How Ayurvedic practitioners treat seasonal allergies

Photo Cred: Cenczi/Pixabay

By Dina Cheney

Allergic responses do not automatically arise from exposure to pollen and other allergens in Ayurvedic medicine, said Bloomington, Illinois-based Vaidya Ashlesha Raut, BAMS, MD, NC, HHP, RAS, BCIM, director of Ayurveda For Healing and program director of the Ananda Ayurveda Academy. Instead, these symptoms develop only when our bodies exhibit two different kinds of imbalances.

In one type of imbalance, the three energies that connect the mind and body (doshas)—including vata (wind), pitta (fire), and kapha (water)—are out of whack. In the second, the body doesn’t wield enough metabolic or digestive fire (agni) to fight metabolic toxins (ama). When ama accumulates, it obstructs energy and leads to imbalances, including seasonal allergies, said Cupertino, California-based Vaidya Sheena Sooraj, BAMS, Ayurvedic specialist, consultant, and academy faculty member at Kerala Ayurveda.

When Ayurvedic practitioners treat seasonal allergies, they take a holistic approach, prescribing remedies to alleviate specific symptoms and to correct imbalances. Highly individualized, Ayurvedic medicine involves comprehensive exams and regimens customized for patients’ particular needs.

Initial consultation

During this appointment, practitioners take a health history to identify allergic reaction triggers, evaluate a patient’s constitution and lifestyle, classify their allergies, and assess their balance of agni versus ama. Then they suggest diet, lifestyle, and herbal remedies to eliminate ama, enhance agni, and treat symptoms. “Since Ayurvedic medicine is individualized, if three people come to me with spring allergies, I might treat them all differently depending on their constitutions,” said Boulder, Colorado-based Alakananda Ma, AD, MB, BS, founder and principal of Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula and senior practitioner at Alandi Ayurveda Clinic.

Remedies

Practitioners often recommend the following treatments for spring allergies. They will vary depending on patient needs and the time of year, said Ma.

“Ayurvedic medicine is preventative in its approach,” said Columbus, Ohio-based Vandana Baranwal, BAMS, MD, founder of AyurveDatri Women Wellness Solutions. “The chances of suffering from seasonal allergies are considerably reduced when a person follows Ayurveda principles.” She suggested the following:

• Wake up early and drink a glass of hot water.
• Brush, floss, and scrape your tongue.
• Take a steam bath, sauna, or shower.
• Practice yoga.

Diet (Ahar)

Practitioners believe that what you eat can help promote agni and reduce ama. Raut recommends the following to patients:

• Cook with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, garlic, and black pepper.
• Avoid spicy and fried foods and reduce dairy.
• Stay hydrated with plenty of warm water and some ginger lemon honey tea.
• During the spring, transition away from heavier foods, such as meats, grains, and fats, to lighter foods, such as greens and bitter melons.

Herbs (Aushadha)

Ma recommended mixing powdered herbs into aloe vera or honey, then washing them down with warm water or tea. In her personalized anti-allergy mixtures, she often includes punarnava, turmeric, barberry, and triphala.

Patients could also consider neem, manjistha, guduci, tulsi, katuki, amalaki, jatamansi, brahmi, and nagakesar, Baranwal said. For specific symptoms, Baranwal and May recommended the following:

• Sore throat: Mix one teaspoon of licorice powder (madhuyashti churna) in one tablespoon of honey and take two times a day. Additionally, patients may gargle with a mixture of salt, hot water, and turmeric.
• Hives, sneezing, and rashes: Mix one teaspoon of haridra khanda granules with warm water or milk and take in the morning. Alternatively, puree fresh cilantro with water, then strain out the juice and apply to irritated skin.
• Cough and sore throat: Mix one teaspoon of sitopaladi churna with one tablespoon of honey and take twice a day.
• Breathing problems and cough: Take 15 milliliters of dashmularishta mixed with an equal amount of water twice a day, after lunch.

Other Remedies

To alleviate allergy symptoms and enhance overall health, try these treatments, recommended by Ma, Baranwal, and Sherman Oaks, California-based Julia Lungin, Ayurveda practitioner at Veda.

• Neti pot: Wash pollen out of nasal mucusa via a nasal saline rinse.
• Nasal purification (nasya): Apply herbalized oil to nostrils to cleanse the nasal passage and upper respiratory system. With your pinky finger, use sesame, coconut, or ksheerabala oil or ghee.
• Shirodhara: Pour warm herbal oil onto the forehead in a continuous stream.
• Abhyangha: Apply warm herbalized oil all over the body in deep, long, circular strokes. Pair this with an herbalized steam tent (svedana) placed over the body.
• Netra basti: Slowly pour warm ghee around the eyes to alleviate dryness, soreness, and watering.

Dina Cheney is a Connecticut-based journalist with more than 20 years of experience covering health and other lifestyle topics. She has authored six cookbooks and written for numerous publications, including Health, Good Housekeeping, SELF, and Men’s Health.