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Ahhh, Spring. Birds chirping, sun shining, warmer weather….who doesn’t love the Season of Renewal?  I’ll tell you who.  Seasonal allergy sufferers don’t love it.  I’m one of their club members, and trust me, it’s no Good Sam Club.  Sometimes when we RV in the Spring, we’ll roll into a new town, super-excited to explore all its wonders, and BAM!  My allergies go berserk.

Like many of you, I’ve taken all the various allergy drugs, tried a plethora of homeopathic treatments, but you know what works best for me?  When I feel that first tickle in my nose, I hit the store.  Not the drugstore!  The grocery store.  The most success I’ve had with winning the springtime sniffle battle is changing my springtime diet.

In fact, there’s research to back this up.  A study published in Thorax Journal back in 2007 looked at children from Crete to try to determine why their allergy levels were so low.  The study found that the traditional Mediterranean diet may explain the lack of allergic symptoms.  That’s because the Mediterranean diet is rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients…which beef up our immune system and lower inflammation in the body.

Here’s a few of my favorite allergy-busting foods, mostly based off of traditional Mediterranean staples:

Apples, citrus fruits, dark berries, and onions: The quercitin found in these foods has natural antihistamine and anti-inflammatory properties, which means less runny nose and burny eyes! All the better to see you with my pretties!

Wheat bran, soybeans, dark chocolate and cashews: These foods are great sources of magnesium. Magnesium is thought to act as a bronchodilator, relieving breathing problems with your allergies. This is particularly worth noting since around 85% of asthma is triggered by springtime allergies. There you go ladies! Yet another reason you get to eat chocolate guilt-free!

Salmon, Halibut, and Walnuts: What do these have in common? A+ for you if you said Omega-3’s. Omega 3’s are said to have anti-inflammatory properties that bolster your immune system. The stronger the immune system, the lesser the allergy symptoms.

Hot tea and spicy foods: Bring on the heat! The steam from the tea and spicy foods both work to stimulate the nasal passages and loosen up congestion.

While it’s not the cure-all end-all for me, and I still deal with mild allergy symptoms, “eating like a Mediterranean” definitely does make a difference with my allergies.  I’d love to hear from you….how do you keep your allergies at bay?  Have you noticed that certain foods make a difference for you?

May you have a sneeze-free spring, RV friends!