Spring Allergies - How Ayurveda Can Help
You are on a lovely April walk.
The sun warms your face—ah, bliss. But then you feel a tingling in your nose; your eyes start itching, and aaachoo.
It’s the time of year again! The hay fever is back.
Although we are all looking forward to the warmth of the spring sun and the vibrant colours of the flowers, shrubs, and trees, runny noses and itchy eyes can quickly spoil the joy.
According to Allergy UK, up to 49% of the population experience hay fever.
Understanding Spring Allergies
What Causes allergies?
The Oxford Dictionary explains allergy as:
A damaging immune response by the body to a substance, especially a particular food, pollen, fur, or dust, to which it has become hypersensitive.
Common Symptoms of Spring Allergies
In spring, allergies often affect the respiratory system. Pollen irritates the mucous lining of the nose, eyes, and throat.
Here are a few symptoms:
Congestion.
Sneezing.
Itchy eyes, nose, and throat.
Runny nose and eyes.
Postnasal drip (drainage in the throat)
Coughing
Sore throat.
The ongoing symptoms can make you feel tired and fatigued.
Allergies are often accepted as something that happens. Ayurveda has a different view.
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Ayurvedic Perspective on Allergies
In Ayurveda, this is a sign of an imbalance due to a weakened digestive fire.
Our health relates directly to our digestive strength, the strength of our Agni.
When the Agni is strong, we are healthy, as the body can digest and metabolise whatever comes. It can distinguish between what is useful and what is harmful and needs to be eliminated.
Agni’s strength is influenced by what we eat, when we eat, our sleeping patterns, stress levels and so forth.
Behavioural patterns like late dinners, late bedtime and regular snacking weaken the Agni.
Late dinners don’t leave sufficient time to be digested properly.
Late nights impact the body’s nightly housekeeping tasks.
Consequently, digestion and housekeeping can’t be done properly. Over time, digestive fire or ability weakens, and with it, our immune system. In return, this opens the door for diseases to enter.
With respect to allergies, the body doesn’t have the strength to deal with the sudden influx of pollen in the springtime, certain foods, cosmetics, and washing powder. Items that we use day in and day out turn into enemies and are treated by the immune system as intruders.
Ayurveda approaches allergy treatment holistically. It is not just about taking antihistamines. Ayurveda considers food and lifestyle changes necessary to achieve balance.
In the case of spring allergies, Kapha dosha needs to be balanced.
Dosha Imbalances and Allergies
The allergies affect the doshas differently. Different substances affect different doshas.
Vata-Type Allergies
Vata’s seat is in the digestive system, and Vata-related allergies often show up in the digestive tract with symptoms such as burping, bloating, digestive discomfort, gas, gurgling intestines, vague abdominal pain, and intestinal colic.
But they can also show symptoms such as wheezing or headache, sneezing, tinnitus, joint pain, sciatica, muscle twitching or spasms, and insomnia.
They can be more experienced during the Vata-dominant autumn/winter months.
Pitta-Type Allergies
Pitta aggravation often shows in the skin, such as hives, rashes, itching, and eczema, but also as red and itchy eyes.
Digestion-related allergies can cause heartburn, acid indigestion, stomach upset, nausea, or vomiting. Pitta-type allergies can also induce hot flashes.
The symptoms are more likely to come during the hot summer months.
Kapha-Type Allergies
These are heightened during the Kapha dominant springtime because of the onslaught of pollen-based allergens.
Their symptoms include irritation of the mucous membranes, expressed as hay fever, colds, congestion, cough, sinus infection, water retention, bronchial congestion, or asthma.
Kapha resides in the upper stomach. These types of allergies can create a certain heaviness in the stomach and sluggish digestion.
Natural Ayurvedic Remedies for Spring Allergies
How can Food help with Allergies?
Dietary Recommendations according to Ayurveda
Let’s stay with food for the moment. Food has the biggest impact on our lives and can create the biggest changes merely because we need to eat daily, and most of us eat several times a day.
I mentioned Agni, the digestive fire, above and its significance.
Remember, the factors that weaken Agni are eating at the wrong time and eating food that is not in season.
Eating at the right time. What does that mean?
Kapha times are 6.00 – 10.00 am and pm.
Pitta times are 10.00 – 2.00 am and pm.
Vata times 2.00 – 6.00 am and pm.
Kapha and Vata doshas naturally have weaker digestive fires due to their damp and changing qualities. As breakfast and dinner fall into those times, both should be light and warm, easy to digest.
Pitta dosha is a strong digestive fire; as Pitta time is around midday, lunch should be the most substantial meal of the day.
