Friends! I have something I would like to share with you in the hopes that it might help someone suffering from a similar problem. This isn’t fitness related, but it does have to do with your health. If you have allergies, this might make a difference in your life as it did in mine.
Note: I originally posted this blog in 2012, and it’s by far my most-viewed post. I figured I owed it to readers to do an update.
I’ve had terrible allergies my whole life. With the exception of food, I was allergic to just about everything you can be allergic to: ALL furry animals, dust, pollen, grass, etc. The animal allergies pretty much disappeared after I adopted 4 cats though. I don’t necessarily recommend that you do that yourself, but the exposure did wonders for my pet allergies.
The day before it rains I would even get sinus pressure and pain and lots of congestion. How’s that for a weather forecast? The bottom line is that I have extremely sensitive sinuses.
I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that my nose was a leaky faucet with no fix. I’m not exaggerating when I say I would have sneezing fits ALL DAY, at home and at work. Regular allergy medicine helped a little, but not much. And Allegra D or Claritin D always made me feel cracked out. Besides, I didn’t want to have to rely on pills to feel normal.
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I needed a better solution. One that didn’t involve getting shots for the next 5 years either. (When I was 20 I did get allergy shots for about a year, but stopped because it was difficult to go every week. Plus I had to wait in the office for 30 minutes to see if I had a reaction.)
After Googling, I found a site of personal testimonies singing praises for apple cider vinegar. I’m somewhat familiar with it as it’s touted as a “fat-loss enhancement” in the fitness world. (That’s a myth, btw. I’ve used it for years and it never influenced my weight.) I decided to give it a shot for the sake of my allergies and the result was awesome.
I swear, by the second day my allergies and sinus problems were GONE. Like, completely disappeared. I have never, ever had such an abrupt change in my health like that.
If you’re going to use ACV, make sure you get the raw, unfiltered kind with “the mother” floating in it. I use Bragg raw apple cider vinegar and would HIGHLY recommend it. I mixed 2 teaspoons with 8 ounces of water. (You can add baking soda if the acidity upsets your stomach. I didn’t have that issue though.)
So, about that update: I’ve been drinking diluted ACV for, oh, about SIX YEARS now. As I mentioned above, at first it completely eliminated my allergies. That was UNHEARD of for me. Before taking ACV, I was in a perpetual state of allergy-induced hell. My weather-related sinus problems stopped as well.
Eventually I did start to get bouts of allergies again, but they where nowhere near as bad as they used to be. I haven’t experimented with increasing my ACV dose to twice a day, which might help when I’m having allergies. These days I don’t bother with measuring it out anymore. I just pour it freely into a glass of water once in the morning. But despite still occasionally getting sniffly, I still stand by ACV as a great natural remedy for allergies.
I have no idea what is in ACV that made it work for me, and I can’t make any guarantees that it’ll be the same kind of miracle tonic for anyone else. But speaking from my own experience, it has cleared up my allergies better than anything else I’ve ever tried.
If anyone else out there suffers from allergies, give ACV a try and let me know if it works for you!
Want more tips on how to treat your allergies naturally? Click the button to download a FREE all-natural allergy remedy guide.
guess I’ll have to try this. I can’t stand how bad my nose has been for the past month. I’ve always had allergy issues (not quite as bad as yours) but this is getting ridiculous and I’m on enough meds that i refuse to take more. I’ll let you know how it works out. Thanks for the advice.
first day… oh god the taste 0_0 hehe
Good luck! I really hope it works for you. If you want to take some of the bite out of it you can add a little sugar. I actually kind of like it with lemon and sugar.
This is so apropos as I am in my third week of being sidelined by allergies! (Which have now mysteriously turned into a sinus infection!) I’m going to try this today, because seriously, I am so over coughing and sneezing and blowing my nose all the time. I just want to feel normal again, and if drinking diluted apple cider vinegar will help I’LL DO IT.
Try it out and let me know if it works. Make sure you get the raw unfiltered kind. It needs to have this floaty stuff in it called “the mother” to work. Good luck!
Thanks again for this – I am so going to give this a shot when i get my hands on the acv! I used to used ACV in my hair for a while – another place it is strangely capable (it gave me curls!).
I’ll consider the bit of lemon/sweetener in it as well, if it tastes like poop :/
So, did it work for anyone else? I’m trying it today, but nobody ever posted if it worked after they tried it.
Hi Amber, it’s been a few months since I’ve posted this and the apple cider vinegar is still working for me. On days that my allergies or sinuses are particularly bad I drink 2 glasses of water with ACV. My friend Melissa who commented here told me she noticed an improvement. I hope it works out for you!
Well it has been two days now. I have severe allergies. My eyes water non-stop. I sneeze or am congested all of the time. I have these terrible bags and dark circles under my eyes, and redness from rubbing them all of the time. It worked beautifully for me yesterday. In the evening my allergies started back up, but I waited until this morning to do another dose. Well it worked just as well today. So I’m drinking a dose right now. I use local honey (also good for allergy prevention) a little lemon, and water. I heat it up to melt the honey. It is actually rather tasty. Thank you for posting this. I feel like this could be a miracle cure for me. If it works for a week, I’m calling all of my friends and family with allergies. I’ll be sure to add a link to your site as well from Facebook. Thanks again!
