Spring Fever, Hay Fever
Spring is here! The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, and the pollen is flying! In addition to all this wonderful life bursting forth after the winter’s slumber, allergies are making an appearance as well, to many people’s dismay. We have a couple of suggestions to help combat these pesky and distracting allergy ailments.
A popular remedy for helping to reduce allergies is to consume local honey, harvested in your area around the time of year that your allergy symptoms flare. The bees naturally collect the pollen and incorporate it into their honey, and by eating this sweet treat, you are, in essence, telling your immune system that this substance is okay. In allergies, the immune system interprets airborne pollen that reaches your mucous membranes as “foreign,” or “other,” and send out the attack cells to neutralize the threat by releasing histamine. By eating honey ahead of time, the pollen is introduced into our systems gradually. Luckily, we are offering local Whatcom County honey, gathered and harvested in May and August, 2018. This is the perfect time for people living in the northwest corner of the country to purchase and start consuming honey, in order to help curb those spring seasonal allergies.
Another helpful natural tool is our Aller-Geez herbal tea. Tried and true, this tea is formulated from certified organic herbs: Eyebright, Nettles, Sage, Chickweed, and Licorice Root.
Eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis) relieves the itchy, watery eyes, sneezy, drippy nose, and general upper respiratory irritation that comes with springtime allergies. Nettles (Urtica dioica) has long been heralded as an herb that helps quiet the histamine response. Nettle leaves are high in essential mineral content, and adds a nice body and flavor to the tea. Sage (Salvia officinalis) is a great herb to help reduce the excessive fluid and boggy membranes that accompany allergic reactions to springtime pollen. Sage works really well with Eyebright to help “dry up” all those bothersome extra secretions!
Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is an amazing, versatile herb, with so many uses! In this tea it is used as an anti-inflammatory, potentiating your body’s anti-inflammatory hormone, cortisol. It helps prevent the breakdown of cortisol, which is produced during stress, so your adrenal glands don’t have to work so hard. It modulates the stress response, which can aggravate the inflammatory response, which then increases the histamine response to allergies. Reducing the inflammatory response, and reducing the symptoms that follow the allergic response, are the goals. In addition, Licorice adds a natural, sugar-free sweetness that makes the tea pleasant to drink without sweetener. Although in this case, you might want to add some of our local honey to give it an extra boost!
Happy Herbing!
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