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How Does Local Honey Help With Allergies

The Evidence Against Raw Local Honey

Does Local Honey Help with Seasonal Allergies?

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.

Could Local Honey Help You This Allergy Season

Those beautiful flowers mean that allergy season is here. And a late start to spring weather means that there’s a wider variety of allergens than usual.

Dr. Minh-Thu Le, an allergist-immunologist with Cox in Springfield said, “Usually we would be into grass season now, and we are seeing grass, but also the trees are still up, so it might be a lot worse for people because grass is here and still really high.”

But it’s not just plants that are causing a problem.

“We’ve had more rain too recently, so the mold counts have continued to be high and that’s something that if you’re allergic to mold on top of your seasonal allergies, you’re going to have a lot more problems.”

And this has several people turning to natural remedies like local honey to help.

Christina Shellhart with Half Crocked Honeys, sells local honey at area farmers markets. She makes sure that the honey and pollen from her products is within 50 miles.

“I’ve been doing this for 5 years in this area and people have raved about it. Anything I think that nature, you’re not messing with, you just can’t get better than that,” Shellhart said.

The thought behind this is that local honey contains local pollen, allowing you to slowly build up an immunity to what you’re allergic to.

This strategy is very similar to an allergy shot. But, some allergists are skeptical whether that’s enough to stop the sniffling and sneezing.

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Local Honey Does Have Unique Health Benefits

“Research suggests that the chemicals in honey may actually play a role in suppressing the genes that make us more susceptible to histamine, the chemical in our body that causes itching, sneezing, and runny nose,” says William Reisacher, MD, allergist, and director of Allergy Services at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine.

Honey has also been studied as a cough suppressant and an anti-inflammatory, so it’s not a surprise that it’s been considered for allergy relief.

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Other Types Of Allergy Immunotherapy

More studies are needed on the effects of local bee pollen and local honey on allergies.

But researchers have proven that introducing small amounts of local allergens to the body may help the immune system stop overreacting and releasing histamines.

While the efficacy of bee pollen and honey immunotherapy is still up for debate, doctors have been administering other types of immunotherapy for over 100 years.

The Real Benefits Of Honey

Can Local Honey Help Reverse Allergies

While local honey might not cure you of your seasonal allergies, it can still deliver a lot of benefits: Sore throat remedy Strong source of prebiotics and nutrients Immune booster Sweetener alternative to processed sugar

If you want to give raw honey a try, make sure you source it from a local and trusted producer. This beekeeper will be someone who doesnt use any chemicals or other treatments, has bee hives within 5 miles of where you live, does not feed or move their bees, never filters or heats their honey, and uses wooden frames and natural wax foundation. If you cant find a beekeeper that meets all those criteria, aim for as many as you can to ensure the most beneficial raw/local honey.

*As a reminder, its important to keep in mind that honey is not safe for children under 12 months, as it can lead to a serious condition called botulism.

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How To Take Honey For Allergies

There are allergies of various types and mainly caused by bacteria, virus or any foreign invader to the body. The symptoms of allergies include sneezing, watery and itchy eyes, runny nose, sore throat, coughing, headaches, trouble breathing. Here are some effective ways to use honey for allergies.

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Local Bee Pollen And Local Honey For Allergies

Can local bee pollen and honey provide allergy relief?

One of the most popular natural treatments for allergies is local bee pollen and local honey.

Thereâs some anecdotal evidence to suggest that taking these substances on a routine basis may help the body build a tolerance to local allergens found in both bee pollen and honey.

But how effective are these treatments? Do allergy sufferers actually see a reduction in symptoms? And are there other â more effective â methods that may help treat allergy symptoms at their root cause?

Read Also: Can You Take Allergy Medicine With Antibiotics

Guideline On How To Use Honey For Dogs With Allergies

How Much Honey Should You Give to Your Dog?

In general, the total amount of honey that you feed to your canine friend is dependent on the size of your dog. Usually, it is recommended that smaller dogs get one teaspoon weekly, whereas the larger dog breeds should consume a tablespoon every week.

Often, the effects of taking the local honey are cumulative as such plan to serve your dog for between three to four weeks before the beginning of the allergy season in your region.

You can usually use this guideline and go ahead to adjust as per the size of your furry friend. It is vital that you carry this out daily or risk the allergy symptoms from reappearing.

