Five natural ways to help tackle seasonal allergies

Just as we get spring’s sneezing behind us, we now have to contend with ragweed pollen, which explains why your kid’s nose is running all over again. There’s no doubt this year’s pollen has had so many of us sampling allergy medicine like it was our job. Like many parents, you’ve likely tried pill after pill after syrup to help ease your child’s suffering. Some may have worked, at least for a little bit, while others did nothing more than cause side effects. To help, we offer five au naturel considerations for kicking your kid’s allergy’s booty:

1. Give ‘em good bacteria. Recent research conducted by Vanderbilt University found a possible link between probiotics and significant improvement in congestion, inflammation and other allergy-related symptoms in patients using them. If you can’t get your child to take it in pill form, try yogurt.
2. Clean out their nasal passages. Help relieve nasal congestion and clean irritants like pollen particles out of the nose with a saline nasal spray. If your child has mucus that’s not moving so easily, try a neti pot, if he or she will allow it.
3. Load ‘em up on vitamin C. Did you know that Vitamin C is a natural antihistamine? At least that’s what research tells us! Just be sure not to load them up too much. Check with your doctor, based on your child’s age, for the appropriate intake.
4. Try essential oils. Essential oils are all the rage, so why shouldn’t there be one – or several – for allergies? Eucalyptus, lemon and peppermint are all suggested for allergies, and there are others recommended specifically for allergic reactions. Talk to a specialist about the best one to try for your child, and then be sure to follow dosage instructions here, too.
5. Feed ‘em the right stuff. Study after study tells us that certain foods are wonderful for fighting allergies. Whether packed with omega-3s, vitamin E or magnesium, the underlying factor for recommended choices was healthy. So cut out the processed foods, and go for fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and other naturally occurring options as often as possible.

Finally, if you follow AllerMates regularly, you may recall how important it is to keep both your home and your child clean. For those of you who missed it, get seven tips for easing their pollen allergy pain in this AllerMates article.

All the best to our readers in your all or mostly natural survival efforts during what’s truthfully proclaimed as the worst allergy season yet.