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Does Eating Local Honey Really Help Allergies

Is There Evidence To Support The Honey For Hay Fever Theory

Local Honey Might Be Sweet Solution To Seasonal Allergies

Although there’s no definitive scientific studies to support the belief that unfiltered local honey can help you build a resistance to pollen allergens, we have heard plenty of anecdotal evidence supporting the theory, including lots of happy customers.

Most sources quote a 2002 study by the University of Connecticut which failed to prove conclusively that honey could help hay fever sufferers. The study compared the effects on hay fever suffers of local unfiltered honey, processed honey produced on a large scale and a syrupy placebo.

Another argument used to disprove the theory that honey is an effective remedy for hay fever, is that that honey bees will only have collected certain types of pollen the pollen they find on flowering plants, whether cultivated flowers, weeds or tree blossom.

Honey bees don’t generally collect pollen from grasses, for example, and it’s this lightweight pollen floating around in the air that often sets off many people’s allergies.

Can Honey Cause Allergies

Honey is widely consumed all over the world, especially in Portugal, but until now very few cases of honey allergy has been reported. Honey is known as a potential allergenic food and can cause reactions ranging from mild symptoms such as cough to severe as anaphylaxis.

Is honey anti-inflammatory?

In addition to its use as a natural sweetener, honey is used as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial agent. People commonly use honey orally to treat coughs and topically to treat burns and promote wound healing.

Who should not eat honey?

Keep in mind that raw honey should never be given to children under one year of age due to the risk of infant botulism, a serious disease caused by toxins from a specific strain of bacteria called Clostridium botulinum.

What are the side effect of honey?

Safety and side effects

  • Wheezing and other asthmatic symptoms.
  • Irregular heart rhythms

What Does The Research Show About Honey & Allergies

A 20-year old study examined the effect of ingesting honey on symptoms of rhinoconjunctivitis .

For the study, 36 participants who suffered from eye and nose allergies were scratch-tested for common allergens. The participants were then randomly assigned to one of three groups:

  • One received locally-collected, unpasteurized, unfiltered honey.
  • One received nationally-collected, filtered, pasteurized honey.
  • One received corn syrup with honey flavoring.

Each participant consumed one tablespoon of the substance per day and followed their usual routine for managing their allergy symptoms. They also maintained a diary tracking 10 different allergy symptoms, noting when their allergies were most severe.

The researchers found neither honey group experienced significantly more relief from their symptoms than the placebo group. They conclude that their study does not confirm the widely-held belief that honey relieves allergy symptoms.

But just because honey from Charleston Farmers Market cant treat your allergies doesnt mean you cant enjoy it. It just means that you should consult an allergist to help manage your symptoms.

For more information or to schedule an appointment with an allergy expert, call Charleston ENT & Allergy today.

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Explore The Facts About Eating Local Honey To Help With Allergies

Springs new growth and beautiful flowers brighten the world after long months of colder, wetter weather. But with that flourishing flora comes something elsepollen and seasonal allergies.

For many people, they can feel the moment the world around them shifts from winter into spring. Their eyes become watery and itchy. Their nose runs or stuffs up. Sneezing becomes just as common as laughing. When these symptoms pop up, its time to reach for the allergy medication so you can get through the day in one piece. But have you ever been told to reach for local honey for seasonal allergies instead?

Honey, particularly products harvested locally, is often suggested as a natural way to help you deal with allergies when spring comes around.

But does honey actually help with seasonal allergies? To answer that question and separate myth from fact, lets look at how allergies work, how honey is made, and where the two might intersect.

Can You Tell Us About The American Lung Associations Mission

Local Honey Used For Allergies

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. Our work is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer champion clean air for all improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families and create a tobacco-free future. Whether its searching for cures to lung diseases, keeping kids off tobacco, or advocating for laws that protect the air we breathe, the work of the American Lung Association helps to save lives every day.

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The Evidence Against Raw Local Honey

Sadly, its highly unlikely that eating raw local honey will cure your seasonal allergies. There is very little scientific evidence to suggest any sort of healing effect. Of the studies that do exist, the sample sizes are too small to generalize to the U.S. population, and the results are conflicting at best.2

The honey cure is supported primarily by anecdotal evidence. While anecdotes can be helpful, they are also subjective and frequently riddled with errors and disproportionality overrepresent positive outcomes. For example, if a persons allergy symptoms stop after two months of eating honey, they may assume the honey cured their allergies. However, it is also possible and much more likely that trees in their area stopped releasing pollen because of seasonal changes.

What The Research Shows

Theres no definitive answer on whether eating local honey will actually help lessen fall allergy symptoms. A few studies have been done on the topic, but theyve mostly been small in sampling size and have finished with mixed results, according to Healthline. One study showed that people who ate large amounts of local honey did get some relief from their allergy symptoms. But another study that pitted local, raw honey against pasteurized honey showed no difference for allergy sufferers.

