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By Rachel Welch
Spring is a gorgeous time of year. The blossoms, flowers, greenery, and renewal of bird song make it a happy season that almost everyone can appreciate. Unfortunately, the beauty of spring also comes with pollen, and that means dreaded allergies. Understandably, it can be difficult to enjoy anything when you are fighting to breathe, coughing, and your vision is clouded with allergy-fueled tears. Even though you can't control the pollen count, you can take action to fight off your allergies with a few natural remedies. Go ahead and plan your picnic because we’re going to offer tips so your allergies won’t win this year!
If you've felt like your allergies are getting worse each spring, you're not imagining it. The culprit? A phenomenon called botanical sexism—and yes, it's as real as it sounds.
Atlanta, Georgia is one of the first states to receive pollen and warm temps every year. Located in the southeast of the US, it has a mild climate with a standard representation of every season. Locals in recent years have noticed that in their beloved city, the spring pollen count seems to get crazier and crazier every year. It wasn’t until recently that one of the reasons was revealed.
Urban planning takes a variety of things into consideration when planning their greenery and landscaping for a city. One such detail is the amount of cleanup that a tree, shrub, or plant might require. It is in the best interest of the city’s leaders to ensure minimal leaves, seeds, seed pods, and cleanup, which then reduces work for their clean-up crews.
It seems that Atlanta’s urban planners elected to go with trees that shed the least, to avoid piles of seed remnants and debris throughout the year. Fair choice, right? Perhaps not. For a smidge of botany trivia, male trees shed the least, and produce high amounts of pollen, as their natural purpose is to pollinate the female trees. In an untampered natural system, the female trees would produce fruit or flowers. The fruiting trees’ pollen is much denser than that of the male trees, and is far less likely to go airborne and into your nostrils. So, female/fruiting trees play the pivotal role of balancing out the quantity of pollen. You can probably see where this is going.
By planting exclusively male trees, the city planners unwittingly set themselves and their city’s population up for exceedingly high pollen counts, as they removed nature’s typical means of regulating the quantity. This phenomenon has been branded “botanical sexism,” and Atlanta is not the only city to have engaged in this practice.
California, New Zealand, London, Canada, and many other locations have also adopted the habit of botanical sexism within their urban planning. So much so, that several communities have begun intentionally planting more female trees, in the hopes of providing balance to the otherwise manipulated tree population. You go, horticultural heroes.
Now, should you run from the pollen-filled hills, buy a portable gas mask, or hide in a bubble? Not necessarily. While the odds may seem stacked against allergy sufferers, there are still some steps that can make allergy season more pleasant for you. The first step is to take a deep breath and stay calm. I know, breathing in this season seems counterintuitive, but your brain needs it, and so does your body.
One of the best ways to cope more effectively with anything that inflames your body, whether allergen or virus, is to maintain a healthy baseline. If your immune system is in good shape and reinforced before and during allergy season, your body will have the strength to keep allergy symptoms from growing into anything more. Of course, this isn’t foolproof – sometimes we just get sick, despite our best efforts. However, by ensuring that you routinely receive proper nutrition, vitamins, rest, and all of the good things the body needs, allergies will have a stronger foe to fight against.
Some of the main things to ensure are a part of your normal routine include:
In addition to regular healthy maintenance, you can also tap into some of nature’s wisdom, and embrace the parts of nature that are able to help balance its less appealing qualities.
You don't have to go hug a tree unless you really want to, but a great way to battle allergies is by embracing the remedies from Mother Nature herself. While it is now “natural” for pollen counts to be off the charts (thanks, city planners), there are some helpful remedies available through natural sources that can help with the symptoms of allergies.
First up, is classic salt water. Good old H2O and sodium chloride make a potent, yet natural combination that can significantly help with allergy symptoms. To use this to your benefit, you should focus on nasal irrigation. This can be done via a Neti Pot, or any other mechanism that allows you to flush out your sinuses. The simple combination of salt and water can help to physically clear out any trapped pollen and can clear out the contents that leave you sniffly. Note: Be sure and use filtered water for nasal irrigation.
Next up is an ingredient found in pineapple and papaya. Bromelain is known to reduce swelling and inflammation and can be a helpful (and tasty) food to add to your allergy combat weaponry. Another fun fact is that bromelain also helps people with gluten intolerance or celiac disease. If they accidentally ingested gluten, bromelain can help break down the gluten enzymes, leading to a quicker recovery.
There is not insurmountable evidence that local honey helps allergies, but there have been studies that hinted at its efficacy. For instance, a study from Malaysia found that only their honey-receiving group showed significant improvements in allergy symptoms after four weeks. Furthermore, their relief from symptoms extended a month after they had stopped taking honey daily, which is pretty nice. On the other hand, there was a study from Connecticut in 2022 that found no meaningful difference in allergy symptoms between groups given honey versus a placebo. So, take the research as it is, and if you like honey, it couldn’t hurt to try incorporating local honey into your seasonal diet.
If you’ve ever run into stinging nettle while gardening, you may have made a sworn enemy of its painful exterior. If you can bring yourself to not judge the plant by its cover, stinging nettle is proven to be massively beneficial to allergy symptoms. A study from 2017 was able to confirm the clinical benefit of stinging nettle on reducing typical allergy symptoms including nasal discharge, itching, congestion, watery eyes, and fatigue. While it may pack some pain in the garden, it can help reduce pain when used medicinally.
You are now empowered with the knowledge of nature since you are armed with your new allergy-fighting tactics. By keeping your immune system strong year-round, and using these tips when allergies attack, you will set yourself up for a much more beautiful spring season.
Pollen has met its match!
