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A tablespoon of honey a day keeps the allergies at bay

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capoeirista13

capoeirista13

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So just very recently my allergies kicked in, and this year has been the worst I've ever experienced. I even got itchy eyes, which I didn't know could actually happen, but apparently it is quite common. It's like torture...of the ticklish kind. So this led to a discussion with my coworker where he told me that supposedly, a tablespoon of raw local honey in the morning can minimize the intensity of your daily allergies. Apparently the honey contains the same allergins that are in the air, but in a lot smaller amounts. So I suppose it's kind of like a temporary immuno-booster for allergies, kind of like innoculations are long term for illnesses.

So has anyone else ever heard of this? Also, what else do you use your leftover honey for if you don't plan on brewing with it? I put about a spoon of it in my quaker oats oatmeal.
 
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wayneb

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I have heard of it, I have tried it, and it works, although not immediately. When I lived in Houston I suffered from nasty seasonal allergies, but I started eating daily doses (about a tablespoon a day) of local raw honey that was from a guy I knew at work who kept his own hives in the neighborhood. After about a month of regularly eating the honey I noticed a significant drop-off in my symptoms, and the next year I found that I no longer needed daily doses of antihistamines and decongestants just to be able to breathe and hear. :)

I believe the theory behind it is one of desensitization, where you train your body's immune system to recognize and ignore the local pollens by getting a big dose of them daily in the honey. And eating a tablespoon of honey on cereal or ice cream every day is its own reward. ;D
 
capoeirista13

capoeirista13

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There may be something to this. My allergies have dropped off sharply since I started having a spoonful of honey each morning/night. It could all just be coincidental timing too, but who knows.
 
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Matrix4b

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Dec 17, 2008
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I have heard of this too. I have a roomate that did this for 3 years in a row and now he doesn't need to. Unless he moves a long way away. The desensitizing theory is correct. It is actually small doses of pollen in each UNFILTERED honey spoonfull. The important thing is that it is unfiltered and local honey, that is made with in 50 miles of where you live. Honey is also a natural cure-all for many people. I have heard that some scientists believe that it holds the cure to the common cold. In either case, it is a proven fact for humans over 1 year old it is good for you. For under 1 year old it is a mild danger for the young one's immune system as their immune system is not yet developed enough to handle some of the common bacteria in very small doses that is present in honey. But Honey has been known to be an antiseptic quality to it and even in the civil war they used honey on minor wounds to keep the gauze down and to keep infection out.

Fun fact, Alexander the Great was imbalmed in honey.
 
akueck

akueck

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Matrix4b said:
I have heard of this too. I have a roomate that did this for 3 years in a row and now he doesn't need to. Unless he moves a long way away. The desensitizing theory is correct. It is actually small doses of pollen in each UNFILTERED honey spoonfull. The important thing is that it is unfiltered and local honey, that is made with in 50 miles of where you live. Honey is also a natural cure-all for many people. I have heard that some scientists believe that it holds the cure to the common cold. In either case, it is a proven fact for humans over 1 year old it is good for you. For under 1 year old it is a mild danger for the young one's immune system as their immune system is not yet developed enough to handle some of the common bacteria in very small doses that is present in honey. But Honey has been known to be an antiseptic quality to it and even in the civil war they used honey on minor wounds to keep the gauze down and to keep infection out.

Fun fact, Alexander the Great was imbalmed in honey.
Click to expand...

It's not so much the bacteria, but the worry is the botulism spores. Infants' stomach acids aren't strong enough to kill the spores, so they could develop into an infection. Maybe. It's a nasty enough bug that it's worth not feeding them honey for a year.
 
wildoates

wildoates

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That's an interesting thead, Medsen...thanks for the link.

I'm trying to read up on all the old threads, but I have to sleep sometimes.

:)
 
capoeirista13

capoeirista13

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Forgot honey again this morning, allergies kicked in, as usual, on my drive in to work. If I remember to try some tomorrow and I don't sneeze like crazy, I'm officially a believer.
 
Shelley

Shelley

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There are few to no rigorous scientific studies on this cause/effect. There are tons of anecdotal stories such as these. A quick search on PubMed:

Oral immunotherapy in general can be effective: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20431369

Honey as a treatment against seasonal allergies has no more effect than a placebo: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14501441

However (and conflictingly), ingested honey can have an immune response (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15671696)

For my part, I feel that if a person eats honey and feels better, then by all means eat honey. Whether the effect is caused by actual immune desensitization or caused by the placebo effect, either way the person feels better. (I don't think we understand the placebo effect enough -- the brain's interaction with the body at this level is fascinating.)

I don't think we'll see much in the way of studies on honey and allergies at this point; I suspect the research funds will go to honey and antimicrobial treatments (wound therapy).
 
Stasis

Stasis

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Jan 10, 2014
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I have no problem with honey being a placebo effect. Allergies is the brain overreacting to pollen. In a way, the 'illness' is all in the head. Now if you're curing it all in your head you are, in a way, actually curing allergies the right way. If you manage to trick yourself into not overreacting to pollen then you are in my opinion more cured than someone who needs to rely on some other drug to brute-force your immune system into being less sensitive because your body is working the way it's actually supposed to. Sorry if that sounds blunt. I also suffer from allergies and I would absolutely love to cure this with a placebo
 
C

caduseus

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Stasis said:
I have no problem with honey being a placebo effect. Allergies is the brain overreacting to pollen. In a way, the 'illness' is all in the head. Now if you're curing it all in your head you are, in a way, actually curing allergies the right way. If you manage to trick yourself into not overreacting to pollen then you are in my opinion more cured than someone who needs to rely on some other drug to brute-force your immune system into being less sensitive because your body is working the way it's actually supposed to. Sorry if that sounds blunt. I also suffer from allergies and I would absolutely love to cure this with a placebo
Click to expand...


Not exactly. Research has revealed two types of placebo effect: efficacy and side effects.
As far as efficacy goes, the placebo response is rarely sustained. It lasts anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months and then fades away.

(I am medical professional who has done clinical trials and written research articles in the past)
 
Stasis

Stasis

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Hmm... so maybe if it is a placebo it might wear off by time. Well, maybe other cures wear off by time too, I haven't looked too much into it. I was going off of what matrix4b said "I have a roomate that did this for 3 years in a row and now he doesn't need to.", so if a placebo can do that I have no problems about it :)
 
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