I remember one time when I was young, I proudly returned home after picking a wonderful colorful bouquet of wildflowers from the fields close to home. The star of the bouquet was the beautiful vibrant yellow goldenrod, (Solidago Canadensis). My mother, in the midst of suffering from fall allergies promptly banned my beautiful bouquet from the house as she like others believed that goldenrod was to be blamed for her fall allergies.  At that time she did not know it was ragweed, (Ambrosia), that was her fall arch nemesis. While both plants are in the Asteracea family, only ragweed has pollen that will fly through the air to get into mucosal membranes and cause distress.

For those who suffer with fall allergies, glorious golden rod is an ally not an enemy!

Goldenrod is a very effective mucus cutter, an anti-catarrhal (eliminates mucus conditions). It is also a beautiful natural anti-histamine. I instinctively knew that the plant would be good for my mother, but she was not ready to accept plant medicine!

If goldenrod is available to safely harvest (from a field free of pesticides or roadside pollutants), I might make a tea from the leaves and flowers to help with my congestion. The therapy of inhaling the lovely scent of goldenrod as well as its lovely color brings me joy.  

If goldenrod is not available, I might steep a lovely preparation of:

1. Thyme with a little honey.
2. Fresh ginger, cinnamon, licorice.
3. Freshly grated ginger.
4. Ginger, clove and cinnamon

For me, the worst part of suffering from allergies are dry, itchy, irritated eyes.  When my eyes get super itchy and dry, which is not only during allergy season but after spending too many hours staring at a computer screen, I love to give them a lovely spray of organic rosewater which imparts some moisture as well as cools the heat on my eyeballs. If that doesn’t provide me with enough temporary relief, I will cut a couple of cucumber slices and place them over my closed eyelids and take a 10-15 minute break from my day. I might also make a triphala tea, strain it very well and pour into my eye cups and rinse my eyes. Once I am done rinsing my eyes I would let my eyes rest for awhile and allow my eyelids enjoy the cooling effects of some cucumber slices. In Ayurveda, a treatment to help with dry eyes and also nourish the eye tissue is called netra basti. To do this treatment one takes a whole wheat ring of dough and place it around the eyes, creating a well and ensure it is sealed to the skin to make it water tight. Then warm ghee is poured into the eyes and you blink your eyes open and closed for a period of time. This is best performed by a practitioner who knows how to safely do this.

If my nose is running and I am coughing up phlegm as my body is trying to eliminate the pollen and other foreign matter from my system, I might add some of the following herbs to my daily routine as a tea or incorporate them into the foods that I am preparing. I would think about pungent foods that disperse mucus, such as: chiles, hot peppers, garlic, onion, turnip, cabbage, ginger, radish. Adding herbs that will act as drying expectorants, such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, dry ginger and mustard seed.  To help lungs clear excess mucus, in addition to using the above mentioned foods and herbs, I would add black pepper and thyme to my cooking and perhaps supplementing with trikatu (an Ayurvedic formula for equal parts of dry ginger, black pepper and pippali). If my lungs and throat felt irritated I might add some marshmallow for its soothing demulcent properties. I would also be thinking about foods that I eat for colds and flu.

As always, your best defense in combating allergies, colds, flus and maintaining your vibrant health is to ensure that you are eating a diet that is nutrient dense and limiting your consumption of processed foods, white flour and refined sugar.

Be gentle, kind and loving to your body. It is your home for this lifetime.