Seasonal Allergies
Herbal Remedies for
Regina Slabiak
How Histamine affects Allergies?
Histamine is a protein that triggers allergy symptoms, such as sneezing, itchy eyes, and a scratchy throat. Antihistamines are substances that block histamine activity in the body. Antihistamine is usually referring to a drug for the treatment of allergies and allergic rhinitis.
Follow a low histamine diet that eliminates high histamine foods and calms your body’s inflammation. Incorporate fresh foods like fruits and vegetables (avoiding high histamine ones), meat and seafood, dairy and whole grains.
Drinking herbal teas and using essential oils is very effective and natural way to helps decrease histamine level in body.
Allergy Season Tips
DRINK LOTS OF WATER. Mild dehydration can activate histamine production, so keep your body hydrated with at least 8 glasses of water daily.
EAT WELL. Eat foods that helps fight allergies. Food rich with vitamin C and folic acid can help reduce symptom associated with allergies. Plus The vitamin C is a natural boost for your immune system.
NEVER HANG CLOTHING OUTSIDE. When you do so fabric collect pollen, with is a allergy trigger.
Don’t wait until symptoms kick in. Instead, prepare by drinking herbal tea that has worked for you in the past just before season starts.
SHOWER. Showering once a day you get in from being outdoors to wash pollen off that might have been lingering on your clothes, hair and skin.
Herbs that helps with Allergies
Goldenrod
Mullen
Stinging Nettle
Lavender
Peppermint
Lemon
Oregano
Rozmaryn
Thyme
Eucalyptus
Tea Tree
Butterbur
Echinacea
Ginkgo
Marshmallow root
Reishi Mushrooms
Matcha Green Tea
Yerba Mate & Rooibos
Goldenrod
Harvesting Goldenrod
Mullein Leaf
Mullein Leaf (Verbascum thapsus)
Active substances: Mucilage, volatile oil, saponins, flavonoids, iridoid glycosides, triterpenes, resins
Therapeutic actions: Demulcent, expectorant, astringent, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, decongestant, sedative, antiseptic, vulnerary.
This soothing, healing, antispasmodic respiratory remedy profoundly supports the lungs, especially when there is irritation, inflammation, or infection. Easing dry coughs and hot, inflamed, sore membranes in the respiratory system (upper and lower).
Mullein
It's an antispasmodic and so helps a hacking or spasmodic cough. Although the mucilage in Mullen makes it moistening, it can also be use as a decongestant and can be used to reduce copious mucus. The flowers can be infused into a carrier oil to make a very soothing ear drop for cases of earache.
Foraging and drying Mullein
Mullein is an extremely recognizable. The most noticeable part of this plant is the tall yellow flower spike that blooms from mid to late summer. The tallest one in this first picture was probably two feet.
In spring you will notice it starts with a small, fuzzy leaved, rosette of leaves that are close to the ground. It is actually a biennial plant, so it stays like this until the second year of growth when it shoots up the tall flower spike.
Mullen have become somewhat known in the outdoor community as “nature’s toilet paper”. Because of its respiratory benefits, it is often smoked, surprisingly enough, along with other herbs. I even read that in ancient times when the flower spikes dried up they would be dipped in tallow and used as a torch lantern.
Foraging and drying Mullein
We can collect mullens leaves and flowers to dry for use throughout winter. Spread the mullein leaves out on a drying screen (window screen) or if you don't have that you can place lives on tray with a permanent paper. Place the leaves on so they do not touch or overlap. Set the screen or try in a room that is not in direct sunlight. Open a window or turn on a fan to provide air flow around the leaves and speed up the drying process. You can aso tie a few leaves with natural string and hang them in a shaded but airy place. Dry the leaves for couple days to a week according to humidity.
How to prepare Mullein
It makes a great supportive herb in tea, tincture, and capsule blends. If making a tea or tincture, strain the irritating hairs well through a coffee filter or finely woven cloth.
Stinging Nettle
Harvesting Stinging Nettle
Top 10 Essential oils for Allergies
Basic Blend of Essential oils to support breathing
Some essential oils have antihistamine properties, meaning they inhibit the physiological effects of histamine. It’s easy to use these oils to stop allergies in their tracks. Because essential oils are assimilated into the body quickly, you can use these oils every few hours
Lavender Lemon Peppermint
Use equal amount of each essential oils
My blend is more complex and stronger. Suport respiratory system during allergy season and open sinuses during cold & flu. Helps also with asthma.
Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint,
Eucalyptus,
Wild Oregano,
Tea Tree
How to use
Apply Topically.
Make a blend of Lemon, Lavender & Peppermint essential oils in roller bottle. Apply to your neck, temples, forearms or chest.
Diffuse or Inhale
Add a few drops of each essential oils to your ultrasonic diffuser. You can also ad a 1-2 drops on palm of your hand and inhale. There are also special inhalers for that.
Take Internally.
Add a 2 drops of Lemon, Lavender & Peppermint oils to a veggie capsules. You can also try dropping the oils to your drinking water
Lavender is by far the most widely used essential oil and one of the most highly studied. Has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic properties, which make it helpful for soothing swollen, irritated sinuses & nasal passages. It has a relaxing fragrance and also helps ease sinus pain and pressure that seasonal allergies can cause.
Peppermint act as a decongestant and a natural antihistamine. Naturally inhibits the creation of the histamines that close off airways, it can help to reduce asthma attacks. It’s especially effective during allergy season, when helps clear nasal passages to relieve stuffiness and acts as a powerful decongestant, mucolytic, and it has antibacterial properties to help prevent an allergy from becoming something more serious.
Lemon essential oil thins mucus and helps flush out the yuck. Is a fantastic boost to your immune system. Its anti-infectious, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, & antiseptic properties work to promote white blood cell formation, improving your body’s natural immune function.
How they work?
Tea Tree (Melaleuca) turns your regular strength allergy relief into Extra Strength! This essential oil works as an expectorant, helping the body break up mucus in the airway and improve breathing. In those with asthma, this can be instrumental in reducing the overall symptoms associated with the condition.
Eucalyptus Another oil with a strong, instantly recognizable aroma is eucalyptus. This compound has been found to help break up phlegm and mucous that can clog the airways, helping to improving breathing in the process. The natural components in the oil, especially 1,8 cineole (also known as “eucalyptol”), make it an amazing oil for respiratory support.
How they work?
Oregano Thanks to its unique combination of chemical compounds, oregano essential oil can both treat and prevent allergy symptoms. One of them is called carvacrol that reduce inflammation throughout the body. Oregano essential oil can also prevent allergy symptoms from occurring. Rosmarinic acid, another component or oregano oil, changes the way that the immune system responds to allergens. Acting as a decongestant, the oil can break up mucus and phlegm when inhaled