Kiddipedia
There’s nothing is worse than a young child suffering through spring with a stuffy nose and nasal congestion. One that comes with a sneeze that constantly shoots snot all over their face and clothes.
As funny and cute as it may look, it’s not a pleasant experience for our little ones or for us parents constantly having to wipe snot out of their hair, hands and clothes.
It’s not the way we want our kids suffering through the warmer months as nature comes alive around us.
As we head in to spring, there’s nothing like the excitement of the warmer weather and long twilight nights. We say our goodbyes to the thick blankets, heater and woolen clothes that kept us warming to make way for our lighter clothes and citronella candles stashed away.
Spring is a beautiful time of the year. We see the beauty and joy of what nature has to offer. Seeing flowers, plants and insects coming out of hibernation, displaying their beautiful flowers, filling the air with their scents, as the birds sing their songs in the light breeze of a warm spring night.
But those allergy sufferers of us have a different experience of spring. One filled with sneezing, sinusitis, teary puffy eyes and that constant irritation in the back of our nose that beckons us to sneeze uncontrollably….. until we reach for those antihistamines to keep us sane.
If you or your child deal with hayfever throughout spring, there are some great ways you can naturally help to relieve this suffering and anguish during spring.
Here are 5 simple things you can do now to keep your hayfever and allergy to a minimum in Spring
- Boost your diet with Vitamin C
A natural anti-histamine, vitamin C is known to help with reducing the effects of hayfever and allergies.
Berries and citrus foods are the best sources of vitamin C, frozen berries can be just as good.
You could also easily add Vitamin C rich superfoods to your diet. These foods have abnormally high levels of Vitamin C and all the bioflavonoids necessary to help with reducing histamine. They include: Australian Kakadu Plum, Baobab, Camu camu, Acerola Cherry, and Maqui Berry.
Vitamin C supplements are also handy, just make sure you get a powdered form that contains bioflavonoids.
- Get Fermented Foods
Nothing beats traditional fermented foods for boosting and supporting you through spring. They naturally are rich in probiotics & prebiotics, which boosts your first line of defense – your gut, and are packed full of vitamin C! A result from the fermentation process.
Make sure you get yourself a good raw fermented food – these will be found in the fridge – as conventional fermented foods are heat treated which destroys all those healthy probiotics. Some great ones to start off with are: kombucha, kvass, sauerkraut & kimchi
- Good ol’ Cod Liver Oil
You’ve probably heard stories from your parents and grandparents about the good ol’ days, and how they were made to drink a tablespoon of cod liver oil before they were to go off to school.
Well there was a reason behind this. Unbeknownst to them at the time, Cod Liver Oil is loaded with Vitamin A & D, critical for supporting your immune system, but specific for supporting the cells and membranes that line our lungs.
These come in liquid and capsule form. And if you’re brave enough for trying Fermented Cod Liver Oil, you will be rewarded with a powerful immune system as well as radiant glowing skin and eyes.
- Increase Fluid Intake
Probably the simplest thing you could do is to ensure adequate fluid intake, just by doing this simple step, you will help with flushing out toxins and irritants and help thin the mucus that forms in the lungs.
Upgrade your water by infusing it with some slices of ginger, a squeeze of lemon or some rosehip tea for some anti-inflammatory juice.
- Bee Pollen Granules
You’re probably thinking, why would you want to eat pollen, if that’s what’s triggering hayfever in the first place?
Bee Pollen granules will actually work like a vaccination, by eating bee pollen granules leading up to spring, you are building a tolerance and desensitizing yourself to pollen, so that when spring kicks in, you will not be affected by it.
Being an allergy kid myself, when I stumbled across this through trial and error, it was the magic trick that has helped me become virtually hayfever free throughout spring. They are also packed with bucket loads of nutrients, possibly the most nutrient dense food in the world.
Start with ¼ of a teaspoon and build it up to 1-2 teaspoons/day.
A word of warning: In rare cases Bee pollen can trigger severe allergic reactions in individuals with bee allergies or severe pollen sensitivities.
For those with severe sensitivities, you may want to try just one granule first to see if you are allergic, wait 30 minutes and try another 2 granules, keep repeating this process and adding +1 granule to see if any reaction takes place.
Do not use for children under 4 years of age.
By starting to take these on now before spring kicks in, you can prepare yourself and children – It can easily be done by just tweaking these foods into your diet – to powerfully deal with the forces of pollen and other allergens that float around in spring, helping them with that stuffy nose and face full of snot.
You might also like to read:
What allergy & anaphylaxis parents want you to know
