How to Use Herbs and Supplements to Fight Allergies

Fight allergies with herbs.

The word allergy comes from the Greek language and signifies an “abnormal response.” When your body reacts in a detrimental way to normally harmless substances, you have an allergy. Some substances, such as smoke, dust and pollens, cause more allergic reactions than others do. Thankfully, there are natural herbs and supplements to alleviate your suffering.

Things You'll Need

• Echinacea
• Licorice
• Nettle
• Honey (grown locally)

Instructions

1. Safety first. If you have experienced a severe reaction to a bee or insect sting, you must follow your doctor’s orders and carry an epinephrine kit with you at all times. For others suffering from hay fever, animal dander allergies and dust reactions, supplementing your diet with herbs is appropriate.

2. Boost your immune system with Echinacea. Known also as purple coneflower, the leaves of this tall slender flowering plant come in dried capsule form or as a tea to enhance the body’s immune system and reduce the effects of allergens.

3. Stimulate your adrenal glands with licorice. Use the capsule form, not the candy variety, to mimic the effects of cortisone in reducing inflammation without the dangerous side effects. Take extra potassium if you use licorice to treat allergies for more than a couple of weeks, since it can deplete potassium levels in the body.

4. Prepare a tea from the leaves and roots of the nettle plant to ease bronchial constriction. Gather only the non-stinging variety of nettle when making your tea. A safer alternative is to purchase the nettle from a reputable health food store.

5. Spread a little honey on your morning toast. Not strictly an herb, honey, produced locally, contains the pollens of many flowering plants and weeds that cause allergic reactions in your specific geographic area. Thought to boost the body's natural immunity, Native Americans used local honey as a treatment for allergies and later the pioneers adopted the practice.

6. Supplement your diet with Vitamin C which regulates natural histamine levels in your body when taken over a period of time and add a B-complex supplement daily to ease symptoms of hay-fever as it encourages your body to manufacture its own version of cortisone, an anti-inflammatory.

Tips & Warnings

• Seek medical treatment if you suffer progressively worse reactions to an allergen. Your doctor may recommend an over-the-counter antihistamine or an injectable medication.