Natural Hayfever Remedies

Natural Hayfever Remedies

Try the following to help relieve your symptoms:

  • Red onion, raw or in a tincture – Take 30 mls twice a day
  • Pulverise red onion and celery: Extract the juice and add an equal amount of carrot and tomato juice – Take 8 ozs twice a day
  • Carrot juice – Take 6 ozs per day
  • Honey – Take a teaspoon of local honey 3 times a day
  • Coltsfoot tea, also know as Tussilago Farfara. Add 1 tablespoon to 4 cups of water and steep for 10 minutes – Drink 1 cup twice a day. Relieves coughing and sneezing.

Any of these remedies can work well along side Acupuncture treatment designed to reduce your symptoms.

hayfever1What is hayfever?

Hay fever is an allergic reaction to pollen. Your immune system (your body’s natural defence) responds as if it were being attacked by a virus, because it perceives as the pollen as a threat.

Your immune system will release a number of chemicals designed to prevent the spread of what it wrongly perceives as an infection. These chemicals cause the symptoms of the allergic reaction, such as watering eyes and a runny nose.

When is there most pollen?

Different trees and plants produce their pollen at different times of the year. Depending on which type of pollen you’re allergic to, you may experience hay fever symptoms at different times.

Most people with hay fever (90%) are allergic to grass pollen, but it can also be caused by trees and weeds. Research suggests that pollution, such as cigarette smoke or car exhaust fumes, can worsen allergies. In Britain there are three periods:

hayfever2

  • Tree pollen (including oak, ash, cedar and birch); late March to mid-May
  • Grass pollen; mid-May to July
  • Weed pollen (such as dock and nettles); end of June to September.

However, the pollen count season can sometimes begin as early as January or end in November, depending on weather conditions.

Tips to Rid Yourself of Winter Blues

Tips to Rid Yourself of Winter Blues

If you are feeling sluggish or fed up with the dark nights and cold weather, here are a few tips to help you to feel more energised:-

 

  1. Cut down on those rich heavy foods that have got you through the indulgent season: Eating less dairy, sugar and wheat can make you feel less sluggish. Think about swapping cow’s milk for almond milk and opt for goats’ butter and cheese rather than cows. Alternatives to wheat could include rye bread, oat biscuits and rice cakes. And, if you really love the taste of sugar in your tea, consider Xylotol or Stevia as a healthier alternative.
  1. Give your liver a boost: Your liver may be feeling overloaded through having to cope with the extra dietary burden of the Winter months. Foods that can help give your liver a natural detox and get your liver energy moving include foods with pungent and sweet flavours. So try watercress, cardamom, oregano, dill, pepper or rosemary.
How to find Stomach 36
How to find the point
      1. Give yourself some strengthening acupressure: A lot of acupuncturists report that when patients regularly press specific acupuncture points on themselves to help alleviate their problem they get better faster. So here’s a great all round energy-boosting point that you can use on yourself. It’s name is Leg three-mile. The Chinese say that if you walk three miles and then rub this point, you can walk another three miles.

How to find the point:- Place all four fingers of one hand in a horizontal line directly below your left knee cap. At this level, come out one finger’s width to the left from the crest (raised bump) of your shinbone. Press, massage or tap the point, also known as Stomach 36 for about 30 seconds daily. Repeat on the right.

This is one of the most important acupressure points in the body. Traditional Chinese medicine teaches that, among other things, it harmonizes the intestines, regulates energy, strengthens the immune system, and acts as a general tonic.

If you’ve got any questions about this or any other health-related issue, give me a call on 07940 022 851.

Also published in the Bath Business Women’s Association newsletter.

Tips for driving out colds and flu

Tips for driving out colds and flu

Here are a few simple suggestions for keeping sniffles at bay…
  • Wear a scarf: Wind and cold can easily penetrate the body, making you more likely to catch a cold, particularly around the neck, which is so often bare.
  • Don’t go out with wet hair: For the same reason, after washing your hair, make sure it is completely dry before going outside or going to bed.
  • Drink Ginger Tea: Ginger not only strengthens your digestive system. It also helps expel cold pathogens before they take hold of the body. So consider making ginger tea by simmering grated fresh ginger (or the powdered form) in hot water for 10 minutes.
Catching a cold can be a real drag
Catching a cold can be a real drag
  • Mull some apple juice: There’s a practical reason why mulled wine and Christmas cake spices are popular this time of year. Spices like cinnamon and clove are pungent in nature, and together with ginger, they are used in Chinese Medicine to help ward off colds by heating and energising the body.
    During the 1918 influenza outbreak, workers at cinnamon factories seemed immune to the Spanish flu which decimated the population. In 2007 an Israeli researcher developed a cinnamon extract which may protect against modern viruses like Avian flu.
  • Reduce your intake of cold and raw foods: The body has to work harder to warm up cold foods and break down uncooked items, thus using up more vital energy. If you are already feeling sluggish with the season change you need all the help you can get to keep your body on top form so opt instead for nourishing soups and stews.
  • Consider taking vitamin C and Zinc: There is plenty of research that the combination of these two supplements can give you an extra weapon during the cold and flu season.
  • Call me if you succumb to a cold: If you come for treatment within 24 hours of realising you are going down with a cold, I can use some specific techniques to literally release the pathogen from your body and stop you suffering. Call me on 07940 022 851 for further information about this technique, known as Gua Sha.

Foods to help you spring into Spring

Foods to help you spring into Spring

Making a few dietary changes with each new season can help our bodies work better to help us get the most out of life

In Chinese Medicine different organs in the body are linked and influenced by different seasons.

Fresh juices are great for a Spring cleanse
Fresh juices are great for a Spring cleanse

Spring is associated with the liver. Overeating, especially rich and greasy foods, (so easy to do in Winter) can make the liver sluggish. Since the liver influences the eyes and the tendons, you might find your tendons feeling a bit stiff or inflexible, or your eyes may be red or itchy. Or you just might feel you need to give your body a bit of a Spring clean. Eating foods that help strengthen and cleanse the liver during the Spring can really help set you up for the rest of the year.

Green is the colour of the liver and of Spring, so lots of green leafy vegetables can help cleanse your system. Wild garlic is already out in abundance and dandelion works really well as a Spring cleanser so get picking….

Eating a balanced diet with a variety of juices such as citrus fruits, pear, apple, celery and carrot will be a real bonus in Spring. And now’s the time to get out your sprouting beans; mung, radish and alfalfa are great this time of year.

Getting out for a walk can help get your liver energy moving
Getting out for a walk can help get your liver energy moving

In Chinese Medicine every organ is linked to an emotion; anger and irritability are the feelings associated with the liver. So if you’re feeling a bit tense, go for a walk to get your energy moving. Foods that can help get your liver energy moving include foods with pungent and sweet flavours. So try watercress, cardamom, oregano, dill, pepper or rosemary.

If you’ve got any further questions, give me a call on 07940 022851.