However, it is essential to understand that feeding your dog more than the recommended one tablespoon of the local honey per day can subsequently result in a negative impact on their health.

Why? This is because dogs are carnivorous and boast a digestive system and teeth purposed to consume meat and not sweets. In essence, too much honey may also lead to tooth decay, not to mention the added calories that can result in obesity.

Numerous pet owners often find reprieve from their cyclic allergy symptoms through taking regular local honey doses themselves. In the end, you may begin with, one teaspoon per week and accordingly adjust as per how severe the allergy symptoms are and your overall weight.

Tell Us About The Fight For Air Climb

Does eating local honey help prevent allergies?

The American Lung Associations Fight For Air Climb is the nations premier stair climbing challenge. At 38 events nationwide, children and adults of all ages participate in this celebratory stair-climbing adventure. Pre-pandemic, the Fight For Air Climb was held in several of our countrys most iconic skyscrapers. This year, the Lung Association invited participants outdoors for a one-of-a-kind adventure to support healthy lungs and clean air. In fact, Dale was among the companys team of more than 50 employees that climbed the stairs at Milwaukees American Family Field on May 22nd, proving he puts his feet, time, and talent behind causes he supports.

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How Do You Stop Allergies Immediately

Clean out your nose. Try an over-the-counter allergy medicine. Consider a prescription nasal spray or eye drops. Decongestants may also help relieve nasal congestion. Close your windows, and turn on the air conditioning. If things get bad, try allergy shots, also known as allergy immunotherapy.

Quality Of Honey What Type Of Honey Do You Use

When it comes to honey, the quality of the honey is an essential factor when considering how well it works. As such, it is crucial to ensure that you only purchase raw, local, unfiltered honey or raw local wildflower honey.

The latter type of honey will offer your dog the best results since it comprises a wide array of different flowers and plants. You can usually purchase this from bee farms.

The importance of selecting quality honey is because numerous studies outline that many of the supermarkets grade A honey tend to be diluted using cheap products like high fructose corn syrup not to mention being heated and subsequently cooled quickly ensuring a smoother look inside the package/container.

This basically means that this honey is practically useless in relation to benefits. As such, to ensure that your furry friend gets any benefits from your honey, it is vital that you only go for local, fresh kind of honey.

Local honey is the most effective honey to help in treating the allergies of your dog. Since it originates from local hives, the honey will contain small amounts of the local pollen that is the primary component that helps alleviate the allergies.

On purchasing the local raw honey dont get alarmed when you notice that the honey features a cloudy appearance this hazy appearance is as a result of the pollens which are still present in the natural honey.

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Where To Find And How To Use

Looking at honey consumption, 50 percent of the population directly purchases honey, 35 percent never eats honey, and the remaining 15 percent consumes honey in products made with honey, like honey-roasted peanuts. Raw honey might be available at your nearest grocery store, but it should be available at your local health food store or, even better, your local beekeeper. Its also available online.

Expect raw honey to be opaque rather than that sparkling, clear, golden color thats achieved through heating.

Never cook with raw honey because that will destroy its good properties. Also, do not store it near a heat source. If you enjoy honey in your tea or coffee, wait until the drink is just tepid enough to sip comfortably, and then add honey to taste.

Drizzle it on breakfast cereals, over your sprouted grain toast or on yogurt. Its also a great addition to smoothies and salad dressings, plus it pairs well with fruits like honeydew and apples. Raw honey can be a healthy alternative to highly processed sugar in recipes that doesnt require heat. For every one tablespoon of sugar in a recipe , you can typically use two teaspoons of honey instead.

Need more ideas for how to incorporate raw honey into your daily life? Then check out this article on20 Raw Honey Usesthat will surprise you.

There are many recipes available from the National Honey Board, and I have some of my favorites as well:

Can You Fight Allergies With Local Honey

Does Local Honey Help Allergies?

You can barely drag yourself out of bed. Winter is gradually receding back into the closet of seasons once again, and you’re painfully aware that spring is up next. You find the thought of facing another sunny, upbeat vernal equinox when nature bursts to life anew once more too depressing for words.

