Using Local Honey for Allergies

Bee Pollen & Honey Mixture Helps Control Allergy Symptoms

This latest study assessed the effects of the pre-seasonal use of honey mixed with birch pollen compared to just regular honey on symptoms and medication during pollen season.

Forty-four patients with physician-diagnosed birch pollen allergy consumed either Honey and pollen together or just honey alone daily in incremental amounts from November 2008 to March 2009. Seventeen patients on their usual allergy medication served as the control group. From April to May, patients recorded daily symptoms and their use of medication. A total of fifty patients completed the study.

During birch pollen season in 2009, patients consuming the Honey/Pollen mix reported a 60% lower total symptom score, twice as many days without symptoms and 70% fewer days with severe symptoms. Furthermore, they used 50% less antihistamines compared to the control group. The differences between the Honey/Pollen group and the Honey group were not significant. However, the Honey/Pollen patients used less antihistamines than did the Honey patients.

The researches went on to conclude that the patients who used the Honey/Pollen mix leading up to pollen season had significantly better control of their symptoms than did those on conventional medication only.

The full study can be read in International Archives of Allergy and Immunology, December 2010.

What I recommend to the many of you who suffer from seasonal allergies is to begin consuming a raw honey as many months before your allergy season as possible. The more the better. And now that we have this study, we know that what many of us suspected all along (that taking bee pollen along with the raw honey) works even better. I recommend consuming at least one tablespoon per day. Unfortunately, the amount of honey that the subjects in this study consumed daily was not stated.

The researches also failed to say what type of honey was used in the study. It has been my experience that using a raw honey that has not been heated or pasteurized and only lightly filtered works much better than a conventional honey that you'd see on a grocery store shelf.

Tips on how to buy real raw honey

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