Any foods help with hayfever?

[lynchyk]

I'm dying here. My nose is raw, face puffy and throat swollen and itchy. I've almost scratched out my eyeballs.

This is my end of August start of September every year. Ragweed and pollen and....

NOTHING works. I've tried every antihistamine, nose spray, eye drop...

Is there any foods that will help?

I've been using raw honey for a few months hoping it would build up my tolerance somehow, didn't seem to work.

Please help, sniffle, sniffle, itch

Kelly

[memory maker]

I dont know, but am subbing in case someone has any ideas

[*Di]

The suppl. that helped me with resp. allergies is Anti-hst by Crystal Star. ( I bought mine at vitaminlife.com - they give discounts)

Hope you feel better

[EMS]

This is maybe a little indirect, but I have heard that often eliminating dairy can help with seasonal allergies. It may take awhile before you notice a change, though.

[Ruthla]

Have you tried megadoses of vitamin C? Not a traditional food, but it might offer some relief!

Is the raw honey made locally? If not, you're building up a tolerance to the pollen in whatever area the bees are, instead of the pollen that's actually in your air.

Are you sure it's only seasonal allergies you're dealing with? Could there be mold in your house? Or something in your diet you're reacting to? Or both?

[desertpenguin]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

Have you tried megadoses of vitamin C? Not a traditional food, but it might offer some relief!

Is the raw honey made locally? If not, you're building up a tolerance to the pollen in whatever area the bees are, instead of the pollen that's actually in your air.

i was going to say the same thing.

also, nettles is supposed to be good for seasonal allergies. i would also take probiotics (if you aren't already) because allergies are a sign of a leaky gut.

[tallanvor]

No idea. I have never found anything that helped with my ragweed allergy. Hope you find something.

Crystal

[artemis33]

Nettle works quite well for that type of allergy and is good for you in general. I make tea with the dried leaves and also use freeze dried capsules. I mix mine with RRL for a nice flavor - good if you are preggo or nursing too

I'm not sure about eating them this time of year - I thought you were only supposed to eat the spring shoots, but honestly I don't know for sure - I've always used them dried.

[lynchyk]

Thanks for the responses so far.

The raw honey was not local, but I'm going to try to find some local stuff!!

Of course it could be a bunch of things but I've had this my whole life. I was tested and did shots as a child. I'm sure other things affect it too, but I know it is a ragweed allergy.

Right now I'm so desperate for relief it doesn't matter to me if it's all natural or not. Meds will do just fine so long as they work. However I would like to start using something natural in hopes I can ditch the meds in the future or for next year. I'm kind of stuffy all year round which could very well be some food intolerance or something else but every aug/sept I get hit like a ton of bricks. I have a 7, 4 and 13 month old and I work full time so I can't be completely out of commission!! Luckily I am home this week so I dont' have to deal with this at work.

Thanks for the suggestions, more are always welcome!

Kelly

[saratc]

Before we moved to traditional foods, the only thing that would help me with bad allergies is mega doses of vitamin C. When my allergies were at their worse, I took about 10 grams of vitamin C a day. If you want to try this, look for buffered or Ester C. The regular vitamin C will give you a tummy ache and gas. Start with 2 grams/day and build up until you get some relief and it over several dosages during the day.

Since moving to traditional foods, I've found that some extra cod liver oil plus a tiny dose (500 mg/day) of natural vitamin C (amla or acerola powder) will do the trick.

[Rachel J.]

I 2nd (or 3rd) the vit. C. I've had seasonal allergies that have gotten progressively worse every year and this spring I did local, raw honey, lots of sodium ascorbate (vit. C) and acerola powder, and a homeopathic drop that I got from the HFS. I also posted this recently somewhere, if on TF please forgive my repetition, but I visited a neighbor with a cat and had an allergic reaction which I was able to relieve in about 10 minutes with 2-3g of sodium ascorbate. I've never had that kind of relief before, even with Claritin.

[quietserena]

Vitamin C helped DH and in our experience the sodium ascerbate form was the one that worked best - got better relief with smaller doses.

Also, black seed oil. Black seed is a traditional food among the Muslims actually part of the medicine of the Prophet (saws).

[JaneS]

Raw milk kefir, high vitamin cod liver oil and extra C in form of acerola powder or amla capsules did the trick for me. Not a sniffle for 2 years since. Raw dairy is also a good source of natural vitamin C.

There actually was a study back in 1942 using only 500mg of ascorbic acid day to cure most hay fever sufferers. That's only a half a gram. I would do bowel tolerance though of sodium ascorbate if you are using non natural C, ester C is not safe due to the excess unabsorbable calcium. Most people will reach bowel tolerance at around 10 grams if well and much more if their system is fighting off something.

NOW Acerola powder at www.iherb.com is best value for natural vitamin C. I would start with 1/2 teasp. 3x day and see what that does. It makes a very pleasant tasting fruit punch flavored drink, can add stevia or other natural sweetener if needed.

(OT does anyone know if mixing up the acerola powder ahead of time diminishes it's C content, if kept cold.)

I'm still out on whether natural vitamin C or the synthetic form at megadoses s best. Regardless of what Fallon says (and my inner belief in natural foods), there is not much evidence to back that up compared to the huge amount of evidence for ascorbic acid/sodium ascorbate in preventing so many bacterial, viral and toxic diseases. It's my current quandry.

[Rachel J.]

Originally Posted by JaneS

I'm still out on whether natural vitamin C or the synthetic form at megadoses s best. Regardless of what Fallon says (and my inner belief in natural foods), there is not much evidence to back that up compared to the huge amount of evidence for ascorbic acid/sodium ascorbate in preventing so many bacterial, viral and toxic diseases. It's my current quandry.

I'm not sure either. I think I've read that SA and other non-natural forms use up bioflavinoids in our systems that would otherwise be present with natural forms of C. Now whether that's true or not, and what it might mean in terms of one's health, I have no idea. When I have acerola powder I'll often toss some in with my SA, just in case Is bowel tolerance simply a non-natural vit. C issue or does it also apply to natural forms? (Hence the suggestion to give a constipated toddler fresh-squeezed o.j.?)