Bee Pollen for Allergies
Are you thinking of using bee pollen for allergies? Well, join the ever expanding club! One of the reason's why bee pollen is such a major part of my life and more specifically, my husband's life, is because of allergies. He has suffered from them his whole life. Come June each year, life has been 'difficult' to say the least. Since we got married, I've had him taking bee pollen daily as a remedy to try and rid himself of the burden of hay fever. Taking bee pollen for allergies combined with some nutritional modifications allowed him to see dramatic results in just 3 months. Luckily, he was open to taking natural therapies. He has tried many, many different therapies and herbs with limited results. I have seen dramatic results first hand with him as well as with my sister and mothers allergies, not to mention the countless customers over the years in our honey shop. If you suffer from any type of seasonal allergy, you should really consider using bee pollen to help you immune system rid itself of the symptoms on its own. You just may be able to handle seasonal allergies with regular use of bee pollen.
What Are Allergies?Allergies are a result of our physiological and biochemical interaction with the world around us and within us with the foods, chemicals, natural substances in our immediate environment that we ingest, inhale, or physically contact and with various internal microbes and body tissues.Our immune system determines what is needed and what is foreign. It reacts by making antibodies or releasing certain chemicals, such as histamines. This comes in handy when we really have a true foreign substance entering the body such as infectious organisms, chemicals and other foreign substances and we need to attack and defend. Pollens, molds, animal hairs, dust and foods all contain protein antigens that stimulate an antibody response or sometimes a hyper-response. Histamine and other chemicals are released into the system, causing an inflammatory reaction. This is called an antigen-antibody response. This reaction could affect the tissues, organs, the skin, mucous membranes, the lungs and gastrointestinal tract.
Bee Pollen for Allergies: A StudyConsider the following data as reported in the Journal of Allergy: 73 % of patients with hay fever averaged a 75% improvement in their symptoms when given Bee Pollen orally 78% of asthma patients averaged a 75% improvement after taking Bee Pollen 17.8% of hay fever sufferers and 33.3% of asthmatics experienced a complete improvement on oral Bee Pollen supplements the earlier Bee Pollen supplementation was begun prior to allergy season, the greater the rate of its success
Hayfever SymptomsTo view a comprehensive list of allergy symptoms and other hidden allergy symptoms that just might surprise you, click here.Things That Burden the Immune SystemRemember, an allergic reaction is a confused immune system. The more you 'burden' it, the more likely you are to experience symptoms. Try to avoid some of the following: (avoiding gluten and sugar worked miracles for Mark) Sugar (watch your labels as its in everything these days) Stress Being constipated or having less than one bowel movement per day Dehydration (consuming less than 8 cups of water per day) Dairy Gluten (found in wheat, oats, spelt and many grains) Alcohol Chemicals (cleaning products and personal care products are the worst culprits) Pollution Cigarette Smoke
Foods Commonly Linked with Allergy Symptoms Milk Wheat Nuts Chocolate Colas Sulfites
Using Bee Pollen for Allergies: My Recommendations 2 - 3 months before summer (the earlier the better), gradually introduce bee pollen into your diet. Take 1 - 2 tablespoons per day after you have slowly introduced it into your diet.If you find you are sensitive to bee pollen, read my article on how to properly desensitize yourself. Remember to start slow. And be aware that symptoms could worsen temporarily. Try removing wheat and gluten from your diet for 4 weeks and then introduce it one time a week after thereafter. Remove any dairy products from your diet for 4 weeks and then introduce back into the diet one time a week thereafter Take more Vitamin C and Quercetin (Mark takes 3000 mg per day during allergy season) Take 1 2 tablespoons of raw, local honey each day. Click here to read a great article on using local honey for allergies. Control your stress levels (exercise, sleep, mediation, yoga, breathing, say NO) There is a great product out there called Anti Stress that Mark uses) Change your fabric softener, laundry detergent, household cleaners, cosmetics to natural, green non-allergenic brands. Chemical overload stresses the liver and weakens the immune system. Remember to change your furnace filter every 3 months Avoid sugar and food with added sugar (Use Raw Honey instead) Avoid sulfites and sulfates Rotate foods and diversify the diet Try converting to organic foods Increase fiber intake to 20g per day minimum Drink more filtered water Get an allergy test from a Naturopathic Doctor to see what foods upset your immune system. (the items on the list may surprise you!) We had this done for Mark - the results were unbelievable.
Using Bee Pollen for Allergies: How it WorksWhat is difficult for many doctors and others to comprehend is the concept of eating substances to which they know they are allergic.For example, why would I eat bee pollen if I'm allergic to pollens? The concept is this: When you put a small amount of the seemingly harmful irritant (bee pollen from local flower pollens) into your body, your immune system builds defenses or immunities against the foreign substance. This will make the immune system ready to handle any of that substance in larger quantities the next time it is in contact with it. So there is no hyper-reaction. It is a similar concept to using a vaccine. Bee pollen goes quickly into the blood stream in small doses, just enough to kick your immune system into gear. The outcome? Using bee pollen for allergy relief has been life changing for my husband. He can now enjoy the outdoors in June and he feels empowered knowing that he conquered his allergies!
|
