Food to Fight Allergies
Spring is not quite here, but with the crazy weather changes we have been having in the Northeast these past few weeks, it seems everyone’s allergies are arriving early.
If you don’t want to spend the next two or three months popping antihistamines like they are going out of style, or next to your air purifier on your couch resenting everyone not cursed with an allergy in Spring, we are here to help.
Try adding these to your diet:
+ Ginger - Did your mom ever give you ginger ale for an upset stomach? It wasn’t the carbonation that was helping - it was the ginger. Not just great for an upset stomach, ginger has anti-inflammatory properties to help calm down those swollen eyes and nasal passages. You can often find ginger green tea, which gives you all the added health benefits of green tea as well as the ginger.
+ Bee pollen or local honey - Some research suggests ingesting local honey helps build your body’s resistance to the pollen irritating your allergies. Plus honey is a healthy way to sweeten your ginger green tea ;)
+ Citrus fruits - the vitamin C found in oranges and other citrus fruits won’t prevent you from getting sick, but it has been shown to decrease the upper respiratory irritation caused by blooming plants.
+ Turmeric - turmeric is a powerhouse anti-inflammatory, and research in animals suggests it can help minimize swelling and irritation due to allergies. It’s also great for joint health, and easy to take as a pill or mixed into your food.
+ Tomatoes - oranges may get all the credit for containing vitamin C, but one medium-sized tomato contains about 26% of your daily vitamin C needs.
+ Salmon - the oils in fish not only promote heart health, they can also boost allergy resistance and potentially even improve asthma
+ Onions - not just for clearing your sinuses while you chop them! Onions contain quercetin, a natural antihistamine
Adding these foods to your diet is not a replacement for any allergy medicine you may need to function. But they can help provide some relief and are beneficial to your overall health and diet anyway, so win-win!