Manic Monday: April showers bring May allergies...

It's that time of year here in Vermont.  The trees have their leaves, lawns are being mowed, and the flowers are coming out in full bloom now.  I used to think that allergy medications were the greatest thing on the face of the planet, until I started paying more attention to the side effects.  If I took the non-drowsy kind, then I wouldn't sleep well for the first few days that I was taking it (this was a hard hit for someone who drinks about a pot of coffee a day with no ill effects on sleep pattern).  The may-cause-drowsiness warning on a label is, for me, the equivalent of it saying, "you're going to pass the F out for days, bitch.  And both worked so well as a decongestants that my sinuses would dry to the point that I'd get nosebleeds if you looked at me wrong.  Yuck.  So, no, the pollen didn't stand a chance against my system when armed with those little wonder pills, but neither did I.  It's a really scary sight to see a sleep-deprived woman with a nosebleed.  REALLY scary.    So I started doing some research into natural allergy remedies, and I'll share with you the ones that seem to work pretty phenomenally for me...

Available here

1.  Honey***.  Raw Honey, to be more specific.  I eat about a tablespoon of it daily, starting a few weeks before everything is projected to start blooming, then continue each morning during allergy season.  In order for the honey to really work magic on your system, it should be from as local of a source as possible.  That way you're ingesting the stuff made from the specific sniffle-causers in your area.
  "When you put a small amount of the seemingly harmful irritant (bee pollen from local flower pollens) into your body, your immune system builds defenses or immunities against the foreign substance.  This will make the immune system “ready” to handle any of that substance in larger quantities the next time it is in contact with it. So there is no “hyper-reaction.”  It is a similar concept to using a vaccine.  Bee pollen goes quickly into the blood stream in small doses, just enough to kick your immune system into gear."  -Source

2.  Water.  Drink wicked lots of water and help flush the gook out of your system.

3.  A Neti Pot.  I'm not going to lie, I still haven't quite gotten over the weirdness factor of using this thing.  But it works really well.  It however does not feel spectacular if you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror while using this thing and start laughing hysterically.  For those of you who have ever caught a wave in the face, you already know that choking on salt water is a nasty experience.  Just sayin'...

Ingber and Aniston

4.  Yoga.  While we're getting all crunchy hippie here, eating our raw honey, and pouring the allergen-laced snot out of our faces, we might as well really do it up and get our yogi on, right?  Yes, absolutely.  Go check out Mandy Ingber's site, then order the Yogalosophy DVD.  If this is too much granola for you, just keep in mind that this is the woman who keeps Jennifer Aniston (as well as countless other rock-bodied celebs) in such phenomenal shape.  All that downward-dogging, stretching, breathing, and twisting helps "wring" the irritants out of your system, as well as help work on that high-and-tight yoga butt you always wanted.  You can't really go wrong with this one...


***As innocuous as honey seems, it can actually pose health risks in some cases. Honey proponents warn that there is a potential for an allergic reaction to it. And since honey can contain bacteria that can cause infant botulism, health officials warn that children under 12 months of age whose immune systems haven't fully developed shouldn't eat honey at all [source: Mayo Clinic].


Thanks for stopping by,
-Lindsey