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Fight For Healthy Air

At AprilAire, we believe everyone deserves to Breathe the Fullness of Life, and were not the only ones that feel this way. Through our Proud Partnership with the American Lung Association, we aim to fill every home with Healthy Air. Both AprilAire and the Lung Association believe that breathing Healthy Air should be available to everyone, and maintaining healthy Indoor Air Quality is an important step for your lung health. Read more about our partnership and the efforts of the American Lung Association on their website.

*Disclaimer: The American Lung Association does not endorse any product, device, or service.

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We take the importance of caring for others to heart at . We believe we have a purpose beyond the individual work we do and that being a successful company also means Being a Good Neighbor. Its one of our core values, and something we put into action each year.

We remain committed to helping our local communities in a number of ways, including financial contributions and volunteering. In the past, weve raised funds to provide pack-n-plays to mothers in need, volunteered at local blood drives, and held various donation drives throughout the year.

While our partnership opportunities may look different in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, were excited to continue our work with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, whose mission statement reads:

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How Often Can You Use Local Honey For Allergies

The truth about local honey and allergies

If you dont have a problem then you can generally use ½-1 tsp of pollen daily for a month before your typical allergies surface and continuing on through your allergy season. The big drawback here is that raw, local honey only works on pollen allergies.

How to know if you have a honey allergy?

Symptoms from a honey allergy may resemble common pollen allergy symptoms, such as: 1 runny nose. 2 sneezing. 3 swelling. 4 watery eyes. 5 itchy throat. 6

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Does Eating Local Honey Really Help With Allergies

There is no scientific proof that eating local honey will improve seasonal allergies. One study, published in 2002 in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, showed no difference among allergy sufferers who ate local honey, commercially processed honey, or a honey-flavored placebo.

How much local honey should I eat for allergies?

*Start by taking ¼ teaspoon of the local, seasonal, wildflower honey orally once daily. Increase the amount of honey by ¼ teaspoon every 2 days, working up to 1 tablespoon of honey per 50 lbs of the persons weight. For example, a person weighing 100 lbs should work up to 2 tablespoons of honey daily.

So Is Eating Local Honey For Allergies A Myth

Dr. Bassett confirms that, yes, “this is a common myth, and unfortunately, honey does not improve seasonal allergies.”

“There is very little scientific evidence to suggest that eating local honey can treat or cure seasonal allergy symptoms,” Dr. Marks-Cogan says. “While there is anecdotal evidence that it can help, of the available clinical studies, the results are conflicting and the sample sizes are very small so it’s hard to generalize them to the U.S. population.”

The primary study cited as evidence that this home remedy works was conducted in Malaysia in 2010. There were only 40 participantshalf of whom took loratadine and honey, while the other half took loratadine and a honey-flavored corn syrup placebo. After four weeks, both groups experienced the same level of relief from their seasonal allergy symptoms. Then after eight weeks, the group ingesting honey showed more improvement. But at that stage, they were taking very high daily doses of honeynot to mention allergy medication as wellso the results are not exactly conclusive.

Dr. Bassett also points out that other studies have compared people who ate local honey, commercially processed honey, or a honey-flavored placebo, and found no differences in allergy symptoms among them.

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What Are The Benefits Of Breathing Healthy Air And What Are Everyday Things That People Can Do To Breathe The Fullness Of Life

Clean air is essential for healthy lungs. The American Lung Association works to ensure that the air we breathe is clean and safe from harmful pollution. In fact, every year we publish our State of the Air Report, which looks at two of the most widespread and dangerous air pollutants, ozone and fine particulate matter. Our 2021 State of the Air Report found that more than 4 in 10 Americansover 135 million peopleare living in places with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution.

One of the most important things you can do to Breathe the Fullness of Life is to keep sources of pollution out of your home. Check out these commonsense tips on Lung.org. Additionally, ventilation helps reduce indoor air pollution, but it works best if paired with keeping known sources of air pollution out of the building. For tips on how to use ventilation to protect your lung health, check out our section on Ventilation: How Buildings Breathe.

Whats The Idea Behind Eating Local Honey For Allergy Relief

Local Honey For Seasonal Allergies

Essentially, the hypothesis of eating local honey as a way to relieve seasonal allergies is similar in theory to immunotherapy, which typically takes the forms of pharmaceutical allergy shots or drops. The idea is that by using small amounts of allergen and presenting these to the body, over time, the body will get used to them. Thus, the body wont cause a reaction when the person is exposed to them, explains Katie Marks-Cogan, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, a board-certified physician specializing in allergies, asthma, and sinus disease and the chief allergist at Ready, Set, Food!.

However, in reality, there are key differences between allergen immunotherapy and eating local honey. With immunotherapy, youre given small amounts of what we know youre allergic to, with honey, youre getting random types of pollen from flowers and plants that you may or may not be allergic to, says Tania Elliott, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, a physician dual-board-certified in internal medicine and allergy.

While local honey may contain pollen from the immediate environment, Dr. Marks-Cogan says that its not the kind of pollen that allergists are referring to when discussing seasonal allergies, which is pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds, and is wind-driven, she says. Pollen that bees come in contact with when hunting for nectar is flower pollen.