It’s seasonal allergies. All of those beautiful, fragrant flowers and deep green grasses that allergy-free people just love to coo over and pick and prune literally make you sick. Springtime is when trees and plants spread their seeds — at least the pollen that becomes seeds. And that pollen wreaks havoc on your body whenever you take a breath outside.

You’re hardly alone. The Food and Drug Administration estimates around 36 million people in the United States alone suffer from seasonal allergies, known also by the common name of hay fever and the more technical name allergic rhinitis . It may not improve your mood to know this, but all that pollen is actually harmless. Those months of runny nose, scratchy eyes and headaches you endure each spring is actually the result of a case of mistaken identity. Your body mistakes pollen for damaging invaders like fungal spores and dust mites. This triggers the release of histamine, a natural chemical that’s part of an immune system response. Histamine causes inflammation and irritation of soft tissue, which leads to your suffering .

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Debunking The Honey Cure

There are a few other reasons to assume that honeys curative effects have been vastly overstated. Firstly, there is no way for the average consumer to verify how much pollen is present in their honey. The amount is likely so small that it would not have a therapeutic effect on the body.

Many people dont realize that bees make honey out of nectar, the sugary sweet liquid excreted by flowers, and not pollen, the powdery substance used for fertilization. Bees are attracted to nectar, and as they collect it to make their honey, pollen accidentally sticks to their legs. In other words, pollen is a trace contaminant in honey, not the main ingredient.

Also, even if there was enough pollen in raw local honey to trigger the immune system, it would probably be the wrong kind. Bees typically pollinate colorful flowers, yet most people are allergic to pollen released by grasses, trees and weeds.

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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Cinnamon And Honey For Allergies:

Cinnamon blends well with honey and used in the treatment of allergies.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of hot water
  • Mix one teaspoon of raw honey with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder
  • Consume this mixture.

How it works: It is anti-inflammatory and combat allergies and boosts immunity.

Repetitions: Once daily.

Best time to apply: Anytime of the day.

Does Honey Cure Allergies

Local Honey Might Be Sweet Solution To Seasonal Allergies

Honey is reported to lessen the symptoms in seasonal allergies. Its action as cough suppressant and anti-inflammatory effects are used in the treatment for allergies. It contains various nutrients namely amino acids, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

Read Also: Can You Develop Allergies As An Adult

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How Much Local Honey Should I Take 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.

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Using Honey For Dogs With Allergies

Just like is the case with most humans, many dogs also suffer from environmental allergies.

Summer, spring, as well as fall, can subsequently trigger these distinct sensitivities in our furry friends with symptoms like licking thigh and feet, rubbing the face, and scratching being the most common.

Nonetheless, while allergies are unavoidable, knowing how to deal with allergies in dogs is vital for having a healthy and happy pet and one surprising but significantly effective natural way to deal with help alleviate these concerns is using Local Honey!

Usually, this is the most common veterinary usage of the favorite sweetener, and it is for a good reason too.

Local honey is known to have a wide array of the same pollen spores which significantly trouble allergy sufferers when grasses and flowers are in bloom.

Taking honey subsequently introduces these particular spores in harmless quantities and helps make the body accustomed to them being present, consequently minimizing the chances of a reaction immune-system-response such as histamine release occurring.

Histamine is simply the bodys reaction to the presence of allergens and is responsible for initiating the symptoms of runny eyes and itchy skin.

Whats more, numerous medical studies also support the usage of local honey in combating environmental allergies. The most important thing to understand is that it is not just any type of honey that worksthe recommended type is local honey.

Why local honey?

Honey Has Health Risks

Local Honey For Seasonal Allergies

When people talk about eating honey to prevent allergies, they donât mean the kind at the supermarket that comes in a plastic bear. Itâs often local, unprocessed honey. And it can have some pretty nasty stuff in it, from bee parts to mold spores and bacteria. These things are usually removed during commercial processing.

Itâs rare, but eating unprocessed honey can cause a serious allergic reaction. You might have itching, hives, or swelling of your mouth, throat, or skin. The culprit: pollen or bee parts in the unprocessed honey.

âOne of the reasons I never recommend unprocessed honey for allergies is because someone may be allergic to it and not even know,â Ogden says. âI worry about local honey that hasnât been processed or tested.â

And if youâre allergic to bees, itâs possible unprocessed honey could contain some bee venom and cause a severe reaction, Ogden says.

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