1. Be prepared.

2. Purchase lime, lemon, peppermint, and lavender essential oils and use them regularly for allergy relief and control.

3. Spring clean your home.

4. Get rid of the chemcial cleaners, perfumes and other synetics in your home.

5. Allergy proof your home and car.

6. Stock up on local honey.

7. Make sure you have a neti pot on hand for use when needed.

8. If you don’t already have a difuser and or a humifider purchase them.

9. Stock up on gluten free and dairy free food. Even if you don’t follow these diets during the rest of the year, doing it during allergy season can make a big difference.

10. Have a clear allergy management and control plan.

Good eyewear and proper eye care can minimize itchy, watery eyes associated with hay fever and allergies.

Naturally, allergy sufferers want maximum relief in minimum time; or, better still, they want to avoid allergy attacks altogether. Doctors generally advise over-the-counter anti-histamines and nasal decongestants which relieve the majority of allergy symptoms. For serious allergy attacks or asthma patients, physicians may resort to high-powered histamine blockers or cortico-steroids. However, pills, sprays, and inhalers seldom relieve eye irritation and dryness, often the most painful and annoying among allergy complaints. Therefore, as hay fever and allergy season swings into high gear, take a few precautionary measures and stock-up on the right topical solutions for fast, effective relief.

Don’t sanitize. Desensitize.
Recent research confirms most allergists’ long-standing suspicions: Americans’ passion for germ-free environments and prescription “cold” medications, ironically, is contributing to their allergies, because it limits their opportunities for developing natural immunity to many airborne irritants. Aggressive hand-washing and cough-sneeze management make perfect sense during colds-and-flu season. Antibiotics and anti-virals, however, do not substantially reduce recovery time, and they do contribute to emergence of more virulent bacteria and viruses. Meanwhile, the body forfeits chances to develop its defenses. Allergists say routine exposure to some dust, pollen and pet hair can reduce frequency and duration of allergy attacks in many patients. They call the process “desensitization,” and studies show the process helps more than 50 percent of children over-come or outgrow their allergies; similar studies suggest more than one-fourth of adult sufferers also may benefit from desensitization. Advanced immuno-therapies also show great promise. Your allergist may inject you with small quantities of common allergens, helping your body develop its natural immunity.

Allergists caution, however, all allergy patients always and everywhere should avoid exposure to mold and volatile organic compounds. Allergists also concede eye irritation almost always requires immediate, effective relief. They recommend:

• Put-up a good defense. The simplest, most obvious solution numbers among the most effective. Invest in wrap-around eyeglasses and sunglasses, minimizing your eyes’ exposure to dust and pollen. When your physician declares new glasses “medically necessary,” they become tax deductible, taking some of the sting from the price of fashion eyewear. Similarly, replace the filters in your air conditioner and treat your carpets to a good spring cleaning. If spring melt-off and rain have contributed to exceptionally heavy pollen, invest in air purifiers for your workspace and bedroom.

• Care for your contact lenses. Generally comfortable with your contacts, you may go crazy during allergy season, because allergens and enzymes in your tears may cling to your lenses, causing serious irritation and blurred vision. Consult your physician before you try over-the-counter eye drops or contact-lens cleaners, because you may be allergic to preservatives in some solutions; mother solutions may damage or discolor your contacts. You also have another alternative. Switch from long-wearing lenses to daily disposables, which will not collect irritating deposits that aggravate your allergy symptoms.

• Over-the-counter eye-washes and drops. Both dry eyes and excessive tears result from allergens’ stimulation of your tear glands. Antihistamines, decongestants and NSAIDs reduce redness, controlling the symptom without addressing the cause. Ask your doctor about products containing mast cell stabilizers, which work almost the same way antihistamines work, but they provide more long-lasting relief. Exercise caution about using eye drops too often, because your eyes may become dependent on the vaso-constrictors in the drops. After protracted use of eye drops, stopping them may trigger “rebound hyperemia,” making the blood vessels in your eyes bigger than they were when allergens irritated them.

• Prescription eye-drops. Just as cortico-steroids rapidly, powerfully reduce nasal and lung congestion, so they quickly relieve eye irritation. However, steroids can cause serious side-effects; they can increase inner-eye pressure, damaging the optic nerve, contributing to glaucoma, or clouding the eyes’ lenses and producing cataracts. Discuss the risks and benefits with your physician, and consider safer alternatives before resorting to cortico-steroids.

Of course, tough talk and sage advice sound really good until your symptoms become so miserable you just want to embubble yourself somewhere dust and pollen cannot penetrate. Allergists reluctantly agree all the prevention and medication known to humankind sometimes cannot match the relief you find staying indoors where air conditioning filters and cools the air so you can breathe and see clearly.

