A quick housekeeping note here at Holistic Blends: From July 14th through 18th, the office will be closed. Much like Danielle’s last time off, orders placed will be held for processing until July 21st at which time shipping will commence, and messages will be addressed in the order in which they were received. Barring any unforeseen circumstances or emergencies, this will be the last closure for the year aside from the regular weekends and holidays. She and I both appreciate your patience as she closes out her allotted vacation time for the year with her family.

Today is World Allergy Day and I must admit, I had no idea there was such a thing.

So, I looked it up and saw this description: “World Allergy Day is celebrated on July 8 each year to raise awareness about allergies and the importance of their treatment and prevention.”

This must have been concocted by the pharmaceutical industry to pad their profits because who on God’s green earth wants to “celebrate” allergies, who isn’t aware of them (especially those that suffer from them) and who wouldn’t know that treatment and prevention are important?

So, let’s set the hoopla aside and see where the pollen counts are the worst, as well as explore safe, natural ways to get real relief—something to truly “celebrate.”

The temperamental 20

Although allergens are all over the US, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) has released a list of the 100 WORST cities for pollen counts and seasonal allergies for 2025.

Here are the top 20:

1. Wichita, KS  
2. New Orleans, LA 
3. Oklahoma City, OK 
4. Tulsa, OK 
5. Memphis, TN 
6. Little Rock, AR 
7. Raleigh, NC 
8. Richmond, VA 
9. Greenville, SC 
10. Greensboro, NC 
11. Virginia Beach, VA 
12. Augusta, GA 
13. Dallas, TX 
14. Baton Rouge, LA 
15. Winston-Salem, NC 
16. Chattanooga, TN 
17. Knoxville, TN 
18. Charlotte, NC 
19. Scranton, PA 
20. Jacksonville, FL 

That doesn’t mean that people outside of those cities won’t be miserable, but this is where the pollen counts are reportedly the worst.

The typical treatments—the price of seeking relief

The typical allergy treatment options are focused on either reducing symptoms or conditioning your body to tame its reaction to the allergen (desensitization).

Here’s the scoop on those:

Symptom-centered treatment

The typical symptom-centered treatments for allergies are decongestants, antihistamines, and steroid nasal sprays.

While these drugs might temporarily ease your sneezing, runny or clogged nose, coughing, itchy eyes, nose and throat, the real root cause of the allergy -- your body's reaction to what it perceives as a "threat" -- remains ignored.

Plus, like all drugs, allergy drugs come with their list of side effects too.

For example, decongestants can cause an eventual INCREASE in nasal congestion (called the "rebound effect).

Antihistamines can cause sleepiness, upset stomach, headaches, rapid heartbeat and dry mouth.

And steroid nasal sprays can lead to dizziness, headaches, skin rashes, facial and tongue swelling, blurred vision and even anaphylaxis. 

Desensitization

Desensitization (aka immunotherapy) is a regimen that involves exposing the immune system to gradually increasing amounts of an allergen through injection or a sublingual tablet. 

When the body is continuously exposed to the allergen in this manner, the immune system can become "desensitized" to the substance and can learn to handle it without overreacting. As a result, allergy symptoms can eventually decrease when the offending allergen is encountered.

But desensitization can take between 3-5 years or more, and it doesn’t work for everyone.

Plus, it opens the door for side effects including tongue and mouth irritation, hives, esophageal swelling, GI symptoms, and anaphylaxis.

Safe, natural relief

Fortunately, there are several safe, natural measures you can try that can bring about truly effective allergy relief!

Here are 8 of the best:

1- Probiotic supplementation

Nothing beats probiotics when it comes to a healthy, properly functioning immune system. Eighty percent of your immune system resides in your gut, so it’s crucial to ensure that your gut microbiome is in a healthy balance.

Having a diet of wholesome real foods is a great start, but your gut may face an onslaught of factors that can negate the best diet and upset your delicate microbiome balance--including stress, sugars and refined carbs, medications, tap water, smoking and glyphosate (RoundUp) exposure.

That’s why probiotics like Super Shield multi-strain probiotic formula can be extraordinarily helpful in combatting allergies for three reasons:

• They repopulate your supply of healthy intestinal bacteria.

• They can manufacture enzymes to help your body break down allergens.

• And they can support proper immune function and help counteract the hyper response seen with allergies!

2- Eat the right foods (and stay away from the wrong ones!)

Foods that help with allergies include probiotic-rich foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha; lots of fresh vegetables; wild-caught fish; beef and chicken (preferably organic); spicy foods (they help clear mucus) and bone broths.

At the same time, avoid dairy (it can be mucus-forming), processed foods, artificial sweeteners, grains, sugars, soy (90 percent of the soy processed in the US is genetically engineered), vegetable oils and margarine.

3- Get sources of quercetin

Quercetin, a bioflavonoid naturally found in cruciferous vegetables, onions, shallots, green teas and citrus fruit, stabilizes the release of histamine and helps to naturally curb allergy symptoms.

4- Reduce stress

Stress can cause harmful changes to your microbiome and ignite inflammatory responses in your body.

That’s why when you’re under stress you find yourself repeatedly getting sick, suffering digestive problems, or having headaches. Your immune system is challenged, and inflammation is on the warpath inside of you.

It’s also why many people have allergy flare-ups during times of stress.

Do whatever it takes to curb stress in your life. Measures like regular exercise (with your doctor’s OK), meditation, massage, acupuncture, infrared sauna, prayer, and even adopting a pet (if you’re an animal lover) can be a tremendous help!

5- Eat local raw honey

If you have pollen allergies, the idea behind this is that eating honey produced by bees in your local area can help relieve allergies because the bees transfer pollen from the local plants to their honey…so you can become “desensitized” by eating a little of the honey every day.

While mainstream medicine poo-poo’s the use of local honey for allergies, many people have sworn by it, and it makes perfect sense.

After all, if immunotherapy with injections or sublingual tablets works, why can’t you accomplish essentially the same thing with honey?

6- Get enough vitamin D

Vitamin D helps to tame overzealous, inflammatory immune reactions such as those seen with autoimmune diseases and allergies.

To help your body naturally manufacture vitamin D, try to get 20-30 minutes of unprotected sun exposure each day.

But if you can’t consistently get outside and/or you live in an area with reduced sun exposure (such as the northeast during the winter), supplementation with our Optimum DK Formula with FruiteX-B can help ensure your body has the vitamin D it needs to support sound immune function.

7- Try acupuncture

Acupuncture has been shown to be tremendously helpful with allergy symptoms, without the potential side effects of medications and shots.

8- Be proactive in limiting pollen exposure

There are several apps you can download to see what allergens are peaking in your area each day. This can help you to be proactive and take preventive measures to help minimize their effect on you.

In addition, here are ways you can help reduce the pollen in your home:

• Remove your shoes before entering the house. 

• Change and wash clothes after outdoor activities.

• Wipe pets off when they come in from the outside.

• Shower before bed to keep pollen out of your bedding.

• Keep windows closed during pollen season.

• Use central air conditioning or air purifiers with a HEPA filter.

• Clean bedding, floors, and furniture once a week.

Put these allergy-curbing measures to work for you and see how much better you can feel.

To your health,

Sherry Brescia