Summer comes with lots of pros and cons, but one thing we’ve been experiencing a little too much lately is nosebleeds!

The combination of allergies, dehydration, and warm, dry air (at least here in Utah) make the perfect combination for a nosebleed to happen. While sometimes they can be indicative of more serious health conditions, most of the time they are just obnoxious! Especially when it’s a 3 year old who doesn’t like to hold anything up to his nose!

With all these nosebleeds, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something I could do for my kids. A humidifier is definitely helpful, but as we all know, our diets play a big part in how our bodies respond to different circumstances! I was curious- are there any foods that actually help your nose to stop bleeding?

Well first off, did you know that the technical medical term for nosebleeds is epistaxis? So if you learn nothing else from this article, now you can sound super intelligent when talking with your children while telling them that they are suffering from the condition known as epistaxis. Or maybe that will just freak them out ;). But either way, a fun new word to practice with!

Anyway, there are actually foods you can eat to help you combat nosebleeds!

Nosebleeds, or epistaxis, occurs when blood vessels burst. So naturally, we can prevent nosebleeds by strengthening our blood vessels! Vitamin C is important to our diet for many reasons, but in this case it’s helping us by creating collagen, which helps to create a moist lining in our nose. So oranges and red peppers are great to add to your diet! Zinc is also important for our body in helping to maintain healthy, strong blood vessels, so eating whole-grain foods like wheat bread, brown rice, and even popcorn is a great way to help!

We also want to help our blood clot properly. Vitamin K is essential for this, and the best way to get it is through dark, leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and broccoli.

Apple cider vinegar is a miracle for so many things, and epistaxis is no exception! Dab a cotton ball in a little apple cider vinegar and gently apply inside the affected nostril for 5-10 minutes to help seal up the blood vessel wall.

If the idea of sticking apple cider vinegar up your nose is a little too overwhelming, try a few basil leaves instead! They have been shown to have a similar effect- and they definitely smell much nicer!

Cayenne pepper can help regulate blood flow. If you’re not too afraid of spice, mix one teaspoon of cayenne pepper with warm water and drink up! The blood flow should stop almost immediately! (I’m very intrigued by this one- I’d love to hear if you have personal experience with this!)

And while not strictly a food, water intake is critically important this time of year for many reasons, and epistaxis prevention is just another great reason to make sure you’re staying well-hydrated!

And if all else fails, food can still help even if you don’t eat it- a bag of frozen vegetables makes a great ice compress to soothe and slow the nosebleed!

So to sum up: if you’re struggling with nosebleeds, eat more oranges, whole wheat bread and spinach! And maybe a glass of warm cayenne pepper water ;).

Hopefully these tips will help you with all your epistaxis issues! (I challenge you to use that word this week!)