Hay Fever & Magical Bee Pollen
Avoid:
Dairy + sugar (as usual)
High histamine foods - the longer you leave food after cooking it the more the histamine builds up, so no leftovers! tomatoes, alcohol, fermented foods, avocados, spinach, eggplant, dried fruit.
Helpful things:
Nettle, think: its in season for a reason,
Quinoa and brown rice (low in histamine and all the benefits already discussed),
Seaweeds (wakame/arame)
Quercetin - is an antioxidant that is great for allergies and generally for reducing inflammation amongst its other benefits. Quercetin containing foods (or you can get supplements) include: garlic and red/white onions, cooked asparagus, red apples/grapes, broccoli, kale, green and black tea, blueberries.
Probiotics - as usual they help with everything, including hay fever / allergies. In this case though fermented foods like sauerkraut and probiotic yogurt are actually high histamine, so maybe better to try supplements for hayfever specifically.
Citrus/grapefruit seed extract - (pills/liquid) is an extremely potent natural antibiotic which works for hay fever amongst so many other things (take a pill daily).
In tcm terms it ‘dries out damp conditions’ which i’ve explained that most of us in the west suffer from badly (because any refined carbs like white pasta/bread, and sugar causes dampness). Anything to do with diarrhoea is considered a damp condition & grapefruit seed extract can even be taken daily when travelling to prevent ‘travellers diarrhoea’ (not that any of us are going anywhere soon sadly). Equally it works wonders in pill form for candida which we have spoken about or throat issues (tonsillitis) or as an ointment eg for fungal toe infections, warts, athletes foot, dandraff/scalp problems, and ear infections
Bee pollen - (food of a young bee) is amazing for hayfever. Its also a rich source of protein (contains lots of ‘free’ amino acids ready to be used by the body) and vitamin B12. It actually is described as one of natures ‘most nourishing foods’ as it contains nearly all he nutrients required by humans.
Its been used by lots of different cultures (including TCM) as a nutritive ‘tonic’ for things like helping recovery from chronic illness, building new blood, and also has natural antibiotic properties and so helps prevent the common cold and flu (might be worthwhile thinking about given corona). It’s also got anti-cancer qualities and is supposed to help protect children against developmental disorders.
When looking at hay fever specifically pollen and raw, unprocessed honey (which contains pollen) are known and used remedies - although it’s said that the products need to be used up to 6 weeks before the pollen season + continued throughout the season to work at its best).
Royal jelly - (the sole food of the queen bee), has even greater nutrient properties and goes as far as being helpful for both men and women with infertility issues. For all the vegans in this group - royal jelly is said to give those lacking in animal protein ‘all the protein they need’ (can be found as pills, powder or preserved in honey and it’s so powerful only 100-400 milligrams are needed daily).