Guest author Sara Roberts is a content contributor for Just Eyewear, an online retailer of prescription glasses and sunglasses.

Recent research has suggested that a gluten and casein-free diet can result in behavioural and physiological improvements for children with autism spectrum disorder.

The research, carried out by Penn State College of Medicine, discovered that autistic children with gastrointestinal symptoms experienced an improvement in behaviour when following a gluten and casein-free diet (casein being the protein found in milk and other such dairy products).
Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder were asked about their child’s gastrointestinal symptoms, food allergies and diet.

It was discovered that children with autism spectrum disorder who follow a gluten and casein-free diet had notably improved gastrointestinal symptoms. Other behavioural symptoms also seemed to show improvement when compared to children whose gluten and casein intake was not depleted.

The experts suggest that gluten and casein-derived peptides cause an immune response in children with ASD, with others proposing that the peptides could very well trigger gastrointestinal symptoms and behavioural problems.

Parents who only implement this diet on their child for 6 months less, however, will find that the diet is less beneficial. This will also apply to parents who only eliminate either gluten or casein from their child’s diet and not both.

It is also possible that there are other proteins, such as soy, that are problematic for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Despite these positive findings, researchers admitted that more research needed to be done. Whilst some individuals and parents of children with autism report benefits from following special diets such as these, caution should still be exercised as there has not been enough scientific research investigating the link between autism and food intolerances, with benefits ranging from individual to individual.

Parents should exercise caution when thinking about changing their autistic child’s diet, asking themselves whether the invention is for the symptoms or actually providing their child with a better quality of life.

Casein-free foods consist of the milk protein casein being removed from dairy products, whilst gluten-free foods contain no wheat, barley, rye, oats or other such food products made from grains.
In children with gastrointestinal problems, ‘casomorphines’ can reduce the desire for social ineractions, block pain messages and encourage confusion. Milk proteins can be a key source of these casomoprhines, The idea is that by eliminating them, autism spectrum disorder may improve as a result.

Written by Dane Cross on behalf of Autism Care UK.

Do you know the differences between essential oils and fragrance oils? Many people don’t and not knowing the difference can be a huge reason why many people think they are allergic to essential oils or why people don’t want to try them. It always surprises me when I am doing a boutique or fair and people think I am selling perfume. Yes essential oils smell good, but I am not selling perfume and if you are reading this blog then you have probably already figured that out. In fact most fragrance oils increase my allergies as they do with many people.

That said, here are some of the main differences between essential oils vs fragrance oils.

1. Fragrance oils may have a small quantity of essential oils in them but they are not made exclusively of essential oils.

2. Fragrance oils have synthetics and additional chemicals added to them. This makes them missing in the natural properties that essential oils have.

3. Essential oils when extracted properly and when of a high therapeutic grade are pure, natural and organic.

4. Essential oils can be used for a variety of health and wellness uses whereas fragrance oils are used only for the smell.

5. Essential oils can help you manage and control allergies, whereas fragrance oils can make your allergies worse.

6. Essential oils that are certified pure can be used internally whereas you would never drink fragrance oils.

7. Fragrance oils usually cost less whereas essential oils usually cost more.

8. Essential oils are extracted directly from the plants, flowers, and trees whereas fragrance oils are not.

9. Fragrance oils often have alcohol added to them whereas essential oils should be alcohol free.

Learn more about essential oils and how they can impact your health and well being.

Allergies to pets and specifically cats or dogs can be a big problem. Too often you may not realize that you are allergic until your cat or dog is already living with you and then it is generally too late. Since, who wants to get rid of a cat or dog that you love? In general here are some ideas on how to solve allergies to pets problems.

1. Never ever sleep with your cat or dog in your bedroom. Even without allergies, this is just a good idea.

2. If you know that have allergies before you get a dog, avoid getting a dog that sheds a lot of hair.

3. Keep your other allergies under control and you will have fewer allergies to pets.

4. Keep your dog or cat outside for most of the time and only indoors when necessary.

5. Keep your cat or dog well groomed. This includes regular baths.

Watch this video for even more tips.

Treating allergies can easily cause you to go crazy, broke or both since there is seemingly no one way to treat allergies once and for all and it can be complicated and get expensive.

