8 Natural Ways to Beat Allergies

People have often asked me about natural remedies for allergies so I decided to post about them here. I was once tested and found out that I was allergic to everything from mold to shrimp! If you have allergies, your immune system, the body’s defense against bacteria and viruses is on overdrive. It reacts to substances by secreting a chemical called histamine, which causes symptoms including sneezing, nasal congestion, runny nose, itchy, watery eyes, and even, asthma as your body tries to get rid of the allergens. These natural remedies can help you breathe easy:

1. Quercetin, a bioflavanoid, found in many fruits and vegetables, especially in the skin of red apples, red grapes and red onions, and green tea helps to blocks the release of histamine.

2. Stinging Nettles is a natural antihistamine and one of the best natural remedies for allergic rhinitis. Bromelain, which comes from the enzymes in pineapple stems can also be helpful. It’s an anti-inflammatory, which cuts down on the amount of mucous. It also helps your body absorb quercetin better. Both support the immune system.” All of these nutrients are available as supplements.

3. Fish Oil contains omega-3 essential fatty acids, specifically EPA and DHA which helps to reduce inflammation and can help protect you from the misery of hay fever, sinus infections and asthma. A good brand is Nordic Natural Arctic Cod Liver Oil.

4. Zinc is another good immune booster. It stabilizes the cell wall. If you’re able to stabilize your immune system, you’re less likely to react to allergens. You can find zinc in lozenges and supplements.

5. Acupuncture is a popular form of alternative allergy treatment. It moves chi which helps balance the body’s energy. Just make sure you use a licensed practitioner.

6. Homeopathy stimulates the body’s natural reaction to cure itself. The Boiron Allergy Care Kit is a good place to start. One of the ingredients, Histaminum will block most of the histamines that are circulating. Another, Apis prevents the swelling of the mucous membranes of the nose and Gallphimia works well for hay fever. There are no side effects and it doesn’t interfere with other medications. It’s safe for kids too.

7. Use a Neti Lota Pot from the practice of yoga to clear your head. Nasal washing removes allergens from your nose. A side effect of antihistamines is that they thicken up your mucous. Nasal washing can help with this too and relieve pressure, headache, dark circles under the eyes, post nasal drip, cough and bad breath. A nasal wash thins the mucous and keeps everything flowing so it doesn’t stagnate and cause a sinus infection on top of your allergies. You can buy a ready mixed solution that contain salt (sodium chloride), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) without preservatives are best. Or make your own by adding a 1/4 teaspoon of non-iodized salt or sea salt, and a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to a cup of warm water. Make sure you use distilled water and a sanitized pot. Use it once or twice a day.

8. Fill the air with the wonderful smells of essential oils such as pine, cedar and eucalyptus by using an aromatic diffuser. This will help open up sinus passages. Diffusers can even be set on timers. You can also try a steam inhalation of essential oil of Lemon Balm. Just boil some water, put 5 to 10 drops of the essential oil into the water, carefully lean over a hot bowl of it with a towel over your head and inhale.

You’ll find plenty of natural remedies like these and a cozy mystery too when you read my new book Death Drops: A Natural Remedies Mystery. Here's what it's about:

Dr. Willow McQuade, N.D., a twenty-eight-year-old naturopathic doctor specializing in natural remedies, has decided to take sabbatical and visit her Aunt Claire, the owner of Nature’s Way Market and Cafe in idyllic Greenport, Long Island. But the idea of rest and relaxation is quickly forgotten when Willow arrives from a morning meditative walk to discover her Aunt Claire dead in the store, a strange almond-like smell emanating from her mouth and a bottle of flower essences by her side.

Despite her Zen nature and penchant for yoga, Aunt Claire had a knack for getting into confrontations with folks. An activist, she held weekly meetings for different causes every week in the store. The police want to believe the death is accidental—but Willow thinks she may have been poisoned.

Things get worse when Aunt Claire’s valuable recipe for a new natural age-defying formula, Fresh Face, is stolen during a store break-in, and an attempt is made on Willow’s life. Desperate for a way out of the mess, she turns to a handsome young cop Jackson Spade. Together the two set about solving the case the natural way—through a combination of hard work, common sense, and a dose of luck.

For more information please viisit www.chrystlefiedler.com.

GREAT MOMENTS IN WRITING

Last week I expressed a desire for snow. Someone, apparently, was listening, because we got over seven inches of the cold, wet stuff on Friday and Saturday. But I was right about my ragweed allergies; they have almost entirely vanished, thanks to the snowfall.

