Discover a natural way to deal with hayfever so that you can enjoy summer and the outdoors once again.

Disclaimer:
Due to the nature of this post, I have to start it with a disclaimer. It’s unlikely that the ingredients I’m recommending here will cause you any harm unless you’re allergic or intolerant to fresh apples or ginger. But you never know – hence this disclaimer. First off, I’m not a doctor or a health practitioner. The contents in this post are my opinion only and are purely observational from my own experience. I cannot guarantee that this will 100% work for you. And I will not be held responsible for any negative effects you may have from using this recipe or following any advice or recommendation contained herein. If you have a medical condition, it is recommended that you seek professional medical advice and follow the recommendations from your doctor or health practitioner.
That being said, let’s get on with the post!
I hate hayfever
The constant runny nose, itchy eyes, snivelling, and sneezing are enough to make you want to stay in bed all summer!
It’s funny because I never had hayfever growing up. In fact, I only started getting it around 5 years ago. I always thought hayfever was something you either had or you didn’t. I never knew it was something you could GET. Little did I know!
In the beginning, I refused to take hayfever tablets because I didn’t like the thought of being drugged up all day. But my hayfever was so terrible that it was impossible to do simple things. Like, have a conversation without constantly sneezing, snivelling, and feeling like I was dying! So I gave in and took tablets. And they definitely worked. But I still wanted a more natural remedy.
I came across this remedy completely by accident
I was doing a juice cleanse one summer, which is something I do about every 4-6 months or so. And for this particular cleanse, I was following a 14-day juicing diet by Jason Vale (or the Juice Master as he’s also known). This particular diet had a range of fruit and vegetable juices that I had to freshly juice each day. Two weeks of drinking only juices. No food. Only juice. It’s not for the faint of heart!

And each day started off with a shot of either fresh ginger and apple or cucumber and celery first thing in the morning.
At the end of my cleanse I noticed that my eyes and nose weren’t itchy even when I didn’t take a hayfever tablet. In fact, I had forgotten to take my hayfever tablets because I had forgotten I even HAD hayfever!
That’s when it dawned on me.
There must have been something in the cleanse that helped clear away my hayfever!
After going through all the juices I had been making during my cleanse, I realised that I had been taking the Ginger Shot or Celery Shot in the morning. For the rest of the cleanse I was drinking a various mix of fruit and veg.
So I did a test. I kept drinking the Ginger Shot each day and resumed my normal diet of regular everyday meals. Just to doubly make sure if it was the Ginger Shot that was the X-factor.
The result? No hayfever.
Why it worked on my hayfever
Having looked into why this was so effective, I discovered that fresh ginger is highly anti-inflammatory. That’s why it reduced my hayfever symptoms and had me feeling completely normal. The apple is essentially there to make drinking the juice palpable and take the edge off that ginger kick. I’m not sure if I know many people who could drink fresh ginger juice neat! It’s pretty much like drinking fire! 🔥
That was the first summer in a long time where I enjoyed being outdoors, in nature and having fun without needing to take hayfever tablets every day. Or walking around with a pocket full of crumbly tissues!
So I’ve been using this remedy every year since.
My hayfever remedy
This is so simple to make, but it does require that you have a juicer (not a blender).
I use a masticating juicer which helps to retain more of the nutrients in fruit and vegetables because it uses a slower action to break down the fibres. This is the juicer I use – it’s not expensive or fancy, but it does the job.

Ingredients
- 1 apple (cored and sliced)
- 1 inch of ginger (peeled)
- A slow or masticating juicer
Method
Put the apple and ginger through your juicer and drink the juice immediately.
Notes on using this recipe
The effects of the juice take several days to start working. As I mentioned above, I only noticed the change in my hayfever after I had been juicing for a couple weeks. So don’t expect this to rid you of your hayfever on Day 1. Give it time to work through your body. It has to “ramp up” in order to work effectively. I’ve found that I can start to get the benefits after a week or so.
Another point to note is that I continued to drink this juice most mornings during the Spring and Summer just to make sure I received the benefits of the ginger’s anti-inflammatory effects for the whole hayfever season. This isn’t a “take once and be cured” recipe.
FAQ’s
Will it stop working the day I stop drinking this?
Not if you’ve been drinking it daily for a while. I’ve found that after I’ve done my “ramp up” and I’ve been drinking the juice for a couple of weeks, I can miss a day or two and I will still be ‘hayfever-resilient’ so to speak. So after my “ramp-up” period, I’ll drink this around 4-5 days out of the week and I’m generally fine. If my local pollen count is very high, then I’ll tend to drink this every morning.
What if I don’t like ginger?
If you don’t like ginger, then this isn’t for you. I haven’t found a better alternative to fresh ginger that works as well. If you find one, send me an email and let me know what it is. I love to test out other variations.
Can I use powdered/ground ginger?
No. The nutrients in fresh ginger are the reason this works so well.
Can I use a blender?
Because fresh ginger is a root, it’s very fibrous. And this means that it can’t easily be juiced using a blender. Also, the fast action of many high-speed blenders will reduce the nutrients extracted from the ginger. If you don’t have a slow, masticating juicer, see if you can buy one or borrow one from a friend or neighbour. This is the juicer I use – it’s not fancy or very expensive, but it works!
Can I make this in bulk?
Yes and no. The potency of the fresh juice diminishes over time due to oxidation. It’s possible to keep freshly pressed juice in a tightly sealed vacuum flask for 24 hours in the fridge. Longer than this and you’ll be losing quality. However, I’m not aware of any tiny vacuum flasks small enough to save 1 or 2 servings of this juice (as it’s about the size of a shot glass). And because of that, you’ll be sealing in a lot of air which is the cause of the oxidation. Therefore, I would recommend creating this juice just before drinking it for the best result.
Is this suitable for kids?
I’m not sure whether there is a minimum age for this juice. I wouldn’t give it to a baby or toddler as it’s quite strong. If your child can have raw ginger and apples, then they might be able to drink this. However, not many children (or teens) like the fiery kick of raw ginger, so you may need to add an extra apple to make it drinkable. And therefore, it may take a while longer for the effects of the ginger to get to work. I would take caution if planning on giving this to a child. And I would definitely not give it to a child (or adult) who has an intolerance to ginger, apple, or other raw fruits and roots. (Please see my Disclaimer at the start of this article).
If you have any other questions that I haven’t addressed here, let me know in the comments.


Hi Elisa, This sounds great howeve I get an itchy throat when I eat fresh apples can I substitute with another fruit instead
Hi, if apples irritate you, then you could try substituting them for another fruit that you like. I haven’t tried it with other fruits, so I can’t say how it will affect the end result. Let me know how it goes!