4 Natural Remedies for Allergy Relief: Nature’s Healing Powers
With one in three Americans suffering with allergies, natural treatments are an increasingly popular option for relief.
Allergies may seem synonymous with discomfort and medications, but they don’t have to be. Abundant natural remedies are as close as your backyard garden or local health food store. Here are four common, inexpensive ways to combat your allergy woes.
Butterbur
Butterbur is a shrub native to Europe, Asia, and North America. Its leaves were traditionally used to wrap butter to keep it from melting in warm weather—giving the plant its name. Butterbur has long been used in traditional medicines, most commonly to treat headaches and migraines, alleviate pain, heal wounds, and treat colds, asthma, and allergy symptoms.
In Chinese medicine, butterbur is known as kuan dong and is used to strengthen the cardiovascular system, eliminate toxins, and remove worms.
Butterbur’s anti-inflammatory properties ease allergy symptoms, such as itchy eyes, cough, and congestion.
Both butterbur root and leaves are used medicinally, but for treating allergies, the leaves are preferred. Butterbur contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) that can have a toxic effect on the liver, so the plant must be processed and not eaten raw. When buying butterbur supplements, ensure you find one with the PAs removed.
Stinging Nettle
Stinging nettle is a powerful herb with a long history of use in many traditional medicines. The plant is native to Europe, Africa, and Western Asia, but is now common worldwide. Stinging nettle has been traditionally used as a diuretic to treat urinary system disorders, to treat gout as it flushes uric acid from the system, to treat benign prostate hyperplasia (enlargement of the prostate), for inflammatory conditions like arthritis, and is well-known for the treatment of seasonal allergies and all of their accompanying symptoms. In Chinese medicine, stinging nettle is used to purify the blood of…
