Sea Salt for Allergy Relief?

I have been surrounded by sneezer’s and wheezer’s all season long and I feel terrible for them!  The gorgeous flora of southern California comes at a price…pollen and plant based allergies are on the rise, and when we become run down with weakened immune systems, we can sometimes leave ourselves susceptible to allergies that we have never had, even in adulthood.

Allergies happen when our immune system releases antibodies against typically harmless substances in our environment (like pollen, dust, food).  This prompts the release of histamines, which produce all those annoying allergy symptoms. This is not only frustrating, but using over the counter drugs, is expensive, often comes with unpleasant (can you say sleepy!) side effects, and you may end up with dependence on drugs for relief.

There is a better way to deal! Two of nature’s strongest antihistamines are salt and water; can it really be as easy as using organic, unrefined sea salt and staying hydrated?  This combo is one of the most basic, efficient, and cost effective allergy remedies you will ever find!

Using organic, unrefined, mineral rich sea salts (be sure that you are only purchasing unrefined sea salt) will have the following effect on your health:

• Sea Salt is alkalizing and can help to reduce inflammation in your respiratory system
• The ratio of salt and minerals (found in sea salt, but not processed table salts) balances out the minerals in your body, helping get rid of excess mucus and reducing congestion of lungs and nasal passages
• Sea salt can boost your immune system, as it nourishes your adrenal glands (they run on sodium), helping you to prevent illness or recover quicker and stimulating cellular energy

Not all salts are created equal when it comes to allergy treatment.  Processed table salt is highly refined, missing the essential original nutrients and trace minerals.  It is both treated with chemicals and processed mechanically and these processes can even expose us to even more allergenic irritants.

Use these unrefined salt options for your allergy treatment:

• Himalayan (contains natural iodine)
• Celtic
• Hawaiian
• Redmond Sea Salt (contains natural iodine)
• Maldon

*You should still be getting iodine for thyroid functioning, this is found in some sea salts naturally, but is added to processed table salts. The sea salt method to treat allergies should not interfere with your iodine consumption (other natural sources of iodine include seaweed, salt water fish and shellfish, potatoes, strawberries, eggs, soy milk, cranberries)

When it comes to the salt and water allergy solution, here is what you need to know:

• As a simple rule of thumb, drink half of your body weight, in ounces, per day.  So, if you’re 200 pounds, you should plan on drinking 100 ounces of water per day.
• Add the organic sea salt into your water regimen. Use only 1/2 of a teaspoon of sea salt to every 80oz ounces of water (or every 10 glasses).  That is literally a pinch of sea salt.  Simply stir into your glass of water to dissolve.  If you like, you may even place the pinch on your tongue and allow it to melt.
• Doing the salt pinch on the tongue method first thing in the morning, after your lemon water, will allow your body to realize the salt intake and naturally suspend the histamine production.
• Use unrefined sea salt as complete replacer to all salts in your diet only if that unrefined sea salt also contains iodine

Sound too good to be true?  Be sure to let me know if you try the sea salt and water solution for your allergies and how it works for you…you just may notice an improvement in your health in more ways than just allergy relief!