by Stacey Pace

Created on: May 23, 2009   Last Updated: November 25, 2011

When the weather heats up most people are looking forward to having their windows open and spending more time outside. It's the perfect time to go for long walks and get in touch with nature. For some people, however, it's a time that sparks seasonal allergies and much discomfort.

There are many different types of allergies that start to become active at this time of year and this can be a real nuisance and put a dampener of the holiday season. What starts of as a nice day out with friends and family can often end with you feeling exhausted, emotional and very unwell.

Around one in five people suffer from hay fever and this is something that can be seen in all ages. There are a range of symptoms that accompany many allergies and it's often easy to confuse them with other illnesses such as colds and flu.

If untreated allergies can increase your chances of contracting other diseases. If a side effect of your allergies is that your upper respiratory tract is suffering from inflammation there is a possibility of sinus infections, middle ear infections, persistent coughs and nose bleeds.

Treating allergies isn't a straight forward thing as there are huge number of different over-the-counter products to choose from making it difficult to know what to buy. These products are so generic that they will often cause you to have side-effects. Some side-effects can be similar to the symptoms you're treating in the first place and some are much worse. This may lead to you buying further medication to treat the symptoms and the cycle of expense begins.

What the drug companies don't tell you is that many of the active ingredients in the remedies that they sell you can be found in your kitchen. It's possible to treat and prevent many allergies without the use of expensive drugs by using many everyday herbs and foods. Let's take a look a few of these natural remedies and look at the reason why they work.

Garlic is widely known for it's anti-inflammatory properties but it's also a potent antibacterial and antiviral agent too. There is nothing better than a nice meal with garlic to help ward of the mucous that can accompany many allergies. A curry containing a lot of garlic can often help to steam out your sinuses due to the heat coming from the combination of many herbs and spices present in it. This is a great way to combine a nice social evening with some herbal medication. My dad used to make me very hot curries as a child to ease my congestion built up by allergies, this

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>