So many of us suffer from seasonal allergies and want natural allergy remedies! During my herbal studies, I created an allergy tea blend that worked great for my family. It worked so well, that I decided to sell it in our shop when we had a restaurant. It was one of our best sellers with people coming back over and over again for more! Here’s the **tisane (tea) recipe that has seen us through many allergy seasons and a few more allergy remedies that I think will help.

Fresh and dried herbs in front of our mullein plant.

HERBAL ALLERGY TISANE (TEA) BLEND

During certain times of the year, these herbs are easily found wild or in the garden. Right now (May/June), we have Elderflower and Yarrow growing wild, and Peppermint and Mullein in our garden. So far we haven’t found stinging nettle on our farm, but we’re still looking! But any time of the year these herbs are available dried. My favorite source is Mountain Rose Herbs.

1 part Stinging Nettle (antihistamine and anti-inflammatory)
1 part Elderflower (for excess mucous)
½ part Yarrow (for congestion and mucous) (unless allergic to daisies)
½ part Peppermint (may aid in breathing and for taste)
½ part Mullein (expectorant and inflammation)

All you need to do is take each herb, mix together and store in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Don’t understand how to use a recipe with parts? For this recipe you could start with 1 cup as the 1 part and 1/2 cup for 1/2 part. If you don’t need that much, you could start with 1/4 cup (1 part) and 1/8 cup (1/2 part). Now that you have your custom herb blend, let’s make the tisane!

I use a couple of teaspoons of herbs per cup. If you have a french press, put the herbs in and simply pour boiling water (no chlorinated, fluoridated water) over your herbs. Or use a cup or pot with an infuser.

Important: Let this tisane steep for 15-20 minutes to take advantage of all of the medicinal qualities of the herbs. You can reheat your allergy tea, but do not boil it!

Allergy Tisane with fresh elderflower.

 DIETARY TWEAKS

Continue or switch to a whole foods diet. Add garlic and onions which contain quercetin, a powerful bioflavonoid (antihistamine and anti-allergenic). Make sure that water intake is sufficient. A general guideline for water consumption is ½ the body weight in ounces of water per day. Adding probiotic foods is a must unless using a probiotic supplement.

SUPPLEMENTS

• Vitamin C~1,000 mg 3 times per day

• Add a good probiotic, if you don’t already take one.

• Spirulina~1 teaspoon per day

• Quercetin can be added in supplement form 1,000 mg 3 times per day.

• Quercetin is enhanced by the addition of bromelain (unless allergic to pineapple) 80 mg 3 times per day.

• Milk Thistle~Take 2-3 capsules per day. Milk Thistle will keep your liver filtering efficiently and the allergens cleared from your body.

FACIAL STEAM OR DIFFUSION

1-5 drops of peppermint, eucalyptus, thyme or chamomile essential oil in hot water or use the dried or fresh herbs. Breathe in the vapors for 5-10 minutes. Or diffuse the oils into the air using your favorite diffuser.

 **Tea is technically made exclusively from the Camellia Sinensis plant. Though commonly called herbal tea, any infusion or decoction of herbs or fruits is properly called a herb tisane.

Stay Naturally Healthy!

Darie