Natural Defense for Seasonal Symptoms

Spring is rearing its head around the country, with all the glory of better weather, flowers, and the return of the sun. For too many people, though, their “salute” to spring is a sign that their seasonal symptoms have returned: frequent itching and rubbing of the nose and eyes, sniffles, puffiness, and congestion.

If the prospect of three months of tissues and eye drops makes you dread the return of this season, then I have some help for you.

If you know what the “allergy salute” is (frequent nose itching or rubbing), you’re probably one of the 35 million Americans who have a love–hate relationship with spring because of their seasonal symptoms. If you’re really unlucky, the misery stretches across all four seasons thanks to various substances—from mold, cockroaches, mice, and dust mites (more exactly their feces)—all floating around in the air you breathe. I know that those who suffer from the nasal congestion, puffiness, and itchy eyes and nose wonder if there’s any way to live in this world without drowning in your own fluids, scratching your eyes out, and feeling like your head is going to explode. It does seem pretty amazing that some people can breathe in the same particles as you do and have nary a sniffle. How come one person’s body ignores those particles, while another person’s immune system overreacts to them?

Natural medicine often associates the over-reaction with weak adrenal, immune, and digestive functions, but when you’re feeling miserable you only want to hear about how to get relief. The typical short-term fix is drugs to help you breathe. The problem with this approach is that it leads to an array of side effects, including rapid heart rate, nosebleeds, high blood pressure, depressed immunity, grogginess, irritability, and dehydration. All of these events undermine the body’s already weakened immune system and make it more sensitive to invaders. As an ugly consequence, you’ll also be less able to fight off whatever viruses and bacteria happen to be in the neighborhood. You’re actually worse off than before you began taking the drug.

In addition for most people, their seasonal symptoms get worse over time—and by worse I mean stronger symptoms from a longer list of “trigger” substances. Of course this means that you’ll need higher doses of meds for more days of the year to get the same level of relief that you’re used to. This is great for drug companies, but not so hot for you.

Solutions That Work

As a naturopathic physician, I want to give you relief from your symptoms while taking care to not make your overall problems worse. I’d rather bolster your health for a more balanced immune response (a true cure), and help you feel better now. I’ve compiled a list of some effective natural treatments that will do just that. Each of them will help give you relief from your suffering today, while starting you on the path to complete freedom tomorrow. Effective treatment does require some trial and error on your part, to see which will work best for you. Start with the one that seems most appealing, then add another if you find that your symptoms haven’t gone away completely.

Keep spring cleaning going year ’round. Daily neti (nasal flushing) is an ancient Ayurvedic tradition in which you wash allergens, pollutants, and contaminants out of your nasal passages. Don’t worry, though; it’s not like accidentally getting water in your nose while swimming, which can be uncomfortable and even sting. In fact, neti is quite comfortable, and after you do it you feel wonderful. Beyond cleaning your nasal passages, neti stimulates the glands in your sinuses (which generate about a quart of mucus a day) to make thinner mucus, making it easier to flush your nose from the inside. By giving your nose a good cleaning and thereby dramatically cutting down on your close encounters with pollen, neti helps tame your allergic response and gives your immune system a chance to breathe.

A small, specialized pitcher called a neti pot is the most common means of performing this daily flushing. You can get a neti pot online or at most health food stores for less than $20. To use a neti pot, follow these simple instructions:

1. Fill the pot with a warm salt-water solution (dissolve a heaping 1/4 teaspoon non-iodized fine-grained table salt, or a heaping 1/2 teaspoon non-iodized salt in one cup of warm water).

2. Bend over your bathroom sink, so you are staring down at the sink basin. Turn your head to the right, fit the neti pot nozzle into your right nostril, and tip the pot so the solution goes in your right nostril and out the left. When the entire contents have run through your nose, refill the pot and repeat from the other side.

3. Then, gently blow your nose. Repeat once or twice daily.

Eat an apple a day. Whole apples, with peels, contain an unbelievable concentration of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant flavonoids, including one of the most powerful flavonoids known to man—quercetin, which actually inhibits histamine release. A whole apple is a better “supplement” than any isolated nutrient because, like other whole foods, it has a rich and diverse combination of phytochemicals, anti-inflammatories, and antioxidants that work together and enhance each others’ benefits. In a study published in the September 2003 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the results indicated that eating apples regularly, rather than simply ingesting the isolated nutrients present in apples, decreased patients’ risk of asthma and bronchial hypersensitivity. I recommend eating an apple every day, increasing your intake of all whole fruits and vegetables, and eating more foods rich in naturally anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, such as cold-water fish and flax meal.

Create a vitamin C buffer. Buffered vitamin C needs to be taken as a supplement to help keep symptoms at bay. At doses of 2,000 to 10,000 mg per day, taken in divided doses, vitamin C is a well-respected natural antihistamine. A recent animal study (March 2007, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology) showed that these doses of vitamin C can prevent pollen-induced reactions.

Take these natural solutions for fast relief. The following herbs and homeopathic remedies bring fast, proven relief of symptoms and start dealing with the causes themselves. They are all available online or in health food stores (follow the package directions with any of these treatments).

• Septilin: An Ayurvedic polyherbal compound that, in addition to its anti-inflammatory relief of symptoms, has been shown to support healthy immune function.
• Aller-7: An herbal blend I recommend for respiratory support.
• Petadolex: An extract of the butterbur shrub. The active herbal compound petasin has anti-inflammatory properties.
• AllerAide: An 3-herb compound from the well-respected American homeopathic formulary Boericke & Tafel. Under rigorous scientific testing, it brought good to very good results in 90 percent of sufferers. AllerAide is available at most health food stores.
• Dana Ullman’s Homeopathic Mini-Kit: This kit contains three separate homeopathic preparations, including Galphimia glauca—which has shown to have significant benefits for respiratory allergies.

The symptoms of nasal and respiratory congestion, chest tightness, and itchy and puffy eyes are classic signs of an overloaded system. The remedies I’ve suggested above provide your body with the break it needs to recover. Once you’ve successfully overcome your symptoms, the rest your body gets will allow it to withstand future assaults.