Suppose dinner is the main meal, and it falls either into the Kapha or Vata time; it will create issues for three reasons:
The Agni is naturally weaker and finds it hard to digest a main meal.
We are naturally less active in the evening times.
The time between eating and going to bed could be not enough to digest a full-blown meal.
Over time, this leads to a general weakening of the digestive fire and interference with the above-mentioned nightly household duties of the body, which start at about 10 pm.
If you argue that you should go to bed later so the food has enough time to cook, you still interfere with the household cycle.
In short, eating at the wrong time means eating out of sync with the times when Agni is strong.
Eating at the right time is, therefore, with its strength:
Light and warm breakfast and dinner.
Substantial cooked, sit-down lunch.
What to Eat?
Seasonal food is the best because the seasonal harvest naturally provides what we need.
Spring is a Kapha season with cold, slow, heavy, sticky, oily qualities and sweet, salty and sour tastes.
We need to balance with the opposite qualities, so we need to eat food with:
Warm, fast, light, dry qualities and of bitter, pungent, and astringent taste.
In short, all bitter herbs and vegetables that are in season, like nettles, dandelion, rocket salad, all leafy greens, asparagus, all spices, and herbs.
We should avoid food of the same quality as Kapha, such as dairy in all forms and heavy grains like rice, wheat, oats, and nightshades.
How Ayurvedic Herbs can help
Herbs are more potent than food. There are some excellent ayurvedic herbs that support spring/respiratory issues:
Pippali (long pepper) – an immunomodulator (can stimulate or suppress the immune system as needed) and has mucus-removing properties.
Ginger – is anti-inflammatory and removes congestion.
Liquorice – soothes the lungs and throat.
Turmeric – can prevent the onset of hay fever.
Tulsi (holy basil) – rejuvenates the respiratory system and heals congestion and runny nose.
A pinch of pippali can be taken with some raw, local honey two to three times daily.
Ginger is great as tea with lemon after food or as juice 1 tsp ginger juice with a few drops of lemon juice before food.
Liquorice also works well as tea and can be added to ginger tea.
¼ tsp turmeric with liquid ghee in the morning helps to support the body with turmeric’s great benefits.
Tulsi has many health benefits, including strengthening the immune system and lifting spirits. It works well as a tea or, like turmeric with ghee in the morning, as a supplement.
Lifestyle Changes
Jala Neti
Running warm salt water through the nose clears the sinuses from pollen and dust and helps to soothe them.
Kavala
Gargling with warm salt water and turmeric helps to soothe sore throats and brings clarity to the mind. This is super helpful when the head is all banged up.
Ghee in the Nostrils
Moisturise your nostrils with ghee or ayurvedic nose oil. Liquid warm ghee, anu or shadbindu oil can be applied to the nostrils to help clear them. This prevents pollen from sticking in the nostrils and sinuses. When applied in the evening, it soothes them overnight, supporting a good night’s sleep.
Kapalabhati, skull shining, Breathing
This helps clear the sinuses, is also preventative, and strengthens the Agni.
Yoga poses
Inversions all year round strengthen the immune system; in case of allergies, legs up the wall support the immune system but also help the body rest.
Daily Surya Namaskar practice balances and strengthens all the systems and is recommended for good health.
Bedtimes
Go to bed by 10 pm to support the nightly householding runs and, with it, strengthen the immune system. Get up before 6 am to use the lightness of the Vata time.
Final Thoughts
As spring unfolds, bringing along its mix of blooming flowers and warm sunshine, many of us also face the less pleasant arrival of seasonal allergies. While it's easy to see allergies as just a part of life during this time, Ayurveda offers a different take. According to Ayurveda, symptoms like sneezing, congestion, and itchy eyes suggest that something's off balance – specifically, our digestive fire or Agni. By nurturing this digestive fire with the right foods and lifestyle habits, Ayurveda suggests we can find relief from allergies and improve our overall health.
This approach involves more than just dealing with symptoms; it's about getting to the underlying causes of allergies. Ayurveda recommends adjusting our diets to suit the season and our body’s needs and using beneficial herbs like ginger, turmeric, and Tulsi to support the respiratory system and strengthen immunity. Simple daily practices such as rinsing with warm salt water (Jala Neti) or applying ghee in the nostrils can also help clear out allergens and soothe irritation. By incorporating these Ayurvedic practices, we might not only ease our spring allergy symptoms but also enhance our well-being gently and naturally.
Resources
https://www.allergyuk.org/types-of-allergies/hayfever/
https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/
