If you suffer from allergies, you’re not alone. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America reports that more than 50 million Americans experience an allergy each year and rank as the sixth leading cause of chronic illness. If you’re among the sufferers and are looking for relief, we’re sharing our top 3 home remedies for allergies.
1 – Change Your Diet
The most common foods that cause allergies are milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish. While food allergies are more common in children, you may still have an allergy or sensitivity to these foods in adulthood. Notice if these foods may be the culprit and if so, consider an elimination diet to target the problem. Starting with food is one of the best home remedies for allergies.
Even if food isn’t causing your allergic reaction, changes to your diet can help alleviate symptoms of other kinds of allergies, particularly those related to seasonal changes. Increasing healthy fats by boosting your Omega 3 intake and choosing foods rich in antioxidants can help boost your immune system to fight off allergy symptoms. While these changes won’t cure your allergies, they may help you feel better by reducing the impact on your body.
2 – Exercise Regularly
Lifestyle changes are one of the primary home remedies to allergies. Changing what you eat and how you move are at the top of the list of managing how much discomfort you face in daily life. Committing to a regular exercise routine has shown positive impact on alleviating allergic reactions, including respiratory allergies.
If you’re not already exercising regularly, a good place to start is to follow the general recommendations by the Department of Health. Currently, this includes 2.5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity each week or 75 minutes of high intensity activity weekly. Options include walking, running, cycling, swimming, and more. Adding in 8-10 strength-training exercises twice a week is advisable as well.
3 – Nasal Irrigation
Rounding out our list of 3 home remedies for allergies is nasal irrigation. This at-home remedy involves the cleaning of the nasal passage through the use of sterile salt-water. Research suggests that this treatment helps reduce allergy symptoms and helps promote better breathing and sleep.
Neti pots are designed to facilitate the movement of saline from one nostril to the other and are a popular choice for nasal irrigation. You can use a neti pot daily or several times each day to alleviate allergy symptoms, waiting at least an hour between uses. As one of the best home remedies for allergies, this method removes the allergy from the nasal passages thereby reducing the irritation and symptoms so that you feel less symptomatic.
While there are other home remedies for allergies, these solutions are a good place to start. Changing your diet, exercising regularly, and practicing nasal irrigation may not cure your allergies, but they will help reduce the symptoms and impact on your body. Additionally, you will help promote better wellbeing to your body as a whole by incorporating healthy lifestyle choices into your daily routine.
