‘Tis the Season for “Achoo!” News You Can Use

For allergy sufferers, something always seems to be blowin’ in the wind to make us sniffle, sneeze, and itch. Airborne pollens pounce in the spring, grasses make us gasp in the summer, and ragweed starts rearin’ its ugly head in early fall, triggering hay fever symptoms in millions of Americans.

The easiest way to deal with hay fever is to avoid as many triggers as possible in the first place. Here’s your best ammo against allergies:

1.   Don’t leave home without a facemask—at least not during ragweed season—to protect your airways from allergy overload.

2.   Keep the windows of your car and house closed and stay in air-conditioned places whenever possible.

3.   Be especially cautious during early morning hours—ragweed pollen counts are at their highest between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.

4.   Wear sunglasses when you’re spending time outside to keep irritants out of your eyes.

5.   Avoid air pollution like cigarette smoke, gas fumes, and fertilizers—they’ll only make your symptoms worse.

6.   Never hang your clothes outside to dry because they could collect ragweed pollen.

7.   Wash your hair every night to keep from contaminating your pillowcase with the stuff.

8.   Change your sheets at least once a week.

9.   Munch on blackberries. They’re a great source of quercitin, which halts the production of histamine. That’s the substance that makes allergy sufferers sneeze, wheeze, and generally feel miserable. Isn’t it wonderful that blackberries ripen just as the hay fever season begins?

Swirl quercitin-rich blackberries into this Black-and-Blueberry Chiller:

Mix 1 cup of blackberries, 1 6-ounce carton of blueberry yogurt, 1 tablespoon of wheat germ, ½ cup of orange juice, and a handful of ice cubes together in a blender, and whirl until smooth. Pour the frosty treat into a chilled glass, sip, and enjoy!