long term effects of such meters this is something to be aware of in regards to your overall health and safety.
Consider looking into a smart meter cover which has been said to be 80-95% effective in shielding effects from EMF radiation
EXCESSIVE BLUELIGHT EXPOSURE
Don’t laugh but I held out on purchasing a smartphone until 2015 and that was ONLY because my Qwerty keyboard flip phone wouldn’t light up after landing home after a trip to Jamaica. Needless to say ever since then my life has been inundated with screens, tablets, phone upgrades, and well…..Blue light. The first 3-5 months of using that new phone I noticed my eyes would tear up and get a bit blurry at first sight of the screen.
Here’s what you need to know about blue light exposure: Known to have the shortest wavelengths and highest energy on the light spectrum, blue light is able to pass through the cornea, lens, and reach the retina.
Not really a problem until you spend an obscene amount of hours in front of screens.
There are now studies that show that too much exposure can damage the retina cells, increasing the risk of macular degeneration at an older age. It can also lead to digital eye strain which makes your eyes and overall body just feel drained ¹²
Let’s just say after learning all that I grabbed myself a pair of glasses with a blue light filter and changed the light filter on all my devices using the “night shade” mode. Try it and see how you feel, I noticed less exhaustion overall even after a day in front of devices and screens.
WIFI ROUTERThere isn’t clear evidence that exposure to wifi will have long term effects on your health however constant exposure may not be so healthy either. With the research divided on the effects of EMF’s to the body, it’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to mothers-to-be.
Our bodies are constantly emitting energy so exposure to such household electrical fields most likely have some effect on the body. I tend to air on the side of caution with this one since I do a lot of daily work on my computer and phone.
Here’s some ways you can lessen this exposure
Consider shutting off your wifi at night. Goodness this was a hard habit to get into because like many, I tend to keep my phone on my night stand. Getting a good night's rest requires you to fully disconnect so consider creating a ‘favorites’ list in your phone and enjoy turning your wifi off at night-You’re alarms and any emergency contact calls from that list will always get thru!
Grab a quality Himalayan Salt Lamp. No lie, the first time I saw this lamp by the computer desks at my job I thought it was just a "cute light’". Little did I know this Himalayan salt lamp was designed to help reduce risk for inflammation and purify the air. Regular exposure to Wifi increases the risk for buildup of positive ions in the body, which can increase the risk for inflammation. A salt lamp (even small desk ones like this) can provide you with healthy exposure to negative ions (same goes for naturally occurring areas of moving water - I knew there was a reason I loved the beach so much!)
Use Headphones or Speakerphone: As cute as they are I’m not down for daily use of AirPods or bluetooth headphones (I still struggle to use the Beats headphones I earned free when purchasing my MacBook Pro). Consider staying semi wired up that way the radiation isn’t so close to your head.
Earthing: A concept I recently learned from a mentor of mine, this method helps the positive ions in our bodies be equalized with negative ions from earth, helping to mitigate the harmful effects of EMFs. One of the easiest ways to do this is to be barefoot and stand in the dirt for 10-20minutes. Another suggestion is to use earthing sheets or mats that connect to the electrical grounding outlets in your home.
