Sniffles and Sneezes?

It's that time of year! The cars parked around campus have a light yellow dusting all over them; they're covered in pollen, and it's getting in our noses too. My seasonal allergies tend to hit me more in the fall, but hay-fever is making people miserable right now. 

My friend David is a particularly severe case. He's completely lost his voice this week because of his allergies! Since I have a history of prescribing tea for just about every ailment under the sun, David came to me and asked for some tea to make his throat feel better. 

Now, just about any hot tea is going to have a soothing effect on a scratchy throat. But we want to get to the root of the problem, don't we? So I made him rooibos.

Rooibos tea (I pronounce it "roy-bows") is an herbal tea - i.e. made from a plant other than Camelia sinensis - that is made from a bush that grows in South Africa. It's got a distinctly red color, earning it the commonly used (and more easily pronounced) title, "red tea."

Source

Rooibos tea lays claim to a long list of health benefits, from fighting acne to curing colic in children. But it also contains two important bioflavonoids, called Rutin and Quercetin. These bioflavonoids block histamine, which is the cause of inflamatory allergy symptoms like itchy eyes, stuffy nose, coughing, etc. Just drink rooibos tea regularly and you may even be able to ditch the allergy drugs - this wonder-tea is a safe and natural way to keep those sniffles at bay. 

More good news: rooibos tea is caffeine-free, and does not have the iron-blocking effects of other teas. So you can drink as much as you want! Hydrating, allergy-fighting, and refreshing. Not to mention the antioxidants and other health benefits. So don't just sit there! Follow your itchy red nose to the grocery store or a nearby tea shop and pick up some red tea!

I have one more suggestion to combat your seasonal allergies: try adding some locally-sourced honey to your rooibos tea! Local honey is said to help assimilate the body to local allergens, since it contains trace amounts of pollen from the plants in your area. Definitely worth a try, in my opinion! Head to your local farmers' market or get online and do some hunting to find yourself a local apiary (that's fancy-talk for bee farm). And then enjoy! Honey goes great with red tea.

For this post, I got some of my information from Teavana's page on rooibos. They have some scrumptious rooibos blends for sale, so be sure to follow the link and check them out!