Last updated on July 21st, 2022 at 01:15 pm

We are pleased to welcome Renee Lea-Currie, PhD, mother of two, as our guest blogger today. Look for a second post from Renee later this week.

We all look forward to the end of winter and to the warmth and beauty of springtime. Spring symbolizes a renewal of outdoor activities. But for me and my family, the advent of spring is a catch-22 situation. I look forward to the warmer weather and longer days but dread the return of my enemy: seasonal allergies, especially hay fever. Our symptoms include itchy, watery eyes, runny noses, sneezing, headaches, sinus pressure, and scratchy, itchy throats that leave us too defeated to enjoy life.

I used to spend hundreds (yes, hundreds) of dollars every month between February and September on prescription and non-prescription allergy medicines for me and my kids, and we never experienced complete relief. We toggled between various brands of allergy medicines to find one that offered some measure of relief with the fewest side effects. Finally in 2009, I found some less expensive, side effect-free weapons to add to my seasonal allergy war arsenal – homeopathic allergy medicines by Boiron.

The best part about these medicines is they meet my Yummy/Affordable/Available/Healthy (YAAH, pronounced like “Yeah!”) criteria. And being a research scientist, I of course checked out the products based on the scientific data available. I was satisfied not only with the experimental design and data presentation of the studies, but also with the quality control testing and excellent reputation of Boiron. Boiron’s Sinusalia and Sabadil medicines dissolve under your tongue so no water is needed, and the dissolving pellets make it fun for kids to take and stress-free for parents to administer. Both medicines are widely available in local health food and natural product stores, as well as pharmacies and grocery stores, which works out well for my family—we live in a small town without ready access to natural food stores. So this spring, I’ve rallied all the natural weapons at my disposal to win the war in my mucous membranes.

Check back on Friday for six natural tips from my family to yours on fighting seasonal allergies.

About Our Guest Blogger: Renee Lea-Currie is a married mother of 2 (ages 5 and 9) with a Ph.D. in Nutrition. She is currently the Director of Cell Biology/Safety Officer for Zen-Bio, Inc, the Health Ministries Leader for Philadelphia Seventh Day Adventist Church in  Burlington, N.C., and a founding member of the Healthy Alamance Faith Based  Initiative Task Force. This group of volunteers works with local churches to help them develop and maintain an effective health ministry with a focus on diabetes prevention. Renee (aka The Healthy Snack Lady and Natural Coupon/Freebie Queen) is passionate about sharing ways to make transitioning to a healthy lifestyle fun, tasty and affordable (YAAH) with coupons, deal alerts and real world health tips in the blog www.thetakebacktour.com.