Add to that the fact that most general doctors have no idea how to really help you treat allergies. Usually they will tell you to take claritin, zrytec, allegra or one of any of the other common over the counter allergy medications. While that might seem like a good idea. The long term usage of these or even the short term usage in some cases can cause unpleasant side effects and in many cases may still not really treat your allergies. I’ve been there, done that with treating allergies with over the counter medicines and I got to the point that I had had it with over the counter meds and even prescription drugs. None of them worked like I wanted them to and I had ever side effect possible.

So how do you treat allergies without going crazy or broke?

1. Identify exactly what you are allergic to. This can be difficult to do on your own, so I recommend seeing a holistic doctor you can do an evaluation for you.

2. Find ways to avoid eating the foods you are allergic to even if it’s hard. Gluten free has become much more popular and therefore easier to live by in recent years and so have other special diets.

3. Get serious about using essential oils. I’ve been using them for three years, and I had I know how powerful and helpful they are, I would have used them a lot sooner.

4. Get rid of your chemical based cleaners and starting using healthier and greener cleaners which includes cleaners made from essential oils.

5. Be committed once and for all to treating your allergies and to doing what it takes to be allergy free.

6. Avoid playing around and trying too many things at once. Pick one thing to help you treat your allergies and stick with it long enough to see results.

Menu planning when you have allergies can be a real pain. However if you don’t do it, then you are more likely to give in and eat foods you are allergic too and end up sick. So here are some tips for allergy free menu planning.

1. Plan your meals one week head. This can be hard to do but once you get in the habit of setting aside the time to do it, you can make it happen.

2. Prepare take and go allergy free foods or buy some allergy free foods that are, so that you are prepared to eat on the go.

3. Buy allergy free products in bulk. This makes it so that you always have some on hand, plus they are less expensive that way. This is especially true with things such as quinoa, rice flour and coconut milk.

4. Find new recipes to try online and in cookbooks and then once a week include a few new recipes with your allergy free menu planning.

5. Cook as much in advance as possible and store portions for meals in your fridge and cupboard. This makes it easier to have food ready to go and planning is easier when you are see how much you have of some items already cooked.

1. They inhibit the growth of viruses and bacteria.

2. They reduce fevers. Peppermint especially is good for this.

3. They can help you to effectively manage allergies.

4. They help with asthma.

5. They fight colds and flu viruses.

6. They make great cleaners without chemicals.

7. They help you sleep.

8. They heal burns and bites. Lavender and melaleuca are especially good for this.

9. They can stop itching.

10. They can uplift your mood.

11. They give you energy.

12. They increase your focus and attention.

13. Relieve pain.

14. Heal a sore throat.

15. Clean laundry.

16. Cleanse your live and your entire body.

17. Relieve heart burn.

18. Heal earaches.

19. Help with PMS.

20. Make you smell good.

Learn more about essential oils with my free essential oils e-course.

Are you sick and tired of using asthma inhalors and not getting the results you want? or maybe you just want to be healthier all around. I have been there, done that, and I no longer use asthma inhalors and I am very healthy and my asthma is completely under control. While you can’t cure asthma at this point, there are lots of things you can do without an inhalor that can help you manage and control your asthma.

1. Don’t drink milk. Depending upon how severe your asthma is, you may need to avoid drinking milk forever or you may be able to avoid it only on bad air days or when you are having problems.

2. Eat gluten free or at least wheat free. I personally have increases in asthma when I eat wheat and I know that this happens a lot with other people too.

3. Use essential oils. My favorites are peppermint and eucalyptus.

4. Put a few drops of cheyenne pepper in a glass of juice and drink it.

5. Avoid eating corn. Just like the milk, you may be able to still eat it when you are not having asthma problems.

6. Use natural green cleaners. You can get these from several sources or you can make your own for pennies with essential oils. Watch a video that shows you how here.

7. Go swimming. This is a great low impact exercise that can help you get exercise when you cannot run or do anything high impact. Yoga can also be great.

8. Find a good chiropractor and go at least every 2 weeks. This can be amazing for asthma. My chiropractor said that he decided he wanted to be a chiropractor when he was 14, because his mom had really bad asthma and chiropractic helped her a lot. It has helped me a lot too and I love going.

9. Get some acupuncture. This can do wonders for asthma.

Dairy free deserts can be easy to make if you only know how to make them. Here are ideas for five great dairy free deserts.

1. Coconut or almond milk with berries. You can use strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or any other kind of berry.

2. Frozen bananas. These are so good. It is unbelievable. They work best when you insert a popsicle stick and then freeze in a plastic baggie.

3. A milkshake with coconut milk, bananas and frozen fruit.

4. Organic chocolate.

5. Coconut with pineapple or any other kind of fruit.

What other dairy free deserts have you tried?