Who’s Mom are you allergic to?
I started taking ACV today but for blood sugar issues. I will say that Im hopeful that it will also help my sinuses I cant sleep at night its been about 3 weeks since my sinuses started acting up but I go through this every spring I got to tell you it is miserable so thanks for the tip
Shots might seem like an unusual way to treat allergies, but they’re effective at decreasing sensitivity to triggers. The substances in the shots are chosen according to the allergens identified from a person’s medical history and by the allergist during the initial testing. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees the standards used in preparing the materials for allergy shots given in the United States.
I’ve actually taken allergy shots before, but I just couldn’t keep up with the frequency. Also, five years is a long time to complete the treatment.
I have been allergy free for 10 days now with Apple Cider Vinegar! I have never had anything work so well. No side effects except for being a little nauseous after I take the ACV. I probably take to much, but it clears me up right a way. I was even able to skip a day with no adverse effects. I have had seasonal allergies all my life. Shots, prescriptions medicine, local honey, etc. were all ineffective. Actifed helped much. Not as good as Apple Cider Vinegar. It works for me!
Guys acv really works been taking it for a week and no pollen allergies when I see everyone else with runny noses and itching eyes. I tell them try acv and they just laugh with there runny noses and itchy eyes.
I was curious if i should take this twice or once a day nd also the dosage that seems to be working two teaspoons with 8 onuces od water? TIA
Hello, you can start with twice a day and once your symptoms calm down you can reduce to once a day. Two teaspoons to one tablespoon per 8 oz water is the dosage I see most often recommended. Two tsps works for me.
I am an extreme case. Never had allergies until 2.5 years ago. Haven’t tasted food or been able to smell for 2.5 years. 1.5 years of shots so far. I just took my first dose and am feeling a little hopeful. After thousands of dollars in testing, shots, and prescriptions, this is my last hope.
I will post my results in a week.
Hi … Recently one of my friend gifted me a bottle of ACV for wgt lose but i was worried to take this because i am allergic with almost evry thing and always running nose itchy eyes bla bla …. Uufffff and tired of this ..after reading this article i am happy to know abt the add on benifits of ACV for allergies.. I really want to be normal as i am tottly depressed.
Hope this will work
I have a question what time is good to take this and emty stomach or after normal tea brkfast…
You can take it at any time, and in the beginning I’d recommend taking it 2-3x a day. You might want to take it after eating, as it could upset your stomach if it’s empty.
It totally worked for me! and your story sounds exactly 100% like mine! i struggled my entire life and i immediately felt better after drinking it 3 times a day. Now i only drink it twice and it is still working. I still sneeze once in a while but no where near as bad as before!
That’s awesome! I haven’t been drinking ACV lately and I can totally tell the difference 🙁 Need to get back on it!
Thank you for sharing about ACV,
It’s been more than 10 years I am goin through severe sinus problems, I started today ACV, hoping for the best.
Thanks
ACV is amazing! I use the Braggs with warm water and honey. I don’t even use local honey but I do use organic from the store. I have severe allergies and like everyone else spent countless dollars on medicine. I have been taking ACV for about 3 months now and I actually started taking it for other reasons and then suddenly realized I hadn’t had any allergy symptoms. Literally no sneezing no constant runny nose, watery eyes….nothing….zero. The best thing is no medicine, I always hated how that made me feel. I don’t know whats in it or why it works for me but I start every day with the 2 ounces of ACV some honey any warm water. For me its a miracle.
I have had nose allergy for 25 years now. Every morning I sneeze and have a runny nose for hours. I cannot smell anything and have been so for years.
I am now taking 2 tsp, 2 to 3 times a day with water and have noticed the allergy symptoms have improved by about 20%.
My question is, should I increase the frequency of my dosage?
Hope to post some good news here in future.
Hi Tim! I’m not an expert, but that dosage should be fine. Give it time!
I wish I had seen this article before spending hundreds of dollars on Alegra D and the like.
I started today , hope it works.
Good luck! Hope it works for you too 🙂
I was also suffering from servere rhinitis which is caused by sinus and allergy as per some doctors.Sitting in AC was a dream. My nose was blocked all the time and morning sneezing was very common.By going through some websites i also tried ACV with lemon and honey for about 2 months and it did the magic.infact looks like it improves our immunity which is needed mainly to overcome sinus and allergey.Try it daily for some days and once your issues are under control you can reduce the intake slowly.
Glad it worked out for you!
How long does it take to work if I take it twice a day. I suffer from awful allergies year around. Sore throat, dry cough…I started last night. I’m having surgery Friday so I’m hoping it can help in 2 days along with my Zyrtec, Flonase, singular, and albuterol inhaled.
Everyone reacts differently, but in my personal experience I started noticing a difference in a few days. It’s been years and I still drink my ACV every morning 🙂
Is it normal for ACV to actually cause your nose to start running? I just started taking some last night for the first time, and my nose has been running all day! (No problems with this the day before.)
I’ve never heard of this happening before, Tiyana. It might be unrelated to the ACV. I would say give it a few more days and see how you feel. If your nose continues running then you should probably discontinue use of the ACV.