When you deal with itchy eyes, a runny nose, a sore throat, and other irritating symptoms that can keep you from feeling your best every day for weeks, springtime can feel incredibly taxing on your immune system. Although some great drugstore remedies are available to help manage your allergy season woes, we're leaning toward teas for allergies to help tamp down symptoms and prevent them from happening.
But how does tea help with allergies? Many teas have powerful anti-inflammatory properties due to their high antioxidant content. Research demonstrates that these anti-inflammatory antioxidants increase pro-antioxidant pathways and reduce inflammatory activity.
This makes tea a potent component of an anti-inflammatory diet, regardless of whether you have allergies or another illness. In addition, many herbal and mushroom teas are also brimming with vitamin C, quercetin, zinc, and antioxidants called flavonoids to combat those bothersome symptoms.
Teas that make a bomb remedy for annoying allergies are green tea, butterbur tea, and Reishi mushroom tea. Other like ginger, stinging nettle, rosemary, turmeric, peppermint, and rooibos tea can also help relieve symptoms.
What tea is good for allergies? Let's take a closer look below!
10 Best Tea For Allergies
Your body's immune system reacts to pollen, grass, and other common environmental allergens by producing allergies. As a result, inflammatory signals are sent, triggering allergy symptoms episodes. Some teas contain herbs that may help your immune system and fight inflammation, which could lessen some allergy symptoms.
If you have allergies, a few herbal teas, in particular, can be beautiful additions to your daily self-care routine. Here are the top 10 teas good for allergies:
1. Butterbur Tea
Petasites hybridus, also known as butterbur, is a plant that grows in marshy areas. It is one of the best tea for allergies, particularly seasonal. According to a study, butterbur(1) can prevent allergic reactions in rats.
Butterbur tea was found to be equally effective as the antihistamine fexofenadine (also known as Allegra) in research(2) that examined herbal treatments for allergic rhinitis in Turkey. In a human study(3), participants who took butterbur tablets for a week reported fewer allergy symptoms.
The main advantage of butterbur extract over most conventional allergy medications is that it won't put you to sleep.
Before stocking up on butterbur tea bags for allergy season, remember that some experts believe butterbur may be toxic to the liver in large doses. So consult your doctor or a herbalist.
2. Green Tea
Camellia sinensis, also known as Benifuuki tea, is a cultivated form of Japanese green tea. It has significant concentrations of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)and methylated catechins, both of which have anti-allergic properties.
According to a study, Benifuki green tea is beneficial for easing the symptoms of cedar pollen allergies. Participants in a double-blind clinical trial(4)who were allergic to Japanese cedar pollinosis drank Benifuuki green tea; by the trial's eleventh week, when cedar pollen season was at its worst, researchers noticed fewer symptoms in the participants.
3. Reishi Tea
Reishi is another excellent tea for allergies. Medicinal mushrooms like Reishi(5) may balance the immune system, in contrast to many herbs that can exacerbate the symptoms of allergies by stimulating an already overactive immune system.
Reishi extract, which studies suggest has a natural antihistamine effect, helps prevent the release of histamine and calms the immune system. This may provide significant relief for allergy sufferers.
The mushroom, rich in antioxidants and has few to no side effects, is worth trying to calm spring or fall allergies.
4. Ginger Tea
Ginger tea is frequently recommended as a safe, all-natural anti-nausea treatment, but it may also help your itchy nose. In addition, you might be surprised to learn that ginger is one of the most extensively researched natural anti-inflammatory treatments.
Allergy sufferers are all too aware that inflammation is the primary cause of many painful symptoms, such as congestion and itchy eyes.
According to studies, ginger may lessen inflammatory substances(6) in your blood, which may help with allergies. In addition, according to a study, you can make tea out of natural ingredients like ginger to relieve the symptoms of allergies and sinusitis.
5. Stinging Nettle Tea
Urtica dioica, also known as the stinging nettle, is utilized in herbal and conventional folk medicine, as it has antihistamines. In addition, studies on stinging nettle(7) have shown that it's anti-inflammatory and histamine receptor-blocking properties make it a promising treatment for hay fever and seasonal allergy symptoms.
Additionally, it might lessen the inflammation(8) brought on by seasonal allergies. According to studies, stinging nettle may have anti-inflammatory properties by blocking the hormones that cause inflammation inside the body.
6. Rosemary Tea
Another tea that helps with allergies is rosemary tea. Salvia rosmarinus, or rosemary, is used in many respiratory disorders and has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The use of rosemary in treating and preventing allergies and asthma(9) is supported by research.
7. Turmeric Tea
It is well known that turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties. Additionally, it functions as a natural antihistamine, which delays the onset of allergy season symptoms. To reap the advantages, drink turmeric herbal tea regularly.