I’m coming down the home stretch and I can see the finish line right ahead – Go, Threadbare! I feels great to watch the end of a novel approach, almost as good as actually finishing it. There are, actually, a lot of great moments in writing. First, there’s getting the idea. It’s like picking up a pretty stone, one that, the more you look at it, the better it looks. Then there’s writing that opening scene. You write it and leave it alone for a day or two. When you come back and see it’s good, that’s another great moment. Then there’s the actual writing. There’s no great moment here, but there can be a whole lot of excitement and/or satisfaction. Watching a character come to life, showing some unexpected traits and sometimes taking the story in a new direction is interesting and exciting – although it can be not so good, if it really upsets the direction of the story as you plotted it. I won’t say you fall in love with the characters, but it’s kind of like that. You care about them, wish them well, think about them even when you’re not writing about them. If you’re writing a mystery, there may come a moment or two when you’re working on a plot twist, that you think about your reader, and how they’ll never see this one coming! Then there comes the moment when you realize that story is actually going to happen, that it’s a coherent, interesting, even exciting story and you are writing it very well. That’s a great moment. And then it’s done. The End. The great heaping, smoking pile of words is complete. You almost wish you smoked cigars, so you could sit back and look like a proud father. Instead you cook something special for dinner that night – or maybe even go out to dine, have a glass of wine, and smile, smile, smile. Of course, you let it sit for a week or longer, then go back in to read it and find it needs tweaking. But I’m not the only author who will tell you that tweaking is probably the most fun part of writing a novel. The story is there, all you’re doing is making it perfect.

I got an advance copy of Buttons and Bones the other day, and had another Great Moment: seeing the book as it will look in the bookstores and, if you’re prayers are answered, on people’s bookshelves. In this day of electronic writing, it may be the first time you’ve seen the book in print. There it is, your name, your title, your words. If you’re lucky, it’s got a great cover. (Buttons and Bones has a great cover. Look for it in your favorite bookstore December 7.)

Now all you have to do is, do it again.

VARIOUS

I went to Excelsior on Sunday to see the movie, “Secretariat.” Excelsior is the home town of my amateur sleuth, Betsy Devonshire, but it’s also a real town, about eighteen minutes from my home in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. I like to go out there every so often to remind myself of the little details about the town that I could use in the books. It’s nice not having to make up the setting for my sleuth.

“Secretariat” is a great movie. Some of the reviewers thought it too corny, too sentimental, and, since it was about the famous racehorse who was the most recent winner of the Triple Crown (the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont), the climatic race scene wasn’t very dramatic. I beg to differ. The movie-makers did a great job of showing the four races depicted, capturing the excitement and beauty of thousand-pound animals running with all their hearts; and watching Secretariat just blow the competition away in the third of the Triple Crown races was great! I had forgotten what a blow-out it was: not only smashing the track record, he won by something like thirty-eight lengths, all by itself a record. Plus it was a pleasure to watch a heroine succeed beyond all expectations without turning to violence or sex. A sweet, feel-good movie. We all need to see one of those every once in awhile.

I now own a Kindle. I’m still learning how to use it, but I find it wonderful for travel. It fits in my purse and I can bring practically any number of books along on my trips. Right now I’m buying Agatha Christie novels, because it gives me an extra fillip of pleasure to read something so old on something so new. Do you own one? Do you like it? Do you think it rings the death knell for small, independent bookstores?

I have managed to meet both of my writing heroes: Donald E. Westlake and Terry Pratchett. Both proved gracious and witty, a super combination. I did once meet an author who was rude and obnoxious. I have not bought another of his books since. And no, I won’t mention his name. I have, however, pledged that I will try always to be patient and kind to any fan – or prospective fan - I encounter. I would also, some day, like to write just one something even half as good as their work.

My fall allergies are still running strong. Ordinarily by now, this far into November in Minneapolis, we’ve had a couple of killing frosts, if not an inch or two of snow, and the ragweed is gone till next year. I love lingering autumns, but my nose doesn’t.

Random Acts of Research

You know how they say when you’re thinking about something, things that relate to it seem to keep showing up? I’m deeply involved with writing the fourth book in the crochet series for now titled Murder and the Marshmallow Stitch and yesterday along with this morning I kept running into things in the book.

We met my son’s girlfriend’s parents for the first time yesterday over Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. Just after we sat down, the father started talking about his possible allergy to shrimp and since he hadn’t brought an epi pen with, he was going to forgo eating any.

Epi pen, allergy? Wow two important words in my current book. My immediate reaction was to start asking questions about the single shot devices that are used in extreme allergic reactions. I know they contain something like adrenalin and are used to treat anaphylactic shock, but there is more I don’t know. I’m sure the father would know, too. Not only does he possibly have allergies, he is also a retired plastic surgeon. But I stopped myself before I asked a single question. It was Thanksgiving and we’d just met. I didn’t even know if they knew I write murder mysteries. How odd would it have been if out of nowhere I started asking questions about ways to kill people?

After dinner, my husband, son and I went to the movies. As we were watching I felt my eyes open wider as I took in the details on the screen. The action in the story was affected by heavy fog. Wow, sort of like in my book. In the movie it was San Francisco which is almost where it is in my story. Mine takes place near Monterey Bay. I studied what the thick fog shrouding the Golden Gate Bridge looked like and was glad that someone else thought a crippling fog was believable.

And then the capper. This morning when I got up and looked out the window, it was foggy here. Not the thick crippling fog of my book, but foggy enough to see what it tasted like and how it softened the details of the redwood trees in the back of the yard.

A few asides. Although I laughed a number of times, I didn’t care much for the movie we saw - Four Christmases. I thought the tone was uneven, but mostly I just didn’t like the main characters. But on a more positive note, my son is sure his girlfriend’s father would love to talk about the death stuff with me. Yay, another source.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who keeps running into things that relate to what they’re working on. What about the rest of you?