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Are There Any Risks

Let’s say you genuinely believe that ingesting local honey improves your allergy symptoms. You may think there’s no harm in continuing to eat it therapeutically, anywaybut that’s not necessarily the case, Dr. Marks-Cogan says, particularly if the honey is raw.

“Raw local honey is not filtered and processed the same way as the honey in stores. So it could contain flower pollen, bee venom, bacteria, or other contaminants,” she says. “A person could potentially have anaphylaxis if the raw honey they ate contained any bee venom that they are allergic to.”

It’s also important to remember that honey is primarily made up of sugars and water, and even if you’re taking it therapeutically, it’s high in sugar and counts toward your daily sugar intake.

How Did Aprilaire And The American Lung Association Come To Work Together In The First Place What Does That Relationship Look Like Presently

Since 2020, AprilAire has been a Proud Partner of the Lung Association with its 4 residential air filters. Additionally, AprilAire joined the Lung Association as our FY20 National Fight For Air Climb Partner For Healthy Air. The company has also supported the Lung Associations Stand Up For Clean Air campaign. As part of this initiative, we are driving conversations around air quality, climate, and health. The Lung Association invited people to share their #MyCleanAirStoryknowing that when people realize climate and air quality are impacting the health of their neighbors, friends, and loved onesthey are more willing to act. AprilAire provided prizes for the #MyCleanAirStory contest, including one grand prize of a whole-home Indoor Air Quality upgrade and nine AprilAire Room Air Purifiers. This year, the company stepped up once again to sponsor the Wisconsin Fight For Air Climb in Milwaukee. Also in 2021, the Lung Association welcomed Dale Philippi, President and CEO of Research Products Corporation, AprilAires parent company, to the Lung Associations Wisconsin Leadership Board of Directors.

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Using Immune Memory To Your Allergy Advantage

When your immune system comes across pollen again, your immune cells recognize the pollen from all the pictures it took and posted up the last time they encountered one another. That memory allows your immune system to respond faster and better every time it encounters the familiar threat, because it learned how to best deal with it last time.

This system works great for threats like viruses or bacteria. These threats dont usually happen every day, so the immune system doesnt become desensitized to seeing the same problem repeatedly.

But imagine if the same problem kept happening every day. Most likely, the immune cells would stop responding as aggressively. Eventually, they might even learn to just live with it like a busted ceiling tile in the break room or a tiny leak in the roof whenever it rains.

When this conditioning is done intentionally, its called immunotherapy. These techniques can be used to help train your body to grow comfortable with having particles like pollen around, so your immune system learns to live with its presence and ignore it.

This is how allergy shots work. By giving you a concentrated dose of particle pieces that youre allergic to every few weeks or months, you can train your immune system to desensitize itself to the presence of that allergy-causing substance.

Tree Pollen And Local Dorset Honey

Is eating local honey the cure for allergies? Find out here

We do know that honey bees forage some of the worst allergy-causing pollens, however. These include: willow, oil seed rape and lime trees.

Pollen from Tilia x europea – Lime / Linden tree – image courtesy of Science and Plants for Schools

Here in the UK lime trees are due to blossom in June / July and cause yet more misery for many hay fever sufferers. So it’s worth pointing out that our current batch of Dorset Honey is mainly from bees foraging on lime tree blossom. It’s pure, natural unprocessed honey and we currently have plenty in stock!

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Honey & Allergies: In Essence

Raw honey is a source of nutrients with anti-inflammatory and humectant properties, which may help reduce the symptoms of seasonal allergies. It has antibacterial, anti-fungal, and antiviral effects, which can serve as an extra layer of protection against illnesses when allergies tax the immune system.

When using honey for allergies, look for raw honeycomb thats been tested for purity and responsible production practices. Consider enjoying 1-3 pieces of honeycomb per day in tea or as a sweet snack during the allergy season to support your immune system.

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Can Local Honey Really Help With Seasonal Allergies

Seasonal allergy sufferers know that relief from streaming eyes, itchy throats, and stuffy noses can be elusive. One of the more widely touted home remedies is eating local honey or bee pollen to help prevent symptoms. The theory is that by exposing yourself to pollen produced by nearby plantsâpresumably the same ones triggering allergic responsesâyou can train your immune system to not react.

If you’re plagued by pollen, you might be tempted to stock up on local honeyâbut don’t head to the farmer’s market just yet. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, allergists donât believe local honey has a medicinal effect on allergies.

There are a few reasons why honey, delicious as it is, isn’t an allergy cure-all. For one, most people with seasonal allergies are responding to pollen from trees, grasses, and weedsâplants that bees rarely pollinate.

Whatâs more, pollen of any variety isnât present in honey in large quantities. Bees make honey from nectar, not pollen any pollen that ends up in honey is there accidentally, and according to the National Honey Board, it’s only present in trace amounts that won’t have a noticeable effect on your immune system.

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