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Hay Fever Treatment: 7 Steps to Beat Pollen
Spring! The sun is shining, the weather is warmer, we are sitting on the terrace more often and the plants and flowers are blooming beautifully again. How annoying is it when you are sitting on the terrace with a runny nose, sneezing, coughing or itching. How do you get rid of this? In this blog we share how you can treat hay fever without side effects.
Unfortunately, more and more people suffer from this and treat hay fever with antihistamines every season. Antihistamines often have side effects, such as lethargy, stomach and intestinal complaints, fatigue, dizziness and headaches. It is therefore better to treat hay fever in a natural way, without side effects.
Be sure to read on for all the tips for a natural hay fever treatment!
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What is hay fever?
Hay fever is a seasonal allergy caused by pollen from trees, grasses, flowers and plants and causes many uncomfortable symptoms such as runny nose, itching, sneezing and coughing.
Now on to hay fever treatment.
Step 1: Reduce/Avoid Histamine-Rich Foods
Many healthy products contain histamine. Think of it this way: the more of these products you eat in a day. The more histamine, the more hay fever symptoms you get. We are not saying that you should never eat this again, but eating less histamine during the hay fever season can help treat hay fever.
Histamine-rich foods: (so avoid)
Old herring, old cheese, canned or fermented products such as sauerkraut, yoghurt and olives and beer. But also pork, soy sauce, peanuts, cinnamon, pickles, tomatoes, kiwi, strawberries, chocolate, spicy herbs, fast food and sugary products contain a lot of histamine!
We like to think in possibilities: what is possible?
Have breakfast with oatmeal porridge, a smoothie, vegetable omelette, chia pudding and lunch with spelt crackers, lentil pasta, coconut yoghurt, salads, soups or delicious curries.
Need some inspiration? Check out our recipe:
vegan pumpkin soup
Which foods lower histamine?
Organic apples, broccoli, cucumber, watercress, artichoke and black currant. And also drink 2 mugs of (cooled) nettle and rooibos tea daily, which is a natural histamine reducer.
There are also supplements that support the immune system and help lower histamine in your body. Read this blog: Hay fever treatment with natural supplements .
Step 2: Bee Pollen
What? Bee pollen for hay fever treatment? Bee pollen contains quercetin, which may act as a natural antihistamine inhibitor.
It is important to start using bee pollen slowly because of the large amount of pollen in the pollen. With small amounts your body produces antibodies, which ensures a reduction of symptoms (too much actually worsens).
Dosage: Start with a few grains a day and build this up slowly. Are you used to it? Then take one tablespoon of bee pollen a day. Put this on a smoothie, salad, coconut yoghurt or on spelt crackers with nut butter. It is important to use organic bee pollen and preferably start before the hay fever season.
Step 3: A strong liver
The liver helps break down histamine, so you want it to work well for you. The liver can function less well due to various factors such as stress, medication use, constipation and alcohol and caffeine intake. But stress is also a real culprit.
What can you do?
- Rather not drink alcohol. Try a kombucha instead of that wine.
- Make sure you get enough relaxation during the day
- Drink nettle tea
- Moderately sugary foods. This exhausts your liver.
- Eating too little is also a form of stress. So feed your body!
Step 4: Clean air
Did you know that the average Dutch person (with an office job) spends up to 90% of their time indoors?
Did you also know that the air quality indoors is about 5x worse than outside.
An air purifier that filters the air for pollen can therefore be useful at home or in the office.
Step 5: Boost your lymphatic system
To stimulate the discharge of histamine, it is useful to boost your lymphatic system. These ensure that all waste products are discharged from your cells. How do you do this? Exercise, massage, wearing a bra without underwire and using a Gua Sha stone or Jade roller can help with this. Cold showers and alternating showers stimulate the blood vessels and the pumping action, which ensures that moisture continues to flow well.
Step 6: Pollen calendar
In addition, it is of course also nice to check in which period your hay fever symptoms occur. This depends on specific pollen.
How do you find out? Check Hooikoortsrader.nl .
Conclusion
A natural hay fever treatment is a matter of persevering, reading up on it and seeing what works for you, but don't give up! We recommend that you follow these tips and adjustments for at least 100 days. That's a good 3 months. Only then will you know if it works for you. Need extra advice or have questions? This is possible. Request free advice. Our orthomolecular nutritionist will contact you.
