Herbal Remedies for Spring Allergies
Happy Spring! I love spring so much (even when it has arrived unusually early, after a winter that didn’t provide much of a rest for the land). And yet, I know many nature-loving people associate the spring season more with miserable allergy symptoms like relentless
sneezing and itchy and dry or watery eyes, than with daffodils, crocuses, and tulips, oh my! Herbs used during the season of your allergies will help the underlying condition but are mostly
helpful for symptom relief. If you want to strengthen your system for long-term healing, start your herbs the season before your allergies kick in.
Here are some helpful tips especially for you:
Herbal Remedies for Spring Allergies...
- Get outside more, especially when it’s the season before your allergies kick up…work your way up gradually…lack of exposure to pollens is part of the problem
- Eat wild greens every day, or at least several days a week…even a small amount of dandelions (3 leaves a day anyone?), garlic mustard, chickweed, nettles, purslane, onion grass, chickweed, etc will help. If you aren’t sure how to identify wild plants for harvesting, ask a farmer you have a relationship with at a farmer’s market if she or he can bring some for you. If you don’t have a farmer you know at the market, this is an opportunity to develop a new friendship and learn valuable things.
- Eat local honey (made from wildflowers within 25-50 miles of your area, the closer the better)
- Take a medicinal/edible plant walk. Get to know what grows around you. I have walks in NYC , NY State, and NJ, (click to Robin's weed walks here) as well as free days one Sunday a month at our Native and other Wild medicines Garden in Hewitt, NJ (click here for schedule)
- Goldenrod (Solidago species, not Hydrastis- golden seal), used as vinegar, tincture, honey, or tea, is very helpful during or before the season.
- Witch Hazel (that you buy in the drugstore) provides relief for dry, itchy, or runny eyes. Put some soothing witch hazel on a washcloth, drape it over your eyes, and lay back and relax.
- Make friends with pollen by eating some dandelion flowers when they emerge. In the meantime, strengthen your liver and kidneys by eating the leaves all spring.
Green Blessings,
Robin Rose Bennett
