Friend, this one I’ll file under “ramblings” because I am not a medical doctor, nor is this medical advice. This is just me rambling. But when I shared this information on social media, I got a lot of responses that didn’t know this and were going to try the elimination diet I shared. Maybe it will help you too if you also suffer from ragweed or hay fever allergy.
Ragweed allergy or “hay fever” has been my nemesis for most of my adult life. Many people suffer from it and though I cannot tell why it affects so many people, I can tell you that this summer I learned what to do to stop having to take antihistamine medicine to combat ragweed allergy symptoms.
Disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER LOUD AND PROUD: I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. Please see my full disclosure statement.
This is 100% my personal experience. Please seek your own counsel or medical professional’s advice.
Ragweed symptoms
After years of purchasing antihistamines like Zyrtec, Claratin, and Benadryl; I probably should have bought stock in them. From about late June until December every year, I need to take an antihistamine at night in order to sleep.
My symptoms include but are not limited to: sneezing, runny nose, itchy throat and ears, and post-nasal drip. All of which would wake me most nights even after taking the allergy medication just before bedtime.
Food and Gut connection
After a battle this summer with stomach issues resulting in weird food sensitivities showing up in my blood work, I wanted to know why.
Of course I wanted to know why! I’ve never had a food allergy in all my life and now at 40 years old, here I am with three. What causes that to happen? Root cause, please. None was given by my wonderful provider so what did I do? My own research. (And I’ll always encourage you to do your own as well as pray over it too!)
By happenstance, my blood work also showed a significant reaction to ragweed. My symptoms alone could tell anyone THAT. Not able to locate anything (yet) concrete on why I’ve developed food sensitivities later in life, I looked into the ragweed allergy.
Now, a caveat: I’ve never been to an allergist. Just to my primary care provider who helped to identify my stomach discomfort and after eliminating those foods, I’ve not had an issue. So with that in mind, what I share next may be common knowledge to those who see an allergist.
But for those, like me, who just have “seasonal allergies” and take over-the-counter allergy medications instead of seeing a professional for help, this is for you.
Oral Allergy Syndrome and Ragweed Allergy
Oral allergy syndrome basically is when the immune system thinks a food protein is a pollen protein your body already doesn’t like.
For instance, I learned that the pollen protein in ragweed is so closely related to the fruit pollen proteins of sunflower seeds, cucumbers, melons, zucchini, echinacea, and chamomile that if I eat those foods, I will 100% have an oral allergy response with the itchy throat and ears.
Eliminating those foods as been helpful in completely stopping the nightly antihistamine medicine.
Sad day for a gardener who can’t eat her own food!
Unfortunately for me, a gardener who grows and eats many of those foods listed, I’ve had to tweak my diet a lot which has taken some getting used to since this is all new to me.
It can be disheartening to someone who has spent the last 6 years paying attention to food labels for my food allergy son and asking questions of ingredients and learning lots of new information.
New information that has sent me down the path of REAL, WHOLE foods.
Now many of those whole foods I’m not able to tolerate without repercussions. Like, bro, I’m TRYING to eliminate ultra-processed, empty calorie, GMO-ed foods and now you’re telling me the foods I grow myself are making my body attack itself! Fun times.
Interestingly enough:
Pickles don’t seem to bother me.
Cucumbers I’ve grown and pickled through fermentation or a brine don’t seem to bother me the way a regular, plain fresh cucumber does. So that’s interesting and may warrant some additional research and experimentation.
What to do if you suffer from ragweed allergy
In summary, if you are a ragweed allergy sufferer who has never been told this information, check your diet.
See if that will help you get off antihistamine medication for your ragweed or hay fever allergy.
Check with your medical care provider and/or allergist. He or she may or may not suggest an elimination diet to relieve your allergy symptoms but if you’re looking to get off of a daily antihistamine, this could be a good place to start.
With love and big hugs,
Katie, author of the blog Johnson Home NC
FUN FACT:
When I googled an image for ragweed, the first photo I was given was of GOLDENROD! Similar in appearance, absolutely not the same plant.
In fact, it has been found that goldenrod is the antidote to ragweed. They grow right beside one another (or rather, ragweed grows behind goldenrod) and look similar. Ragweed is shorter than goldenrod.
Some people harvest and dry goldenrod to make goldenrod honey for teas or add it to a loose leaf tea to sip on to help with their allergies. I have not done this yet.
As always when foraging, please be sure double or triple identify your plants with more than one source before using in any way!
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