Its main component, curcumin(10), has a wealth of immune-boosting antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties.
Taking advantage of turmeric's anti-inflammatory properties through tea may help lessen the itching and swelling brought on by allergic rhinitis.
8. Rooibos Tea
"Red tea," or rooibos herbal tea, has several organic elements (bioflavonoids like quercetin and rutin, for example) that prevent histamines from being released. The star of the rooibos tea show is quercetin(11), which can stop the release of histamines and alleviate allergic rhinitis.
Regular rooibos tea consumption aids in the metabolism of allergens and reduces symptoms, including skin irritations. In addition, according to some studies(12), it may temporarily raise your antioxidant levels.
9. Peppermint Tea
Since peppermint tea is cooling, sore throats frequently benefit from its use. However, some studies on peppermint oil suggest that peppermint may also be beneficial for stuffy noses.
The herb has decongestant properties(13) and reduces the release of histamine and other anti-inflammatory enzymes.
10. Yerba Mate
According to some experts, yerba mate contains compounds that instruct your body to produce corticosteroids. If this is accurate, this could help to reduce allergy symptoms like runny nose and watery eyes.
Yerba mate contains saponins(14), which may have some naturally occurring anti-inflammatory properties to help lessen congestion and other uncomfortable allergy symptoms.
When you're not feeling well due to severe allergies, yerba mate's antioxidant and caffeine content can help improve your focus and energy.
FAQs About Teas For Allergies
What Herb Is A Natural Antihistamine?
Some of the best antihistamine herbs are butterbur, stinging nettle leaf, ginger, Reishi, and rosemary. They block histamine, which is a trigger for allergies and inflammation.
Can Tea Cause Allergies?
Some teas can worsen allergies, so always check the ingredient lists on herbal tea blends that might contain plant parts other than the leaves. For instance, avoid drinking dandelion, chamomile, echinacea, or wormwood tea if you are allergic to Asteraceae family daisies. Likewise, avoid hibiscus tea from the Malvaceae plant family if hollyhocks cause allergy symptoms.
How Often Can I Drink Tea For Allergy Relief?
You can enjoy three to four cups of single nettle tea daily to prevent allergies. Likewise, enjoy one to two cups of ginger tea, three to five cups of green tea, or one to three cups of rosemary tea daily.
Key Takeaways
Certain herbs and teas contain antihistamines that may help you reduce symptoms of allergies, apart from over-the-counter or prescription medication. Teas for allergies such as green tea, butterbur tea, Reishi mushroom, ginger, stinging nettle, rosemary, turmeric, rooibos, peppermint tea, and Yerba mate provide natural allergy relief.
So, teas aren't just for a soothing self-care session. They can also help your itchy eyes and runny nose. Consider incorporating these teas into your daily routine to help combat allergies.
References
- Anti type I allergic property of Japanese butterbur extract and its mast cell degranulation inhibitory ingredients, (1)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16608208/
- Complementary Therapies in Allergic Rhinitis, (2)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3845706/
- Differential inhibition of inflammatory effector functions by petasin, isopetasin and neopetasin in human eosinophils, (3)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11529903/
- Human clinical studies of tea polyphenols in allergy or life style-related diseases, (4)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23448449/
- Anti-allergic constituents in the culture medium of Ganoderma lucidum. (I). Inhibitory effect of oleic acid on histamine release, (5)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2455975/
- Dietary polyphenols affect MUC5AC expression and ciliary movement in respiratory cells and nasal mucosa, (6)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20338103/
- Nettle extract (Urtica dioica) affects key receptors and enzymes associated with allergic rhinitis, (7)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19140159/
- Phytalgic, a food supplement, vs placebo in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee or hip: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, (8)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20015358/
- Rosmarinic Acid as a Novel Agent in the Treatment of Allergies and Asthma, (9)https://restorativemedicine.org/journal/rosmarinic-acid-as-a-novel-agent-in-the-treatment-of-allergies-and-asthma/
- Curcumin and tumor immune-editing: resurrecting the immune system, (10)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4603973/
- Quercetin inhibits transcriptional up-regulation of histamine H1 receptor via suppressing protein kinase C-δ/extracellular signal-regulated kinase/poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 signaling pathway in HeLa cells, (11)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23333628/
- Unfermented and fermented rooibos teas (Aspalathus linearis) increase plasma total antioxidant capacity in healthy humans, (12)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814610005923
- The effects of menthol isomers on nasal sensation of airflow, (13)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3370851/
- Saponins in yerba mate tea ( Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil) and quercetin synergistically inhibit iNOS and COX-2 in lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophages through NFkappaB pathways, (14)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19807157/
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